Possession which was referred to the Committee of Foreign Plantations who found that by the Laws of Nations and of this Kingdom the Heirs and Assigns of Sir William Courten retained a Freehold in the said Island having no ways forfeited the same for any Offence Aud that the Patent to James Earl of Carlisle mentioning him to be Lord Proprietor of the said Island was declared void and against Law The Councel of Courten further affirming that no Soveraign Prince or State could Disseize a person of a Uacancy possest by him at his own proper Costs and Charges without manifest Injustice And that it was against the Honour and Prudence as well as the Iustice of a Nation to despoil any Subject that laid out himself for the good of his Country Yet no Restitution hath been made for the said Island and Plantations to the Heirs and Creditors of Courten either by the King or the Planters out of the Old Servile Rents of Sugar Cotton or Tobacco for every head due to the Original Proprietor or out of the four and half per Cent of all Goods Exported granted by the General Assembly of Barbadoes in lieu thereof to the Lord Willoughby and since Assigned to the King Secondly Concerning the Spoils and Depredations upon the two Ships the Bona Esperanza and Henry Bona Adventura in the East Indies particularly excepted for Reparation by the 15 th Article of the Treaty concluded at London the 4 th September 1662. no ways performed It was therefore thought necessary and convenient upon the farther Applications of the persons Interessed and Injured to the King and to the Parliament that a War should be declared against the States General of the United Provinces which was carried on at the vast Charge of the Kingdom His Majesty being Graciously pleased upon the entrance into that War to express himself in a Speech to both Houses of Parliament as follows The 24th of November 1664. Mr. Speaker ANd you Gentlemen of the House of Commons I know not whether it be worth My pains to endeavour to remove a vile Jealousie which Ill men scatter abroad and which I am sure will never sink into the breast of any Man who is worthy to â—it upon your Benches that when you have given me a Noble and proportionable Supply for the support of a War I may be induced by some evil Councellors for they will be thought to think very respectively of my own person to make a suddain Peace and get all that Money for my own private occasions But let me tell you and you may be most confident of it That when I am compelled to enter into a War for the Protection Honour and Benefit of my Subjects I will God Willing not make a Peace but upon the obtaining and securing those ends for which the War is entred into and when that can be done no good man will be sorry for the determination of it IN the Month of May following His Majesty out of a Iust sense of Sir William Courten's Sir Paul Pyndar's and their Partners Injuries Damages and Losses in their Shipe Goods and Commerce did in pursuance of His own Authority and Prerogative-Royal Grant a Special Commission for Reprizals under the Great Seal of England grounded upon the Law of Nations and the Laws and Statutes of this Realm to continue effectual in Law at all times until the sum of 151612 l. Sterling Money with incident Costs and Charges should be Recovered and Received as by the Letters Patents recited in the Plea to His Majesties Scire Facias brought in the High Court of Chancery remaining upon Record in the Petty-Bagg-Office hereafter set forth at large more plainly appears It is to be remarked that during the War several Dutch East-India Ships and other Merchant Ships were taken by the Kings Men of War and made Free Prize but no part thereof given towards the Bona Esperanza and Henry Bona Adventura although earnestly sought after Those Spoils of War the Sacred Returns due to the Injur'd and Oppressed the price of much Blood and Treasure spent in the Expeditions of Courten and his Partners were otherwise imployed Which lies heavy at the Doors of those that have eaten the Bread of the Fatherless and Widows for whom the Land Mourns IT is to be considered when the said Letters of Reprizal were put in Execution by Mr. Carew and his Associates in the beginning of the year 1666. The prosecution thereof was Arbitrarily suspended by Proclamation on the Tenth of August following without any Iudicial hearing their Seamen frequently taken away for the Kings Ships His Royal Highness and His Secretary also pretending that it was prejudicial to their Interest in obstructing ordinary Letters of Marque during the War Carew Committed to the Fleet by Order of the Council Board and Enlarged by the Dreadful Flames on the 2 of September following so that instead of a Remedy it proved a Grievance the Ships and Goods Reprized being not sufficient to repair one half of the Costs and Charges in Equipping out Frigots towards recovery of the Debt The Iniquity and Corruption of the Proctors and Common Claimers being such