a proclamation appointing some forraigne species of gold and silver to be current scotland. privy council. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing s estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a proclamation appointing some forraigne species of gold and silver to be current scotland. privy council. scotland. sovereign ( - : charles ii) sheet ([ ] p.) printed by the heir of andrew anderson, printer to his most sacred majesty, edinburgh : anno dom. . caption title. royal arms at head of text; initial letter. dated: given under our signet at edinburgh, the twenty seventh day of february, and of our reign the twenty ninth year, . signed: al. gibson, cl. sti. concilii. imperfect: creased with slight loss of text. reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng money supply -- scotland -- early works to . money -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . finance, public -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . scotland -- politics and government -- - -- sources. broadsides -- scotland -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion c r honi soit qvi mal y pense royal blazon or coat of arms a proclamation appointing some forraigne species of gold and silver to be current . charles by the grace of god , king of great britain , france , and ireland , defender of the faith , to our lyon king at arms , and his brethren heraulds , macers , pursevants , and messengers at arms , our sheriffs in that part , conjunctly , and severally , specially constitute , greeting ; forasmuch as the lords of our privy council , having taken to their consideration a petition presented by the provost of edinburgh , in name , and by warrand of the royall burrowes of this kingdom , representing , as one of the great causes of the decay of commerce amongst all qualities of people of this kingdom , and the deadness of the forraign and inland trade thereof , to be the great scarcity of the stock of coyn , and of all manner of species of money in this kingdom , that does much incommodate all manner of dealers , who are necessitate to deal upon credit , wanting the supplies of species of money to maintain the same : which scarcity having been occasioned by the small quantities of silver that used to be coyned formerly in our mint , before our late happy restauration , and the frequent exportation even of the saids small quantities into forraign parts ; and having remitted the consideration of the foresaid petition to a commitee of their number , for preparing the said matter , impowering them to confer with the officers of our mint , and these of the burrowes who were intrusted with the said petition , and to take exact tryal of the fineness of forraign coin both of gold and silver ; who having accordingly conferred with these of the saids burrowes , and officers of our mint , and having seen exact tryal taken of the intrinsick finenesse and value of several sorts of forraign coyn , by the subtile essay taken in their presence , did make report , that the spanish and dutch duccatoon , the spanish milrynd and french crown , are much finer than other forraign coyn now presently currant in this kingdom . w e therefore , being unwilling to restrain the forraign coynes presently currant , while our proper coyn of this kingdom is so small , and so much exported because of its fineness ; and finding it the better way to keep out course forraign coyn , by allowing the said finer forraign coyn to be currant : and considering , that the foresaids species of money are the coyn of these places with which this kingdom hath most considerable trade , and will be a great mean to inable merchants to return money for the export of this kingdom : whereas if the coyn of these places be not currant here , their ships must return light , or loaden with forraign commodities of lesse use for this kingdom , to ballance their whole expert : have thought fit , with advice of our privy council , to declare and ordain , and by the tenour hereof do declare and ordain , that the particular species of forraign coyn , above and after mentioned , shal have course within this kingdom at the rates following , viz. the spanish and dutch duccatoon to passe currant amongst all our subjects , for three pounds ten shillings scots : the spanish milrynd , for two pounds seventeen shillings scots : and the french crown for two pounds sixteen shillings . and also we considering , that there hath been an surcease , and long time since the coyning of any gold in this kingdom , and that the species of all old gold is transported , and little forraign gold imported ; and for the further incouragement of the merchants in this kingdom , concerned in the spanish and dutch trades , to make the returns of their yearly export and effects in such species of gold coynes as these countreys do afford ; do hereby also , with advice foresaid , ordain , and declare , the quadruple spanish pistol , or piece of eight of gold , to have course amongst our subjects of this kingdom , at the rate of fourty two pounds scots the piece , the same being of usual weight , of twenty one deniers : and also the smaller species of the said gold pistol down-ward , to pass at the saids rates proportionally : as likewise , the hungary , dutch , and fleemish duccat of gold weighing two deniers , fifteen grains , to passe , and have course for five pounds twelve shillings scots , the same being of the said weight . and to the effect all our leiges may have notice hereof , our will is , and we charge you strictly , and command , that incontinent these our letters seen , ye pass to the mercat-cross of edinburgh , and other places needful , and thereat , in our name and authority , by open proclamation , make publication of the premisses . given under our signet , at edinburgh , the twenty seventh day of february , and of our reign the twenty ninth year , . per actum dominorum secreti concilii . al. gibson . cl. s ti . concilii . god save the king. edinburgh , printed by the heir of andrew anderson , printer to his most sacred majesty , anno dom. . a short treatise touching sheriffs accompts written by the honourable sir matthew hale ... ; to which is added, a tryal of witches, at the assizes held at bury st. edmonds, for the county of suffolk, on the th of march , before the said sir matthew hale, kt. hale, matthew, sir, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing h estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a short treatise touching sheriffs accompts written by the honourable sir matthew hale ... ; to which is added, a tryal of witches, at the assizes held at bury st. edmonds, for the county of suffolk, on the th of march , before the said sir matthew hale, kt. hale, matthew, sir, - . pts. ( [ ], ; [ ], p.) printed, and are to be sold by will. shrowsbery ..., london : . imperfect: a tryal of witches, at the assizes held at bury st. edmonds ... london : printed for william shrewsbery, (with special t.p.): [ ], p. at end is lacking in filmed copy. reproduction of original in bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng sheriffs -- england. finance, public -- england -- accounting. money -- england. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - judith siefring sampled and proofread - judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a short treatise touching sheriffs accompts . written by the honourable sir matthem hale , kt. sometime lord chief justice of his majesty's court of king's-bench . to which is added , a tryal of witches , at the assizes held at bury st. edmonds , for the county of suffolk , on the th of march , before the said sir matthew hale , kt. london , printed , and are to be sold by will. shrowsbery , at the bible in duck-lane . . for the right honourable the lord high treasurer of england , and the chancellor of the exchequer . according to my promise to your lordships , i have given a large historical narrative of the sheriffs accompts for the annual revenue of their countries : wherein some things may occurr that may be usefull to the understanding of the sheriffs accompts , and many other old obscure records , and some things incidently opened that have been formerly obscure and scarce intelligible , yet fit to be known . some things also relating to the diff●rence between the auditors of the revenue , and the officers of the pipe. there may be some mistakes of my own , i confess , in a matter of so great intricacy , perplexity and obsoleteness , which i could not easily correct , in the country , because many of my papers are at london that concern this business , and , i fear , hardly to be retrieved into a due order , in regard of the late distraction . and here may be some mistakes in the transcriber , which at this distance i could not examine . but , possibly , notwithstanding these mistakes , your lordships may find something that may be usefull , and when i wait upon you i shall review and correct . your lordships humble servant . the contents . chap. i. touching the ancient and modern weight and allay of sterling silver . page . chap. ii. concerning the weight of coin , and the difference therein , with regard to the denomination of coin. p. . chap. iii. touching the corruptions of money and the remedies anciently used in relation thereunto . p. . chap. iv. concerning the manner of answering the king's firmes anciently . p. . chap. v. concerning the manner of collecting the king's revenues of the county , and the several kinds of them , with their several titles . p. . chap. vi. concerning the manner how the annual revenue of the co●nty was usually answered in the ancient times until e. . p. . chap. vii . the second period of the sheriffs accompts , viz. how they stood from e. . until h. . p. . chap. viii . touching the state of the sheriffs firmes from the statute of h. . till the th year of the reign of king charles . which is the second period . p. . chap. ix . the third period from the th year of king charles . untill the year of our lord , and how the sheriffs firmes and accompts stood in that intervall . p. . chap. x. the fourth period of the sheriffs firmes from the year unto this day and how they were answered in that intervall . p. . a short treatise touching sheriffs accompts . chap. i. touching the ancient and modern weight and allay of sterling silver . it will be necessary for the better understanding of sheriffs accompts , especially in the elder times , to examine these matters , viz. i. touching the denomination ▪ weight and allay of sterling money , the corruptions thereof in both , and the remedies that have been formerly applied for the reformation of these corruptions . ii. concerning firmes ▪ their nature , and how they were answered in former times . the first shall be the subject of this chapter , the second the subject of the next . concerning the former of 〈◊〉 i shall apply my self singly to the business of silver coin , because that was the usual species wherein the king 's firmes were commonly answered . and first , concerning the coin of silver , there are these things considerable therein . . the authority or power that gives it its stamp , weight , denomination and value . . the matter of it . . the weight and denomination . as concerning the first of these , it is , without all question , the inherent regality and prerogative of the crown , to give the currantness , allay , weight , denomination and extrinsique value to the coin of this kingdom : and as it is a part of his regality and prerogative , so it is a part of his regal revenue , which is called the king's seigniorage , or royalty , or coinage , viz. ordinarily , on every pound weight of gold , the king had for his coin s. out of which he paid to the master of the mint , for his work , sometimes ● . sometimes s. d. upon every pound weight of silver , the seigniorage , or coinage , answered to the king , in the time of king edw. . was peny weight , pondere , which about that time amounted to s. out of which he paid sometimes d. sometimes d. to the master . in the time of h. . the king's seigniorage of every pound weight of silver was d. see rot. parl. h. . pars . n. . although the authorization , denomination and stamp of coin was undoubtedly the king 's right , yet it appears by roger hawood , that in the troublesome times of king stephen , viz. an. dom. . omnes potentes , tam episcopi quam comites & barones , suam faciebant monetam . but henry the second coming to the crown , remedied this usurpation of the baronage : novam fecit monetam qu●e sola recepta erat & accepta in regno . and since that time , the exercise as well as the right of coining of money in the kingdom hath remained uninterruptedly in the crown . it is true , that by certain ancient privileges , derived by charter and usage from the crown , divers , especially of the eminent clergy , had their mints or coinages of money . as the abbot of st. edmunds ▪ bury , claus . h. . m. . dorso : and the archbishop of york claus . e. . pars . m. . . dorso , and some others . but although they had the profit of the coin , yet they had neither the denomination , stamp , nor allay : for upon every change of the coin by the king's proclamation , there issued over a mandate to the treasurer and barons to deliver a stamp over to those private mints to be used . but this liberty of coinage in private lords hath been long since disused , and in a great measure , if not altogether , reassumed by the statute of h. . cap. . . concerning the second , viz. the matter or species ▪ whereof the currant coin of this kingdom hath been made , it is gold or silver , but not altogether pure , but with an allay of copper , at least from the time of king h ▪ . and h. . though possibly in ancienter times the species whereof the coin was made might be pure gold or silver ; and this allay was that which gave the denomination of sterling to that coin , viz. sterling gold , or sterling silver : wherein there will be inquirable , . whence that denomination came . . how ancient that denomination was . . what was the allay that gave silver that denomination . for the former of these there are various conjectures , and nothing of certainty . spelman supposeth it to take that denomination from the esterlings , who , as he supposeth , came over and reformed our coin to that allay . of this opinion was cambden , a germanis , quos angli esterlings , ab orientali situ , vocarunt , facta est appellatio ; quos johannes rex , ad argentum in suam puritatem redigendam , primus evocavit : & ejusmodi ●●mmi esterlingi , in antiquis scripturis semper reperiuntur . some suppose that it might be taken up from the starre jud●eorum , who being the great brokers for money , accepted and allowed money of that allay , for currant payment of their stars or obligations . others from the impression of a sterling , or of an asterisck upon the coin. ▪ pur ceo que le form d'un stare , dont le diminutive est sterling , fuit impresst o● stamp sur ceo . auters pur ceo que le ▪ primer de cest standard ●uit coyn en le castle de sterlin in scotland pur le roy edw. . and possibly as the proper name of the fourth part of a peny was called a farthing , and ordinarily a ferling ; so in truth the proper name of a peny in th●se times was called a sterling , without any other reason of it than the use of the times and arbitrary imposition , as other names usually grow . for the old act of h : . called compositio mensurarum , tells us that denarius a●gliae sterlingus dicitur . and because this was the root of the measure , especially of silver coin , as will be shewed , therefore all our coin of the same allay was also called sterling , as five shillings sterling , five pounds sterling . . when this name of sterling came first in is uncertain , onely we are certain it was a denomination in use in the time of h. . or ed. . and after-ages . but it was not in use at the time of the compiling of doomsday , for if it were we should have found it there ▪ where there is so great occasion of mention of firmes , rents and payments . standard del mony en french est appel pied de mony per bodin , pes monetarum , qua●i princeps ibi pedem figit . matth. paris mag . hist . . b. in le an . de roy john le primier standard del english ▪ mony fuit establish en realm d' ireland , et fuit equal al primes , & que l'english mony ne fuit au quart part melior in value que l'irish , come ceo ad estre depuis le temps del edw. . et fuit change in ireland come ceo fuit change in engleterre . le primer difference & inequality inter les standards del english monies , & irish monies est troue in ed. . car donque fuit declare in parliament icy que le noble serra currant en cest realm pur s . & issint fuit que l'irish shilling forsque d . dengletre . hovenden in rich . fol. . b. videns igitur galfridus eboracensis electus , quod nisi mediante pecunia amorem regis ●ui nullatenus habere possit , promifit ei tria millia librarum sterlingorum pro amore ejus habendo . que fuit devant le temps del roy john ; pur que semble que le temps quant cest money fuit primerment coin est uncertain . car ascuns diont que fuit fait per osbright un roy de saxon race ans de●ant le norman conquest . nummus a numa que fuit le primer roy ▪ que fesoit moneies en rome . issint sterlings , alias esterlings , queux primes fesoient le money de cest standard en engleterre . . as touching the allay that is by use and custom fitted to that money which we call the sterling , or sterling allay ; perchance we shall not find that constancy in the allay as is generally thought . the sterling allay of gold , according to the red book of the exchequer is this . the pound weight of gold consists of twenty four charats , every charat weighing half an ounce of silver ; and every charat of gold consists of four grains , and consequently every grain of gold weighing thirty of these grains which we call silver grains , whereof hereafter . in the time of edw. . the pound of sterling gold consisted of twenty three charats , three grains and a half of pure gold , and half a grain of allay of copper . the sterling silver , as it seems to me , in former times had an allay differing from what it is at this day . at this day a pound weight of silver ( viz. ounces to the pound , or troy weight ) consists of eleven ounces two peny-weight of fine . silver , and eighteen peny-weight of allay or copper : every pound containing twelve ounces , and every ounce divided into parts called twenty peny-weight : for at that time peny-weight weighed one ounce , which though the peny-weight be altered , yet the denomination continues . and this allay was in use in the forty sixth year of king edw. . and for some time before , and hath continued ever since . in the treatise of money in the red book of the exchequer which seems to be written in the time of edw. . for it mentions the indentures of the mint in ed. . it is said the use was then that in every pound weight of sterling silver there was sixteen peny-weight of allay : the consequence whereof is that the pound of sterling silver then contained eleven ounces four peny-weight of fine silver , and sixteen peny-weight of copper . and it should seem by what follows in the chapter , that in the time of h. . the allay of copper in sterling silver was less than that : for upon every pound weight of silver money they used to allow peny-weight ad dealbandam firmam ; which seems to be the remedy for the reduction of the money then currant into fine silver , sed de hoc postea . but at this day , and for very many reasons , the allay of sterling silver hath been peny-weight of copper allowed to ounces peny-weight of fine silver ; thereby making up the pound weight troy of sterling . vid. indentures of the mint , claus . ed. . m. . dors . claus . . h. . m. . dors . claus . . ed. ▪ m. . and this i take at this day to continue the standard of sterling silver . e. . per special ordinance del roy les pollards & crockards fueront decrie & adnul , quel ordinance fuit transmit in realm d' ireland & enrol en exchequer icy , come est troue in libro rubra scaccarii , ibid. pars . fol. . b. en temps e. . denarius a●gli●e , qui nominatur sterlingus , rotundus fine tonsura , ponderabit triginta & duo grana in medio spic●e . sterlingus & de●arius sont tout un . le shilling con●istoit de sterlings . e. . cap. . le substance de cest denier ou sterling peny al primes fuit vicefima pars un●i●e . et issint continue tanq . e. . quant l'ounce del silver fuit tallie in pence que proportion fuit continue tanq . h. . quant l'ounce del silver fesoit pence ▪ et cest iusque al e. . quant fesoit pence . et cest iusques h. . quant il prepare son journy al bulloigne & donque fuit divide en pence . que continue iusques al el. quant l'ounce de pure silver fuit tallie en pence , & cest standard remain a cest jour . et qu●elibet libra de sterling avoit d . ob . d'allay de copper , & nient plus . et cest allay de sterling mony les ordinances ou statutes de e. . cap. . & h. . cap. . font mention , & est contein en touts indentures fait enter le roy & les maisters del mint . chap. ii. concerning the weight of coin , and the difference therein , with regard to the denomination of coin. the pound weight of gold though it were the same with that of silver , yet is made up of smaller parts of a different denomination , every pound weight consisting of charats , and every charat consisting of grains . the pound weight of silver is subdivided into parts of another denomination ; for every pound consists of peny-weights , and every peny-weight of grains . this appears by the books and records above mentioned . et touts susdits moneys dargent issint faites serront dallay de standard de veil esterling : cost ascavoir que chescun leivre dargent de cestes moneys de poize tiendra vnze ounces & d . de poize dargent fine , & d . de poys dallay , chescun peny weight containant grains . so that every charat in the pound weight of gold equals half an ounce of silver ; and every grain of gold , the fourth part of a charat , equals grains of silver weight . in that old ordinance , before mentioned called compositio mensurarum h. . it is said , per ordinationes totius regni angliae ●it una mensura domini regis composita , viz. quod denarius angliae , qui nominatur sterlingus , rotundus fine tonsura ponderabit triginta & duo grana frumenti in medio spic●e ; & viginti denarii faciunt vnciam ; & duodecim vnci●e faciunt libram , &c. but these thirty two grains in the middle of the ear of corn , are the natural grains , which were the weight of the then english sterling peny . but for the better accommodation of accompts , these natural grains are reduced to artificial grains , which , from very ancient time unt● this day are the common measure of the peny-weight , as the peny-weight is the measure of an ounce . having thus stated the artificial weights of gold , and silver , especially the latter , i shall proceed to the comparison that now and anciciently stands between these artificial weights and the coin of silver . it is very plain that in the latter end of h. . and the beginning of king ed. . and for a long time before , twenty pence of sterling money did weigh an ounce , and twelve times twenty pence or twenty shillings did then weigh a pound troy weight : and accordingly as twenty peny-weight was then an ounce , and so called , so two hundred forty pence , or twenty shillings was a pound weight , and so called , viz. libra argenti . and although at this day the peny and the shillings of silver is much altered in their true weight , yet the denomination is still retained . the ounce is commonly divided and estimated by peny-weight , and shillings is called libra argenti . in the time of king edw. . ( as appears ) an ounce of sterling silver made sterling pence , and consequently a pound of sterling silver made pence sterling . but process of time hath made a great alteration between the weight and extrinsique denomination or value of money . in e. . it appears by the indenture of the mint that a pound of sterling silver made then sterling pence . claus . . e. . m. . and afterwards in h. . the reduction of coin was such that a pound weight of sterling silver made pence sterling . claus . . h. . m. . dorso . which made the pound weight of silver to contain shillings , and deducting shilling for coinage , the merchant had shillings for his pound of silver brought into the mint . in the th year of ed. . the pound of sterling silver yielded shillings viz. about pence in the pound : and consequently sterling pence then made the ounce of silver . claus . . e. . m. . at this day the ounce of silver coined contains shillings , or pence : and consequently the pound weight of coined silver yields sterlings or pence . so that at this day the extrinsecal denomination or value of money in proportion to its weight , is three times higher than it was in the time of e. . and thus much shall suffice touching the second enquiry . chap. iii. touching the corruptions of money , and the remedies anciently used in relation thereunto . by what hath been before said it appeareth , the two special requisites of the currant coin of this kingdom are , i. that it be of the true standard in relation to its weight . ii. of the true standard with relation to its allay : and proportionably to these two requisites are these defects , which have hapned in moneys in modern and ancient times , viz. i. the defect in the due weight of money which hapned sometimes by counterfeiting the sterling money , though with a weight below the standard . sometimes by clipping , or otherwise impairing the weight of true money . . the defect in the due allay : viz. overcharging the fine silver or gold with an allay of copper more than the standard , which hapned sometimes by the deceit or ignorance of the officers of the mint , and sometimes by the counterfeiture of the coin of england . and by these practices the king's exchequer ( into or through which the most of the money of the kingdom successively came ) was many times surcharged with such defective money , and the king thereby deceived in his firmes . and therefore in ancient times there were successive experiments made by the officers of the king's revenue for the discovery and avoiding of these defective monies and that his rents might be answered in money of a just weight and allay ; which , for the better understanding of ancient records , remain here to be explicated , viz. solutio ad scalam , solutio ad pensum , and combustion , or tryal by fire . the two former being such remedies as related to defective weight , and the latter being the remedy that relates to defect in the standard of allay . and , touching this business , although we have very frequent mention of them , in the pipe-rolls especially , yet the best , and contemporary exposition of them is gervasius tilburiensis , or the black book of the exchequer , written in the time of h ▪ . who gives us the accompt thereof in his first book , cap. a quibus , & ad quid inventa fuit argenti examinatio , who thus expounds it . . solutio ad scalam , viz. proeter quamlibet libram numeratam sex denarios , which it seems was agreed upon a medium to be the common estimate or remedy for the defective weight of money , thereby to avoid the trouble of weighing the money which was brought into the exchequer . and this is the meaning of that frequent expression in the ancient pipe-rolls in thesauro l. ad scalam , which seems to be one hundred pounds , and one hundred sixpences , or fifty shillings . . solutio ad pensum : which was the payment of money into the exchequer by full weight , viz. that a pound , or s. in silver , numero , or by tale , should not be received for a pound unless it did exactly weigh a pound weight troy , or twelve ounces , and if it wanted any , that then the payer should make good the weight by adding other money although it amounted to more or less than d. in the pound ( which was the solutio ad scalam , as before is mentioned . ) and thus frequently occurs in the pipe-rolls , in thesauro l. and pensum , or full weight . . combustion or tryal by fire : which is by gervase supposed to be set on foot by the bishop of salisbury , then treasurer , ( though in truth it were much more ancient , as appears by frequent passages in the book of doomsday : ) and the author gives the reason : licet enim numero & pondere videretur esse satisfactum , non tamen materia . consequens enim non erat ut si pro libra una numerata solidos , etiam libra ponderis respondentis consequenter libram solvisset : argentum enim cupro vel quovis aere solvisset . and thereupon ensued the constitution of examination of money at the exchequer by combustion . whether this examination was to reduce an equation of money onely to sterling , viz. a due proportion of allay with copper ; or to reduce it to fine and pure silver , and to make the estimate of the pound or libra argenti , reserved of their firmes to be in pure silver , and without allay , doth not so clearly appear . some think the former ; and therefore that the old expression of firma alba , blank firm , and dealbare firmam , was nothing else but coin melted down and reduced to the allay of sterling , and after blanched , or whited , as is done by the moneyers with their sterling coin of silver , which is to this day called blanching . vid. spelman i● tit . firmam dealbare . but yet it may seem , by what ensues , that it was to reduce it to fine silver , and to the estimate of the pound , or libra argenti accordingly ; for it is evident by what follows , that the difference between a pound , or libra argenti numero , and libra argenti blanch , was pence in every pound : which possibly might be that the allowed allay of copper in the sterling silver was then twelve pence weight of copper in the pound of fine silver , whereas it is now peny-weight in the pound . this tryal of silver by combustion , in those elder ages soon prevailed and obtained against the former reductions ad scalam , & ad pensum , as being the onely infallible tryal of the truth of the metal , whereby the former reductions of pensum and scalam became in time antiquated . and this begat the distinction in the old rolls of the estimate of money numero , and the estimate blanc : and in pursuance thereto the reservations of rents and firmes by the king were sometimes numero , and sometimes blanc . the reservations of rents numero were no other but so much money reserved in pecuniis numeratis : as reddendo quinque libras numero was fivescore shillings , which amounted in common estimation to five pounds troy weight : and this was the ancient and usual reservation , and , prima facie , unless the contrary were expressed , upon all grants of lands ( reserving so much rent ) it was intended numero ; that is , so much in money numbred , and the firmor was not bound dealbare firmam , or to make good so much in fine silver , or , if you will , in such silver as was of the first allay . the reservation of so much money , or so many pounds blanc did enforce the firmor to make good to the king so much in fine silver , ( or at least in the purest sterling ) and therefore such firmor , when he paid in his firme upon such a reservation blanc , was bound dealbare firmam , which was to submit his money to the test of the fire ; and to answer his money , and make it good in fine silver according to the reservation , or to pay in allowance thereof that rate which was the ordinary measure of reduction of it to fine silver , which was d. for every pound as shall be shewed . and hereupon grew the common difference which is every-where mentioned in the pipe-rolls of firmes numero , and firmes blanc or alb . firme . this difference of these firmes is expounded by the black book of the exchequer , lib. . cap. quid sit quosdam fundos dari blanc , quosdam numero , viz. that if a firme or tenement were let by the king generally , without expressing blanc or numero , it was to be answered onely numero , unless specially reserved blanc , ( viz. s. blanc . ) but if a royalty or franchise were onely granted , then the general reservation of so much rent , was to be blanc rent . porro , firmam numero dari diximus cum tantum numerando , non examinando ipso satisfit . cum ergo rex firmam alicui contulerit , simul cum hundredo vel placito quoe ex hoc proveniunt , firma dealbari dicitur : sin simpliciter fundum dederit ( non determinans cum hundredo vel blanc . ) numero datus dicitur . and from this diversity of the rents arising in any county ( some blanc onely , some numero onely , some in both ) arose the diversity in the titling of the sheriffs accompts , viz. firma de remanente comitatus post terras datas blanc : which was applicable to those rents of his county , which were answered in fine silver reduced to the test by combustion , or with an allowance of d. in the pound in compensation of it . firma comitatus numero , was his firme for those rents of his county which were onely answered in money numbred , without reducing them to their fineness by combustion , or any satisfaction for it : but of this more fully in the ensuing chapter . i have before mentioned that when any firme was reserved or answered blanc , the money was to be melted and answered in fine silver , or at least to silver allayed to right and finest sterling ; or else he was to redeem himself from that trouble by payment of d. in the pound : so that that person upon whom there was reserved l. blanc was to pay l. s. if he would not have his money melted down and made good in fine silver ( or at least in true sterling . ) and this appears to be true by infinite records : take two or three for instance . in compoto cum northampton , h. . summa totalis l . s . d . de qua l . s . d . blanc , quoe sunt extensoe ad l . s . d . subtrahuntur ad perficiendum corpus comitatus & remanet l . s . d . de quibus respondet de proficuo in magno rotulo . claus . . h. . m. . sciatis quod perdonavimus dilectoe sorori nostroe a. comitissoe pembroc centum triginta & quinque libras blanc , quoe extensoe sunt ad ▪ centum quadraginta & unum libras , & quindecim solidos . in compoto bedf. & bucks , e. nic. passelew de l. s. d. numero pro l. s. blanc . in all these the proportion riseth very near , bating the small fragments in pence , that every pound blanc answered one shilling over , to reduce it to its value . and hence it is that at this day the ancient firmors of cities , as london , &c. which were commonly reserved blanc , do pay the same in sterling money , and one shilling for every pound over : as if l. blanc be reserved , there is answered at this day in the receipt l. which , as before , makes me suppose that blanc firme , or dealbata firma , was in truth when it was reduced to fine silver , and not barely sterling : for this advance of d. in the pound upon such blanc firmes is still answered though paid in sterling . chap. iv. concerning the manner of answering the king's firmes anciently . in ancient times , viz. about the time of william the first and henry the second , the reservation of the king 's firmes and rents were so many pounds or shillings , &c. in money , and they were answered numero , or in pecuniis numeratis , untill afterward for the avoiding of corrupt money , they were reserved in blanc or white money , which , as before is observed , was intended either of pure silver , ( or at least silver reduced to the allay of sterling ) and then whitened or blanched , as is used in the mint to this day , for all sterling money : i shall not much contend whether it were the one or the other , but for the most part in this discourse i shall suppose it fine silver . but