that discouraged all men concerned in that Affair of Reprizals which in the Nations of old were esteemed as Chattels Real and Sacred Decrees like the Laws of the Medes and Persians Nevertheless in the Month of June 1667. a Treaty was concluded at Breda wherein it was mentioned as it 's said that all Offences Injuries Losses and Damages should be buried in Oblivion and all Letters of Reprizal Revoked which Peace and Alliance continued for the space of four years The Dutch Trading in English Bottoms having a War with the French King Then His Majesty declared a second War in Conjunction with France against the States General which continued for the space of two years DUring which time the Proprietors and Creditors Revived their Demands and made fresh Applications to His Majesty in Council to be Relieved in a publick way whereupon several Orders were made at the Council Board That Instructions should be sent to the Embassadors and Plenipotentiaries for that purpose Which being delivered to the said George Carew with the Kings Letter to the said Embassadors in the Month of June 1672. Intimating that the Obligations of all past Treaties being Cancelled it was just and seasonable that provision should be made in the next Treaty for intire satisfaction of the Spoils and Damages of the two Ships Bona Esperanza and Henry Bona Adventura according to the Liquidation in the Letters Patents wherein the Debt was stated and confirmed under the Great Seal for Reparation as aforesaid But in the Month of August the States of Holland Apprehended the said Carew at the Hague notwithstanding his Passport from the Dutch Commissioners or Embassadors at Hampton-Court to Travel all parts of the United Netherlands and committed him and John Sherland to Prison and Condemned the said Carew for a Spie and an Enemy of their Country in obstructing the
Good Intelligence and Understanding between the Ministers of State of both Nations and would have Executed the said Sentence if Mr. John Van Watchtendunck Commissioner of the States General and Advocate Sass had not been Prisoners in the Tower for Crimes of a very High Nature where they continued Prisoners even as Carew and Shirland did during the War which ended in a Separate Peace excluding France concluded at London Feb. 9. 1663 4. Whereby the States General were to pay 800000 Pattacoons to the King of Great Brittain for Damages at four equal Payments in four years The first whereof was paid to Alderman Backwell upon Ratification of the Treaty to the Kings use and the other three were Assigned to the Prince of Orange for old Debts contracted between His Father and Grand-Father and the late King Charles The Bona Esperanza being left in Statu quo without any other regard WHereupon several Questions were propounded concerning the special Grant aforesaid for Reprizals Frist Whether in such a Case under those Circumstances the Debt of 151612 l. and Damages were extinguished or discharged Secondly Whether the Remedy could be taken away or the Patent made null and void without any Satisfaction or Reparation to the Persons Interessed and Injured Which Being Resolved by Councel Learned in the Laws on the Negative as follows As to the first That no Act of State unless by Parliament can bind the particular Right of the Subject without satisfaction first made and that the King could not Release or Discharge any one that had done a private Injury to a particular person but that still be might pursue his Right by way of Law Secondly That Letters of Reprizal granted of Common Right and not of Grace and Favour when once the Power is vested in the Subject pursuant to the Law without any other Limitation then until the Debt and Damages shall be Recovered and Received The same cannot be bound or suspended by any subsequent Act of the King without Reparation the Laws of England having so secured the Subject that it 's not in the Kings power to dispose of His Subjects Goods THe Arguments they used to make good their Assertions inter alia were that the Letters Patents before-mentioned was a Iudicial Act whereby there was granted and confirmed such a permanent and Legal Authority vested with an Interest in Law for satisfaction of the Debt of 151612 l. and not a bare Ambulatory and Temporary Authority or Commission recoverable at pleasure for that such special Grants are required in due form of Law after divers Proceedings Citations Admonitions and Chargable Process in making out the Debt and Damages that oftentimes exceede the demands before they can attain unto Letters of Reprizal Iudicially to remain upon Record until satisfaction and Reparation otherwise the Consequences in Cases of Spoils might prove dangerous and destructive to Civil Society and Commerce there being no other way or Remedy under Heaven left for Recovery and Reparations for Injuries Spoils and Depredations done to the particular Subjects of England since the old Writs De Arresto Facto super bonis Mercatorum alieni genium pro Transgr ' c. in the Register and F. N. B. were taken away by the Statute Laws of the Realm whereby Reprizals were to Issue forth without delay in lieu thereof for satisfaction of Wrongs Losses and Dammages and the Law must not in any Case be rendred ineffectual However upon these Considerations several Addresses were made by the Proprietors and Interessed Creditors to the King and the States General Respectively not omitting the Prince of Orange whose Fortunes were raised by the last War when he was restored to the Offices Honours and Profits of his Father and Grandfather through the Sweat Blood and Labours of English men to have some satisfaction out of the Eight hundred thousand Pattacoons or any other ways as might seem most expedient But nothing could be obtained no not so much as a Hearing of their Cause Then least a failer of Iustice in this Case should be urged by the Foraign Creditors of Courten in France and Flanders or brought as a President against England where there was always the severest profession of Iustice Three Ships were entred into the Admiralty Court by the Proprietors with the Commanders Names number of Men Guns and Provision to Reprize what they could of the said Debt and Dammages according to the purport and intent of the said Letters Patents But upon notice thereof to the States General they Interposed by their Embassador to obstruct the prosecution then a pretended Super Sedeas issued forth afterwards a Proclamation to hinder the due Proceedings at Law yet all this while no offer was made of any Satisfaction either by the States General or the Prince of Orange or by the King of England or any of their Ministers of State respectively Afterwards a Dutch Ship being Laden with Wine and Prunes was taken by one of the said Commanders near the Isle of Wight in the Mouth of December 1680. in order to a Condemnation towards the Debt and Dammages aforesaid Yet several persons were so Blood Thirsty Malicious and Ignorant in the Laws of England as to prosecute the said Commander and his Seamen apprehending them with Warrants which they procured in the Kings Name whereby they were Arrested as Pyrats and Felons the said Warrants being as follows in haec verba CHarles the second by the grace of God King of England Scotland France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c. To our Marshal of our High Court of Admiralty of England And also to Daniel Giles Marshal of our Vice Admiralty of the Isle of Wight in the County of Southampton and to all Mayors Iustices of Peace Sheriffs Constables and other our Officers and Ministers whatsoever Greeting Whereas it hath appeared to Us in Council by the Examination and Confessions taken in the Isle of Wight before two of our Deputy Vice-Admirals and a publick Notary there That Compton Gwyther Commander of a small Vessel called the George Bona Adventura of about six and twenty Tons burthen Manned with Eleven men furnished with small Arms and Equip'd for taking any Ships Goods Moneys Merchandizes of the States General of the United Provinces by way of Reprizal by vertue of pretended Letters of Marque or Reprizal ☞ heretofore granted to Sir Edward Turnor Knight Deceased and George Carew Esq Did on the third or fourth of December instant near Dungeness in the dead of the Night and in a violent and Hostile manner Seiza on a Galliot Hoy called the Love of Rotterdam Burthen a hundred and sixty Tons Bastean Johnson Master laden with Wine and Prunes at Bourdeaux bound for Dort and by Force and Arms carried her into our said Isle of Wight where she now remains And that the said Daniel Giles our said Marshal hearing thereof in pursuance of our late Proclamation stopt the said Galliot Hoy and secured the said Compton Cwyther and his Company until he
Adventura and in the Estates of the said William Courten Deceased Sir Edward Littleton Baronet and Sir Paul Pyndar Knight Deceased that We would take their Case into Our Princely consideration We out of the just sense We then had and still have of their unjust Sufferings in that business both by Our own Letters under our Sign Manual to the States General of the Vnited Provinces and by Sir George Downing Knight and Baronet Our Envoy Extraordinary to whom We gave Especial Command so to do required satisfaction to be made according to the Rules of Justice and the Amity and good Correspondence which We then desired to conserve with them firm and Inviolable And whereas after several Addresses made to the said States General by Our said Envoy and nothing granted effectual for relief of Our said Subjects whom We take Our selves in Honour and Justice concerned to be satisfied and repaired We lately commanded the said Sir George Downing to intimate and signify to the said States that We expected their final Answer concerning satisfaction to be made for the said Ships and Goods by a time then prefixed and since elapsed that We might so govern Our selves thereupon that Our aforesaid Subjects