although firmes were reserved in money , as the best and commonest measures of values , yet it appears by tilburiensis , lib. . cap. a quibus & ad quid instituta fuit argenti examinatio ; that it was in those ancient times of king w. . and h. . usually practised that those firmes should , according to their values be answered in cattle , corn and other provisions ; which perchance in its first institution might be a convenience to the king , to have his family furnished with provisions in specie , and to the country , among whom money was not then very plentifull , and they could better answer their rents in provisions . and to the end that an equation might be made between the rents reserved in money and the provision delivered by the tenants in lieu thereof , the same tilburiensis tells us , there were certain prices and rates set upon provisions , that the tenant might know what to pay , and the king's officers might know what to receive . as for wheat for men d. for a fat ox d. &c. which it seems were dilivered to the hands of the sheriff who , if he firmed the county , might retain it to his own use ; but if he firmed it not he accompted to the king , for these provisions or their values , as he did for other rates of the county collected by him . but as for cities and franchises that were granted out to firme , because they had not provisions of this nature to answer , they paid their rents in money . thus , it seems , the king 's firmes of rents of his firmors and tenants in the country were answered in the time of king william the first and william his son . but in the time of h. . the tenants were weary of answering their rents in provisions , and the king 's foreign occasions called rather for a supply of money , and so the rents were answered by the tenants as formerly in money according to the tenour of their reservations , and the delivery of victual and other provisions in lieu thereof ceased . chap. v. concerning the manner of collecting the king's revenues of the county , and the several kinds of them with their several titles . the sheriff of the county had a double office : . as a minister of justice under the king for the preservation of peace , and writs issuing from the king's courts ▪ . as the king's bayliff of his revenues arising in the county , which was of two kinds . . the improving and letting , and sometimes stocking of the king's demesnes , and such lands as were seized into the king's hands ( other than such as belonged to the escheator , as wardships and escheats . ) and hence it is that there are upon the accompts , especially of buckingham and bedford , allowances made to the sheriff of that county ut ..... comitatus . . the second part of his office was in collecting of the king's rents of his county , which sometimes he did as custos or bayly ; sometimes ut firmarius , viz. he took the rents to his own use , and answered the king a certain firme or rent at his own peril , whereof more in the ensuing discourse . now concerning the kinds of the king's revenues arising in the several counties , we are to take notice that they were of two kinds , viz. annual or casual . the annual revenue was again of two kinds , viz. fixed and certain , or casual and uncertain . the annual , fixed and certain revenue of the counties were of these kinds . . the king's demesnes that were in his own hands , or let at rack rents to tenants , whereof i have before spoken , and they make not much for that purpose i aim at . . firmes , which were of two kinds , viz. gross firmes which were charged upon particular persons , or cities , or towns , and so charged in the great roll ; as thus , philippus d'aura debet marc. de reditu unius virgate terre . and these were thus charged upon these two reasons : . either because they were never parcel of the sheriffs firme of this county , ( de quo infra , ) but great firmes written out to the sheriff to be answered by the persons upon whom they were charged . . or else they were such as happened to be reserved after the firme of the county was reduced to certainty and answered by the sheriffs . or else , secondly , they were small rents commonly called vicontiel rents ; the particulars whereof we shall enumerate under their several heads in due time . . common fines , at first imposed upon townships , upon several occasions , as for bon pleder , for suit and ward , for excuse of attending the sheriffs turn : and these grew in process of time to be fixed and setled revenues . and these again were of two sorts ; such as came within the title of firma comitatus , and were written out under that general head , viz. sub nomine vicecomitis : and some again were written to the sheriff in the particular charge of such and such townships and lands , and so charged upon the towns by the express words of the process . . arrentations of assarts and purprestures in wasts and forests set by justices in eyre , which for the most part were written out in charge against the particular lands upon which they were charged : and some perchance were demanded in a gross summ , among other small rents sub nomine vicecomitis . . crementum comitatus , or firma de cremento comitatus ; which were some improvements of the king's rents above the ancient vicontiel rents , for which the sheriff answered under the title of firma comitatus . and this crementum comitatus or the several small advances of the old vicontiel rents , were answered under the title of crementum comitatus , or firma de cremento comitatus . but those kinds of firmes de cremento are onely found in the counties of bedford , bucks , norfolk , suffolk , warwick , leicester , wigorn and gloucester : certain other summs annually charged in gross upon the sheriff for certain other small or minute rents under several titles in several counties ; as , de cornagio , de wardis , castle de firma , purprest & escaet de diversis firmis , de minutis particulis , serjancia de tr̄is assert infra divers forest : all which were charged in gross summs upon the sheriff , and sub nomine vic. without expressing any particulars , or upon whom they were charged , which because they were not common to all countries , but varied according to the various usage of several counties , i shall not at large handle , but shall content my self with the enquiry into those that were the common charges of the sheriffs of every several county , viz. the corpus comitatus , and the proficua comitatus . the vicontiel rents that made up the sheriffs firme of the body of the county , came under various titles and denominations in several counties , viz. . reditus assize in cumberland , hertford , surry . . firme & feodi firme in cumberland , northumberland , nottingham , stafford . . firma antiqua in huntington . . albe firme in norf. & suff. . blanch firmes in ebor ’ , & suff. . blanc rents in kent . . albus cervus in dorset . . auxilium vicecom ’ in cant ’ , cumbr ’ , essex , hunt ’ , leic ’ , north ’ , sussex , warw ’ , wilts . . auxilium ad turcum vicecom ’ in devon. . hidage in berks , bedf. bucks , oxon. . prestatio pro pulchre placitando in bedf ’ , bucks . . secta & warda in bedf ’ , bucks . . visus franci plegii in bedf ’ , bucks , cant ’ , hunt ’ , essex , hertford , north'ton , somerset , south'ton , stafford . . certitudines in berks , here 's ’ , rutland . . certi reditus in lincóln , leicester , somerset , south’ton , warwick & wilts . . certi reditus ad communem finem in derby , nottingham . . reditus pro warda castri in cant ’ , northum ’ , oxon , nor● ▪ , & suff ’ . . reditus ad turnum hundredi in dorset . . finis antiq●us in essex . . finis pro secta curie relaxand ’ in berks & oxon. . communes fines in glouc ’ , heref ’ , hert● , ●urry , suffolc , salop. . fi●es aldermanno●um in sussex . . turnum vicecom ’ in essex & hert● . . secta burg. & vill. in cant ’ . . suit silver in staf● . . hundred silver in nor● . . faith silver in staf● . . pannel silver in nor● . . ward silver in essex . . certum lete cum capitag ’ in nor● . . leet fee in suff ’ . . soken fees in suff ’ . . mott fee in salop ▪ these are the general titles of those vicontiel rents that usually came under the title of firma comitatus , which were written generally sub nomine vicecom ' , without expressions of the parti●ulars : but the sheriff that had a particular roll of these vicontiel rents , delivered in that roll many times upon his accompts , though not written especially ●n charge under those names , or in par●icular by the summons of the pipe : and thus much concerning the certain annual revenue ▪ . the uncertain annual revenue was the proficuum comitatus , which in ancient times when most of the law-suits were transacted in the counties and hundred-court , was a considerable revenue . but since that time , viz. about the beginning of e. . when much of that business was transacted at the great courts , this profit of the county sunk to very little . and in my enquiry touching this part of the revenue , i shall first set down what it was not : secondly , i shall set down what it was , and how it did arise . . touching the former of these what it was not ; i say , most clearly it w●● not that profit which is now th● onely considerable profit of the sheriffs employments , viz. the fees and perquisites for the execution of writs , and process and execution issuing out of the king's courts . for , . untill the stat. of h. . c. . there were no fees at all by law due for any execution of process or warrants for the same . till the sta● . of el. . there were no fees allowed by law for levying of debts or damages : but by the express provision of the sta● . of westminster the first , the sheriff was bound to execute the king's process without any fee , which is no other ▪ but a declaration of the common law. . in no viscontil schedule or accompt of the county that ever i could see or hear of , is there any accompt for fees for execution of process , or any mention thereof . . if the sheriff did in those elder times take any fees for execution of writs , there was no colour of reason that he should 〈◊〉 for that : and if he did take more than a reasonable recompence for his pains , it was more than could be justified , and not at all due to the king. ii. but now , as to the second enquiry , what this proficuum comitatus was : and it seems very plain that it was made up principally by these particulars , as most evidently appears by divers accompts of sheriffs in ancient times , when they accompted ut custodes or ballivi , not ut firmarii , viz. . the fines , issues and amercements , and other profits of the county-courts , which in those ancient times were very considerable , for it held plea in all writs that were vicontiel , directed immediately to the sheriff out of the chancery , viz. by justices ; and many times not onely personal suits were removed thither out of inferiour court-barons and hundred-courts , but also pleas real , viz. writs of right ; and in ancient time many real actions , especially writs of right were determined in the county . and therefore it is frequent in the old schedules of proficua comitatus , especially in ●orkshire in the times of r. . and king john , such as these , viz. de j. s. pro licentia concordandi demimark . de j. s. pro warrantia essonii s. and sometimes a mark ▪ pro mi'a comitatus , sometimes s. quia retraxit se , demimark . de pretio bonorum per distringas demimark . pro transgressione s. pro falso clamore demimark , &c. so that it appears in the accompt of johannis regis , the profits of the bare county-court of york for one half year amounted to li. which is more than l. in a just estimate at this day . . the profits of the sheriffs turns , or the sheriffs leets , which had conusance of matter criminal , as his county-court was for matters civil ▪ and the profit consisted , . in amercements of sutors that made default . . in the fines and amercements of such as were convict of offences inquirable in the turn ; as nusances , bloudshed , assize of bread and beer , &c. and these arose usually to a considerable summ yearly . . the profits of the hundred-courts and wappentake-courts ; the profits whereof consisted in the fines , amercements and other perquisites of the hundred-court , which the sheriff sometimes took in kind ; sometimes he let it to firme . these baylywicks of these hundreds , and with them the profits and perquisites of courts were sometimes let to firme by the king , and in such cases the sheriff accompted proficua ballivatus , which often-times arose to very considerable summs . in the time of h. . the firmes of the baylywicks of the hundreds in torkshire , beside stancliff and strafford , were let for l. s. d. per annum , which was then a considerable summ , and amounts now in sterling money to thrice as much . but as the business and jurisdiction of the hundred-courts sunk gradually in their employment , ( whereby the perquisites now do but little surmount the charge of keeping them ) so now by the stat. of h. . cap. . the sheriff is restrained from letting the baylywick to firme ; and most of the hundreds , at least in many counties , are disjoined from the county and granted out , some in fee-farm , and some otherwise , though there have been frequent attempts of rejoining them to the sheriffs by acts of resumption . and these are the profits that made up the proficuum comitatus , for which the sheriff most commonly in ancient time answered as firmarius at a certain rent , though sometimes he accompted for it as custos or ballivus as ●hall be shewn . and i know no other ▪ perquisite that made up the prof●c●●m comitatus but what is above mentioned ; onely in northumberland there were some castle gard-rents that were in truth vicontiel rents , and in their propriety and nature belonged to the corpus comitatus , which yet by constant usage were usually answered among the proficua comitatus . and thus far concerning the annual revenue of the county , both certain and uncertain , chargeable upon the sheriffs collection . . the revenue casual consisted of many particles under various heads or titles , viz. debts drawn into the pipe , and thence written out unto the sheriff . fines voluntary or compulsary . seisures of lands and compositions , &c. they may be reduced under these three heads at this day . . the debts written out to the sheriff from the several offices , viz. the two remembrancers , clerk of the pipe , &c. . the summons of the gree● wax , written to the sheriff with the estreats from the treasurer's remembrancers . . the foreign accompt , or seisures of lands for debts or forfeitures . as touching escheated lands and wardships they came under the escheator's charge , and the profits thereof rarely answered by the sheriff , unless ●or some few ancient e●cheats . chap. vi. concerning the manner how the annual revenue of the county was usually answered in the ancient times untill e. . having shewed what the annual profits of the county consisted of , i shall now descend to the manner how it was anciently answered . the sheriff , as hath been shewn was the king's bayly for the collecting of the king's revenue : and touching the manner of his collecting and answering them , and therein principally concerning those two great parts of the annual revenue , viz. the corpus comitatus , or when it was in firme , the firma corporis comitatus : and the proficuum comitatus , and when it was in firme , the firma de profic●o comitatus ; both which shall be hereafter more fully explained . these profits were anciently , and are to this day , answered at two terms in the year , viz. michaelmas and easter . but to enable the more effectual levying of them , there always issued to the sheriff before easter and michaelmas , out of the exchequer a writ called the summons of the pipe , which had annexed to it the charge or summs for which the sheriff was answerable , viz. those which were charged upon himself sub nomine vicecomitis , and those which are charged upon others . the form of the writ is recorded in the black book of the exchequer , lib. . cap. qualiter fient summonitiones ; which continue to this day , viz. rex vic ’ ebor ’ salutem . vide ficut teipsum & omnia tua diligas quod sis ad scaccarium nostrum westm ’ in cro ’ sancti michaelis , vel in cro ’ clausi paschae , & habeas ibi quicquid debes de vetere firma vel nova : et nominatim haec debita subscripta . and then the whole charge is inserted which commonly began with these annual revenues , viz. de corpore comitatus ( or if it were in firme ) de firma de corpore com. bl . de numero comitatus . de proficuo comitatus ( or if in firme ) de firma de proficuo com. and then the summ in gross charged upon the sheriff for divers small rents , and then afterwards all those firmes that were charged upon particular persons seriatim and in order . and according to the order where in they were written out to the sheriff , accordingly in effect were the accompts passed , and the entries made thereof in the great roll of the pipe , onely the particulars in the writ was their charge of the sheriff , unto which he was to give his answer upon his accompt , and then there are entred his discharges . and this firme continues there to this day , with such alterations as are hereafter mentioned : and therefore the ordinance or statute in libro rubro scaccarii , fol. . made in h. . is nothing else but the stable and fixed method for writing the great roll , observed both before and since that day . primò , scribatur corpus comitatus , deinde eleemosyne constitute , & liberationes & bria ’ prisci vicecom ’ ficut semper fuit consuetum . deinde oneretur vic ’ de firmis pro proficuo comitatus vel de proficuis : deinde scribantur omnes firme tam majores quam minores , &c. and although the certain debet of the sheriff could not be known before the finishing of his accompt , because it could not be known what he levied , and what not ; and what he had paid , and what not ; ( which accompt was not untill the end of his year ) yet it seems there was anciently an estimate what this constant charge of the annual revenue amounted unto , and what the constant allowances amounted unto , according to a medi●m , or possibly according to those firmes and gross summs which were charged immediately upon the sheriff sub nomine vicecomitis ; and these summs were paid into the exchequer at the return of the writ of summons of the pipe , and they were , and are to this day called profre vicecom ' , or the sheriffs profsers . and by the statute of h. . called statutum de scaccario , those profsers are appointed to be paid on the morrow of st. michael , and the morrow post clausum ▪ paschae ; and the payment of these profsers are continued to this day : but although they are paid , yet if upon the conclusion of the sheriffs accompt , and after the allowances and discharges had by him , it appears that he be in surplusage , or that he is charged with more than indeed he could receive , he hath sometimes , and for the most part , all his profsers paid or allowed to him again : and so indeed it is but a mock ▪ payment , a payment kept on foot to maintain the old method of his accompt , but is in effect but so much money lent , for he hath it ( and justly enough ) allowed to him back again : the reason and justice whereof shall be shewn hereafter . and now to return again from whence we digressed , i shall now search out the meaning of these firmes , corpus comitatus bl . and numerus comitatus , and firma de corpore comitatus , and proficua comitatus , and firma de proficuo comitatus , i mean as they relate to the sheriffs accompt for what the things were is sufficiently discovered before . therefore as to the corpus comitatus , i have already shewn in the precedent chapter , what it consisted of , viz. the vicontiel rents of the county ; and they consisted of two sorts of payment , viz. those that were answered in blanch money , and those ▪ that were answered in money numbred . and this ordinarily made two titles of the corpus comitatus in most counties , vi● . where there were firmes of these dif●ering natures , and they are then thus noted , viz. de corpore comitatus . l. bl . de numero comitatus and they were written out thus generally , without expressing the several vicontiel rents , but onely the gross summs what they amounted to blanc , and what they amounted to numero , or de numero comitatus . and the sheriff upon his accompt was used to bring in a vicontiel roll , containing these particular vicontiel rents , what they were and what he had levied . by this it appears that in the first consti●●tion of this vi●ontiel accompt the sheriff accompted for these rents as bayly or custos , and answered what he levied though they were written out , and stood upon the great roll all in a lump , and when the sheriff accompted thus , he accompted as custos or bayly . but in process of time ( but that time very ancient ) the sheriff for the time being took the corpus comitatus or vicontiel rents to firme , which firme for the most part amounted to very nea● the entire quantity of the vicontiel rents . and this firme in many counties was very ancient , for we find them mentioned in the pipe rolls of the time of king j●hn and ● . . and by this means the sheriff was to answer at his peril his firme , for it became his own debt , and he was to gather up the vicontiel rents to his own use to make himself a saver . she sheriffs commission hereupon was with the reservation of the firme , and although we have not memorials of ●ll those reservations , yet of some we have . int●r communia of e. . bedf. bucks , rex . jan. anno . commisit will. turvil com ’ bedf. & bucks cum pertinent ’ c●stodient quamdiu regi placuerit redde●do inde per annum quantum johannes palam ●uper vicecomes eorund●m reddere consuevit . and by little and little this grew into a usage , the succeeding sheriff answering the firme of the county , and of the profits of the county as his predecessor had done ▪ whereby the firma comitatus and the firma de proficuis comitatus became as setled firmes charged upon the sheriff though there w●●e no express reservation of it upon his patent or commission of sheriff . and because these firmes were in their first reservation proportioned to the value and nature of those rents , which now the sheriff had , as before the king had them , in specie ; hence the sheriffs firme of the county or body of the county as it was proportionable to the same , answered for the vicontiel rents ; so it was proportioned to their nature , viz. because some of the vicontiel rents were in blanc money , the sheriffs firme corresponding to that was answered in blanc money : and some of those rents being answered numero , the sheriffs firme corresponding thereto was answered numero . and by this accompt the charge both upon the summons of the pipe and upon the great roll was altered viz. whereas the former style of the charge was de corpore comitatus blanc & numero , now it was changed , viz. de firma de corpore com ’ l. bl . de numero comitatus ad thus the manner of the charge stood for the times of h. . and e. . and for some time before , a● least in some counties : and so it continues to this day with such alterations as shall be shewn . and as the corpus comitatus thus by usage grew a firme , or rent charged upon the sheriff , so also did the crementum comitatus , in those counties where such crementa was answered , viz. de firma comitatus l. de numero comitatus de cremento comitatus all being governed by the word firma ▪ for , as i have said , a long letting of these vicontiels to firme , had brought them to be a setled charge , charged upon , and answered by the sherif● ; and he gathered up the vicontiels to his own use , to make himself a saver , and to make good his firme . and thus much concerning the answering and altering of the charges of the vicontiels , or the corpus comitatus both before and after it was in firme . . as concerning the proficuum comitatus , the proceeding was much the same as that concerning the corpus comitatus . in the ancienter times , when the proficua comitatus was at all answered by the sheriff , it was answered by him , as custos or bayly upon accompt : though in some ancient pipe-rolls , for some counties we find no distinct mention of it ; as in the pip●-roll of . r. . glouc. herbertus reddit compotum de l. s. d. bl . de firma comitatus . the like , ibid. johannis . but very frequently afterwards the sheriffs , when they had the corpus comitatus , or the certain annual revenues under a firme , yet answered the proficua comitatus as custos or bayly : for instance , pipe-roll r. . bedf. & bucks , simon de bello campo reddit compotum de l. s. d. bl . et de l. s. d. numero , de firma comita ’ , without mentioning the proficua comitatus . but in the pipe-roll h. . bedf. & bucks , paulinus pejor , ut firmarius reddit compotum de l. s. d. bl . & de l. numero de firma comitatuum . idem vicecomes reddit compotum de marc ’ pro proficuo comitat. and anno h. . alexander hampden , ut firmarius reddit compotum de l . s . d . bl . & de l . numero , de firma comitatuum . idem a. reddit compotum de marc ’ pro proficuo comitat’●icut conti●etur in originali . and in h. . galfridus rus ut firmarius de anno reddit compotum de l . s . d . bl . & de l numero de firma comitat ’ . idem galfridus reddit compotum de marc ’ pro proficuo comitatus de anno . ●icut continetur in quodam rotulo attachiato originali ejusdem anni . and in the year following , edvardus filius regis primogenitus , bartho● ▪ de ire●e subvicecomes ejus reddit pro ●o per breve regis , compotum de l . s . d . bl ▪ & l . numero de firma comitatus hoc anno . idem e ▪ vic ’ non reddit de aliquo proficuo comitat ’ quia rex ei commi●it dictos comitatus respond ’ inde per annum de antiqua firma corporis , ●icut co●tinetur in originali anni precede●t●s . and so in the great roll of h. . glouc. reginaldus de ale de l. s. d. de firma com ’ . idem vicecomes reddit compotum de marc ’ pro proficuo com ’ & exit ’ ville & nundinorum & hundredi de wencham sicut continetur in quodam rotulo , &c. and so it continued in the time of e. . by which it is evident , . that sometime there was nothing at all answered pro proficuis , but it was cast into the firme of the county . . that although the body of the county , consisting of a certain yearly revenue was in firme , yet often-times the proficua comitatus were not in firme , but the sheriff accompted for them ut custos , sometime higher , sometime lower , as the profits arose . but in process of tim● the proficua comitatus , at least in some counties , fell under a firme , though in some counties sooner , in some later ; and having once begun to be in firme , the succeeding sheriff took it as his predecessour left it ; and so it became in time a setled firme , though not expressly reserved upon the patent of every sheriff . and yet in such cases it was become a setled firme , by usage and custome ; yet when the sheriff found that his firme was too great for these profits ( which were casual , sometimes more , sometimes less ) he was in those elder times admitted to accompt ut custos , without being bound to answer his entire firme , unless he saw fit . but that was rarely in use after the time of h. . and accordingly it seems to be intimated in that ordinance of h. . above mentioned , for writing the great roll of the pipe , viz. de firmis pro proficuis , vel de proficuis . and this shall suffice for the unriddling of the sheriffs accompts till the and ed. . chap. vii . the second period of the sheriffs accompts , viz. how they stood from e. . untill h. . we have in the former chapter seen how the statute of the sheriffs accompts stood in relation to the annual revenue of the county , whether certain or uncertain , and both stand now reduced under a firme , viz. . the corpus comitatus answered under a firme ; partly blanc , and partly numero . . the proficua comitatus gradually also reduced into a firme intirely numero ; but with a liberty for the sheriff to ease himself of the excess of his firme above the profits , by submitting to an accompt of these profits as bayly or custos . it fell out in process of time that the kings of england granted away many of those vicontiel rents , and the lands upon which some of them were charged , whereby the sheriff lost much of what was to make up the firme of his county . and although the sheriffs , upon shewing thereof upon their accompts , had an allowance of that which was so granted away , yet it made a trouble and disorder in the sheriffs accompts . and therefore it was necessary to have some provision for the same , but this onely concerned that part of his firme which was of the corpus comitatus , or the firme of the certain annual revenue . therefore by the stat. of r●tland e. . this provision is setled . quod non scribatur de cetero corpora comitatum in rotulis singulis , quin scribantur in quodam rotulo annuali per se , & legantur fingulis annis super compotum vicecomitis fingula , viz. in ●ingulis comitatibus ▪ ut sciatur si quid nobis possit accidere in quocunque comitatu . reman●nt vero eorundem comitatuum post terr●s datas scribatur in rotulis annualibus & onerent●r inde vicec●mites . in quibus quidem remanentib●s all●●entur liberationes ▪ eleemosyne , &c. scribantur etiam in eisdem ro●ulis annualibus firme vicecomitum , proficui comitatus , firme serjantiar ’ & assartor ’ , firme civitatum , burgorum & villarum , & alie firme de quibus est respo●sum annuatim ad scaccarium predictum . scriba●tur i● eisdem omnia debita terminata & omnia grossa debita de quibus spes est quod aliquod inde reddi possit . item om●ia debita quae videntur esse clara , tit●lum de novis obtatis . nihil scribatur in rotulo annuali ni●i ea de quib●s est spes , &c. de firmis vero mortuis & debitis de quibus non est spes , fiat u●●s rotulus , & irrotulentur & legantur singulis annis super compot ’ vicecom ’ & debita de quibus vicecomes respondeba● scribantur in rotulo annuali & ib● acquietent●r . and by this act these alterations were made . i. the state of the yearly rents which heretofore made up the corpus comitatus was ▪ examined , and it was considered what parts thereof had been granted out by the king , to the end that the sheriffs fi●me of the body of the county might be abated with respect to those grants ; which reduction of the firme is stiled remane●tia firme post terras datas . ii. the old stile of corpus comitatus was now put out of the charge , and whereas formerly the sheriffs charge was de firma de corpore c●mitatus , now it was changed , and the charge was de remanente firme post terras datas : and accordingly it was forthwith altered in the great roll , onely when those remaining rents that were to make good this remanentia firme , did consist of rents blanc , or of rents numero onely , it was accordingly written , viz. in this manner . de remanente firme de com ’ l. bl . de numero comitatus iii. there was to be extracted out of the great roll the old rents that made up the corpus comitatus and the title thereof , and those firmes that were firme mortue or obsolete , illeviable firmes , and those debts that were desperate , and the great roll of the pipe ( which was written every year ) was to be disburthened of them , and they were to be transcribed into another roll called an exannual roll. this exannual roll to be yearly read to the sherif● upon his accompt , to see what might be gotten : and if any thing appeared to be good , then the same to be recharged again upon the great roll of the pipe. iv. but there was no alteration hereby made of the firma de proficuis : so that by this act as in relation to the firmes and rents of the county these things were done . . those firmes or rents that were wholly granted away , were wholly put out of charge , whether they were assart rents or firmes charged upon particular persons or land , or that were within the sheriffs firme as vicontiel rents . . if any vicontiel rents that made up the sheriffs firma de corpore comitatus were granted out , the sheriffs firme was abated in respect thereof . . if there were any obsolete or dead rents , that were either vicontiel rents or charged upon particular lands or persons which had not been a long time answered , they together with the corpus comitatus were removed out of the annual roll and transmitted into the exannual roll read yearly to the sheriff , to see whether any hope of levying them : but their writing out in charge in the great roll suspended till they might be after discovered to be leviable . and accordingly presently after the making of this act , the firme of the sheriffs charge in the summons of the pipe and the entry thereof upon the great roll was changed , and this memorial is made upon the pipe-roll for every county . corpus hujus comitatus non annotatur hic , sed annotatur in quodam rotulo in quo scribuntur omnia corpora comitatuum angliae in manu regis existentia simul cum firmis mortuis & debitis quasi desperatis quae debe●t singulis annis legi & recitari super compotum vic ’ ut sciatur quid inde accidere possit regi ex quacunque causa que sunt in thesauro . in quibus etiam continetur quod inde vicecomites onerentur in compotis suis predictis de remanentibus firmarum comitatuum post ●erras datas . et quod in eisdem remanentibus allocentur liberationes & eleemosyne constitute & alie allocationes si quas vic ’ habuerint per br'ia regis de eorundem exitibus . and according to this act and memorandum the great roll was certified : for instance , before this act the great roll for gloucester did run thus . j. f. reddit compotum de l . . s d . blanc . de firma comitatus . but after this alteration it runs thus . in the great roll e. . rogerus de lockington vicecomes reddit compotum de l . s . d . blanc . de remanente firme comitatus post terras datas . idem vic ’ reddit compotum de marc ’ de firma pro proficuis comitatus ( which was the old firme thereof before e. . ) so again in the pipe-roll e. . which was the accompt of the year next before the making of this act the roll runs thus , viz. bedf. bucks , richardus de gollington reddit compotum de l . s . ● . bl . & de l . numero , de firma comitatus . et reddit compotum de marc ’ de firma pro proficu● comitatus sicut johannes de chedley reddere consuevit . in the roll next after the making of this act it runs thus . richardus de gollington vic ’ reddit compotum de l . s . bl . de remanent ’ firme ●omitatus post terras datas sicut supra continetur , & de l . de firma numero . et vic ’ reddit compotum de marc ’ de firma pro proficuis ●icut continetur in rot. : by which instances these things appear , viz. . that the firma de proficuis continued the same as before : for therein no alteration was made by the stat. of rutland . . that the title of the firma de corpore comitatus was changed into the title de remanente firme comitatus post terras datas . . that the quantity of the firmes were reduced to smaller summs with respect to those firmes or lands charged therewith formerly and since granted out . . that yet the titles of blanc and numero continued or were omitted as the nature of the vicontiel rents that remained ungranted were , viz. when all the blanc rents were granted out , the firme de remanente was answered onely numero . where all the rents numero were granted the sheriff answered his firme wholly blanc . if part of his rent blanc were granted and nothing of those rents that were answered numero , he answered the remaining part of his firme blanc , and the entire residue nume●● . for the sherif●s firme of the county before , and de remanente now , did answer to the quantity , and also