might be Relieved according to Right and Justice And yet no Satisfactory Answer hath been given so that We cannot but apprehend it to be not only a fruitless endeavour but a prostituting of Our Honour and Dignity to make further Application after so many Denials and Slightings And whereas Iohn Exton Doctor of Laws Judge of Our High Court of Admiralty of England upon Our Command to certify to Us the value of the Losses and Damages sustained by the said William Courten and Partners whose Interest is now vested in Our loving Subjects Sir Edmond Turnor Knt. and George Carew Esq and Partners hath upon full Examination and Proofs thereof made by Witnesses in Our High Court of Admiralty Reported and Certified under his Hand that the same do amount to the sum of one Hundred fifty one thousand six hundred and twelve Pounds Now know ye That for a full Restitntion to be made to them for their Ships Goods and Merchandizes of which the said William Courten and the Assigns of the said William Courten and Partners were so Despoiled as aforesaid with all such Costs and Charges as they shall be at for recovery of the same We by Advice of our Privy Council have thought fit and by these Presents do Grant License and Authority under Our Great Seal of England unto Our said Subjects Sir Edmond Turnor and George Carew their Executors Administrators and Assigns for and on the behalf of themselves and other persons Interessed as aforesaid to Equip Victual Furnish and set to Sea from time to time such and so many Ships and Pinaces as they shall think fit Provided always that there be an Entry made and Recorded in the Admiralty-Court of the Names of all Ships and Vessels and of their Burthen and Ammunition and for how long time they are Victualled And also of the Name of the Commander thereof before the same or any of them be set forth to Sea And with the said Ships and Pinaces by Force of Arms to set upon take and apprehend any of the Ships Goods Moneys and Merchandizes of the said States General or of any of their Subjects inhabiting within any their Dominions or Territories whatsoever of any particular Estate within those Provinces and the Inhabitants thereof wheresoever the same shall be found and not in any Port or Harbour of England or Ireland unless it be the Ships and Goods of the Parties that did the wrong And the said Ships Goods Moneys and Merchandizes being so taken and brought into some Port of Our Realms or Dominions an Inventory thereof shall be taken by Authority of Our Court of Admiralty and Judgment shall be given in Our Court of Admiralty by the Judge or Judges thereof for the time being upon Proof made before him or them that the same Ships Goods Wares Merchandizes or Money did belong to the States General or any of their Subjects as aforesaid That they shall be lawful Prize to the said Sir Edmond Turnor and George Carew their Executors Administrators and Assigns as aforesaid to keep and retain in their or any of their Possession and to make Sale and dispose thereof in open Market or howsoever else to their and every of their best Advantage and Benefit in as ample manner as at any time heretofore hath been accustomed by way of Reprizal and to have and enjoy the same as lawful Prize and as their own proper Goods So that neither the Captain Master nor any of the Company that shall serve in his own person or shall promote and advance the said enterprize in manner and form aforesaid shall in any manner of wise be Reputed or Challenged for any Offender against any of Our Laws And that also it shall be lawful for all manner of persons as well Our Subjects as any other to buy the said Ships Goods and Merchandizes so taken and apprehended by the said Captains Masters and others and adjudged as aforesaid without any Damage Loss Hindrance Trouble Molestation or Incumbrance to befall the said Buyers or any of them in as ample and lawful manner as if the said Ships Goods Wares and Merchandize had been come and gotten by the lawful Traffique of Merchants or of just Prizes in the time of open War Provided always that all Ships Goods and Merchandize taken by virtue of this Our Commission shall be kept in safety and no part of them spoiled wasted or diminished nor the Bulk thereof broken until Judgment have first past as aforesaid that they are the Ships and Merchandizes of the States General or some of their Subjects as aforesaid And if by colour of this Our Commission there shall be taken any Ships Goods or Merchandizes of any of Our loving Subjects or the Subjects of any Prince or State in good League or Amity with Us except the States General or their Subjects as aforesaid and the Goods therein Laden Sold Embezled or Diminished or the Bulk thereof broken in any Place before they shall be adjudged to belong to the said States General or to some of their Subjects as aforesaid that then this Commission shall be of no sufficient Authority to take the said Ships Goods and Merchandizes or to warrant and save harmeless such as shall Receive Buy or Intermedle therein but that both the Prizes so taken and the said Ship of War shall be confiscated to Our use And further We do hereby declare that it is Our Will and Pleasure that this Our Commission shall remain in full Force and Power to all intents and purposes until the said Sir Edmond Turnor and George Carew their Executors Administrators and Assigns as aforesaid shall by vertue thereof have by Force of Arms Apprehended Taken Seized Recovered and Received from the said States General or their Subjects one hundred fifty one thousand six