to the nature or quality of those vicontiel rents that he was to receive to make good his firme . but abating that one alteration from firma corporis comitatus to de remanente firme , and the abridging of the firme as before , and the discharging both of the summons of the pipe and the great roll of those charges that were transcribed into the exannual roll , the rest , both of the charge and great roll continued as before . but notwithstanding this provision gave some ease to the sheriffs in relation to those firmes , yet the charging of them with these firmes became a matter of continual complaint , for that they were still charged with these firmes , yet many of the rents and benefits that should make good their firmes were sold or became illeviable after rot. parl. e. . n. . item pry les commons que touts vicounts que sont charge de certain firmes pur les counties ou ▪ ils sont vicounts soient discharge de ce● post resceit de lour baily per cause de franchises grant ronne breve soit mand al treasurer & barons deschequer quils faient due allowances al chescun vicount ●ur le render de lour accompts en chescun case la ou ils voilent quil soit reasonable . and in the same parliament in , the sheriffs of bedf. and bucks pray to be discharged of the firmes of the baylywick of their hundreds , because those baylywicks yielded no profit : they are remitted to the exchequer , rot. parl. e. . n. . the sheriffs of essex and hertford , pray an ease in respect of illeviable firmes charged upon them , and hundreds and rents granted from them : answered , le roy lour ad fait grace . by the statute of h. . cap. . upon the complaint that the sheriffs are charged with the ancient firmes of their county , notwithstanding that great part of the profits of the same be granted to lords and others : it is enacted that the sheriffs shall accompt in the exchequer and have an allowance by their oaths of the issues of their counties . rot. parl. h. . n. . & sequent ’ . the sheriffs of several counties complain that they are charged with several ancient firmes which they are not able to levy , viz. essex and hertf. with the firme of the county , and the firme of the profits of the county : york with the firme of the county ▪ post terras datas . devonshire with the remanent ’ firme c●mitatus post terras datas , the firma de proficuis comitatus , and a certain firme of marks called blanch firme . norfolk and suffolk with a firme called de remanent ’ firme post terras datas , and firma de proficuo comitatus , whereof they complain that they cannot levy any thing , and besides the hundred and liberties granted out to the diminution of their profit ; and pray remedy according to the stat. of h. . they are referred to the king's council to make such pardon and mitigation as they shall think reasonable . rot. parl. h. . n. , . the like complaints are made in the behalf of the sheriffs , and prayed that they may have allowances out of their firmes upon their oaths according to the statute of h. . but they have the like answer as before , viz. a reference to the council . but rot. parl. h. . n. . and h. . cap. . the like petition is received , viz. that by their oaths they may have an allowance of what the cannot levy out of those great firmes that are charged sub nomine vic , ’ viz. firmes ▪ of their counties , blanc firmes de novo incremento , &c. but instead of redress they lost that benefit which the statute of . h. . had before afforded them . and it is directly enacted that the sheriffs shall have allowances by their oath of things casual , which lye not in firme or annual demand : but of those things which lye in firme annual , or demand annual , they be charged as sheriffs in aforetime had been charged . and thus stood the business of the sheriffs firmes untill the statute of h. . which is the next period . chap. viii . touching the state of the sheriffs firmes from the statute of h. . till the fourteenth year of the reign of king charles . which is the second period . we have seen in the former chapter how the case stood with the sheriffs firme after the statute of rutland , and how the statute of h. . cap. . bound the firmes charged upon the sheriffs , closer upon them than for some years before : and so they continued till the making of the statute of h. . cap. . this statute recites those several firmes charged to the sheriff sub nomine vicecomitis , viz. de remanent ’ firme post terras datas : firma de proficuo comitatus , and those other minute firmes demanded sub nomine vicecomitis . and many of these particular small rents that made up these firmes charged upon the sheriffs are lost or not leviable , or extinguished by attainders and dissolutions of monasteries , and yet the sheriffs continue charged with their firmes as formerly . it enacts ▪ . that all sheriffs that have no tallies of record shall upon their days of prefixion deliver in rolls or schedules of parchment containing th● particular summs of money which he hath or might have levied as parcel of the said ancient firmes , naming the person and lands of which they are to be levied . . that after such schedules delivered the court shall have power to allow and make deductions in the said sheriffs firmes of all such summs of moneys as the firmes shall be more than the summs in such schedules shall amount unto . . and the court shall proceed to the recovery of such summs belonging to the said firmes as are omitted in such schedules . . that the sheriff have allowance and discharge of all such illeviable summs as are written to him in process . . that the sheriff have allowance for entertainment of justices , &c. but this was but a temporary act , and discontinued at the next parliament . but a farther act was after made for the ease of the sheriff , especially in relation to those firmes , viz. and e. ▪ cap. . by this it is enacted , . that the sheriff shall have such allowances and tallies of reward as they had before the act of h. . or may accompt according to the act at their election . . that they that accompt and take no tally of record shall be treated in the exchequer as though the act of h. . were in force . . that those that have no tallies of reward shall have allowance of the diet of the justices , &c. . that all such sheriffs as take no tallies of reward shall be discharged of all firmes , goods , chattels , profits , casualties , &c. as they cannot levy or come by . . that all that have tallies of reward shall be discharged of all firmes and summs of money that they cannot levy , except ▪ vicontiels with which they are to remain chargeable as before the making of the former act. . that sheriffs shall have allowances of such vicontiels as are extinguished by unity of possession in the crown by dissolution of monasteries . . that the sheriff at his day of prefixion when he is sworn to his accompt , shall be sworn to deliver into the court of exchequer , rolls or schedules of parchment containing all the particular summs of money which he hath levied or might levy of his vicontiels or other firmes , mentioning the persons and lands of which they are leviable , and the court to take care for the levying of such of the vicontiels , or firmes , which are omitted out of the schedules , for saving the king's rights , and to make out process for the same . upon these acts these things are observable . i. that those sheriffs that have tallies of reward may not discharge themselves of their vicontiels , viz. the remanent ’ firme post terras datas , and cr̄o comitatus , and other small rents charged sub nomine vicecomitis ( if he take his tally of reward ) by oath that he cannot levy it , or all of it . ii. but if such a sheriff will wave his tally of reward , he may accompt according to the statute of h. . and so discharge himself of his vicontiels or firmes thereof as well as other firmes . and the truth is , i think , anciently there were some . sheriffs that had tallies of reward , viz. york , northampton , cumb'land , hereford , &c. but since the making of this act they have waved them , accounting it more beneficial to take the benefit of those statutes upon their accompt , than to take their tallies of reward . so that now all sheriffs have an equal benefit of the statutes of h. . and and e. . iii. but those sheriffs that had no tallies of reward might discharge themselves of their vicontiels and firmes de remanente comitatus , as well as other things that they could not levy . iv. that all sheriffs , as well those that had or had not tallies of reward might discharge themselves of the casual charges , or their annual uncertain charges ; and consequently might , and most ordinarily after this statute did discharge themselves of the entire firme de proficuis comitatus , in case the profits of their counties did not surmount the charge that attended them . and by this means since the making of this statute , those sheriffs that were charged with the firma de proficuis rarely if at all answered any thing for it , because they have always ascertained the court that there were no such profits beyond the charge in collecting them : or that the charge of keeping the county-court , the turns , the hundred-courts , which were the things that made up the firma de proficuis , surmounted the benefit . v. and this making appear was no other than the oath of the sheriff , that he could not levy this or that rent , parcell of his vicontiels , or that there were no proficua comitatus , &c. and this oath of the sheriff hath always been the warrant to discharge him of all or any part of his firmes . by which means it hath most ordinarily come to pass that although the sheriff hath paid in his profers at easter and michaelmas , yet when he comes upon his accompt he doth by his oath discharge himself of all his firma de remanente comitatus , and thereby most times the king becomes debtor to the sheriff for those moneys which he received as profers , or moneys due by the sheriff upon his firme . and it is but reason ; for the statute gives him that just benefit to discharge himself by his oath of what he cannot levy or receive . and yet though the sheriffs have constantly by their oath discharged themselves of the entire firme de proficuis comitatus , and of a great part of their other firmes of the vicontiels , or remanent’firme , and other rents charged upon them in gross summs , by swearing the illeviableness of some of those vicontiels which make up those remanent ’ firme comitatus and gross summs , yet constantly after this act and until the year of our lord the entire firmes , viz. the entire firme of the remanent ’ post terras datas , and the entire firme de proficuis comitatus , were constantly written out in charge to the sheriff upon the summons of the pipe , and entirely charged upon the great roll ▪ as they had ever been since the statute of rutland , and in the very same manner , though in truth it was for the most part but an idle piece of formality ; for the sheriffs constantly swear it off by virtue of the statute . and thus by these statutes the sheriff had ease by his oath from that part and those parts of his firmes that he sweared he could not levy . but the truth is the sheriffs have taken that part of the statute which was for their ease , viz. to swear in discharge of their firmes , but have two much omitted that other part of the statute that was for the king's advantage , viz. the delivery in upon their oaths the schedules of their vicontiels : by which omission possibly many small , but good , rates have been lost since the statute of and e. . which might have been preserved . although possibly the far greater part were lost long before , as appears by the complaints of the sheriffs , in relation to their firmes , in the parliament roll of h. . above mentioned ▪ and thus the sheriffs firmes stood untill the th of king charles the first . chap. ix . the third period from the fifteenth year of king charles the first untill the year of our lord . and how the sheriffs firmes and accompts stood in that interval . by an order of the court of exchequer made the th . junii , car. . upon the complaint of the king's firmor of decayed rents it was ordered that the clerk of the pipe should cast up and compute , and severally and distinctly put in charge arrearages of decayed rents and parcells of rents , that process and commissions might be made forth thereupon by virtue of the order . but this proved uneffectual , for although the same was done accordingly , yet the king received litte advantage thereby , neither did it at all convenience the sheriff , or alter the charge written out in the summons of the pipe , or upon the great roll ▪ for the firmes continued still in charge as before , without any alterations : and though somewhat of small consequence was found out , which might help to make good the sheriffs firmes in some particulars , yet the same still fell short , and the sheriffs were still enforced to make use of the advantage of the statute of e. . to ease themselves by their oath of illeviable rents , till the year . chap. x. the fourth period of the sheriffs firmes from the y●ar , unto this day , and how they were answered in that interval . in the times of the late troubles , viz. . julii , . there was an order made in the court of exchequer touching the sheriffs firmes and the vicontiel rents , which because it hath set a rule in this business , which to this day is observed , i shall here transcribe verbatim . whereas the sheriffs of several counties of england stand charged in the great roll of the pipe , and have so stood charged anciently with divers summs of money in gross , sub nomine vicecomitis , under the several titles of de rem ’ firm ’ com ’ post terras datas : de veteribus cr̄i comitatus . de firma de proficuo comitatus . de cornagio . de warda castri . de firma perprestur & escaet . de emersis firmis . de minutis particulis . serjantia de tr̄is assart ’ infra diversas forestas , and the like . and the said sheriffs yearly , and from year to year , have been and still are commanded by the summons of the pipe , to levy the same as heretofore to the use of the crown , so now to the use of the common-wealth , without expressing where , of whom , for what cause , or out of what lands or tenements the same are particularly to be levied by the said sheriffs , or out of what particulars the said summs in gross do so arise ; in regard whereof , and that it hath heretofore appeared in the time of king h. . upon complaint of the sheriffs , that a great part of the particular rents and annual summs of money , wherewith the said sheriffs do stand charged upon their accompts in gross , had been long before that time payable by monasteries , abbots , priors , attainted persons , and the like , whose estates were come to the crown , and so ought to be discharged by unity of possession ; and yet that the said sheriffs were still charged in gross with the same , to their great burthen and grievance ; it was in the th year of the said late king h ▪ . enacted by parliament in the case of these sheriffs , and of all sheriffs for the time to come ; that the said sheriffs should be charged to answer upon their accompts yearly such rents and summs of money of the natures aforesaid onely , as by the particular rentals or vicontiels , by them to be yearly delivered in upon oath , they should set forth and make appear to be by them leviable ; and that they should be discharged of all the residue which they upon their oaths should affirm to be illeviable , by virtue of the said act of parliament , which hath been so continued accordingly , ever since . howbeit the sheriffs have from time to time complained , and still complain against the writing forth of more to be levied and answered by them upon their accompts , than such rents and summs of money onely as appears upon the oaths of their predecessors , sheriffs , to be leviable ; and that the rest , appearing to be illeviable , ought to be removed out of their said annual roll , and commissions thereupon to be awarded out of the exchequer , for reviving the same according to the true intention of the said statute of h. . which the now lord chief baron , and the rest of the barons , taking into their serious consideration , and being willing and desirous , so far forth as may stand with the preservation of the due rights of the common-wealth , to give all fitting ease and satisfaction to sheriffs therein , according to the meaning of the said statute of h. . and according to the statute of rutland , ed. . whereby it is provided that nothing shall be written out to the sheriffs but such firmes and debts whereof there is some hope that something may be levied . and that all dead firmes and desperate debts are to be removed from the annual or great roll into the exannual roll , and not to be written forth in process to the sheriff , but to be inquired of to see if any thing may be revived . whereupon the said lord chief baron and the rest of the barons , calling before them the clerk of the pipe , with the secondaries , and the rest of the sworn clerks of the said office , and upon debate of the business , finding it to be a work of great difficulty , labour and care , to examine and set forth in every county , from the originals and records of such antiquity to be compared with later times , the particulars which are from henceforth to be written to the sheriffs to levy in certain . and such as are for the reasons aforesaid to be removed out of the said annual roll have nevertheless in ease of all sheriffs for time to come , with respect to the labour and care of the officers and clerks to be by them undergone therein . it is this day ordered that the clerk of the pipe , the secondaries and other sworn clerks of the said office in their several assignments shall in pursuance of the said statute of rutland , and the said statute of h. . use their best endeavour , diligence and care , with as much convenient speed as a work of so great labour and consequence may well be performed , fully to explain and set forth , and shall from henceforth fully explain and set forth , in the subsequent annual roll of this court , so many of the particular rents as they find out and discover by any of the remembrances , books , vicontiels of sheriffs , or other records of this court , to have been , and which be appertaining to the making up of every of the said firmes so charged in gross summs as aforesaid , and shall therein distinguish which and how much of those particular rents have been and are to be yearly answered . and so much of the said firmes as cannot be explained by setting forth the particulars , together with the particulars so set forth and explained , which have been in decay and unanswered by the space of forty years last past , and which are become illeviable , shall be thereupon removed and conveyed out of the said annual roll and sheriffs accompts into the exannual roll of this court. and that commissions and process shall be from time to time awarded to regain and recover the same , according to the true intention of the said statutes . this order produced these effects . i. great care was taken to collect and set forth the obscure rents , and upon what they were charged . ii. the particulars of those rents and vicontiels that made up the sheriffs firmes formerly , of remanent ’ firme post terras datas , and de cremento comitatus , as also those rents that were charged upon the sheriffs in gross summs , as de diversis firmis , de minutis particulis serjantiarum , and such other charges in gross were wholly left out and omitted . iv. instead thereof such particular rents and vicontiels as made up formerly these firmes and gross charges , or money of them as could be discovered were particularly written out in the summons of the pipe , and in the great roll first under the title of several hundreds , wherein the bills lay that were charged or had any lands charged within them with these vicontiels and the several vills under the titles of these hundreds , and the several lands that were charged within those vills , as far forth as could be discovered . v. those vicontiels that were part of those firmes or gross charges , and likewise such particular rents charged formerly in the annual roll in particular , which had not been answered in forty years before , were removed out of the summons of the pipe and great roll into the exannual roll to be put in process as they could be discovered . and thus the form of the charge which had continued ever since e. . as to the firmes and gross summs , was too lately changed to the great ease of the sheriffs , of the court and of the people , who were often harassed by the sheriffs to make themselves savers , by levying these obscure incertain and illeviable summs . and all this without any detriment to the king who indeed before had an appearance of great firmes and summs expressed in the summons of the pipe and great roll , which yet were sworn off too little by the sheriffs in pursuance of the statute of e. . vi. but besides all this , the firma de proficuo comitatus was also wholly laid aside and put out of the charge of the summons of the pipe and the great roll. it is true there is no clear warrant for putting the firme out of charge by that order , for that order seems to extend onely to rents and vicontiels , which indeed made up the other in firmes and gross summs charged upon the sheriffs . but this firme was answered for the profits of courts and other casual perquisites , and not in respect of any vicontiel or annual rent . but yet for all that , the true extent of that order might extend to put that firme wholly out of charge , since it is apparent that the profits of the sheriffs courts whether hundred-courts , county-courts or time , do scarce quit the charges of keeping them at this day , nor for a long time past . neither is the king de facto at any loss thereby , for though before this order this firme was indeed in charge and carried the shew of some benefit to the king , yet it was wholly sworn off by the sheriffs by virtue of the statute of and e. . onely it seems reasonable that though the firma de proficuis be put out of charge so that the sheriff should not be compelled to answer a firme to that which yields little or no benefit , yet that the sheriff should be charged to accompt for the proficua comitatus as bayly or custos though not as firmor . and that therefore there should stand in charge upon him to accompt de proficuis , which is all that i can find considerable to be supplied in that order , orvin the present methodizing of the great roll in relation hereunto . and although this order was made in the late time of trouble , yet it hath obtained and stood in force unto this day . the late act of this parliament intituled an act for the preventing of the unnecessary delays of sheriffs , &c. hath this clause sutable to the said order , viz. and to the end that sheriffs may for the time future be eased of the great charge and trouble which they heretofore have been put to in passing their accompts in the exchequer , occasioned partly in regard that divers summs of money have stood charged upon them in gross without expressing from what persons , or for what cause , or out of what lands and tenements , the same are particularly to be levied , or out of what particulars the said summs in gross do arise , whereby it cometh to pass that the sheriffs do still stand charged in gross with divers summs of money which were heretofore payable by abbots ▪ priors , persons attainted , and such other persons , whose estates are since come to the crown , or are otherwise discharged or illeviable . and partly by the accompt of seisures , or foreign accompts , and by exaction of undue fees of sheriffs upon their opposals . but it is enacted , &c. that no sheriffs shall be charged in accompt to answer any illeviable seisure , firme , rent or debt , or either seisure , firme , rent , debt or other matter or thing whatsoever , which was not writ in process to him or them to be levied wherein , the persons of whom , or the lands and tenements out of which , together with the cause for which the same shall be so levied shall be plainly and particularly expressed , but shall be thereof wholly discharged without petition , plea or other trouble or charge whatsoever . this act had in effect discharged the old charges in gross , had not this business been before setled by the order of . but by that order the same thing is done and much more , and put into a very good order . and thus i have done with this ●ntricate argument touching the sheriffs firmes . and the occasion of my strict enquiry into it was , a difference between the auditors and the clerk of the pipe : upon the whole debate whereof , i found onely these matters . . that , in truth , the great occasion of complaint was , that the clerks of the pipe used different methods of accompting from the auditors of the revenue , the not observance whereof occasioned a mistaken representation by the auditors that there was a deceit in their accompts , whereas it appeared to be no such thing : for when both accompted their several ways , the issue was that the accompts agreed in the conclusion . . that the firme de proficuo comitatus was put out of charge without warrant , and it was thought by the auditors , a great and considerable loss to the crown , supposing that the fees for execution of process and writs were to make up that firme : but this is sufficiently unriddled before . . that there was an allowance to the sheriff of bucks of a considerable yearly summ , ut apparatori comitatus : this indeed ought not to be allowed at this day , the reason thereof ceasing as hath been shewed ; and therefore from henceforth that charge is to be disallowed , but the clerk of the pipe not greatly blamable herein , because there was an order of the court in the queens time for making that allowance : but the reason whereupon that order was made was a mistake and an errour in the court not in the clerk that followed the order . . that there is no accompt given for the firmes of baylywicks as was anciently ; which indeed , was parcel of the proficuum comitatus , as hath been shewed . but the truth is , there is no great reason for any such complaint ▪ the firmes of baylywicks being taken away by act of parliament , and levy disused in most places . . that when a sheriff is in surplusage they make it good unto him out of any other debt by the sheriff himself , or any other sheriff of the same or any other county , without any warrant from my lord treasurer or the court. and besides that , the other sheriff is discharged upon the roll of his debt , and it doth not appear upon what reason . and indeed , this is a thing fit to be reformed , and that such allowances be not made without warrant from the lord treasurer , or order of court , and that an entry or memorandum thereof be made upon the roll of the debts so discharged . but yet , the truth is , this manner of allowance hath been a long time used , and it is no novelty or late attempt , neither is there any great damage to the king by it , for it is but the payment of one real debt with another . but howsoever , this is fit to be reformed by order of the court that the sheriffs deliver not in the roll of the vicontiel as is required by the statute . and it is true , he ought to doe it or should be sworn thereunto . but the necessity is not now so great , because the particular rents are now charged upon the great roll by virtue of the order of , which doth in a great measure supply that defect , and yet the delivery in of the vicontiel roll may be fit to be revived . the most of the rest of the complaints were touching particulars mischarged , or not charged , but the errours were rather in the complainers than in the pipe , and for want of a clear understanding of those intricate and obscure proceedings of the pipe. and upon a full search of the particulars , i find the clerks of the pipe gave very clear satisfaction therein . upon the whole matter of these accompts , i do observe these two or three observables . i. that the inconvenience of retaining the old formalities of proceedings , the same terms and words , and very same mood of all things in accompts , when the nature of things and times requires a change , and accommodation of new forms or expressions as a piece of hurtfull superstition ; therefore , although the change of forms of this nature is not to be done rashly and precipitantly , yet when the exigence of things requires it , there must be an accommodation to the present use , understanding and exigence of affairs . and hence it is that the accompts of the auditors of the revenue are more easily intelligible as being framed to the use and exigence of the times ; but the accompts of the pipe more mysterious and perplexed , to persons unacquainted with them , for till e. . they kept in all things the precise form of writing their great roll , as had been used in king stephen's time . and the same form they kept untill , abating the alterations made in e. . not without great inconvenience to the king's people and sheriffs . ii. that these small rents and vicontiels would be with much more advantage to the king , and be sold off to the several persons and townships chargable therewith , than be kept in method of collection , as now they are , unless some more ready collecting of them by the receivers could be thought upon , provided the money arising by sale be laid out presently in more certain revenue : for , . they are in respect of their smallness , and dispersedness , and uncertainty of charge and manner of collecting very subject to be lost , as they have been commonly from time to time . . the charge of collecting and accompting for them by the sheriff is very great , and the trouble and charge to the people very much more . . the cost and trouble to the king in respect of officers writing and other matters relating thereunto , might be well retrenched thereby . and yet when all is done , it brings a great trouble , and makes a great noise as if it were a revenue of great moment , and yet by that time the sheriffs have done swearing of particulars as illeviable , or that they know not where to charge it , it becomes a very pitifull inconsiderable business , and scarce answering the charge of the collecting , accompting and answering it . for it must be observed that although by the order of , the charge is more certain than formerly , yet the sheriff hath still by the law the benefit of the statute of and e. . even as to those ascertained rents , and if he cannot find them he is , and ought to be discharged upon his oath thereof . and accordingly is daily discharged of many of those rents though rendred much more certain by that order , and the pains and method of the charge and accompt , used in pursuance hereof . whereby in process of time , many , even of these rents particularly charged by virtue of that order , will be successively lost . sed de his curent superiores . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e dy. . & ● ed. . ●astal money . . davies . a letter to a member of parliament for settling guineas g. h. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing h estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a letter to a member of parliament for settling guineas g. h. broadside. s.n., [london? : ] signed at end: g.h. answer to: guineas at s. d. will make money plenty ( ). place and date of publication suggested by wing. reproduction of original in the goldsmith's library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng guineas at s. d. will make money plenty. finance, public -- great britain -- - . guinea (coin) coinage -- england. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - pip willcox sampled and proofread - pip willcox text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a letter to a member of parliament for settling guineas . sir , i have perused the paper you sent me , entituled , guineas at s. d. will make money plenty — the people will bear it , &c. and i believe it was writ by one whose private interest it is to have them so : he endeavours to answer three objections . . the people will not bear it . . it will be carried all away . . not lent to the king . to the st . he says , the people will bear it ; and so say i : they must , if compell'd , whether willing or no : if it will not breed discontentments , and heart-burning , 't is well . for people to lose so prodigiously by them 't is very hard. the gentleman says , not one in a thousand will be any great sufferer , throughout the kingdom : and yet ( within three or four lines afterwards ) he says , he much pitys the tradesmen , farmers , and tenants , both in city and country : not considering they make above three parts of the whole of the kingdom . i know people are for a settlement what they shall go for , but not for such a one. this i know , when news came from the house , that it was carryed in the committee at s. i never saw so much joy and satisfaction among all people , in the city and suburbs in my life , before the other news came that it was thrown out again ; and then they were as dejected . i verily believe , that if they were settled thereabouts for some time , to the next sessions of parliament , or a year , &c. the taxes would be speedily and cheerfully paid , and trading as quick as for twenty years last past : 't is not amiss to give the people as much satisfaction and ease as possible , under great taxes and dead trade : and , if the king take them at , or , and the deficiency made up by a tax next sessions , or otherwise , i humbly conceive , it would content the people better than to lose so much now at once . secondly , he says , it will not be carried away . i answer , it will , if interest will do it ; and 't is cheaper to carry it to holland in specie , than to remit it thither by exchange ; ●●nd guineas too is cheaper to be carried thither at , or s. than to remit money . thirdly , it will be lent to the king . and be better for his majesty by a fifth part of all the supplies given him ; and will go a fifth part farther , i answer , if it be so , then it is per cent gain to to the government , and loss to the subject ; 't is well if people are so satisfied — i submit the whole to your judgment : but 't is my opinion there is a necessity they be settled now , or else declare by a vote , you will not this sessions meddle with them more , then they will go for about , or s. but at present all trade stands still almost ; and will do till one of these two be done . g. h. an alarum to the counties of england and wales with the oath of abjuration for ever to be abjur'd, or the sad malady and sole remedy of england / by a lover of his native countrey. fuller, thomas, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing f ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing f estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) an alarum to the counties of england and wales with the oath of abjuration for ever to be abjur'd, or the sad malady and sole remedy of england / by a lover of his native countrey. fuller, thomas, - . p. s.n.], [london : printed in the year . attributed to thomas fuller by wing and nuc pre- imprints. place of publication suggested by wing. reproduction of original in bodleian library. eng finance, public -- great britain -- to . great britain -- politics and government -- - . great britain -- history -- charles ii, - . a r (wing f ). civilwar no an alarum to the counties of england and wales, with the oath, of abjuration, for ever to be abjur'd. or, the sad malady, and sole remedy of fuller, thomas b the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the b category of texts with fewer than defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - judith siefring sampled and proofread - judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an alarum to the counties of england and wales , with the oath , of abjuration , for ever to be abjur'd . or , the sad malady , and sole remedy of england . by a lover of his native countrey . printed in the year , ●● . an alarum to the counties of england and wales . with the oath of abjuration for ever abjur'd . our nation , which long since hath lost the lustre and well-being , now at last strugleth for the life and being thereof . our many [ temporal ] miseries are reducible to two principal heads . daily . decrease of trading . . increase of taxes : so that every hour the burden groweth weightier , and the back of our nation weaker to support it . . 