Administration was granted to the said George Carew in the Letters patents for Reprizals before mentioned wherein the most visible part of Sir Paul Pyndar's Estate remains yet many difficulties and obstructions are laid in the way from coming to that poor remainder in this age of Forgetfulness Yet I hope it will not be in these our days as it was in the times of old when the Prophet Isaiah complained that Iudgment is turned backward and Iustice Standeth far off for Truth is fallen in the Street and Equity cannot enter Yea Truth faileth and he that refraineth from Evil maketh himself a Prey and the Text saith that the Lord was displeased that there was no Iudgment and when he saw that there was no man he wondred that none would offer himself From whence it may be inferred that they who suffer Injuries and Oppressions without Process and Appeal for Justice do not only betray themselves and their Cause but the Interest of their Country and the Laws of the Realm under which they have or ought to have protection There is one Remarkable and Fraudulent Case not to be Omitted in this Narrative ADmiral de Ruiter of Holland having taken a Fly-Boat of 200 Tun in Burthen called the Mary of Bristol belonging to Merchants of that City Laden with Sugar Cotton and Indigo from Barbadoes the said Ship and Goods were Condemned as free Prize to the States of Holland by the Admiralty of Amsterdam in the year 1665. Then the said Ship was sent from Amsterdam by the Name of the Godilive of Bruges and bound for France where she was Laden with Wine Salt and Vinegar under Spanish Colours as belonging to Iacob Neitz Michael Vander Planthem and other Subjects of the King of Spain which said Fly-Boat being taken by Captain Tyrance Byrne about the Month of Iuly 1666. and carried into the Port of Chichester in pursuance of a Commission by force of the Letters Patents for Repâ—izal granted to Turnor and Carew as aforesaid against the States of the United Province Upon Examination whereof it appearing that the Ship was Dutch Built Sailed from a Port in Holland to a Port in France the Seamen Hollanders and Zelanders Born and the Goods Consigned to Merchants of Amsterdam Sir Lyonel Ienkin Decreed that there was good cause of Seizure and Condemned the Master of the said Ship in Expences but in regard one Peter Gerrarda French man and common claimer of Prize-Ships appeared and claimed the said Godilive and her Lading in the Names of the said Iacob Neitz and others Subjects of Spain in Amity with the King It was ordered by the Judge that upon payment of the Costs and giving Bail to abide the Sentence of the Court upon hearing the Cause the Ship and Goods should be restored But the said Gerrard refusing so to do Arrested the said Captain Byrne in an Action of 1000 l. upon a Writ out of the Admiralty Court unto which he gave good Bail yet the said Gerrard made no Prosecution thereupon But upon Examination Ex parte and Certificates procured out of Flanders that the said Ship was Assigned to the said Neitz and others Merâ—hants of Brugis The Ship and goods were restored by the Court and delivered by the Vice-Admiral of Sussâ—x accordingly Afterwards the Proctor and Advocate of the common claimour Exhibits a Lybel in the Names of Neitz Vander Plancken and others in the year 1667. against Sir Edmond Turnor and George Carew joyntly with Captain Tyrence Byrne and Ionathan Frost his Owner uâ—on pretence that part of the Lading was Imbeaziled in the Port of Chichester and some of the Wines Perished with Lying Whereupon Sir Lyonel Ienkins pronounced a Sentence against Turnor Carew Byrne and Frost for 1800 l. Damages for spoiling their Voyage although the Ship and Goods were restored under all those Circumstances aforesaid from which Erronious and Unjust Sentence Turnor and Carew Appealed by themselves to Judges Deligates and Adjuncts who confirmed the said Sentence although against the Statute Laws of the Realm and the Common Law of England Turnor and Carew being neither Particeps Criminis nec munâ—ris and that no man in the Cases of Personal Injuries ought to suffer for the default of another for that by their own shewing in their Libel the Imbezlements being done in Chichester in the body of the County where they were to be Tryed by the Common Law Vive voce it being without the Jurisdiction of the Admiralty a Court of no Record Wherefore they Appealed to the King and obtained a Commission of review leaving the pretended Claimers and Byrne to dispute the matter Turnor and Carew being concerned no further then that their Names were used in the Process towards Condemnation Nothing of proof appearing to the contrary in all the Process transmitted in the said Cause The Humble Proposals of William Courten Esq Grand-Child and Heir of Sir William Courten Kt. Deceased Charles Earl of Shrewsbury Richard Powell Esq Thomas Coppin Esq and others here under-named on the behalf of themselves and other persons Interessed by Subscription to the said Proposals to His Majesty and the Lords and others of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Councel Ann. 1626 WHereas Sir William Courten at his own Costs and Charges set forth two Ships well provided with Men Ammunition and all Necessaries fit for Settling a Plantation They were bound for the West-Indies where they discovered an Island Landed and possessed it and called it the Barbadoes And in the same year Captain John Powell and Henry his Brother upon Sir William Courten's Account and at his Costs came thither with other Ships Freighted with Men Women Servants and all sorts of Provisions for carrying on the Plantation designed and Fetched several Indians from the main Land Built Houses Raised Fortifications and set up the Kings Colours made several Plantations of Cottons Tobacco Indigo c. Peopled the Island with English Indians and others to the number of 1850 Persons or thereabouts and Settled John Powel Iunior Governour there and the Planters paid Sir William Courten several Servile Rents of Sugar Cotten Tobacco c. as Original Proprietor 25th of February 1627. King Charles the first by Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England granted the Government thereof to the Earl of Pembrook and Mountgomery in Trust and at the Request of Sir William Courten with power to Settle a Collony there according to the Laws of England who gave John Powell a Commission to continue Governour there And Sir William Courten borrowed several great sums of Money and became much Indebted for carrying on the said Plantation 2d of Iuly 1627. Then James late Earl of Carlisle obtained a Patent for the Propriety Inheritance and Government of the Caribbee Islands But doubting it would not reach Barbadoes he surrendred it and obtained a second Patent rejecting the former containing a Grant of the Propriety and Inheritance of the Barbadoes to the said Earl and his Heirs 7th of April 1628.
HINC ILLAE LACRYMAE OR AN EPITOME OF THE LIFE and DEATH OF Sir William Courten AND Sir Paul Pyndar Late of London K nts Deceased With their great Services and Sufferings under the Crown of ENGLAND Together with a Brief NARRATIVE of the Case and Tryal of certain Persons for Pyracy and Felony on the 10th of February 1680. Upon a Special Commission of Oyer and Terminer grounded upon the Statute of the 28 of Henry the 8. Faithfully and Modestly Collected by Thomas Carew Gent. with some Remarques thereupon LONDON Printed for the Persons Interessed Anno Dom. MDCLXXXI To the Honourable Sir John Nicholas Knight of the Bath One of the Clerks of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Councel SIR AT the Instance and Importunity of the Heirs Executors and Administrators of Sir William Courten and Sir Paul Pyndar and several of their most considerable Creditors for whom I have been an Agent almost these forty years last past am now constrained to write this brief Narrative of their Services and Sufferings for the Crown and Kingdom of England Wherein so many Orphans and Widows have long Groaned under the misfortune of those two most Eminent Merchants in the World of their time whose Tears are not yet wiped away It s held for an Opinion amongst the Casuists that although a Trespassor should be Iudicially acquitted and discharged of a particular Injury done unto his Neighbour without giving him satisfaction Yet he stands obliged in Equity and good Conscience to make him Restitution and Reparation for the Wrong and Damages sustained The Arguments are far stronger against those that have Spoiled Courten and Pyndar in the East and West-Indies with a Continuando Although their Rights and Properties were Invaded at Home and Abroad no Power could divest the Proprietors and Interessed in this Case of their Senses and Reason In all Revolutions of Government nothing could make them Disloyal to their Prince nor Unfaithful to their Country they never appeared otherwise then with their Humble Addresses for some Seasonable Satisfaction to their Iust Demands The Substance of the whole matters contained in this History with the Prosecution thereupon are reduced into the following Abstracts only the Scire Facias brought by His Majesty and the Plea thereupon recited at large as they remain upon Record and Humbly represented Methodically to the Right Honourable Viscount Hyde which will naturally fall under the Consideration