't is sad to see , in cloathing countreys , what swarms there are of poor people , the true objects of charity ; if any were as able to give , as they worthy to receive reliefe : for they would worke , and can worke , yet cannot worke , because there are none to imploy them . . as for the sea ( which is the land of port-towns , ) it returneth small benefit ; for since dunkirk was ours , ( more to the credit than profit of our nation ) the fire of sea-robheries is removed out of the chimney , and scattered about the house , not lesse destructive , but more diffusive : so that our merchants could better guard themselves against that single staple of pirates , than many lesser ones sprung since every where , the cause why rich men will not ( as poor cannot ) adventure . . our second misery is , increase , yea , superfetation of taxes , so long as so numerous an army is maintained : for though some of their soldiers will preach gratis , ( conscientious to tahe nothing for that which they know is worth nothing ) yet none will fight at so cheap a rate . . some will say , that what the soldier receiveth with one hand he returneth with another , expending his pay in victuals , cloathes , &c. whereby coin , by circulation , is continued in our countrey . this i deny ; for some grandees , greatned by the times , have made their moneyes over in banks beyond the seas , which are put into mortmain , or a dead hand , whereby no profit accreweth to our common-wealth . others having gotten the estates of lords , live after the rate of yeomen , whose discretion therein is to be commended , for proportioning their expences ( for fear of after-claps ) rather according to their original , than present condition . . the increase of taxes must inevitably cause the ruine of our nation : for though still there be wealthy men left ( as they shew it in their cowardise , and fear to engage for the general good ) yet they grow thinner every day , whilst such as are left no root of their own , rather than they will wither , will turn suckers on the stock of others . so that the greatest happinesse rich men can promise to themselves , is only to be last devoured , though the comfort of the latenesse will not countervail the sadness for the certainty of their destruction . indeed it is miraculous , that our nation hath subsisted so long , and few there are that would believe that the whole candle of our english wealth could last so long , as we have beheld it burning in the socket , but now giving the last blaze , if god be not mercifull , and men discreet to prevent it . . passe we from the sad malady , to the sole remedy thereof , i say sole , not exclusively of divine miraculous power , but according to humane apprehension , and this is a free and full parliament . indeed free-parliament is a tautologie , like a reasonable man , who , if not reasonable is no man ; as the other , if not free , no parliament . but the late frequent forces put on partiaments hath made the needlesse epethite become necessary , to expresse what kinde of parliaments we desire . not such in which every word must be spoken under correction of the sword , but wherein every member , without feare of violence ( to interrupt or dissolve them ) may follow the dictates of their owne judgement and conscience . . nor ought a parliament only be free from force , but also from any abjurations , or previous engagements . let them take heed of renouncing any thing , save what is simply sinfull in it selfe , as the forsaking of the world , flesh , and divel , as was solemnly promised for them in their baptism . but it is bad to be busie with other ab-renunciations , especially of the royall family . . look backward and we may say with david , the vows of the lord are upon us ; i mean on so many of us as are of fifty years of age . the oath of supremacy ( not to mention the covenant ) is the eldest brother , to whom the inheritance of our consciences doth belong . . look forwards , it limiteth gods providence , which is an hainous offence ; we know not what a day , month , year , &c. may bring forth . this age hath the least reason of any to meddle with the edge-tools of such oathes which in a short ( but thick ) time hath seen so many strange things , that now nothing is strange unto us . have we not seen o. cromwell from a private gentleman gradatim ascend to be protector of three nations , and ( by his courage and wisdome without any right ) a more absolute power was possessed by , and larger tribute paid unto him than to any king of england . his son and successor ( counted bad by many for his goodnesse and mild spirit ) for eight months was congratulated by the most considerable persons of our nation . now if some twenty years since an oath had been tendred unto us to abjure the family of cromwels from ever having the supream magistracy in our nation ; such an oath would have seemed safe , but yet it was not lawfull to take it , because none knew what was in the womb of teeming time , though utterly improbable to our beliefe . . besides , the imposers of this oath may miss the mark they propound to themselves , viz. assurance of their own , and discovery of the opposite party ; for many now pass not for the taking or breaking of any oath , and assurance of such is hard in keeping , and indeed not worth the having . other will behold the oath as temporary , and expiring with the power of the imposers . as for the conscientious indeed , eefusing it out of pure principles of piety , it is a barbarous act for persons in power , to turn executioners to strangle tender consciences , whose cordial fear of an oath should be encouraged . . as the parliament must be free , no vassal , but enfranchised from the sword , so must it be full , no cripple , but entire and compleat in all the members thereof . our land hath lately groaned under the most grievous monopoly as ever was or can be , when a handfull of men have grasped to themselvs the representing of a whole ( not to say ) nation , most of them being but burgesses , who , though equal in votes , are not equal in their representation with the knights of the shires . if they presume that the rest excluded by them ( far more considerable for birth , estates , number , love of the people , and what not ? ) are virtually included in them , it is an intollerable presumption . that what pertaineth to all should be handled by all , is a truth so clear and strong , that they must offer a rape to their owne reason that deny it . such also is this maxim , vnrepresented , unconcluded : so that if so few have in them the notion of a parliament , it is a bare notion indeed , especially seeing this handfull of men were ( say the cavaleers ) dissolved by the death of the king ; dissolved ( said cromwell ) by his sword ; dissolved ( say some great ones ) by an act of their owne ( entred into the iournall book of the parliament ) dissolved must their own consciences say , by their voluntary accepting of elections in later parliaments . . now the members of a free and full parliament ( the onely hope of humane help ) ought thus to be qualified : . let them be godly and well-affected indeed , and not in the canting language of the times . . men of estates , who will be tender in taxing others , as striking them thorough themselves , whilst such who bear nothing care not how much they burthen others , as if paying were as easie as voting , and money as free as words . . men of spirits , no dull souls , all the sparks of whose activity are quenched in their own flegm . . no gainers by the continuance of the army . demetrius the silver-smith was no foole ( what ever else he was ) so sticking for the shrine of diana , by which craft he got his gain . . men of moderation , a quality not opposed to diligence , but to violence ; not unactiving men , but regulating their activity . . this their moderation must appear in considering all interests , seeing there be no two interests in the nation so contemptible , which if united , and twisting their discontents together , cannot draw trouble on all the rest . especially the sectarian , ( though presented i believe by their party , through a multiplying glasse ) are considerable on a politick score of their numbers and pious account of their conscience ; for , though many of them carry the later in their purses , , who when they finde the moisture of profit to fail them , will fall off like leaves in autumn ; yet can i not be so uncharitable , but to believe that many of them ( having the heat of their affections above the light of their judgements ) follow erroneous consciences ; besides , having gone loose so long , they must needs swell , if hardly girded 〈◊〉 a sudden ▪ . this moderation also must be used by all other persons , to work themselves to be ( if not pleased ) contented with the decisions of a free parliament . all must sit down losers save such alone , who can plead , that they have been no sinners in our nation . the grand designe must be to have none , or , ( if that be impossible ) as few as may be , utterly ruined . i confesse , two hungry meals makes a third a glutton , and such who have long fasted from their detained estates , will be not onely greedy , but ravenous to recover them . yea , such will shrewdly plead , that they now expect moderation from them , who never used moderation to them . however , in such a general danger , men must depose their animosities , labouring , first , to reconcile their spirits , then , their perswasions , the later being at lesse distance than the former . and men must divide , where they cannot get the whole , seeing few will pity his starving who will eat no bread at all , because he can recover but halfe of his own loafe . . it will be objected that such a full p. is still but an empty parliament , having no house of lords therein : but know , if both hands of a man be bound , no hope of liberty from himself ; but if one be untied , it may do the brotherly office to unloose the other : let us be content to row in a sculler till we can get a pair of oars . and such surely is the ingenuity and publick spiritnesse of the peers , that laying aside personal interest ( which upon debate may appear more ) , they wil suspend their rights , immunities , and priviledges , and submit all to the determination of a free-parliament to acquiesce therein . . god give our nation seasonably to understand their own strength , that the wars begun may be ended amongst our selves before forreigners become the arbitrators of our differences , who will demand great wages for little work , yea and turn their own paymasters thereof . and may that great general ( whose intentions long have stood in the dark to our nation , whilst our nations desires were all the while in light to him , understand that vox populi is vox dei , and interpret , that god calleth unto him by the declarations of all counties , to be chiefly instrumental in asserting our liberties , and we shall have cause for ever to blesse the day of his nativity ; yea , to erect a statue better than gold , of gratitude in our hearts unto him . . indeed had providence fixed our nativities under the duke of muscovy , whose list is his subjects law , we would ( because we must ) work our selves patiently to the obedience of his power . but seeing god hath given us , with s. paul , to be free-born , acts . . ( though also , with the centurion , we have given great summs , not to obtain , but contrive this freedome ) let us not tamely loose our birth-right , and vigorously endeavour their preservation . . the story is wel known of the old woman who having but a small parcel of wood , would leasurably roast her goose stick by stick , till her wood was all burnt , and her goose still raw . if the severall counties singly engage one after another , all will be overthrown , and nothing effected as to our releife . let the two and fifty shires of england and wales ( with the city of london , which eminently is two and fifty more ) be all as one , and unanimously advance the worke , and not do as they dealt with poore cheshire , using it as ioab did vriah , putting him forward on action , then falsely retreating from him , and leaving him a prey to his enemies . but i hope our old shipwracks will be new sea-marks , to us , documented by former nocuments , to steer a surer course for the general good . . there is no english man so inconsiderable , but he may , at the least in a single capacity , be contributive to the happinesse of his native countrey , the wise with their brains , the rich with their purses , the learned with their pens , the strong with their persons ; all with their prayers . and if now they suffer this opportunity which god puts into their hands , to slip thorough their fingers , they may hereafter have more yeares to bemoane their folly , than minutes to amend their misery ; it being better now to say , we will not , than three yeares hence to say , we cannot pay our taxes . finis . a proclamation discharging english clipt-money. scotland. privy council. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing s estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a proclamation discharging english clipt-money. scotland. privy council. scotland. sovereign ( - : william ii) sheet ([ ] p.) printed by the heirs and successors of andrew anderson, printer to his most excellent majesty, edinburgh : anno dom. . caption title. initial letter. intentional blank spaces in text. dated: given under our signet, at edinburgh, the sixteenth day of may, and of our reign the seventh year. signed: gilb. eliot. cls. sti. concilii. reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng coinage -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . finance, public -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . broadsides -- scotland -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - john pas sampled and proofread - john pas text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a proclamation discharging english clipt-money . william by the grace of god , king of great britain , france and ireland , defender of the faith to _____ macers of our privy council , messengers at arms , our sheriffs in that part , conjunctly and severally , specially constitute , greeting ; forasmuch as , the leidges of this our antient kingdom , do sustain a great and growing prejudice , by the inbringing and passing of english clipt money , which is far under the true value . therefore , and for remedy of the foresaid abuse , we with advice of the lords of our privy council , have thought fit to discharge , likeas we hereby discharge the said english clipt money to pass in payments , from , and after the twentieth day of this instant month of may , except by weight , conform to the standard of this kingdom , at the rate after-mentioned , viz. the crown peice at the rate and weight of fourteen drop and an half , the half crown peice , at seven drop and nine grains , the shilling sterling piece , at two drop , thirty two grains , and the six-pence sterling piece , at one drop and sixteen grains ; declaring , that none of our leidges shall from and after the said day , be oblidged to take the same in payments , save by weight , as said is , providing , nevertheless , that all english money vnclipt , shall pass after the same manner , and at the same rate as it was in use to pass , before the emitting of this proclamation . our will is herefore , and we charge you strictly , and command , that incontinent thir our letters seen , ye pass , to the mercat-cross of edinburgh , and remanent mercat-crosses of the hail head-burghs of all the shires within this kingdom ; and there by open proclamation , make intimation hereof , that none may pretend ignorance ; and ordains these presents to be printed . given under our signet , at edinburgh , the sixteenth day of may , and of our reign the seventh year . per actum dominorun secreti concilii . gilb . eliot . cls. sti. concilii . god save the king . edinburgh , printed by the heirs and successors of andrew anderson , printer to his most excellent majesty , anno dom. . a proclamation discharging forraign copper-coyn to be imported or made use of in this kingdom scotland. privy council. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing s estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a proclamation discharging forraign copper-coyn to be imported or made use of in this kingdom scotland. privy council. scotland. sovereign ( - : james vii) sheet ([ ] p.) printed by the heir of andrew anderson, printer to his most sacred majesty, edinburgh : anno dom. . caption title. initial letter. "...discharging forraign copper-coyn to be imported or made use of in this kingdom" in ms.; additional ms. notes. dated: given under our signet at edinburgh, the twentieth day of may one thousand six hundred eighty six years. and of our reign the second year. signed: will. paterson, cls. sti. concilii. reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng coinage -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . finance, public -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . scotland -- politics and government -- - -- sources. broadsides -- scotland -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - john pas sampled and proofread - john pas text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a proclamation iames by the grace of god , king of great-britain , france and ireland , defender of the faith , to our lyon king at arms , and his brethren heraulds , macers of our privy council , pursevants , messengers at arms , our sheriffs in that part , conjunctly and severally , specially constitute , greeting : forasmuch as we understanding that there are copper-coyn , imported from abroad , and passing in this our kingdom , which is a great abuse to the nation , and prejudice to our mint : we therefore , with advice of our privy council , for preventing thereof , do hereby strictly prohibit and discharge , all merchants , skippers , mariners and others , to import into this kingdom , after publication hereof , any doyts , or other copper-coyn , from france , holland , or any place from abroad , under the pain of confiscation thereof , the one half to our use , and the other half to the discoverer , or informer , besides what other punishment we , 〈◊〉 our council shall think fit to inflict upon the contraveeners . and further , we do hereby prohibit and discharge the foresaid doyts , or other copper-coyn , from france , or holland , or any copper-coyn , but what is under our royal stamp , to pass within this kingdom hereafter , or any of our subjects to receive the same ●s coyn , as they will be answerable : and authorize , and hereby require all customers , waiters , collectors and others , to seize upon , and appropriat to their own use , any of the said forraign copper-coyn , wherever they can find , or discover the same ; requiring all magistrats , officers and souldiers of our forces to be concurring and assisting hereto , when required , as they will answer at their perril ; and to the end our pleasure in the premisses may be made notour and known ; our will is , and we charge you strictly , and command , that incontinent , these our letter seen , ye pa●s to the mercat cross of edinburgh , and other places needful , and thereat , in our royal name and authority , make open proclamation , and publication of the premisses , that none pretend ignorance . given under our signet at edinburgh , the twentieth day of may one thousand six hundred eighty six years . and of our reign the second year . per actum dominorum secreti concilii . will. paterson , cls. sti. concilii . god save the king . edinburgh , printed by the heir of andrew anderson , printer to his most sacred majesty , anno dom. . proclamation discharging the base cooper [sic] money, coyned in ireland by the late king james, in , and . scotland. privy council. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing s estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) proclamation discharging the base cooper [sic] money, coyned in ireland by the late king james, in , and . scotland. privy council. scotland. sovereign ( - : william ii) sheet ([ ] p.) printed by the heirs and successors of andrew anderson, printer to his most excellent majesty, edinburgh : anno dom. . caption title. royal arms at head of text; initial letter. intentional blank spaces in text. dated: given under our signet at edinburgh, the seventh day of march, and of our reign the sixth year, . signed: gilb. eliot. cls. sti. concilii. reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng coinage -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . coinage -- ireland -- early works to . finance, public -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . broadsides -- scotland -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - john pas sampled and proofread - john pas text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion proclamation , discharging the base copper money , coyned in ireland by the late king james , in , and . william by the grace of god , king of great-britain , france and ireland , defender of the faith ; to _____ macers of our privy council , or messengers at arms , our sheriffs in that part , conjunctly and severally , specially constitute greeting : forasmuch as , it is informed that there are great quantities of base brass or copper-coyn , coyned in ireland , by the command of the late king james , in the years one thousand six hundred and eighty nine , and one thousand six hundred and ninety , to pass for shillings , half-crowns , and other species , bearing upon one of the two sides of the shillings , the number of twelve marked thus , xii . with the mark of j. r. the half-crowns the number of xxx . with the said mark j. r. and so of other species : imported into this kingdom , and vented for six peny scots pieces , or otherwise , whereby our leidges are greatly abused : therefore we , with advice of the lords of our privy council , have thought fit to discharge , and hereby discharges the importing of the said base coyn of the foresaid species or marks , or any other whatsoever : as also the vending thereof , and giving or taking thereof by way of change , under the pains following , viz. that the importer thereof into this kingdom in any quantity exceeding a pound weight , shall be imprisoned by the judge ordinar of the bounds ; where he shall be apprehended , and lyable to the punishment by law inflicted on venters of false coyn : and that any other importers , venters or outgivers of the said base coyn , in any quantity greater or smaller , shall be lyable in the pain of twenty pounds scots toties quoties , half to the informer , and half to the poor of the parish , to be exacted by the judge ordinar of the bounds with all rigour . our will is herefore , and vve charge you strictly and command , that incontinent these our letters seen , ye pass to the mercat cross of edinburgh , and the remanent mercat-crosses of the whole head-burghs of all the shires and stewartries within this kingdom , and there make publick intimation of the premisses , that none may pretend ignorance . and ordains these presents to be printed . given under our signet at edinburgh , the seventh day of march , and of our reign the sixth year , . per actum dominorum secreti concilii . gilb : eliot , cls. sti. concilii . god save the king . edinburgh , printed by the heirs and successors of andrew anderson , printer to his most excellent majesty , anno dom. . the national land-bank, together with money so composed, as not only to be easie understood, and easily practiced, but more capable also of supplying the government with any sum of money in proportion to what fund shall be settled: as likewise, the free-holder with money at a more moderate interest, than if such bank did consist of money alone without land. neale, thomas, d. ? - ? approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing n estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the national land-bank, together with money so composed, as not only to be easie understood, and easily practiced, but more capable also of supplying the government with any sum of money in proportion to what fund shall be settled: as likewise, the free-holder with money at a more moderate interest, than if such bank did consist of money alone without land. neale, thomas, d. ? sheet ([ ] p.) s.n., [london? : / ] signed and dated at foot: tho. neale. feb. . . imprint from wing. reproduction of the original in the guildhall library, london. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng finance, public -- early works to . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the national land-bank , together with money : so composed , as not only to be easie understood , and easily practiced , but more capable also of supplying the government with any sum of money in proportion to what fund shall be settled : as likewise , the free-holder with money at a more moderate interest , than if such bank did consist of money alone without land. the proposal is , that two millions be raised by subscriptions of money , and one million more by subscriptions of land , to make up three millions , which is proposed for the capital fund of this bank , and on which the profit and loss is to be yearly computed , and afterwards taken and born by the first subscribers of the said three millions , as herein after prescribed . the subscriptions for the two millions of money to be made in such manner as those were for the bank now in being , with this difference , that the money subscribers in this ( which they were not in that ) should be obliged , from the time of closing the books , to pay four per cent. for the use of the bank in general , for such part of the money by them subscribed , as shall remain in their hands , till called for by the bank , and paid in . the land to be subscribed by the possessor of it , and to be charged by parliament , with the actual payment of one fifth part of its yearly value , which fifth part is to be paid down to the bank at subscribing , and every year after by the subscriber , or his assigns , and the benefit of such rent charge , being to be the profit of l. stock in the bank for every l. yearly subscribed , and for which l. must yearly be paid , is to be annext and to always belong to whoever is possest of the land. and it cannot be supposed , that any man will subscribe , that does not believe he has title , since he must hurt himself only by it , and no body else if he does . for example , l. yearly subscribed , to be made lyable to pay l. yearly rent charge to the bank ; whereof the first year l. down , and to remain so chargeable yearly into whose hands soever , by settlements , morgages , or otherwise , it shall happen to come for which l. first paid , and so payable yearly as aforesaid , the proprietor ( whosoever he shall be of the land ) to be entitled to the profits of l. in the bank ; but to be always annext to the land , which brings the money and land-subscribers on a just equal foot ; and makes this million in land , and two millions in money , full equal in value to three millions all money , and able to pay as great sums ; and so by this method , the land thus subscribed divides equal in proportion with the money-subscriptions in the profit of the bank , and may as aforesaid be subscribed and be made good security , without looking into titles , whether settled or not , and so land this way may as soon and as easie be subscribed , and to as much advantage made use of as money . as to the great design , and what may relate to the easie furnishing the freeholders with money at interest : note , a bank thus enabled ( will be the more willing to do it ) and may without damage be obliged to lend l. yearly ( if so much is required ) to be lent to either their own land subscribers , or such others as shall with good titles settle their land on this bank at a moderate interest ( suppose l. s. yearly per cent. ) and it may be to three parts of four of its value , and that in such manner , that the borrower of it ( when his land is once settled in bank ) may at any time take up either part of , or the full sum to be lent on his land , and pay it back again in such proportions as best suit with his private concerns ; which is all the advantage has at any time been proposed by land-banks . and this so proposed bank ( if made one by parliament ) on a fund to be settled ; and this millions worth of land ( which will strengthen the same ) will easily furnish any sum of money in proportion to the fund shall be given , and also such l. yearly at interest on land as aforesaid , if so be that the same be desired . and that gentlemen may not be frightned from subscribing their land-estates , and subjecting them to the payment of one fifth of their annual value , for fear of being yearly put to it to provide the same to pay in , nor money'd men from subscribing money , for fear of being in like manner put to it for yearly providing the interest of the money by them subscribed , and not paid in to the bank as aforesaid . note , if the profit made of the money paid into the bank , amounts to but per cent. and no more , that per cent. will pay per cent. dividend for the money paid in ; and the rent reserved on the land , and the per cent. to be paid for the money not paid in , paid back to the owner , or not paid into the bank , will be a per cent. dividend to those that should pay it ; so that if no loss is made by the bank , the paying of the rent , and interest reserved as aforesaid , will be but nominal only , and what more shall be gotten will be all clear gains to all persons in general concerned in the bank , to be proportionably divided at such times as shall be judged best . tho. neale . feb. . . proclamation for crying down the silver scots crown-piece, and the fourty shilling, twenty shilling, ten shilling, and five shilling scots pieces to their former rates. scotland. privy council. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing s estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) proclamation for crying down the silver scots crown-piece, and the fourty shilling, twenty shilling, ten shilling, and five shilling scots pieces to their former rates. scotland. privy council. scotland. sovereign ( - : william ii) sheet ([ ] p.) printed by the heirs and successors of andrew anderson, printer to his most excellent majesty, edinburgh : anno dom. . caption title. royal arms at head of text; initial letter. intentional blank spaces in text. dated: given under our signet, at edinburgh, the second day of june, and of our reign the eight year, . signed: gilb. eliot, cls. sti. concilii. reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng coinage -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . finance, public -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . broadsides -- scotland -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - elspeth healey sampled and proofread - elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion honi soit qui mal y pense diev et mon droit proclamation for crying down the silver scots crown-piece , and the fourty shilling , twenty shilling , ten shilling , and five shilling scots pieces to their former rates . william by the grace of god , king of great-britain , france and ireland , defender of the faith , to _____ macers of our privy council , messengers at arms , our sheriffs in that part , conjunctly , and severally , specially , constitute , greeting : for as much , as by a proclamation of the date the twelfth day of july , one thousand six hundred ninety five years , the rate of the silver scots crown-piece was raised to three pound six shilling , and its fractions proportionally : which rates were then judged expedient . but it being now found just and reasonable , that the saids species of money be reduced , and should pass at no greater rate than as they were appointed to pass by the act of parliament , one thousand six hundred eighty six ; ordaining the samen to be coined . therefore we with advice of the lords of our privy-council , have thought sit to cry down the saids silver crown pieces coined in scotland , the fourty shilling-piece , twenty shilling-piece , ten shilling-piece , and five shilling-piece to the said former rate of three pound , fourty shilling , twenty shilling , ten shilling , and five shilling respective : and ordains the samen only to pass at the saids rates . our will is herefore , and we charge you strictly , and command , that incontinent these our letters seen , ye pass to the mercat-cross of edinburgh , and to the mercat-crosses of the remanent head-burghs of the several shires , and stewartries within this kingdom , and there in our name and authority , by open proclamation , make intimation hereof , that none pretend ignorance ; and ordains these presents to be printed . given under out signet , at edinburgh , the second day of june , and of our reign the eight year , . per actum dominorum secreti concilii . gilb . eliot , cls. sti. concilii . god save the king . edinburgh , printed by the heirs and successors of andrew anderson , printer to his most excellent majesty , anno dom. . fourteen hundred thousand pound, made into one hundred forty thousand bills, of ten pound apiece, to be given out for so much, as occasion requires, and to be paid as chance shall determine in course, out of l. to be raised on a duty on malt, the odd l. being left to be only made use of to pay interest, premium and charge neale, thomas, d. ? approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing n estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) fourteen hundred thousand pound, made into one hundred forty thousand bills, of ten pound apiece, to be given out for so much, as occasion requires, and to be paid as chance shall determine in course, out of l. to be raised on a duty on malt, the odd l. being left to be only made use of to pay interest, premium and charge neale, thomas, d. ? sheet ([ ] p.). s.n., [london : ] signed and dated at end: april d. . tho. neale. imperfect: creased and stained. reproduction of original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng lotteries -- england. finance, public -- great britain -- - . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - john latta sampled and proofread - john latta text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion fourteen hundred thousand pound , made into one hundred and forty thousand bills , of ten pound apiece , to be given out for so much , as occasion requires , and to be paid as chance shall determine in course , out of l. to be raised on a duty on malt , the odd l. being left to be only made use of to pay interest , premium and charge . st . that the fourteen hundred thousand pounds be divided into one hundred and forty thousand ten pound bills , ( numbred from one to one hundred and forty thousand ) with an interest of one farthing a day on every such bill , from the th iune , . to be paid sooner or later , as chance shall determine the course , but to be cleared in one year from that time . dly , that the said bills may be disposed of to such uses as the money to be raised by the malt duty is to be paid out for . and that the persons that are to receive such money may be all equally satisfied at the same time they are so paid it , and may have such a share of per cent. more , as fortune shall give them . let fifty six thousand pounds be divided into benefits , as herein after set down , and belong to such numbers as they shall in the usual manner be drawn for , on the ●thof iuly , , or sooner , if all the one hundred and forty thousand ten pound 〈…〉 disposed of . the division thus :   l. to the first number drawn , besides the benefit may come up with it one ticket of of each l. of each of each of each of each of each of each of each , and of each   besides their own l. a piece , which will make every l. a l. and every l. a l. prize .   the last ticket drawn , besides the benefit may come up with it money which l. so put into benefits , as also every other l. bill with its interest , to be paid in course out of such money as shall be paid and received in specie for the said duty on mault , before the th of iune , . as far as the same will extend . and for paying and discharging the benefits and ten pound tickets with their interest , that shall remain unpaid and unsatisfied , on the said th of iune . if it may be enacted , that all the money arising from all and every the aids ( the s . aid , and that comprised in the act for making good the deficiencies of parliamentary funds , and to be comprised in the leather act only except ) given , or to be given this sessions ; and which shall come in and be paid after the th of iune , : over and above what shall be employed for the paying off and discharging exchequer bills , shall be used and employed , for and towards paying the aforesaid benefits and bills . and that the said benefits and ten pound bills ( whilst any continue unpaid ) shall , from and after the said th of iune , . be taken and received in all such aids so given this sessions , except as before is excepted , for as long as the same shall continue ; and when so taken in any of the said aids , to be immediately cancell'd as the exchequer bills are enacted to be . this will not enterfeer with the exchequer bills , it obstructs no appropriation of any revenue yet made , and will ensure the payment of such benefits and ten pound bills ( 't is believed ) to a full satisfaction . and that all persons concerned , may be fully assured of their being equally dealt with ; and that they shall be paid in such course as their fortune allots , before the general drawing begins , tickets numbred from to , signifying the first , second and third ( and so to ) thousand , shall be put and well mixt in a glass , and thence drawn , and such number as comes first ( and so successively ) out , shall intitle the owner of the benefit or ten pound bill , comprised in such , to be first paid off and cleared . and if the security and course of payment be settled as above is exprest , it is not to be doubted , but that 't will presently answer the full l. ( as before is proposed ) to content . now if the publick good does require the bringing in of plate and old money to be coined , for encreasing the specie ; and that or of such l. bills , may be disposed of for new mill'd money , or hammer'd silver money or plate , with the hall mark upon it , or otherwise sterling , at six shillings the ounce , it will in all probability soon bring in such or l. and please those that so part with their silver . this to be proposed and approved of at the committee for the malt bill , or not to be done at all . april d. . tho. neale . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e l. clear money , made and secured by l. to be raised on malt , and l. being left for interest , premium and charge . l. made into l. bills , to be paid in course and cleared in a year . to be paid out as money . all equally dealt with , and per cent. premium given . the benefite . how the benefits and l. bills , ( without prejudice to the exchequer bills ) are to be paid in course , and till paid , to satisfaction secured . how the course of payment will be . with justice ascertained . how or l . ( if need be ) may , in specie be had , and how persons possest of old money and plate , may ( besides other advantages ) make s. of it an ounce . an essay upon the ways and means of supplying the war davenant, charles, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing d estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) an essay upon the ways and means of supplying the war davenant, charles, - . [ ], p. : ill., fold. table. printed for jacob tonson ..., london : . reproduction of original in cambridge university library. attributed to charles davenant. cf. bm. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng finance, public -- great britain -- - . taxation -- great britain. war, cost of -- great britain. united states -- history -- king william's war, - . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - robyn anspach sampled and proofread - robyn anspach text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an essay upon ways and means . an essay upon ways and means of supplying the war . london : printed for jacob tonson at the judge's head , near the inner-temple-gate in fleetstreet . . an essay upon ways and means of supplying the war. in the course of this war , we are engag'd in with france , nothing seems more to have hurt our affairs , than an opinion , which from year to year has been entertain'd among some people of authority , that the war could not last ; which they were brought into , by the vanity , natural to our nation , of over-rating our own strength , and undervaluing that of our enemies . whoever reflects upon the ways and means , by which we have all along supplied the king , will plainly see how much this opinion has prevail'd with the people in general . raising money by land taxes , fonds of interest , polls , doubling the excise , charging tonnage , laying new customs , and anticipating the old ones , may be proper expedients to answer a single and a short necessity , but , perhaps , they will hardly appear to be the proper ways and means to carry on a great , and a long war. at the beginning of the confederacy , france seem'd to take in all its sails , in expectation of a storm , and in a manner sate still , while we took mentz and bon. this success , and the great names , and mighty kingdoms and states , that were listed in this quarrel , made us flatter our selves with extravagant hopes ; the most modest did believe the king of france might be easily reduced to the state he was left in by the pyrenean treaty : but the more general opinion was , that he would be subdued to our own terms . but such did not consider , that there is hardly any instance to be given in story of a mighty empire over-run , that was in the full possession of its military virtue . in such an entire possession of the art of war were the romans during the second punic war ; the whole people were train'd up to arms , and continual action had bred up and instructed many famous captains , so that they were not to be broken by the many victories hannibal obtain'd , even in the heart of italy . and in such a warlike posture was the ottoman empire , when tamberlain came into asia , who in the battel , fought in the year , took bajazet prisoner , and slew most of his army ; yet that people , bred to war under three martial kings , were so far from being subdu'd , that in fifty three years after , besides many other acquisitions , they were able to conquer all the remains of the greek empire . great dominions are to be attempted with hopes of success then only , when either their own bulk makes them unweildy , or when wealth has deprav'd their manners , or when long peace has made them forget their military skill and vertue ; and at such seasons have the great monarchies of the world been invaded and conquer'd , not by superior virtue in others , but for want of virtue in themselves . it is not from hence concluded , that lesser nations are not to make war with strong and victorious princes , or that we in england should not with the last drop of blood defend this almost only spot of ground , which seems remaining in the world to public liberty . but from these instances , and many others in history , it may be argu'd , that we cannot presently , and with ease , pull down so mighty an empire as france ; and that much time , blood , and treasure , must , perhaps , be spent , before we can reduce it to such terms of peace , as may be safe and honourable for the confederates . and since there seem very many , who think the business of this war so easie , and who wonder the confederates have done no more , it may not be improper to take a short view of the affairs of france , in order to make it appear , what a powerful enemy we have to deal with . that kingdom has been growing , for these two hundred and seventy years , by slow degrees , to the height we now see it at ; and from the time of charles the seventh , to the reign of francis the second , there were always upon the throne martial and active princes , in perpetual war , and forming their people to discipline . and if in the little common-wealths of greece , wherever there happen'd to be an extraordinary man , that man did make his city strong and powerful for a long time after ; much more must a succession of six kings , all men of counsel and action , give strength and power to such a kingdom as france . 't is true , that from the time of francis the second , to the peace of vervins , which was about forty years , the nation was miserably torn by a long and cruel civil war ; but , as there are certain diseases , which , when overcome , dispose the body to a better state of health for the future ; so , perhaps , it may be made appear , that even this civil war , in its consequences , has contributed to the present power of that monarchy , by pulling down the three chief obstacles that stood in the way of its greatness ; which were , the protestant interest , spain , and the old nobility of the kingdom . the massacre of paris gave the protestant interest in that nation such a wound , as it has never since been able to recover . philip the second , to procure the crown of france for the infanta , did furnish such vast sums for the maintenance of the league , as have ever since kept spain low . and the houses of lorrain , montmorancy , and chastillon , were in a manner extinguish'd in that war ; and the rest of the great families so ruin'd by it , that they are now no more than the trappings and ornaments of the tyranny , which were in times past so strong a part of the constitution . from the peace of vervins , harry the fourth employ'd his care in repairing the calamities of that civil war , and chiefly he set himself to bring the treasury of his kingdom into some order ; in which he was assisted by the duke of sully , a frugal man , who , by natural wisdom and meer honesty , brought the revenue out of infinite debts into such a flourishing condition , that , when the french were forming their great designs against the house of austria in , they had ready four or five years provision for a war , that was likely to be the greatest their nation had ever undertaken . but the foundations of the present greatness of that monarchy , were laid by cardinal richelieu ; he first introduc'd that exact method which appears in all their affairs , that secresie and steadiness which is in their councils , and that intire obedience which all subordinate degrees pay to their superiors ; and , by exacting it severely , he first accustom'd the french to that zeal , diligence , and honesty , to their master , which they show in all public business . cardinal mazarin was bred up in his school ; a man , perhaps , not quite so deep , but of infinite subtilty , and very fit for the intrigues of the cabinet , in a minority , and under the regency of a queen mother . what the duke of sully but began , colbert brought to perfection in the public revenue ; and both he and louvoy , were mighty encouragers of the trade and manufactures of the kingdom . thus france , for a long tract of time , has had great princes on the throne ; or , which is as good , able men in the ministry ; and all the while they have been enlarging their dominions . spain , formerly their rival kingdom , they have reduc'd to a low condition ; arts and sciences , trade and manufactures , are much improv'd among them . the art of war they have brought to a height and perfection never known in greece , or among the romans . long action has form'd them many fit generals , experienc'd officers , and a number of good troops . they are skilful in encampments , they order a battel well ; and no people contrive better for the subsistance of an army . their discipline is good and severe , and all nations must yield to them in the knowledge of attacking and defending places . and by art and industry , they seem to have overcome nature and situation , in making themselves so powerful at sea , with but few convenient ports , and but little trade , in proportion to their neighbours . their present king is undoubtedly a person of great abilities , wisdom , and conduct ; he is well serv'd in every part of his government ; his revenue is skillfully brought in , and frugally laid out ; no prince has so quick and certain intelligence ; and he has wrought into his interests a considerable party in every state and kingdom in europe . we all know too well , what large footing he has of late years got round about him , towards spain , in italy , near the swiss cantons , and in germany , of both sides the rhine , and in the low countries . whoever carefully weighs these things , and duly considers the strength and policy of that kingdom , will hardly think the confederates , for the present , in a condition to give the law , or able as yet to drive france to such a peace , as may be now honourable , and safe hereafter . they , who believe a peace so probable and near , ground their opinion upon the poverty this long war must have brought upon france : and no doubt , the subjects there are reduc'd to excessive want , by the universal stop that is upon trade , by the dearth two unseasonable years has occasion'd , and by maintaining , for six years , a great fleet , and such numerous land forces . but the french seem to pay themselves for all their home miseries , with their fame abroad , the majesty of their empire , splendor of their court , greatness of their monarch , and the noise of his victories ; like a beast , that goes merrily with a heavy burthen , pleas'd with his fine furniture , and the bells that jingle about him . for those vain appearances are , to that people , in the stead of ease , plenty , and all the other goods of life ; tho' they truly tend but to make their slavery more lasting . therefore while their king is thus successful in his arms , we have small reason to think the wants and cries of his country will constrain him to end the war. but suppose him in such streights , as that he willingly will listen to a peace ; can we modestly believe him in so low a condition , as that the confederates may at present have such a one as will be secure and lasting ? is he yet so distressed by the war , as to be contented things may be put upon such a foot of equality , that hereafter he may be compell'd to observe his articles ? for without this , any peace we can make will be but unsound and precarious . perhaps he may submit to give up lorrain , philipsburg , and strasburg , and his late conquests in savoy , catalonia , and flanders ; the pope , venetians , and the two northern crowns , shall be mediators , and afterwards ▪ warrantees of the treaty . the confederacy shall still subsist , and upon stricter terms of union : but , when we have bound sampson with these new ropes , may he not , when he pleases , break them from off his arms like a thread ? indeed , we might promise our selves that a peace would be good and durable , if we were enough superior in the war , to make him surrender those strong places , with which , on every side , he seems to bridle this part of the world. or , if he were so distress'd , as , for a peace , to deprive himself of his fleet , to which the romans compell'd carthage , and , afterwards , king antiochus , then we in england might promise our selves future safety . but , while his naval strength is unbroken ; while he has that chain of fortified towns upon the rhine ; and that formidable barrier in flanders ; while on the side of spain , italy , and switzerland , he is left in such a condition to invade , and so fortified against invasion , we may make a peace that shall give us present ease , and put off the evil day for a time , but we cannot pretend to have secur'd our liberties , or defeated his designs of universal monarchy . whoever carefully examines those general treaties of peace the french of late years have concluded with the house of austria , and their other opposites , from that of vervin's , to that of nimmeghen , will find they have had no effect , but to give france a legal title to what it possest before by conquest , or to affort it time to repair the calamities of war , and to gather strength for new and greater undertakings . we took this war in hand to assert the liberties of europe , and to encourage us to carry it on , we have examples , ancient and modern , of nations that have resisted great monarchies , and who have at last worked out their freedom by patience , wisdom , and courage . in defence of their laws and religion , the low-countreys maintained a war with spain from to , which ended in the peace of munster , and in that struggle they fixed their government . great monarchies do easily over-run and swallow up the lesser tirannies and principalities that are round about them ; but they find much harder work , and another sort of opposition , when they come to invade common-wealths , or mix'd governments , where the people have an interest in the laws . under tirannies , where the subjects only contend for the choice of a master , the dispute is seldom real and haerty ; but , in free countreys , where the people fight for themselves , and their own proper wealth and security , they are in earnest , and defend themselves accordingly . the persians very easily subdued the neighbouring monarchies that made up their large empire ; but when they came to invade the grecians , a free people , we see how their numerous armies , and great navies were at last defeated . that war was carried on by confederates , of which the chief were the lacedemonians , and the athenians ; one a kingly government limited by laws , the other a common-wealth ; it lasted two and twenty years , reckoning from the battel of marathon , to that victory gain'd by cimon , which forced the persians to sue for peace . and it may not be amiss to take notice , how the athenians laid the whole stress of this war upon their naval force , pursuant to the oracle , which told them they should be safe within their walls of wood , leaving athens it self defenceless , that their fleet might be the stronger . many more instances may be given of great things perform'd in the defence of liberty ; but then they have been done , by men who had laid aside their luxury , corruption , self-ends , and private ambition , and who had devoted themselves intirely to the common good. if therefore we hope to get out of this war with honour , and , at last , make a safe and durable peace , we must show more than ordinary virtue and resolution ; we must bear patiently the public burthens ; but chiefly , we must not give our enemies any room to believe , either by our actions or councils , that we shrink and give back , as if we thought the business too weighty for us . many things may happen to reward this patience , which would put us in the power of treating upon more equal terms . the king of france is infirm , and in years ; if he should fail , while the war is on foot , his people , perhaps , may take that time to shake off their oppression ; and his son may not be able to carry on the great machine of that government , with the same steadiness , conduct , and authority . or , the dauphin may dye , which would give the princes of the blood the prospect of a minority , always fatal , and the occasion of disorders in that kingdom . besides , notwithstanding the seeming health and vigour of that government , it has within it dangerous distempers , of which the symptoms appear not in this prosperity of their affairs , but would be seen in any public calamity ; such as the loss of a battel , or a total defeat at sea , which in the course of the war may happen . if france should receive any shock or wound of that kind , the ill humours bred by oppression , and arbitrary power , would break out , and shew themselves , in every part of the constitution . these , or any other accidents that might stir up civil commotions in that kingdom , would render it uncapable of a foreign war , and consequently , procure us more advantageous conditions of peace . but the most proper season to conclude a peace with the french , in all appearance , will be when they are impoverish'd , and exhausted of that money by which they have so much prevailed , and when that sinew of war begins to slacken . for there is a degree of expence , which no nation can exceed without utter ruin , and the public may become a bankrupt as well as a private person . and since war is grown so expensive , and trade is become so extended ; and since luxury has so much obtain'd in the world , no nation can subsist of it self without helps and aids from other places ; so that the wealth of a country now is the ballance , which arises from the exchange with other places , of its natural or artificial product . the natural product are the fruits of the earth ; the artificial are the manufactures . that part of trade which consists in buying commodities in one nation , and selling them in another , is very little the commerce of france . and this ballance accrues , either from money in specie , brought home , or foreign commodities , or credit , which one country has upon another . the prince's revenue , is a due proportion and share out of this ballance . whatever nation is at a greater expence than this ballance admits of , will as surely be ruin'd in time , as a private person must be , who every year spends more than the income of his estate . and that prince , who gathers more than this ballance will naturally afford , must as certainly bring ruin upon his country , because he lives upon the quick stock of his people . the ordinary publick revenue of france was , before this war , yearly , about one hundred and fifty millions of livres , which reduc'd to our money , is about twelve millions sterling . we all know how hardly this great sum was extorted from the people , but they were enabled to pay it by the ballance that arose to them from the vent of their commodities and manufactures . their most staple trade was wine , oyl , salt , linnen , and paper , their manufactures are innumerable ; and a vast profit they did constantly make by the resort of strangers to their country , and likewise by furnishing all europe with their fineries and vanities . the ordinary revenue must needs be much impair'd by the effects of the war ; but this we may suppose , is made up to the king by extraordinary means . for we cannot think he maintains his goverment , fleet , and armies , at a less expence than twelve millions yearly . now how this expence can be long continued by the french , is hardly imaginable , when there is such an interruption upon their commerce , and so little vent for their commodities and manufactures . they are cut off by this war from almost all their profitable trade , their poor are unimploy'd , and the growth of their country sticks upon their hands , and their body politick , being at a continual expence of spirits , without the usual supplies and reliefs , must fall into faintness , and decay in all its members . the ballance arising from trade being wanting , which should maintain king and people , there must inevitably follow , at first private want , and then publick poverty . and if this interruption of their commerce be yet more strictly pursued , it will bring a ruin upon them , not to be avoided by all their oeconomy , courage and policy . we have maintain'd this war six years , and may hold it out much longer , if every part of the confederacy would exert all its natural force , and apply it usefully to the common business . but then the emperor must not be contending for dominion at home , while he is fighting for liberty abroad . he must give the princes of the empire no jealousie that he has any designs upon their freedoms . he must not let the priests divert his his arms upon the turks , of which the true meaning is only the oppression of the protestants in hungary . a good peace on that side would give new life to the confederate affairs . a little more publick spirit and vigor would be necessary in the spanish councels , in which kingdom there is great power and wealth remaining , if it were rightly applied and well ordered . the proper and natural strength of england and holland is at sea. the walls of wood are our best defence , and the more we rely upon , and improve that strength , the more we shall break the measures of france . but england is the main pillar of the confederacy ; our riches supply it ; our fleet and the goodness of our troops , are its chief force and reputation ; all depend upon the councels we take ; if we are unwilling , or unable to support the war , a peace will be concluded upon the best terms that can be had . so that the whole wil result in this , how far we in england , are able to maintain such a long war with france , as may procure us a peace that shall be equal and lasting . 't is true , a long war is but a melancholy prospect to a luxurious people , fearful of slavery , and yet unwilling to pay the price of liberty ; which no nation hardly ever obtained , but at a great expence of blood and treasure . whenever this war ceases , it will not be for want of mutual hatred in the opposite parties , nor for want of men to fight the quarrel , but that side must first give out where money is first failing . if we in england can put our affairs into such a posture , as to be able to hold out in our expence longer than france , we shall be in a condition to give the peace ; but if otherwise , we must be contented to receive it . for war is quite changed from what it was in the time of our forefathers ; when , in a hasty expedition , and a pitch'd field , the matter was decided by courage ; but now the whole art of war is in a manner reduced to money ; and now adays that prince , who can best find money to feed , cloath , and pay his army , not he that has the most valiant troops , is surest of success and conquest . so that the present business england is engaged in , will chiefly depend upon the well contriving and ordering the ways and means , by which the government is to be maintained , and making the publick charge easie and supportable . by what has been said before , it may perhaps appear , that the interruption of trade has made this war very heavy upon the people of france , from which naturally follows , that a careful and vigorous protection of our own trade , will make all publick burthens lighter and easier to us . trade , as it is now become the strength of the kingdom , by the supply it breeds of seamen , so it is the living fountain from whence we draw all our nourishment ; it disperses that blood and spirits through all the members , by which the body politick subsists . the price of land , value of rents , and our commodities and manufactures rise and fall , as it goes well or ill with our foreign trade . 't is not enough to have great exportation , and great importation , unless we are gainers upon the ballance ; which the nation cannot be at the foot of the accompt , while there are very great losses at sea. for the profit of trade is not the advantage the merchant makes at home , but what the whole nation gets clear and nett , upon the ballance in exchange with other countreys of its commodities and manufactures . so that if we can protect our trade to that degree as to be gainers by the general ballance , the expence and length of the war will not so much affect us ; for trade , well secured , will bring in that wealth by which it may be fed and maintained . to support a long war , the taxes should be so contriv'd , as that they may lye equally upon the nation ; and when they are equally laid , they will in consequence be easier , and longer , and more patiently suffered . for he that is to carry a great burthen , should not reasonably be put to bear it upon one arm , and that extended at length ; but it ought rather to be placed upon his shoulders , so that every limb may bear its due proportion of the weight . the ways and means to supply the government , in this war , should be such , as may not too highly affect trade , upon the prosperity of which depends , in so great a measure , the welfare of the nation . what we give should be as free as possible from the load of paying interest-money , which eats upon the publick , as it ruins any private person . and , in taxing the people , we should have regard not to create disaffection to the government . we should likewise see that our present gifts should not , in their consequences , bring damage to the ordinary revenue of the crown ; for , in such cases , we give of one hand , and take away of the other . and lastly , in our ways and means of supplying the war , we should take some care not to entail upon the kingdom too large a debt of perpetual interest . taxes , which have all these inconveniencies , that are laid unequally , that affect trade , that consume us with usury , that disaffect the people , that prejudice the crown revenue , and burthen us with perpetual interest , may be made use of now and then , to piece out , and answer a single and a short necessity ; but cannot be repeated often , and made use of , as the constant ways and means of supplying the government , in a business of length , without great damage and hazard to the kingdom . for taxes of this nature beget public and private poverty , make the people desperate , render government uneasie to the rulers , and may be rather said to fight secretly against the prince , than to give him any true assistance . the opinion , which from year to year has prevail'd , that the next campagne would end the war , has made us bear with these ways and means of supply , believing every such charge would be the last of that kind that should be laid upon the people . perhaps we should have taken other measures , if , at the beginning of the war , the nation had been throughly convinc'd , that peace was at such a distance from us . some are of opinion , that if at first we had fallen upon excises , we had establish'd a fond of revenue , which would have lain equally upon the whole , been a constant and easie supply , and tending less than other taxes , to the damage of foreign trade , or ruin of the gentry ; and which , by this time , might have been so improv'd in the management , that we should have found it singly of it self , sufficient for all the expences of the war. and 't is not improbable , if the king of france had seen us open such a new vein of treasure , we had long since had a more advantageous peace than we can expect : at present . it had given him a great opinion and awe of our strength , if he had seen we had been able to raise five millions a year , in a way not very burthensom to the nation ; and he could have expected no good issue from a contest with so rich and powerful a people : but if he finds we raise money for the war , by ways and means heavy and destructive to our country , he will be encourag'd to persue it till he has brought utter ruin upon us . and tho' it appears from the books of hearth money , that there are not above thirteen hundred thousand families in england ; and , allowing six persons to a house , one with another , which is the common way of computing , not quite eight millions of people ; and tho' ( as likewise appears from the hearth books ) there are five hundred thousand poor families in the nation , living in cottages , who contribute little to the common support ; yet the eight hundred thousand remaining families , would be able to carry on the present business a great while longer , and , perhaps , till france is weary of it , if the public burthens could be divided a little more equally among them . it seems evident enough , that the war cannot be supported by the present revenue of the crown ; of which , as also how it stood at the beginning of the revolution , it may not be improper to give an account . the chief branches of the revenue , according to a computation deliver'd to the house of commons at the beginning of the revolution , stood clear of all charges , in the collection , as follows . the tunnage and poundage , including the wood-farm , coal-farm , and salt-farm , was computed at l. , the excise on beer and ale , &c. year ending th june , did produce — , the hearth money about — , the post office about — , the wine licenses about — , new impositions upon wine and vinegar granted for four years , the year ending th sept. , about — , duty on tobacco and sugar , for the same time in the same year , about , duty on french linnen , brandy , silk , &c. which was to continue to the st of july , for the year ending th of september , produced — , total — , , the chief branches of the revenue at present , clear of all charges in the collection , stand as follows . the tunnage and poundage , including the wood-farm , coal-farm , and salt-farm , year ending th september , did produce — l. , the excise on beer and ale , &c. year ending th june , produced — , the hearth money — the post office , the same year — , the wine licenses , the same year about — new impositions upon wine vinegar , &c. year ending th september , produced — , duty on tobacco , &c. year ending th september , produced — , duty on silk , &c. year ending th september — , the additional impositions took place from march . / . and from that time to th september , produced only — , the additional duties upon beer , ale , &c. computed at — , total — , , but of the , , l. which is reckon'd the present revenue , all but l. which arises from customs , old excise , post office , and wine licenses , is either anticipated by act of parliament for the war , or applied to the uses of it ; indeed , something of the ninepences will come into the crown as the lives fall . the salt duty , and new imposition upon the tunnage of ships , are to stand in the room of two nine-pences , till they come to be clear of their former anticipations . the other smaller branches of the revenue , such as the hereditary customs , fines for writs of covenant and entries in the alienation office , land revenue , dutchy of cornwall , dutchy of lancaster , first fruits and tenths , sheriffs proffers , compositions in the exchequer , fines of leases , and custody of idiots , forfeitures of recusants , fines for misdemeanors , post fines and seisures , are all inconsiderable , and so charg'd with pensions and salaries of officers , that they produce very little clear to the king. the tonnage and poundage , &c. in time of peace , will undoubtedly by degrees rise , but then trade must be courted and handled gently . the excise on beer and ale , &c. has been lately under so many discouragements of all kinds , as that branch will be found to mount very slowly . the hearth duty is taken off by law , as an unpopular revenue ; yet all the hardships and abuses of it , might have been corrected by act of parliament , and it would still have yielded about , l. per annum , above the charge of management ; and however the nation disgust it , 't is hardly so odious , if rightly examin'd , as poll-money , which the turks take to be so great a badge of slavery , that they impose it on none but christians . the present revenue being so far unable to support the war , what was wanting has been hitherto made up by other ways and means , of which some are thought very prejudicial to the nation . giving the king money by anticipating the customs , or by credit , upon distant fonds , does apparently consume the public with usury : the new fonds entail upon us a heavy debt of perpetual interest . the additional nine-pences upon beer and ale , do manifestly hurt that branch of the king's revenue . 