of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury being all contracted at last into three several Petitions the one relating to the Barbados and the Products thereof the second to the Disbursements for the Crown before the year 1641. the third to the Debts and Damages due from the East-India Company of the Netherlands and some particular Inhabitants in Amsterdam and Middleburgh to the Estates of Sir William Courten and Sir Paul Pyndar wherein the Honour and Interest of the King and Kingdom are concerned to see Right done to the Petitioners respectively who had many kind Offices done for them in the Premisses by your Father and have all of them a great Confidence in your Zeal to Iustice and your readiness to do them all Lawful Favours in the duty of your Office and with that assurance I remain SIR Your most Obliged Friend and Servant THOMAS CAREW July 12th 1681. To the Right Honourable Lawrence Lord Hyde Viscount Killingworth Baron of Wooten Basset Primier Commissioner of the Treasury and one of the Lords of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Councel Right Honourable IT was thought necessary and expedient by the late King Charles and the Lords and others of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Councel in the year 1635. upon the decay of the East-India Trade and His Majesties Customs in the Port of London The Merchants Trading to the East-Indies having wasted several great Ioynt Stocks being undermined and beaten out of Commerce by the Dutch to give Command and encouragement to Sir William Courten and his Partners by a new Charter and Grant under the Great Seal of England to undertake Trading Uoyages to Goa the parts of Mallabar Chyna Japan c. Upon whose Foundations and Discoveries the present East-India Company have taken such Methods and Measures whereby they have Trebled their Principal Actions Increased Navigation and brought Honour and Wealth to this Kingdom But Sir William Courten and his Partâ—ers as iâ— most enterprises for the publick good 〈…〉 great Difficulties Losses and Damages after they had settled several Fact 〈◊〉 in places of Strength and Seâ—urity at their vast Expence and Charges upon hopes of Protection from the Crown of England which prâ—â—ed otherwise pro tempore by reason of the late Intestine Troubles in England Scotland and Ireland that gave opportunity to the Hollanders to spoil those Noble undertakings of Sir William Courten and his Associates The King of Great Britain having granted the Priviledge and Favour to Sir William Courten and his Partners in the said Charter as an Ensigne that they were imployed by His Maiesty to carry iâ— all their Ships the same Colours commonly called the Iack oâ— English Flâ—gg Whereby Captain Proud and other Old Officers yet Living of the East-India Companies Ships upon the Command of a great Gun Struck their Flaggs and Lowered their Lop-Sails at Goa iii view of theÌ„ Portugals and Dutch such a respect was paid to the Kings Colours when he was in Prosperity that soon afterwards in the year 1643. were taken down from the Bona Esperanza and dragged aâ—out the Streets by the Hollanders in Battavia when they had spoiled Courten of his Ships and Goods My Lord It would seem a great piece of Folly to make any impertinent Repetitions in a Case so well known to the World wherein every Paragraph is an Abstract out of Matters of Record Only I am bound to acquaint Your Honour that the late Lord High Chancellor of England Your Father was much concerned in several Transactions thereof who I presume if he were now Living would Study all ways and means possible to compose the Differences and Controversies in this Case rather then suffer those things to be Argued publickly in the Highest Court of Iudicature and there to remain unto Posterity wherein the Kings Honour and Iustice would be exposed by recriminating divers persons that lie under such Circumstances of Grand Mistakes and Oppression The Memory of Sir William Courten and Sir Paul Pyndar who had so déeply suffered in the East and West Indies and of their great Services otherwise for the Crown of England readily Inclined His now Majesty and the Ministers of State in the year 1660. to recommend their Cases more especially for Satisfaction and Reparation which were Solicited several years together with great Industry and Expence both at Home and Abroad without any effect otherwise then some preparatory means towards relief in two of their Demands as follows that is to say First Concerning Sir William Courten's Title to the Barbadoes wherein he was Absolute Proprietor by Original Right of Discovery and