't is feared frequent polls may disaffect the people . the new customs and impositions upon tunnage , are thought to prejudice trade . and lastly , the land taxes by monthly assessment seem unequally laid ; and the pound rate , of four shillings in the pound , does seem unequally levied upon the nation . but of each in their order . of anticipating the customs and credit upon distant fonds . that such ways and means of supplying the government , occasion ill husbandry in the public , will appear plainly to any one , that takes the pains to examin what great sums have been paid on account of interest-money and gratuities ; and let the king be either to buy stores , or to pay his fleet and army , it will be found at the long run , that , l. in ready money , will go farther than a million in tallies . of the new fonds for interest . the fonds for interest were , perhaps , good expedients , for the time , to raise money , but , if made use of frequently , may produce very bad effects in the nation ; for they divert money too much from the chanel of trade , where it is always best employed to the kingdoms advantage . there is already , paid upon these sort of fonds , about , , l. yearly . 't is true , what is out upon lives , will by degrees wear off ; but a great part of this sum will be a lasting rent charge upon the nation : and if we should further increase it by new projects of the same nature , we shall quickly be in the condition of spain , where they are undone by paying taxes to one another ; and where the public revenue is so clogg'd with perpetual interest , that apparently there is not wherewithal to supply the present necessities of the government . but the principal mischiefs these fonds occasion , is the raising money above the price , which either our foreign or domestick trade can afford to pay for it , to the great discouragement of both . they who have trac'd the effects , which lessening interest-money by law in this kingdom has produc'd , do very well observe , that when money was brought from ten to eight per cent , our trade presently increas'd upon it , and doubled in some time after it was reduc'd from eight to six per cent ; and if the abatement of interest did bring along with it that good advantage , we must expect to see trade labour under great difficulties , and in a short time come to nothing , if , by the means of these fonds , money be restor'd to its former rate of eight per cent. they are so inviting , and of such infinite profit , that few now are willing to let out their money to traders at six per cent. as formerly ; so that all merchants , who subsist by credit , must in time give over , and they being the greatest part , and , perhaps , the most industrious , any man may judge what damage this will be to the kingdom . so that these fonds of interest , are ways and means of supplying the war , which in all appearance are to be used tenderly , and with great caution . of the additional duties upon beer and ale. the excise upon beer and ale , brandy , strong waters , &c. was in a gradual and constant way of improvement from to , inclusive ; which year it produced , clear of all charge , , l. s. d. ● . ever year since it has fallen , and by much larger steps than ever it mounted . but because since the war there is little brandy imported , and strong waters are now charged in another manner , and at other rates than formerly ; the fall of this revenue will more plainly appear , by making the accompt up only for beer and ale , which produc'd as followeth . note , what follows is the gross account .   l. s. d. year ending june — , ¼ year ending june — , ¾ year ending june — , ¼ year ending june — , ¾ year ending june — , / the accompts of the year ending the th of june , are not yet made up ; but the excise , by a medium of four years , having fallen hitherto about , l. per annum , 't is probable the last year has done the like ; and , if so , it is now , l. per annum less than it was in . this great decrease is , by the commissioners of that revenue , chiefly attributed to the new additional duties , which in the country have made numbers of victuallers , in every county , leave of their trade ; and in london , put many private families to brew their own drink . the three nine pences upon beer and ale will not amount to much more than , l. per annum ; and if , as is alledged , they are the real cause the old revenue is diminished yearly , l. the publick gets but , l. per annum , by a tax that will be a long and very grievous burthen upon all the barly-land of england , and which is particularly heavy upon one trade , otherwise enough oppressed by the quartering of soldiers . 't is true , these duties were a present expedient , and did help out towards the supply of the war ; but for a long time hereafter they will apparently very much diminish the ordinary revenue of the crown . of poll-money . there is nothing can make it better apparent how displeasing poll-money is to the people , than the observation how ill it is brought in , and answered to the king. for where taxes seem hard and oppressive , in particular to the poor , the country gentlemen proceed in the levying of them with no zeal nor affection . the first single poll that was given in this reign , amounted to , l. s. / ● with which the quarterly poll holds no manner of proportion . 't is true , the qualifications are taxed differently in the two acts. money is charged in the first , and not in the second , and titles are put higher in one than the other . but considering how many were brought in by the second act , and at high rates , which were not reach'd by the first , the quadruple poll might reasonably have produc'd near four times as much as the single , and it yielded little more than half . quarterly poll.   l. s. d. london , middlesex , and westminster — , rest of england — , ¼ total — , ¼ single poll.   l. s. d. london , middlesex , and westminster — , ¼ rest of england — , total — , ¼ total of the quarterly poll — , ¼ difference — , ¾ the houses in england , as appears by the books of hearth-money , are about , , , of which , are cottages , inhabited by the poorer sort ; so that we may reckon there are not above , families liable to the payment of poll-money ; and though , in the common computation of the whole people , there may not be above six persons to a house , one with another , yet , in computing the , richer families , we may very well allow them to contain , one with another , seven persons , which would be , , heads ; and reckon but a third part of these qualified within the act to pay four shillings per head , the poll bill on that single article , ought to have produced , l. what the one pound per quarter upon gentlemen and merchants worth l. and such as belong to the law ; and what the ten shillings per quarter upon tradesmen , shopkeepers , and vintners worth l. might have yielded , is difficult to compute ; but , perhaps the commissioners names in the act of parliament for the monthly assessment , quarto & quinto gulielmi & mariae may be no ill guide in the matter . the commissioners then were about ten thousand , and we may reasonably suppose ( and any gentleman may compute for his own country , and he will find ) that , one country with another , not an eighth part are named commissioners of those persons , who in estate , real or personal , are worth l. and if so , we may reckon there are in england persons lyable to the payment of one pound per quarter ; by which account , the king should have received on that article , l. when we reflect upon the great number of tradesmen , shopkeepers , and vintners that are in england , it cannot seem any extravagant computation to reckon there are persons , of that sort , worth l. and lyable to the payment of ten shillings per quarter ; upon which head the king should have received l. and allowing but l. for all other persons charged by that act , the quarterly poll ought to have yielded to the king. for the common people at s. per head — l. , for the gentlemen , &c. at l. per head — l. , for tradesmen , &c. at l. per head — l. , for other persons charged by the act — l. , in all — l. , but there was receiv'd only — l. , s. d. ¼ the principal articles in this computation seem very much confirmed by what the first poll yielded ; for if there had not been in england about , , persons who paid d. per head , and about eighty thousand of the sort who paid one pound per head , that poll could not have produced in the country only , l. s. d. for money and titles were generally charged in london in the poll now in being , such are charged who are worth in estate , real or personal , l. which may make some difference in the second article ; but the third article should now increase , considering all persons , by this act , are to pay ten shillings per quarter that are worth l. in estate real or personal , which seems to take in stock of all kinds ; whereas in the former act , only tradesmen , shopkeepers , and vintners were comprehended ; so that if the present poll were strictly collected , it would produce about , l. and yet , as far as can be judged by the accounts hitherto come up , it is not like to yield so much money as the former . when a tax yields no more than half what in reason might be expected from it , we may plainly see it grates upon all sorts of people , and such ways and means of raising money should be rarely made use off by any government . of the new customs and duty upon tunnage . some people , who contemplate the greatness of england , and the figure it made in the world during the former part of queen elizabeth's reign , and some time before , are led to think we were stronger without trade than with it . perhaps trade in general may have been hurtful to mankind , because it has introduced luxury and avarice , and it might be better with us if we still liv'd in the innocence and plainness of our fore-fathers . but the circumstance of time , and and the posture other nations are in , may make things absolutely necessary , which are not good in their own nature . war is the occasion of cruelty , wickedness , and injustice , yet an unwarlike nation can enjoy no safety . since france , spain , italy , and holland have addicted themselves so much of late years to trade , without that naval force which trade produces , we should be continually exposed to the insults and invasions of our neighbours . so that 't is now become indispensably our interest , to encourage foreign commerce , and inlarge it as much as possible . instead of loading that part of our strength , we ought to court and nurse it up with all imaginable art and care ; 't is a coy and fantastical lady , hard to win , and quickly lost . with high customs we spoil industry , discourage the merchant , and may in time drive trade to take some other chanel ; and there is hardly an instance to be given of a nation , may be not of any single city , that having once lost trade , could ever recover it . war , and the scarcity of money , are sufficient discouragements to foreign commerce , without burthening it with new impositions . and perhaps it may be worth while to consider , whither hereafter , in time of a profound peace , if part of the customs were taken off , and some excises given in their room , such an exchange might not be very beneficial to the nation . if the stock of the merchant were greater , he would be in a condition to have a bigger trade . if it were not for the great duties that must be paid for customs , the same stock would carry on double the trade . 't is true , that excises would have the appearance of affecting land more than customs . but 't is , because the views of men are short , and generally confined to their own narrow interest ; and they do not duly consider how much their private concerns depend upon the publick welfare of trade , and how much the value of land is improv'd since our trade has augmented , even from twelve to twenty four years purchase ; nor how much more of their product and manufactures would be exported , if trade wore free without clog , and in its full prosperity . 't is granted that excises would something affect the landed man , who is the first seller , but if the customs were lessened , the price of all foreign goods would diminish to the buyer ; and considering how great a part that is of every man's expence , the country gentleman would get in the shire what he looses in the hundred . in nations , where the government cannot subsist without charging every thing , they lay perhaps great customs ; but , wherever the publick can otherways be maintain'd , the customs are low , for the encouragement of the merchant , who deserves all favor , as being the best , and most profitable member of the common-wealth . of all the new impositions , nothing is thought to lye so heavily on trade , as the duties upon the tunnage of ships . it seems to pull down at once a great part of what the nation had been so carefully rearing up by the act of navigation . and that tax is an instance , how much compassion for private cases does more prevail in this country , than the sense of publick good. for it was once designed to raise the money , which was wanting at the latter end of the sessions , by laying a new duty upon wine ; but because that was complained of as very burthensome to the spanish and portugal merchants , a charge upon tunnage was pitched upon , which in its consequence may prove very pernicious to the general trade of all england . of the monthly assessment and aids by a pound rate . subsidies , fifteenths , and tenths , were the antient ways and means in this kingdom of supplying the government . but what estates , and in what manner land● was thereby rated , is a matter very perplexed in our records , and would ask more time to explain , than the brevity designed in this essay will admit off . lord cooke , inst . . p. . and . values a subsidy at , l. and tenths and fifteenths at , l. and says they were four shillings in the pound upon land , and s. d. upon personal estates . it seems probable , that for a long time there had been no survey made of the land in england till hen. . and that for some ages they had governed themselves by the ancient books . but the affairs of that king requiring then a great sum of money , the parliament charged land with d. per pound , and personal estates with d. and the king had liberty to name commissioners of his own . the assessors were to be upon oath , and had power to examine upon oath , all persons of the true value of their estates , real and personal . the same thing was done and and hen. . and edw. . and and edw. . and and philip and mary . and , in these times , there was in a manner a new survey made of all the land in the kingdom , and thereupon the subsidies that came after , raised larger sums than formerly . for we find from the accounts in the exchequer , that from eliz. to , inclusive , the subsidies , one with another , amounted to at least , l. but from eliz. to jac. . in which time we cannot find there was any regular and strict survey made , the subsidies fell to , l. or thereabouts ; for which no reason can be assigned ( land improving all the while ) but that , when there had been no survey made for a long while , and the assessors were left at large , the people naturally returned to the rates in the old books . how ancient the inequality is between the taxes in the north and west , and the home counties , so much complained of , cannot easily be traced ; for in an assessment of , l. and car. . we find the rates upon the northern and western counties to lye just as they do in our present assessment ; and tho' there might be some reason to ease the north in that tax , because those parts had been great sufferers by the scotch army , yet in , when that act passed , the sword of civil war was not as yet drawn ; and the west and other counties had not yet at all been harrassed ; so that the favour which the north and west have met with in land taxes , is a little older than the civil war , and may be attributed to that care , which the great number of members they send up , have always had of their concerns in parliament . when the civil war broke out , the common-wealth chiefly subsisted by excises , for they could gather land-taxes only where they were strongest . in , their authority was generally own'd over all the nation , and then they began to raise land-taxes regularly by a monthly assessment . when the war was over , there was real reason to ease the north and west , and accordingly the parliament considered what counties had least felt the war , those in their assessments they rated highest , and they spared such places as had been most harrased by the armies of either side ; and this was the distinction they made ( and not as is vulgarly thought ) that of associated or nonassociated counties ; for most counties of england , during that war , had been some time or other associated , and by ordinance of parliament . but still perhaps it had not fared so well with the north and west , notwithstanding their sufferings , if their cause had not been maintained in the house of commons by a sufficient number of friends and advocates . the places which had been least sensible of those calamities , or were soonest rid of them , and that had been under the wings of the parliament , and their army , were london and middlesex , surry and southwark , hertfordshire , bedfordshire , cambridgshire , kent , essex , norfolk , suffolk , berks , bucks , and oxfordshire . and they kept to the same measure of favouring the distant counties , and laying the chief burthen upon those nearest london , as long as the authority of the common-wealth lasted . when king charles the second was restored , the northern and western gentlemen were strong enough in the house of commons to get continued the method of assessment then in practice , which was so favourable to them ; and in the act car. . for raising , l. for one month , 't is particularly provided , that it shall be raised in such proportion as the last , l. per month was raised by ordinance of state ; since which time till now , the counties distant from london , have continued in the constant possession of being favourably handled in all assessments . the first attempt of reducing assessments to some equality , was made in the year . the house of commons , as may be seen from their journals , had then in debate the setling , l. per annum , in compensation of the court of wards and liveries ; and a committee was ordered to frame and bring in an equal aportionment of the said sum upon all the counties of england ; which was done accordingly , and delivered to the house november the th , , and is as followeth . yorkshire west riding — l. north riding — l. east riding — l. — l. devon — l. essex — l. kent — l. suffolk — l. norfolk — l. somerset — l. bristol city — l. lincolnshire — l. hampshire — l. cornivall — l. wiltshire — l. london — l. middlesex — l. dorset shire — l. northampton — l. gloucester — l. hertford — l. buckingham — l. sussex — l. surry — l. cambridg and isle of ely — l. shropshire — l. berkshire — l. oxfordshire — l. leicester — l. hereford — l. l. warwick — l. worcester — l. bedford — l. stafford — l. nottingham — l. darby — l. lancashire — l. cheshire — l. rutland — l. huntington — l. northumberland — l. durham — l. cumberland — l. westmorland — l. monmouth — l. anglesea — l. brecknock — l. cardigan — l. carmarthen — l. carnarvan — l. denbigh — l. flint — l. glamorgan — l. merioneth — l. montgomery — l. pembroke — l. radnor — l. l. l. total is — l. , this aportionment was many months in forming , and made , no doubt , with great deliberation and judgment , since all the most considerable men of those times were of that committee . 't is apparent , that in the assessment of the rates upon each county , and by comparing the sums , it may be seen , that they chiefly governed themselves , by the proportions which had been observed in rating the ship-money . they had before them the assessment of the , l. and car. . which , because it was made in parliament , they would , no doubt , have followed , if they had not judged it partial . but it seems they rather chose to follow the rates observed in assessing the ship-money , as having been laid by persons who had not the same reason and interest to favour one country more than another . ship-money was an arbitrary and illegal tax , therefore it concerned the contrivers of it to lay it as equally upon the nation as possible ; for it would have been a double grievance to the people , if it had been imposed , both against law , and also with partiality . on the contrary , it imported the ministers of that time to give their new invention all the fair colours imaginable , and to make that , which was unjust in its nature , at least just and equal in its manner ; and no doubt , in the rating of it , they had duly weighed and considered the strength and weakness , riches and poverty , trade and fertility , and every circumstance of each particular county ; with some regard also to the proportion it bore in the ancient subsidies . and , upon these grounds , 't is more than probable the committee of the house of commons proceeded in , when they made the ship-money their model and pattern of a fair and equal assessment . since the late war with france , land has been tax'd in different manners , by an assessment , and by a pound rate ; but both ways , it will perhaps appear , that the north and west have not born their due share and proportion of the common burthen . the first aid given to their majesties upon land , was by a monthly assessment of , l. s. d. per month , primo guil. & mariae . the second aid upon land was of d. per pound . in this act their majesties had power to nominate the commissioners under the great seal of england , but were advis'd to put in all the same persons again , who had been commissioners in the monthly assessment : the assessors in this act were upon oath , primo guil. & mariae . the third aid upon land was of s. in the pound . in this act the assessors were upon oath , primo guil. & mariae . the fourth aid upon land was by a monthly assessment of , l. s. d. per month , guil. & mariae . the fifth aid upon land was by the same monthly assessment , guil. & mariae . the sixth aid upon land was by a pound rate of s. in the pound . in this act the assessors are not upon oath , guil. & mariae . the seventh aid upon land is by the same pound rate , and the assessors are upon oath , guil. & mariae . in order to show what proportion each part of the kingdom bears in the assessment , and in the pound rate , here is fram'd a table of columns , which shows , . what each county pays in the monthly assessment of , l. s. d. per month. . what each county pays in the single poll. . what each county pays in the aid of s. and . s. per pound . . what each county pays in the quarterly poll. . what each county pays in the aid of s. per pound . . what each county would pay in a tax of two millions , according to the aportionment of . . what each county paid in the assessment of ship-money . . what each county paid in the excise on beer and ale , &c. for the year . . what number of houses in each county , were return'd by the hearth books of lady-day , . . what number of hearths in each county , were return'd for the same time .   a table of the produce of each county in y e● monthly assessm t of , = = ▪ ● month. produce of each county in the poll money st gu●t et mariae . produce of each county in the aid of ●● . & ●● pound the ● . ot guitt & mariae produce of each county in y e quart●●ly poll . et . gutt et mariae produce of each county in y e aid of shitt s : in y e pound quarto guiliet et mariae . produce of each county for two m●tt● according to y e apporlionm● of produce of each county according to the assessm t : of 〈◊〉 ship m●●●y produce of county for excise on beer and ▪ he in y e year numb r : of houses in each county according to y e hearth books of lady day numb r : of hearth in each county according to the books of lady day produce of each county according to it assessm of = th and th caro●●mi : an elimate of the poor rate for one you made in latter end of the charles if th rety bedfordshire — = = = = = = = ¾ = = ¼ = = = = ● berkshire — = = = = = = = = ● = ½ = = ½ = = buckinghamshire — = = = = = ¼ = = = = = = ½ = = cambridgsh ▪ and isle of ely ▪ = = = = = = = = = ½ = = = = chesshire and chester = = = = = ¾ = = ● = = ● ¼ = = ½ = = cornwall = = ● = = = ½ = = = ● = ● = = ½ = = cumberland = = = = = ½ = = = = = = = = ● derbyshire = ● = = = = ¼ = = = = ¼ = = ¼ = = ½ devonshire and exon = = = = = ● = = = = = = = = dorsetshire and pool = = = ● = = ● ¾ ● = = = = = = ½ = ● = durham northumb●land & ba●●● = = = = ● = ● = = = = = = = = ½ essex = = = = = ½ ● = = = = = = = = gloucestersh r ▪ and gloucester = = ● = = = ¼ = = = = = = ● = = horefordshire = ● = = = = ● = = = = = = ½ ● = = hertfordshire = = = = = = = ½ = = ¼ = = ½ = = ● huntingtonshireo = ● = ● = = = ●● / ● = = = = = = ½ ● ● = = kent = = = = = ½ = = = = = = 〈◊〉 ½ ●●● ● = = ½ lancashire = = = = = ¾ ● = = = ● = ● = = ½ ● ●● = = leicestershire = = = = = ¼ = = ½ = = = = ½ = = ● lincolnshire and lincoln = = = = = = = = = ¼ = = ½ = = ½ northamptonshire = = = ● = = ½ = = = = = = ½ = = nottinghamshire = = = = ● = ¾ ● = = = = = = ¼ ●● = = northfol and norrvich = = = = = ¾ = = = = ¼ = = ¼ = = ½ ●● oxfordshire = = ● = = = ¾ ● = = = = ½ = = ● = rutland = = = = = ¾ = = = = = = = = ● salop = ● = = = ● = = = = = = ● = = = staffordsh r : and litchfield = ● = = = = ½ = = = = = = ● = = somersettshire and bristl = = = = = = = ½ = = ¼ = = = southamptonshire = = = = = ¾ = = = = = = ½ = = ● southfolk = = = = = ● = = = = ¾ = = ½ = = ● surry and southwark = = = = = ● = = = = ● = = ½ = = sussex = = = = = = = ½ = = ● = = ½ = = warnvicksh r and coventry = = = = = ¼ ● = = = = = = = = worcestersh r and worcester = = = = ● = ½ = = = ● = ● = = ½ = = wiltshire = = = ● = = ¼ = = ½ = = ½ = = ½ = ● westmorland = ● = = = = ● = = ● = = = = = = ½ yorksh r : w th : york and hull = = = = = ½ = = = = ¾ = = ½ = ● wales north and south = = = = = ¾ ● = = ● = = = = = = ● london midd x : & westminst : = = = ½ = = ½ = = = = ¾ = = = = ● grand totals , , = , = = ½ , , = = ½ , = ● ¼ , , = = ¼ , , , , = = ¾ , , , , , = = 〈…〉 home countys viz. surry & southw r● 〈…〉 cambdg kent essex norfolk suffolk berks bucks & oxon total is , = , = = , = ● = ¾ , = = ¼ , = = ½ , , , = = ¼ , , , = = , 〈…〉 of england excluding lond : middlesex ● 〈◊〉 total is , = , = = , = = ¼ ●, = = , , = = , , , , = = ½ , , , , = = , . what each county paid in the assessment of , l. & car. . . an estimate of the poor rates , upon each county , by a reasonable medium of several years , made towards the latter end of king charles the seconds reign . there is likewise summ'd up at the end of this table in two separate articles . first , the amount in each particular of the eleven home counties , which are thought in land taxes to pay more than their proportion , viz. surry with southwark , hertfordshire , bedfordshire , cambridgshire , kent , essex , norfolk , and suffolk , berks , bucks , and oxfordshire . secondly , the amount of the other counties of england and wales , exclusive of london , westminster and middlesex , which , because they would over ballance either side , are to remain out of the contest . the excise , and number of houses and hearths , are no ill measures to form a judgment by , of the trade , wealth , and abilities of a country . particularly , sir william petty , who was esteem'd the best computer we ever had , in all his political arithmetick , both for england and ireland , did very much govern himself by the hearth-money . some light may be also had in this matter , from the late polls which have been in the kingdom . the article of ship-money , shows how persons unconcern'd , did think each county ought to be rated . the aportionment of , makes it appear what was the opinion of a very able committee of the house of commons , upon this subject . the aid of s. and s. in the pound , set down in the table , shows that a pound rate has rais'd more , in proportion , than it does at present ; for if s. in the pound did raise , , l. s. d. ⅕ . four shillings in the pound ought to raise , , l. s. d. ¼ . the poor rates , set down in the table , may be very useful to such as love computations , and who are inquisitive into the common business of the nation , and desirous to know its strength and weakness . it was collected with great labour and expence , by mr , ar. mo. a very knowing person . he had not the account of wales , but according to the proportion wales bears to the rest of the kingdom in other taxes , the poor rate there must have been about , l. so that the poor rate , at that time , through the whole nation , was about , l. by the comparison of all these particulars , some light , peradventure , may be given , and computations made , that will a little help to the forming a right judgment ; how all parts of the kingdom may be rated in a land tax , with somewhat more of equality . but the observations and inferences , which shall be made from this table , are humbly submitted to such as take delight in calculations of this kind ; and 't is hoped such a scheme will set better judgments , and abler heads , to work , upon a matter that deserves so well to be effectually consider'd . all substantial merchants will acknowledge , that stealing customs , and running goods , is against their common interest , because such as have that art , are not upon an equal foot of trade with the rest . in the same manner , where a tax is unequally levy'd , the gentlemen are not upon the same foot of maintaining their port , and providing for their families , which cannot consist with the public good. from the table here set down , there may be made these observations . first , that it evidently appears several ways , that the north and west , or the counties that lye towards the north and west , are at least two thirds of england , reckoned without london , westminster and middlesex . secondly , that there is good ground to conjecture , that the north and west , or the counties that lye towards the north and west , are near three fourths of the kingdom , reckon'd without london , westminster and middlesex . thirdly , that from a general calculation of the whole , there seems good reason to believe , that london , middlesex and westminster , are not above one tenth part of the kingdom . in the excise on beer and ale , the north and west , compar'd with the eleven home counties , are as , l. is to , l. which is two full thirds . in the number of houses , the north and west , compar'd with the eleven home counties , are as , , are to , houses , which , is about fourths . in the number of hearths , the north and west , compar'd with the eleven home counties , are — as , , are to ▪ hearths , which is much above two thirds ▪ in the single poll , the north and west , compar'd with the eleven home counties , are — as , l. is to , l. which is about two thirds . in the quarterly poll , the north and west , compar'd with the eleven home counties , are — as , l. is to , , which is about two thirds . in the assessment of ship-money , the north and west , compar'd with the home counties , are as , l. is to , l. which is two full thirds . in an assessment of two millions , according to the apportionment of , the north and west , compar'd with the eleven home counties , would be — as , , l. is to , l. which is about thirds . in the poor rates , the north and west , compar'd with the eleven home counties , are — as , ▪ is to , , which is near two thirds . so that it appears here plainly , by eight different instances , the north and west are at least two thirds of the kingdom , reckon'd without london , westminster and middlesex . according to which calculation , the monthly assessment which runs thus , north and western counties - l. , the eleven home counties - l. , london , westm . and middlesex-l . , total — l. , , should run thus : north and western counties - l. , the eleven home counties - l. , london , westm . and middlesex-l . , total — , , so in the pound rate of s. in the pound , according to this calculation , if the eleven home counties , which are but one third , raise , l. the other two thirds should raise , , l. and the pound rate which runs thus , north & western counties - l. , , the eleven home counties - l. , london , westm . and middlesex-l . , total — l. , , should run thus : north & western counties - l. , , the eleven home counties - l. , london , westm . and middlesex-l . , total — l. , , but , all things duly consider'd , there seem very probable reasons to believe , the north and west are three fourths of the kingdom , reckon'd without london , middlesex and westminster . for , as to the excise , all who know that revenue must grant , that in the north and west , the country in many parts is so wild , and the houses lye so dispers'd , that the retailers cannot be so well watch'd as in the home counties , where the dealers are in a narrower compass , and have less opportunities to deceive the king's officers . more private families take their drink of the common brewers , in the counties near london , than at a distance , which swells the excise of the home counties . setting that aside , and if the revenue could possibly be as well watch'd in the distant parts as it is near london , the excise of the north and west would , probably , answer near three fourths of the whole , without london , &c. as to the polls , 't is notoriously known , that the payment for degrees and qualities of persons , is by no means so narrowly looked after and exacted in the north and west , as in the home counties ; and if it were , the poll-money in the north and west , would in all likelihood answer three fourths of the whole , reckon'd without london , &c. as to the north and west , bearing no higher a proportion , in the poor rate , than scarce two thirds with the rest of england , there is , perhaps , this to be said , that , in the distant parts , provisions are cheaper ; so they maintain their poor at an easier rate than in the counties near london . in the north and west , their manufactures afford employment to the poorer sort ; and there are not so many there , who live upon the charity of others , as near london , where luxury and idleness abound . as to the proportion each county bears in the ship-money , and as to the rates which would lye upon each county in an assessment of two millions , pursuant to the aportionment of , though the proportions are both ways laid with more equality than in our present assessment , yet we are to consider , that in those times , when they judg'd the eleven home counties to be a third part of the kingdom , it was , in respect of the improvements of land , earlier known , and made use of , near the capital city , than at a distance from it . the ship-money , of which the aportionment in is a copy , began to be levied in ; at which time we may well imagine , that near london , all sorts of ways to meliorate land were found out , and put in practice , such as disparking parks , grubbing woods , inclosing and dreining fenny ground , &c. so that the home counties , which were scarce a seventh part in quantity of acres , to the rest of england , might , in the year , be well judg'd a third part in the value of rents . but the various ways of improving land , are now of late years got into the northern and western counties ; clover , cinqfoin , trefoin , marl , and lime , are particularly beneficial to countries that have great store of barren ground . the north and west of late years , have had a greater proportion of foreign trade than the home counties . the use of sea-coal in london , has more than trebled of late years , which is a great advantage to the north. the prohibition of irish cattle , is wholly beneficial to the northern and western counties , and has improv'd their land , and is hurtful to the rest of england . land seems to have been almost at the height of its improvement , and near the rack rerit , about the year , in the eleven home counties . and in the north and west , it has been ever since improving ; so that , in all probability , those counties which were formerly rated as two thirds , may now be esteem'd and valued as three fourths of the kingdom . upon the whole matter , the hearth-money seems the best measure to form a judgment by , of the wealth of each county ; and , by consequence , what proportion it ought to bear in any land-tax . for , from the number of houses , we may compute the people . where the numbers of people are , generally speaking , there are the manufactures , and consumption of home commodities ; there is the wealth and trade ; and there land improves , and rents are highest . in the number of houses , the north and west , are about three fourths of the kingdom . from whence , upon probable grounds , may be inferr'd , that the north and west are three fourths of the rents and value of england , still reckoning without london , &c. and if so , and if the eleven home counties are but a fourth part , the monthly assessment should run thus :   l. s. north and western counties — , , the eleven home counties — , london , westm. and middlesex . — , total — , , and it likewise follows , that if in the pound rate of s. per pound , the eleven home counties , which are here reckon'd but at a fourth part of the kingdom , produced , l. then the north and west , which are three fourths , should produce , , l. and a pound rate of s. in the pound , throughout the whole kingdom , would be , north and western counties — l. , , the eleven home counties — l. , london , westminster and middlesex-l . , total — l. , , it may be seen , in the accompts of the exchequer , that , in the ancient subsidies , the north and western counties have been all along favour'd , and the reasons for it may be easily assign'd . vvorcestershire , gloucestershire , herefordshire , shropshire , and cheshire , were subject to the incursions of the vvelsh . the four northern counties , and yorkshire , were always to be upon their guard , against the inroads of the scotch . the western parts lay exposed to descents , and invasions of the french ; so that the private and particular charge in their defence , which lay upon those counties more than others , might be a sufficient cause to give them ease in all public burthens . the parliament , & car. . in their assessment of , l. plainly took their measures from the ancient subsidies . and with that assessment , car. . agree the rates laid upon each county by the common-wealth . and what the north and west pay in the pound rate , and what is laid upon them in our present monthly assessment , seem to answer it exactly ; all which may be seen by comparing the rates in the table upon each county . but the equity and reasons ceasing , which made our ancestors so favourable to them , and they enjoying the same common protection , and the publick necessities requiring great sums of money ; it seems but just and fair that they should neither favour themselves , nor oppose the being , in all taxes , upon an equal foot with the rest of the nation . the last observation offered from the table , is , that london , westminster and middlesex are not above a tenth part of the kingdom , which , if plainly made out , will clear a great many points , and very much confirm the calculation that has been made of what the north and west might raise in the pound rate . in london , westminster and middlesex , the pound rate of four shillings in the pound seems to have been well and justly levied ( except in the article of money at interest ) and did raise , l. now if we could come at an exact knowledge , what proportion the rents and value of those places bear to the rest of england , it would be a very good guide to the forming a computation , what the pound rate , fairly and impartially levied , would raise in the whole kingdom . in the aid of shillings per pound , london , westminster and middlesex , compared with the rest of england , are — as , l. is to , , l. which is near a sixth . in the assessment of l. and car. . london , westminster and middlsex , compared with the rest of england , are — as , l. is to , , which is near a seventh . in the present monthly assessment , london , westminster and middlesex , compared with the rest of england , are — as , l. is to , , l. which is above a tenth . in the single poll , london , westminster and middlesex , compared with the rest of england , are — as , l. is to , l. which is about a fourth — in the quarterly poll , london , westminster and middlesex , compared with the rest of england , are — as , l. is to , l. which is about a sixth . in two millions , according to the aportionment of , london , westminster and middlesex , compared with the rest of england , are — as , l. is to , , l , which is about a fourteenth . in the ship-money , london , westminster and middlesex , compar'd with the rest of england , are — as , l. is to , l. which is about a tenth . in the excise on beer and ale , london , westminster and middlesex , compared , with the rest of england , are — as , l. is to , l. which is about a fifth . in the number of houses , london , westminster and middlesex , compared with the rest of england ; are — as , is to , , houses , which is near an eleventh . in the number of hearths , london , westminster , and middlesex , compar'd with the rest of england , are — as , is to , , hearths , which is about a seventh . in the poor rates , london , westminster and middlesex , compar'd with the rest of england , are — as , l. is to , l. whatever proporation london , &c. bear to the rest of the kingdom , 't is plain , in the four shilling aid , they pay as about a sixth part of the whole . 't is true likewise , that in the assessment of , l. and car. . they are valued at about a seventh part ; but we are to consider the circumstance of that time ; the parliament wanting a present sum to pay off the debts they were engaged in , which no place could so soon raise as london . in the single poll they seem about a fourth part ; and in the quarterly poll , much about a sixth ; and the reason of the difference is in the single poll , the payment for qualities and degrees of persons was strictly exacted in london , and not in the country ; which swells the article of london . in the quarterly poll it was neither looked after in the country , nor in london , which we see paid little more to the quarterly poll than to the single . but in both polls , and both for london and the country , if we deduct from the whole sum , what was paid on the account of degrees and qualities , it will be found that london , westminster , and middlesex answer about a tenth part of the kingdom . in the excise they appear to be about a fifth part ; but the reason for that is obvious , because in london , almost all pay excise for their drink , which is not so in the country , but in the consumption of malt , london , &c. will be found about a tenth part of the whole . in the number of hearths they seem about a seventh part ; the reason of that is also apparent , for that in the country , to save the duty , the common people took away such hearths , of which they had not absolute use . but in number of houses , london , westminster and middlesex are not an eleventh part of the kingdom . and by the monthly assessment it appears , that the parliament have judged them about a tenth part . in the apportionment of , l. upon the whole nation in the year , they are valued and rated at about a fourteenth part . in the assessment of ship-money , at about a tenth part . and in an assessment of , l. given to harry the seventh , in lieu for that time of the aid , pur fair sitz chivaleer & pur file marrier rot. parl. har. . n o. . london , westminster and middlesex are rated at but l. s. d. which is about a thirty third part of that tax . and in the poor rate , they appeared to be about a twelfth part of the whole . upon the whole matter , from the foregoing instances , and many others that might be given , it seems very probable that london , westminster and middlesex have been generally esteemed , and are about a tenth part of the kingdom . but the instance which relates to the number of houses , is what we may reasonably lay most weight upon in the present dispute ; because the , l. which they pay in the four shilling aid , does most of it , without all contradiction , arise from the rent of houses . if indeed money were strictly inquired after , and if the charge upon personal estates made up a great part of the forementioned sum , the comparison might not hold ; because the great stocks of money are in london ; but though money be charged in the act , the law has not been able , hitherto , to reach it effectually . now , to raise the sum of , l. the general rental of london , middlesex and vvestminster must be upwards of a million and a half per annum . and if the rental of the eleventh ( but suppose them a tenth part of the whole ) be a million and a half , the general rental of the kingdom must be fifteen millions per annum . and if the general rental of the kingdom be fifteen millions per annum , the aid of four shillings in the pound ought to raise three millions . if , houses in and about london , with no more ground than what they stand upon , are , in rent , one million and a half per annum , it is hardly possible but that the , , houses in the country , with all the land about them , and all the benefits that attend land , must be in rent thirteen millions and a half per annum . and whoever considers this seriously , will perhaps be inclined to think , that the four shilling aid would raise at least three millions , if it were levied in other parts of england with the same care and exactness as it is in london , vvestminster and middlesex , which are under the eye and influence of the government . and if the aid could be brought to raise such a sum , the war would almost be maintained by the charge upon land only . 't is notoriously known that a great many persons , both in the assessment and aids , pay a full fifth part of their estates ; if the rest did so , all would be upon an equal foot ; which , in justice and reason , the subjects of the same prince should be in every good government . but this will be very hard to compass in that long possession many countries are in , of being favourably handled in all taxes . 't is true , in the present aid the assessors are upon oath , but , in matters of revenue , it has been always found that oaths are very little regarded . if in the customs and excise all entries were to be made upon oath of the parties , and the king had no other hold , he might indeed save the charge of officers , but he would see very little from those revenues . the officers in the customs and excise are upon oath ; but if there were no other checks upon them , those branches would turn to small account . and we see in the present charge upon interest-money , how little scruple men make of swearing not to have l. who are generally thought to be worth , l. taxes can never be equally levied where the people are left to themselves , or with no other check upon them , but their own consciences . therefore it was the ancient prerogative of our kings , to name their own commissioners for the levying and collecting such aids , fifteenths , and tenths , as their subjects gave them : which may be seen by the old commissions , ad assidendum & colligendum , that were wont to accompany grants of that nature . in that aid which was granted to harry the third , when magna charta passed , there is the form of that commission , vid. rot. pat. . h. . m. . dorso . and such commissions passed several times after , vid. rot. pat. . edw. . p. m. . rot. pat. . edw. . p. m. . rot. pat. . edw. . ps . . m. . rot. pat. . edw. . ps . m. . rot. fin. . edw. . m. . and in the other grants that came afterwards , the king is desired to issue out his commissions for the levying of them , as customably . vid. rot. parl. . rich. . n o. . rot. parl. . harry . n. . rot parl. . harry . n. . where the commissioners have power to examine all parties upon oath of the true value of their estates . in the reign of harry the sixth , there is an authority given to one lord , and the two knights of the shire in each county , who seem to have been in the nature of commissioners , to see that no wrong be done in the distribution of l. which was to be deducted out of the aid for decay'd towns and places . vid. rot. parl. . h. . n. . the first time we find commissioners named in parliament for the levying tenths and fifteenths , was in edward the fourth's reign , who was a luxurious prince , and gave the people reason to suspect his conduct . vid. rot. parl. . edw. . n. . and . edw. . n. . the records are both dark enough , but the parliament seems there to name commissioners , whom the king shall authorize under the great seal , to assess and levy the aid , and that the money so levied , shall remain in the hands of the collectors , to be appointed by the king in chancery , unto the time that proclamation shall be made by the king of his musters . the parliament suspected an aid was desired , and no war intended , so that their guift seems conditional , and they name commissioners , to see to the due performance of the trust . but afterwards , in the reign of harry the seventh , the occasion of naming commissioners in parliament , seems a great deal more apparent . for that covetous prince was wont to ask great aids of his people , on pretence of wars , that were never intended , therefore the aids which were given him the twelfth of his reign were , upon this condition , to be levied upon the people , if the war proceeded ; but not to be levied if a peace or truce ensued before they came to be due : and it was upon the score of this trust , that in all probability , the parliament named commissioners of the shires , with the justices of the peace to be associated . vid rot. parl. . h. . n. . and n. . but commissioners have been several times since named by the king ; as and hen. . and edw. . and edw. . and phil. and mary , and car. . but there is a president for this in the first year of their present majesties reign ; and if , pursuant to the powers given in that act , the king had named commissioners of his own in every county , for levying the aid of one shilling in the pound , there might have been a new survey made of all the rents in england ; and , in all likelihood , such sums would have been raised upon land only , as might have near answer'd all the necessities of the government . the second pound rate did not raise so much in proportion as the first ; and there is ground to think this last shiling aid will not raise so much as the former : and there is reason to believe , the aids by pound rate will every time grow less and less , ( like the subsidies in the latter end of queen elizabeth's , and beginning of king iames's reign ) unless there be a new , and regular survey made of land. for let the dangers from abroad , and the wants at home , be never so pressing ; no doubt , most men , if they are left to themselves , will be glad to save their money ; and will rather consult their private interest than the public good. but if the king , as was always practis'd in ancient times , had power to name commissioners ; and if all people were bound under great forfeitures , to give in a true rental of their estates , or a true estimate of what they keep in their hands ; and if the commissioners had power to examin any person ( other than the party himself ) upon oath , of the true value of each man's estate , there is hardly any doubt to be made , but that an aid of four shillings in the pound would raise three millions . and if land could raise that sum , the nation need not be put to such dishonorable and dangerous shifts of raising money , as are new projects , fresh impositions upon trade , and fonds of perpetual interest ; which , if they are made use of as the constant ways and means of supplying the war , must in all appearance very quickly destroy our foreign commerce ; and , by consequence , bring universal weakness and poverty upon the whole kingdom . but there is nothing too hard for the wisdom of a parliament to bring about ; which , perhaps , may find a way to levy the pound rate justly and equally in all counties , without giving the king power to name commissioners . the ancient subsidies did usually consist of a charge by poll , a pound rate upon land , and a pound rate upon money , and personal estates ; so that all sorts of people did contribute something in the old way of taxing , but such as for their poverty were exempted . the usurers , who are the true drones of a common-wealth , living upon the honey without any labour , should , of all people , be brought in to bear their proportion of the common burthen . as yet , they could never be effectually reach'd , but they may be fetch'd in by the wisdom of a parliament , if the house of commons would please resolutely to set themselves about it . what a pound rate of four shillings in the pound , upon money , might produce , is very hard to compute , because , in that matter , there is scarce any rule or measure to go by ; but supposing money at interest to be a sixteenth part ( as some think ) of the annual value and income of england , there is then twenty millions of money at interest , ( which may be , and yet not a third part of that sum , in specie , in the kingdom ) and if there are twenty millions at interest at five per cent. a pound rate of four shillings in the pound , upon money , would raise , l. that which has made quarterly polls so distastful , is charging the poorer sort ; but if they were all exempted , a quarterly poll well levied might raise , l. and here it may not be amiss to take notice , that if , in the pound rate upon land , one shilling were taken off from the landlord , and placed upon the tenant , it would ease those who have born all the weight ; nor can it seem oppressive to the tenants , considering how well they have fared hitherto . so that a mix'd aid , by a pound rate upon land and money , and by a quarterly poll , all carefully levied , might raise by four shillings , pound rate , upon land — l. , , by four shillings , pound rate , upon money — l. , by a quarterly poll — l. , total — l. , , which , without any new ways and means , would come very near raising that sum to which the expence of the war has hitherto amounted . if in a war that is so expensive , and is thought so necessary for our preservation , all people would agree to promote equality , no doubt great sums might be raised in this nation , and the country , in all aids , would be found to answer as well as london . that london , westminster and middlesex , pay about a sixth part in the aid , is very plain ; and that they are not above a tenth part of the kingdom 's general rental , is very probable . what proportion in other wealth and substance london bears to the rest of england , is very hard to determine . but some landed man will start up and say , 't is true , london bears a sixth , it ought to bear a half , it has all the wealth ; and the immoderate growth of that city undoes and ruins all the country . it may therefore be well worth the enquiry of thinking men , what truth there is in this common and receiv'd notion , that the growth of london is pernicious to england ; that the kingdom is like a rickety body , with a head too big for the other members . for some people , who have thought much upon this subject , are inclin'd to believe , that the growth of that city is advantageous to the nation , and they seem to ground their opinion upon the following reasons : that no empire was ever great , without having a great and populous city . that the romans drew all the conquer'd cities of italy into rome . that the people of attica were no better than a crew of rude herdsmen ; and neither flourish'd in war , nor in civil arts , till theseus perswaded them to inhabit athens . that the greatness of london will best preserve our constitution , because , where there is a great and powerful city , the prince will hardly enterprise upon the liberties of that people ; in the same manner , a rich and powerful city seldom rebels upon vain and slight occasions . on these grounds , and many others , some people are led to think , the growth of london not hurtful to the nation ; but , on the contrary , to believe that there is not an acre of land in the country , be it never so distant , that is not in some degree better'd by the growth , trade , and riches of that city . perhaps , if all the wealth and substance of london could be truly rated , in a tax of four millions , that city would pay a fourth part without any hardship to it . but , probably , there is nothing but excises that will truly and equally rate all sort of wealth , and substance , and bring in all sort of persons , chiefly those in great cities , to contribute in the public burthens . we have now gone through the chief vvays and means , hitherto made use of , for carrying on the present war , in which an impartial land-tax is chiefly recommended , as most agreeable to the ancient constitution of this kingdom . if it shall be thought expedient to go by the way of a monthly assessment , the aportionment of , seems a more equal distribution of the common burthen , than has been as yet made use of : according to which , the home counties would pay as they do now ; london , westminster and middlesex , may be rated at the sum they have paid in the aid of four shillings in the pound . and the assessment would run thus : northern and western counties — l. , , the eleven home counties — l. , london , westminster and middlesex — l. , / total — l. , , ¾ a far larger sum might indeed be produced by a pound rate , equally and impartially levied through the whole kingdom . but some will object , that to levy a pound rate strictly , by commissioners of the king 's naming , may occasion oppression and discontents in the country ; and that such a method of raising taxes , may create so many officers among the best of the gentry dependant upon the court , as may be dangerous to liberty . besides , the northern and western counties , especially such as lye most distant , will affirm , that out of the same value in estates , they are not able to pay the same pound rate , because their rents are not so well paid ; their returns , and markets , are not so quick ; and they taste not that benefit of the trade , and greatness of london , in the same degree as the home counties . it may be likewise objected , that land-taxes in general ( and chiefly if strictly levied ) must be very ruinous to the gentry , if the war should continue for any long time . and since , to a wise and vertuous prince , no sum of money can be desirable , that is levied with the oppression and discontent of his people , it may not be amiss to enquire , what other ways there are of supplying the war , which may be more casie to the nation . excises have had an ill repute with such as have not throughly weighed and compared them with other taxes ; but , however , it may not be improper to examine a little into the nature of such a fond of revenue , to what degree it would supply the war , and how far it may be consistent with the safety of our constitution . of excises . excises seem the most proper ways and means to support the government in a long war , because they would lye equally upon the whole , and produce great sums , proportionable to the great wants of the public . it appears from the books of hearth-money , that the families in england are about thirteen hundred thousand ; so that , allowing six to a family , the people of england may be computed at above seven millions . sir william petty reckons the common mass of mankind to spend in their nourishment , and living of all sorts , one with another , about seven pound a year a-piece ; by which computation , there seems yearly to be spent in england about forty nine millions ; of which , land and rents in london , according to what they pay in the present aids , appear not to be above ten millions ; and trade may be now esteem'd at six millions ; the other thirty three millions are spent from sciences , arts , labour , industry , manufacture , retailing of foreign goods , and buying and selling our home commodities . now in taxing the people , we have hitherto gone chiefly upon land , and foreign trade , which are about one third part of the strength of england ; and the other two thirds of its strength we let escape . so that usurers , lawyers , tradesmen , and retailers , with all that troop that maintain themselves by our vice and luxury , and who make the easiest and most certain gain and profit in the common-wealth , contribute little to its support ; all which , by excises , would be brought to bear their proportion of the common burthen . of the thirteen hundred thousand houses that are in england , it appears , from the books of hearth-money , that five hundred thousand are cottages of one chimney . suppose most of these to be poor families , and that they contribute little to any tax , yet if the other eight hundred thousand families paid in several excises but six pound a year , one with another , the whole amount would be , , l. per annum ; which shows what great sums excises are capable of producing . but the disproportion , between what the rich and what the poor consume , would make this fall easily upon the poor , and not very heavily upon the richer sort . the duties upon beer and ale , are an instance of the value of excises , which at s. d. per barrel upon strong , and d. per barrel upon small-beer , and d. per gallon upon brandy , produced , in the year ending june , clear of all charges , , l. and , if one branch of our consumption would yield such a sum , what would an excise produce , laid upon several other commodities and manufactures , charging the things of luxury high , and the necessaries of life but at a low rate ? that kind of revenue must needs be very great , where so large a part of the people are every minute paying something towards it ; and very easie , where every one , in a manner , taxes himself , making consumption according to his will or ability . venice and holland , two jealous common-wealths , have not thought excises dangerous to liberty . they are the strength and support of our neighbouring monarchies , especially france ; and if we are to contend with that king , the combat will be with very unequal weapons , if we must make use only of land-taxes and customs , against his excises , and all his other ways of raising money . but it may be objected , that no excise can be laid , but the price of the commodity will rise , which will hurt our manufactures , hinder consumption , and so prejudice the landlords and farmers of england . but that objection would be quite remov'd by a good law of assize ; without which , any new excises may indeed be of evil consequence . the laws of assize were made to increase consumption , and give the common people the benefit of plenty : as the price of corn falls , the weight of bread should encrease ; and if this were strictly look'd after , it would much augment consumption among the common people , who are the great consumers of our home commodities ; and who would consume more , if they might have more for the same money . but this is no where regarded , but a little within the city of london . by this laws not being put in execution , consumption does not encrease as plenty encreases ; neither the farmer , nor the common people , are the better for abundance ; and the benefit of plenty , in a manner , wholly accrues to bakers , corn-chandlers , and corn-brokers , who make immoderate gains by not raising and lowering their prices truly , according to the common rate of the market , which , by law , they are bound to do . as for example , if an excise were laid upon wheat and rye , and , at the same time , the laws of assize were revived , and inforced with higher penalties ; the excise would not be so much felt by the farmer , because he would find consumption increase ; nor by the common people , because they would have more bread for the same money ; so that , in effect , the excise would be answered to the king out of the immoderate and unlawful gain made by the baker , corn-chandler , and corn-broker . so , if an excise were laid upon oats , pease and beans , and an assize of the said commodities were made to force the inn-keepers and corn-chandlers to regulate their prices , in a reasonable manner , by the market price , the consumption would be greater , and the farmer thereby recompenced , and the king's duty in effect would be paid out of the immoderate gain made by the inn-keeper , and corn-chandler . so if an excise were laid upon flesh , candles , and leather , and at the same time provision were made by law to regulate the market of smithfield , and other markets , all cattle would sell so much better ; that the farmer would not so much feel the excise , which would in effect be paid out of the excessive profits made by the butcher , in retailing his flesh , and selling his tallow and hides . 't is strange oeconomy in our government , that plenty should make things a greater drug to the first seller , and very little cheaper to the buyer ; but so it is in fact ; and this proceeds from the want of a good law of assize , and from the fraud and corruption of those who retail these commodities ; such as bakers , inkeepers , and butchers . and since there is a necessity of money , can any tax be more reasonable , than such a one as would intercept and bring to the king , some part of that excessive gain , which these people make upon the publick ? and this will hold in almost all commodities that are the proper subjects of an excise . therefore if ever new excises are thought upon , it will be necessary , at the same time to renew the laws of assize now in force , and to prepare a new bill of assize , with higher penalties , and better accommodated to present use ; in which the justices of peace may be strictly injoyned to settle the assize every month , in their respective divisions , at their monthly meetings . the same law may regulate the markets of smithfield , in which , it is said , there are practices very hurtful to the landed men of england . 't is complained the butchers of london keep great quantities of rich feeding ground in their hands near the town , and are all engrossers of cattle ; and when beasts are brought hither for sale , they drive theirs up to glut the market , and by this combination , command the price , and set it at their own pleasure ; and so make flesh dear in the retail , when cattle sell for nothing in the market . the remedy for this evil can be best found out , and apply'd by the country gentlemen that sit in parliment . the same law may also regulate weights and measures , in which , 't is said , there are great coruptions throughout the whole kingdom . it should be the care of all governments to save and protect the poor , as much as possible , from the frauds and combinations of the richer sort ; and if this were sufficiently provided for , by good and wholesome laws , well executed , all the necessaries of life would be thereby render'd so much cheaper to the poor , that they might pay excises , and yet enjoy more ease and plenty than they do at present . the proper commodities to lay excises upon , are those , which serve meerly to luxury ; because that way the poor would be least affected . but things of that nature are of little bulk , easily hid , vended by a number of different traders , and require many officers to inspect the making , selling , and retailing of them . in holland they easily gather the duty upon things of luxury , where the people are shut up within a narrow compass , and where the execution of the laws is strict and steady ; but it would be otherwise in england , where the people are dispersed about in a large country , and where they have been long used to a slack and unsteady execution of the laws . besides , in holland , the laws that secure such excises to the government , are more strict and penal than our constitution will bear . and yet a duty upon all the vanities and luxuries of this kingdom may be collected , by a far less number of officers , and with less difficulty , than is commonly imagined . the commodities with us , proper to charge excises upon , are such as are bulky , and not easily hid or convey'd away , and where as few traders as possible may be pester'd and vex'd with the search and inspection on of the officers , and where the revenue may be sufficiently secured to the king by mild and gentle laws . excises may be so contrived and laid , as to answer a sum perhaps large enough for the wants of the government , without subjecting any private families , which are not dealers , to the officers search and inspection , or without charging any private person for such commodities as are of his own growth or making . there may a sum large enough arise , only from a duty upon such things as are sold , made , or retailed in market towns and great cities , to be paid only by the seller , maker , or retailer . and the duties will be with much less clamor gathered , where the business lyes only between officers and publick dealers , than where it is between the king's officers and private persons . 