out of the Goods Exported from the Island of Barbadoes and the Caribbee-Islands and the Lands that are Escheated to the Crown within those Islands unto the Proposers or such others as they shall nominate and their Heirs for ever towards satisfaction of the Original Right and Propriety of Sir William Courten in the Barbadoes and also of the said great Loss and Damages sustained by the Proposers and other Proprietors and Interessed in the Ships Bona Esperanza and Henry Bona Adventura and the Factories settled by Sir William Courten and his Partners by the Dutch Depredations That then the said William Courten and George Carew unto whom Sir William Courten's Title and Interest in the Barbadoes is legally come Will by any Lawful Act and Deed Ratify and Confirm the Estates and Possessions of the present Planters there And also deliver up the said Letter Patents for Reprizal against the States General and their Subjects into the Hands of Your Majesty to be disposed of as Your Majesty shall think fit NEvertheless it is most humbly prayed that for the more Effectual Relief of the Creditors of Sir William and his Son and Sir Paul Pyndar respectively according to their several Interests and Capacities That Your Majesty would be most Graciously pleased to use all effectual means with the States of Holland and Zeland for obtaining Satisfaction from the said Iacob Pergens and the Heirs and Executors of Peter Bâ—udaen and David Goubart for the aforesaid Sums of Money which do not in any sort relate to the said Letters of Reprizals And lastly that Your Mjesty will be pleased to give Directions to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury for an Effectual proceeding upon the said Petition and Reference concerning the Fines and Compositions of Papists depending before the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury as aforesaid The Conclusion THe Petitions mentioned in the Preface concerning the Barbadoes and Products thereof the Dutch Depredations Debts of the Crown and particular Demands from several persons Inhabitants in Holland and Zeland being all Contracted into the Proposals aforesaid there needs no Recitals of them at large especially since they were reduced into Orders of the Councel-Board Dated the 24 th of Iuly 1677. and other References from the King to the Principal Ministers of State for Releif of the Respective Petitioners who humbly present this Epitome to some few and proper Hands The Old Maxime in the Law of England is That the King can do no wrong From whence the Demonstration is very plain and obvious that the Officers and Ministers of the Crown have not only been wanting to the King and His Subjects in the due Administration of Justice but have Exposed the Honour and Interest of the Kingdom to Reproach in Foreign Nations where once the Government of England had the Glory and Reputation above all Soveraignties in the World for Executing Righteous Judgment and Equity The Law being a tender point and Property the same ought to be warily and circumspectly handled Wherefore he that voucheth any thing for Truth that is False upon Record in Cases of this Nature ought to suffer the greatest punishment imaginable for that not only the Judicature but the Pollicy and Prudence of a Nation are all called into question from one Generation to another Upon the Agreement in the Treaty between the King of England and the States-General so Solemnly made at London in the year 1662. the Spoils concerning the Ships Bona Esperanza and Henry Bona Adventura were to be intirely Satisfied and Repaired with the Restitution of Polleroon Whereupon the said George Carew putting great Confidence in the said Stipulation Satisfied and pay'd the persons mentioned in his Plea to the Scire Facias aforesaid by Sale of his Land in Worcester-shire to Mr. Thomas Foley for 3800 l. and Mortgaged his other Estate in London and Richmond for the further Prosecution of his Right whereby he hath pay'd Interest 13 years last past and now the remainder of his Estate being like to be Torn in pieces by Sir Iames Butler and the said Thomas Coleman for 4680 l. due upon the said Mortgages respectively after great Fines formerly Exacted by Lords of the Manor and their Agents in the said Carew's Absence for non-payment of Interest at the days certain Notwithstanding all the Advantages made by some persons out of the vast Sums of Money given by the Commons in Parliament for Protection of the Subjects in maintaining the Wars against Holland the Effects whereof applicable to Carew were Assigned to Strangers While other Creditors of a different nature were calling upon him in his quality as Administrator for Debts amounting unto two hundred and fourscore thousand Pounds Sterling ready Money Lent to Courten and Pyndar some now wanting Bread others Necessaries and Moneys all crying out that their Reparations are in Prospect by one means or other divers prompting on the Proposals others the Reprizals Under all those sad Circumstances aforesaid yet none of them despairing but that at last the Eyes and Ears of all persons in Power and Authority to do Justice and Equity will be open after all the Addresses made to His Majesty throughout the Land and His most Gracious answers thereunto to relieve the Injured and Oppressed according to the Rules of Law â—iat Iustitia ruat Coelum FINIS