't is true , that a duty upon malt cannot be conveniently laid , or would yield little , without subjecting private persons to the inspection of the officer ; but , in regard malt-houses are in out yards , the inconvenience and trouble would be the less . and such a sum as is wanted may be levy'd , and the things of luxury reach'd , for the yearly charge of about , l. and by about fourteen hundred officers ; casting england into eight hundred districts , as it is laid out for inspecting the victuallers in the duty upon beer and ale ; the remaining six hundred are sufficient to take an account of such goods as are made , sold , and retail'd in great towns and cities . and this is undeniably apparent to any one that is skill'd in the manner of collecting excises , and vers'd in the nature of such revenues . nor is this a number of officers that can be reasonably thought dangerous to our liberties , or able to influence elections in the country , especially as they may be restrain'd by law from intermedling in such matters , and because the officers made use of for the collecting such revenues , are generally taken out from the lees of the people , and are persons without interest or authority . the excise on beer and ale has given such knowledge and light into revenues of that kind , and has chalk'd out so plain a way of dividing the kingdom equally among the officers , and instructed so many persons how to survey the several makers , sellers , and retailers , and to obviate frauds , that excises will now be sooner understood , more easily collected , and with fewer officers than is commonly apprehended by such as have not thought maturely upon this subject . and the books of hearth-money , and the late poles , have likewise given us such an insight into the number of the people , and the abilities of the respective families , that it would not be difficult to make some computation , what the excise upon any commodity would produce ; political arithmetick being a good guide in these matters ; though it gives not demonstrative proofs : so that the parliament would not be quite in the dark in laying any impositions of that nature . as for example , from the excise of london , a computation may be made , what a duty of d. per bushel upon all the malt of england would produce , in this manner . there was brew'd in london , the year , ending the th of june , , , barrels of strong beer and ale , and , barrels of small beer , so , of both sorts of drink , there was brew'd , , barrels . to the strong beer and ale , there is allow'd three bushels to the barrel , and to the small one bushel ; but much small beer being brew'd after the strong , it may be a reasonable medium to allow to both drinks , one with another , two bushels to the barrel ; at which rate , to reckon by round numbers , there is used in london , , of bushels of malt. the people of england , by the nearest computations that can be made , are reckon'd seven millions ; of which london is accounted a tenth part ; so that there may be in london , people , divide the , , by , , and there will be found to each man bushels tenths of bushel . but the allowance of two bushels to the barrel being rather of the least , we may reasonably allow to each man's consumption six bushels of malt in a year , which would be , , bushels , that is , about three barrels a year , which to the mass of the people blended together , will be about a quart a day . so that if london , which is a tenth part of the peopl , consume , , bushels of malt , the whole kingdom , which are seven millions , may consume , , bushels , which , at d. per bushel , would produce , l. per annum . where the use of any commodity is pernicious to the interest of the nation , or prejudicial to the health of the people , such an excise may be there laid , as may amount to a prohibition of the commodity . particularly , such foreign commodities may be highly charged , the importation of which hinders the setting our own poor to work . and here it may not be amiss to take notice , that if the duty upon brandy and spirits was so high , as to amount to a prohibition of them , their want in the king's revenue would be recompenced to him in his customs upon wine , and excise upon other liquors , which undoubtedly they hinder . how brandy obtains among the common people , may be collected from this , that for a long while the importation of it has every year increased considerably ; so that in the year , there was as much imported as the excise of it at d. per gallon amounted to about , l. besides the strong waters made at home . and if , as physcians say , it extinguishes natural heat and apetite , it hinders the consumption of flesh and corn in a degree . 't is a growing vice among the common people , and may , in time , prevail as much as opium with the turks , to which many attribute the scarcity of people in the east . there is no way to suppress the use of it so certain , as to lay such a high duty , as it may be worth no man's while to make it , but for medicine . excises may be made the engine to pull down or repress several luxuries , of which our laws could yet never get the better . and suppose these duties should make many commodities so much the dearer , as to lessen their consumption , if thereby luxury in general could be kept down , and the nation driven more to thrift , it would perhaps , tend greatly to our publick wealth ; and that notion , if truly examined , will probably be found false , that riot and expence , in private persons , is advantagious to the publick . unless the nation does unanimously and freely give into excises , upon a full conviction that they are the best ways and means of supplying the government , it will not be the interest of any king to desire such a revenue . for if they are carryed but by a small majority , against the sense and grain of a considerable part of the house of commons , they will come so crampt in the act of parliament , and loaded with so many difficulties , that they will only occasion great clamors in the kingdom , and not yield much money . whenever revenues of that nature are set on foot , all possible ways must be used , that humane wisdom can think of ; to give , in other matters , safety , ease , wealth , and prosperity to the nation . but ; as the foundation of all , it must be made apparent , by every step , that the liberties of the people are the chiefest view , and greatest care of the government ; for nothing else can encourage them to trust the court , in a matter that appears so nice and new , as a home excise . all things must be done that may effectually increase the value of rents , and price of land , which will add true strength to the nation . all laws that would tend to the relief of the poor , and setting them to work , would make excises , and indeed all other taxes , easier to the kingdom . the poor-rate , as has been said before , in the latter end of king charles the second's reign , came to about , l. and we have reason to think 't is now much higher , because of the great decay in our foreign trade , and home manufacture . besides which sum , there is yearly given a vast deal to their relief in voluntary charity and contributions ; so , that in time of peace , we pay near as much to the poor , as to the maintenance of the government , and for our protection . but , as this money is managed in most places , instead of relieving such as are truly poor and impotent , ( which the laws design ) it serves only to nourish and continue vice and sloath in the nation . if publick work-houses were set up in every town and county , and if the works and manufactures , proper for ever place and country , were fixed and established in it , the poor would be encouraged , and invited to labor and industry ; especially if the magistrate made use of his coercive power upon such as are vicious and idle . the real and true objects of charity would cost the nation but little to maintain ; and 't is to be doubted they have the least share in the publick reliefs . the wisdom of a parliament may , in time , find out a way to make such persons useful and profitable to the nation , who , at present , are a heavy burthen upon it . if all the hands in this kingdom that are able , were employ'd in useful labour , our manufactures would so increase , that the common-wealth would be thereby greatly inriched , and the poor , instead of being a charge , would be a benefit to the kingdom . if the poor were always certain of work , and pay for it , they would be glad to quit that nastiness which attends a begging and lazy life . and if the poor were encouraged , and , where there is occasion , compell'd to maintain themselves ; the pound rate would be much less in every county ; and if the nation were a little eas'd of that burthen , we should be in some degree , abler to support the expence of the war , and land would be eas'd , upon which the poor-rate is a certain charge . nothing would better enable us to pay excises , and all other taxes , than a publick registry , a general liberty of conscience , and indeed all laws that would effectually invite people over to us , and increase our numbers . people are the real strength and riches of a country ; we see how impotent spain is for want of inhabitants , with their mines of gold and silver , and the best ports and soil in the world ; and we see how powerful their numbers make the vnited provinces , with bad harbors , and the worst climate upon earth . 't is perhaps better that a people should want country , than that a country should want people . where there are but few inhabitants , and a large territory , there is nothing but sloath and poverty ; but when great numbers are confin'd to a narrow compass of ground , necessity puts them upon invention , frugality and industry ; which , in a nation , are always recompenced with power and and riches . and this happened to the phoenicians , who were the old inhabitants of canaan , and elbowed out by the hebrews , and driven into a small slip of land on the sea coast ; who , to nourish their great multitudes , were forced upon trade , and so became the first navigators and merchants in the world that we read of and in time grew a most wealthy and powerful nation . spain resisted the romans near years , meerly by their country being then so populous ; for cicero , reckoning the strength of several nations , says , that of spain consisted in its numbers . no country can be truly accounted great and powerful by the extent of its territory , or fertility of its climate , but by the multitude of its inhabitants ; and rich soils not well peopled , have been ever a prey to all invaders . where countries are thinly inhabited , the people always grow proud , poor , lazy and effeminate ; qualities , which never fail to prepare a nation for foreign subjection . all men who have made any computations of that kind , seem convinc'd , england would naturally bear , and nourish , a full third part more of inhabitants ; so that , if it ●ere fully peopled , the value of all land and rents would as certainly rise , as land and rents set better near a populous city than at a distance from it . there are many laws which would invite over to us that complement of inhabitants which our country seems to want ; and tho' vve should get at first only the poorer sort , yet those mouths vvould consume our home product , and those hands vvould help us in our wars ; and in peace , by their labour , over-pay the nation for their keeping . but a public registry , and a general liberty of conscience , would bring among us from abroad the very species of money , real and intrinsick wealth , substantial men , and all sort of manufactures . some people are afraid that foreigners may take the bread from the common people , whom strangers , by reason of their industry and spare living , are able to under-work and under-sell ; and that foreigners may have , in time , strength enough to awe the natives . and others believe , that tolerating all religions may be hurtful to the church . but these opinions proceed from a narrowness of mind , not becoming religious and wise men. for god can protect his own cause in the middle of a thousand errors , and variety of heresies will but give our church-men a more ample field of shewing their learning and piety . the same protection , and the same laws , will give foreigners the same interest , with the natives , and in time , probably , the same religion . and the industrious frugality of foreign handycrafts-men , will be a good correction to the sloth and luxury of our own common people . at a time when tyranny is so much the fashion round about us , if our arms were open to receive all the afflicted and oppressed part of mankind , the goodness of our climate , mildness of our laws , and the excellence of our constitution , would invite over to us such multitudes , as would exceedingly add to our power and strength , and make us more a ballance to the greatness of france . and with these additions of strength , excises would be less felt by any part of the kingdom . but there are many real lovers of their country , and jealous of its liberties , who object against excises , and say , they will be so easie and little felt , that the ministers , some time or other , may be tempted , if such a revenue were once afoot , to get it settled into a perpetuity , or for a long term , and so make parliaments useless . they say , land-taxes , polls , and customs , lye so heavy upon the men of interest and figure in the nation , that by such kind of impositions , the gentlemen of england will never enable a king to live without a parliament . but excises being an easie way of contributing , insensibly paid , and falling chiefly upon the common sort , they apprehend our representatives may , some time or other , by the arts and power of the court , be prevailed upon to let them pass into a lasting supply to the crown ; and they think so large a revenue would make the prince absolutely independant of his people , which would quite destroy our constitution . 't is true , some of our former princes have had designs to enslave this country , partly led into those measures by the gentries flattery , and corruption of their manners , who have been all along willing enough to traffick the peoples rights . however , the nation was never yet so deprav'd , but there was a party strong enough in the house of commons to preserve the being of parliaments , which would cease if they should make the crown rich enough to subsist without them . this party will ever , with jealous eyes , watch the motions of the court ; some , perhaps , only to bring their abilities and repute with the people to the better market ; others , to wreak their discontents , and some out of meer love to their country ; though it may be feared , the public has but few friends that are so truly upon the score of vertue and honesty . these will always be ready to make a stand in the house of commons , in case , hereafter , the ministers should have any designs to make kings independant on parliaments . but in the present posture of affairs , and in a long prospect of the future , it is not probable any thing will be enterprised upon liberty : for there are those , on the other side the water , that would sufficiently improve , to their advantage , any false steps that should be made of that nature ; and , while our fears of france and popery continue , the side that is for keeping the government within its ancient limits , will have always sufficient strength and credit in the nation . no king , with despotick power and an army , could levy a third part of that money in this country , which is now paid in a quiet and legal manner . if our kingdom had been under arbitrary power , when we broke with france , in all probability the conquest of us had not been the work of two campagnes ; for nothing but liberty , our interest in the laws , and property , could have made us willing to endure such a heavy war , and able to bear its expence . the rights and liberties of a free people , are chiefly what we have to oppose against the numbers , wealth , oeconomy , and military skill of france . so that there seems the less reason to fear any breach upon our constitution , because it is as much the interest of the prince , as our own , to preserve it . nor can a great tax of any kind be laid , which will fall so easie upon the people , as that the entire body of the nation will not find it self concern'd to throw it off in parliament , as soon as that necessity ceases which first brought it on . all taxes whatsoever , are in their last resort a charge upon land ; and though excises will affect land in no degree like taxes that charge it directly , yet excises will always lye so heavily upon the landed men , as to make them concern'd in parliament , to continue such duties no longer than the necessity of the war continues . besides , when 't is said excises are easie , 't is in respect of other taxes , and in regard they charge every individual man more equally than other impositions : for all ways and means whatsoever , that raise great sums , and drein the country of money , are , and ever will be , thought burthensome to the whole . and though the dangers which threaten from abroad , have made us willing to raise such great sums , as for these late years have been levied in england , yet all men know , that in times of peace , they are far above the value , wealth and power of this country , and cannot be continued , nor under any head whatsoever paid a long space , without depriving the people of that stock which should carry on their labour , trade , and manufacture , and consequently , introducing universal poverty . so that there seems little reason to fear the gentlemen in parliament can ever be prevail'd upon to make excises a standing revenue . there are other taxes , that probably , in their consequence , may prove more dangerous to liberty than excises . the rights of the people are safe so long as we preserve parliaments ; and while that post is secure , and well guarded , we are out of danger ; our felicity being such , that we cannot be undone , but by our selves , and by our own consent . those kings who have design'd the subverting of our laws , by force and open war , as king john , harry the third , edward and richard the d , could never prevail ; on the contrary , their attempts did end in procuring to the nation more ample charters of freedom . but those princes have been more likely , and nearer to compass their ends , who have had the art to undermine our priviledges by corrupting parliaments . and nothing can sooner dispose the gentry to that corruption , and put them more in the power of the court , than such heavy taxes as will make them uneasie in their fortunes . and the subversion of most free governments that we read of , has happen'd when the gentry has been ambitious , and overwhelm'd with debts , and press'd with too great necessities . if these hight land-taxes , are long continued in a country so little given to thrift as ours , the landed men must inevitably be driven into the hands of scriveners , citizens , and usurers , except some few of the most wary families . and in such a case , the country gentlemen would still preserve the interest of being chosen into the parliament for a time , because they would hold their estates till they are evicted out of them by law , or forc'd to sell to their creditors , who , indeed , are the true owners . now can there in the world , be a circumstance more dangerous to the liberty of a nation , than to have the real right , interest , and property of land , in one hand , and the power of being chosen into parliament in another ? to preserve the rights of this nation , we should be represented by such as have the greatest share in property . and yet if these high land-taxes should last any considerable time , the real property of land will belong to the bankers and usurers , and we shall be in a great measure represented by such as have only the name and show of estates . and 't is left to the consideration of any impartial man , whither such a parliament would not be entirely in the power , and at the devotion of the court : and whither liberty would not be thereby more endanger'd , than by making excises a fond of revenue for this war. when the people grow once so degenerate , as to surrender the rights of the nation , there is no ward against such corruption ; and a parliament that would consent to continue excises , beyond the necessities of the war , would give up magna charta , or settle the present land-taxes into a perpetuity upon the crown . but 't is hoped there are not hands enow in this country , to help a few flatterers in the pulling down the fences of our liberties , and to promote a design that would as well ruin the king as his people . if an honorable and safe peace be so much in our power as some men imagine , there will be no occasion of new ways and means of supplying the government . but if we are so jealous of our trade , and maratime interest , as to desire the war may be continued , till the naval power of france be a little humbled and broken , then it vvill import us to think on the ways and means proper for the carrying on a business of difficulty and length . upon the whole matter , it would be much for the honour and safety of england , if we could bring it about , to answer the years expence , with the revenue that shall arise within the year ; and not to live upon anticipations , which eat us out with interest-money , and run the nation into a long debt . all reasonable men must grant , that if the government could be otherways supplied , it were expedient to let land breath a little , in order to give the country gentlemen opportunity to repair the breaches which are lately made in their fortunes . and in all likelihood , excises might maintain the whole war , if they can be so settled , as the giving of them may not hazard the constitution . but if excises are thought dangerous to liberty , there seems good reason to believe , that an aid of 〈…〉 ound upon land , and money , join'd with a quarterly poll , and all justly and fairly levied through the whole kingdom , would near supply the present necessities . if aristides , cimon , and themistocles , or any of the ancient worthies , could rise from the dead , they would be astonish'd at our proceedings , and wonder to see a nation , that fights for the cause of liberty , tax themselves partially , and not with due proportion . 't was not by such measures , in their public assemblies , that the grecians so long withstood the persian monarchy , but by observing , among themselves , mutual justice and equality , each man submitting his private interest and concerns to the common good of his country ; which , 't is evident , they did in the whole course of their affairs . finis . ordered by the commons assembled in parliament that such of the persons to whom the sum of seventy six thousand pounds, or any part thereof is due for fraight ... england and wales. parliament. house of commons. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing e ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing e estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) ordered by the commons assembled in parliament that such of the persons to whom the sum of seventy six thousand pounds, or any part thereof is due for fraight ... england and wales. parliament. house of commons. england and wales. parliament. committee of the navy. sheet ([ ] p.). s.n., [london : ] imperfect: stained. at head of sheet: die lunæ, maii, . reproduction of original in the bodleian library. eng contracts, maritime -- great britain -- early works to . freight and freightage -- great britain. finance, public -- great britain. great britain -- history -- commonwealth and protectorate, - . broadsides -- london (england) -- th century. a r (wing e ). civilwar no die lunæ, maii, . ordered by the commons assembled in parliament, that such of the persons to whom the sum of seventy six thousand pou england and wales. parliament a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion die lunae , maii , . ordered by the commons assembled in parliament , that such of the persons to whom the sum of seventy six thousand pounds , or any part thereof is due for freight , as shall come in and double the sum so owing unto him or them , as part of the said sum of seventy six thousand pounds upon the security of the dean and chapters lands , shall have the like benefit that any other person or persons by the act of parliament touching the sale of deans and chapters lands , upon doubling , may and are to have . ordered , that it be referred to the committee of the navy , to view the particulars of the said sum of seventy six thousand pounds , and to whom the same are due , and to examine the justice of those debts ; and such of them as they shall finde just , to certifie under the hands of any five of them ; the trustees and treasurers appointed by the act for the said dean and chapters lands , be required to admit them upon doubling accordingly . hen : scobell , cleric . parliamenti . die lunae , maii , . at the committee for the navy , &c. upon consideration this day had by this committee , concerning satisfaction of such moneys as are owing for freight of ships in the service of the parliament : resolved by this committee , that the several orders above mentioned , this day passed the house , touching the same , be forthwith printed and published : signed by command of the said committee : ro: blackborn , clerk of the said committee . the tryal and comdemnation of the trustees of the land-bank at exeter exchange for murdering the bank of england at grocers-hall. before sir j.h. l--d m-r, sir s.l. r-r, at the old-bayly. neale, thomas, d. ? approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing t estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the tryal and comdemnation of the trustees of the land-bank at exeter exchange for murdering the bank of england at grocers-hall. before sir j.h. l--d m-r, sir s.l. r-r, at the old-bayly. neale, thomas, d. ? p. s.n., [london : ] caption title. imprint from wing. reproduction of the original in the guildhall library, london. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published 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humor -- early works to . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the tryal and condemnation of the trustees of the land-bank at exeter exchange , for murdering the bank of england at grocers-hall . before sir i. h. l — d m — r , sir s. l. r — r , at the old-bayly . jurors and witnesses . sir w. c. sir w. s. sir vv. g. sir h. f. sir i. e. sir a. t. o — ah s — ck g — h — i. c. l. p. r. l. t. i. counsel against the murderers , k — g. clerk of the arraigns — cryer , vv. a — d. mr. b — coe attending to hear the trial. ant. g — ot coming in accidentally . r. vv. a volunteer witness . the indictment . the jurors upon their oaths do say , that the trustees of the land-bank at exeter-exchange not having the fear of the mighty the before their eyes , but moved and seduced by the instigation of sense and reason , the bank of england at grocers-hall , in the ward of cheap , london , intending to kill and murder , on the th day of august . upon the bank of england aforesaid , ( in peace from all their creditors then being ) at grocers-hall aforesaid , did make an assault , and with a certain formidable weapon , called the settlement of the land-bank inrolled in chancery an. dom. . containing ten skins of vellum , in length inches , and in breadth inches , in both their hands then having , then and there unto the bank of e●gland aforesaid , on that part of their head where their brains should lie , with both their hands aforesaid , one mortal vvound , in length three inches , and in depth two inches , did give , of which said wound the bank of england aforesaid , at grocers-hall aforesaid , did languish until the then next session of parliament . and the jurors aforesaid upon their oaths do say , that afterwards , to wit , in the said then next session of parliament , the trustees aforesaid , the sooner to kill and murder the the said bank of england , upon the same bank of england then languishing , at grocers-hall aforesaid , did make a further assault , and a certain poisoned arrow made of copperas , galls and raggs , called a drawn clause for enabling the trustees of the land-bank to purchase the reversions of the annuities , in their right hand then having , out of their right hand aforesaid , into the h — se of c — ns then sitting did shoot , from whence the same arrow so shot did rebound upon grocers-hall aforesaid , and the bank of england aforesaid then and there languishing upon the same part of the head did smite : and so the jurors aforesaid do say , that the trustees aforesaid , the last session of parliament aforesaid , to the bank of england aforesaid , at grocers-hall aforesaid , one other mortal wound did give , of which the said bank then languished , until the end of the said session of parliament . and the jurors aforesaid do say , that before the end of the said session of parliament , the trustees aforesaid , the sooner to kill and murder the said bank of england , in and upon the same bank of england , at grocers-hall aforesaid , did make a further assault , and another poisoned arrow , made of copperas , galls and raggs , called a bill for establishing a land-bank , in both their hands then having , into the same h — se of c — ns then sitting , out of both their hands aforesaid did shoot , which said bill did then and there grow into a certain formidable engine , called an act of parliament . and the jurors aforesaid do say , that the trustees aforesaid , the last session of parliament aforesaid , at grocers-hall aforesaid , with the act of parliament aforesaid , in both their hands then having , the bank of england aforesaid , at grocers-hall aforesaid , then and there languishing , upon the same part of the head one other mortal wound did give , of which the bank of england aforesaid , at grocers-hall aforesaid , until the fifth day of may , . did languish , and then and there languishing died . and so the jurors aforesaid do say , that the trustees of the land-bank at exeter-exchange aforesaid , the bank of england at grocers-hall aforesaid , did kill and murder against the peace . &c. cryer sir vv. c. to the book . trustees vve challenge him . sir vv. c. bear witness ! i go in dread of my life . counsel i bar challenges , for there are so many quirks in the law about them , that if they are admitted , i 'll quit the court mr. r — r gentlemen murderers ! pray be not so rough in your behaviour , for you 'll fright the jury and counsel out of court : vvhatever your resentments are , let your words be soft : learn meekness and malice ( the true accomplishments of a courtier ) trustees vvell , ( mr cryer ) execute your office cryer gentlemen of the jury , lay all your hands on the book together , ( all hands on ) you shall all swear your selves vvitnesses and jury-men in this cause , ( all kiss the book ) cl. of arr. gentlemen of the jury , you are to try this issue against the murderers at the bar. if you find them guilty , or that they fled from it , enquire what guineas or mill'd money they have : if neither guilty nor fled , say so and no more , and hear your selves give evidence . cl. of the arr. you murderers at the bar , hearken what i shall say to you . you stand here indicted by the name of trustees of the land-bank at exeter-exchange , for that you , &c. how say you , are you guilty or not ? trustees not guilty : and we desire our plea may be recorded cl. of the arr. 't is recorded trustees now mr g — pray take notice , that you have indicted us by the name of trustees of the land-bank at exeter exchange , and by that name we have pleaded , and this plea is recorded , and now we are a corporation upon record , to sue and be sued by our common name sir vv. s. g — ds bl — d mr g — what blunders do you make , this was their first stratagem in the house of commons , to make themselves a corporation by being called by parliament trustees of the land-bank , in the clause they offered for purchasing the reversions of the annuities , but we found it out , and so the clause was withdrawn , and now you have made a fine mornings work of it , and be damn'd to you for an old blockheard counsel this is the first time i have been called blockhead in court since i been a common-pleas attorney ; but if they have any exceptions to the indictment , let them take advantage of it after the trial : i 'le go on to the evidence , and i believe mr s — ck will go through the whole cause mr. r — r if mr s — ck can go through the whole evidence , you had best set him a join'd stool , and let him stand up in the middle cryer mr s — ck , please to mount the stool ( vp o — ah ! ) sir vv. c. and i 'le stand on the other side of these gentlemen murderers , for i don 't like their challenges counsel vve will begin with the settlement ; mr s — ck , pray give the court an account what you know of the settlement of the land-bank at exeter-exchange mr s — ck . account ! i can give no account what it is : i thought you could give the best account of that , because you are a lawyer counsel a lawyer , so i am : i have been a barrister ever since i was eight and fifty , but i never read that settlement , nor never will , for 't is against the prerogative and the scriveners , and therefore i and three other conveyancers have made an oath never to have any thing to do with it . trustees come gentlemen , you shall not want your evidence , here is the settlement against the prerogative and scriveners counsel let the court do as they please ; but for my part , if you begin to read it i 'le be gone , for i know there is a trick in it , and they produce it here to draw us in to be guilty of misprision , by being privy to it ( being , as i say , against the prerogative ) and i offer my opinion as amitia curie , that you cannot safely read it sir. h. f. ay , g — s bl — d , i 'le hold to 't is against the prerogative sir vv. s. g — s z — nd , we won't hear that damn'd long settlement , i remember they brought just such long things in parchment to grocers-hall , to have us lend money upon land in lancashire , and made us all as mad as devils sir h. f. d — mn ' em ! i would not read it for five pounds mr. g. h — i perceive here is like to be a debate about the contents of this settlement , but with submission , if we prove the settlement to be the cause of the death of the bank of england , it will be sufficient , though we prove not the contents of the settlement counsel ay , ay , 't is enough . come , mr. s — ck , do you believe in your conscience , that the settlement of the land-bank at exeter-exchange was the cause of the death of the bank of england ? mr , s — ck . ay , on my soul and conscience do i ; for we were at that time in as good health and credit as one would wish , money was brought in to us all day long , as cheap as neck beef , we gave nothing for it , but little bits of paper called speeds notes . mr. r — r. in what manner do you apprehend the land-bank impaired your credit ? mr. s — ck . why , every one said , that if that succeeded , it would draw the cash from us , because their bills being mortgages on lands , would be esteemed better security than our cashiers notes , which were given out contrary to law , and had no real security . mr. r — r. mr. s. — ck . consider , we are trying a murder , and not a trespass : the land bank might do you an injury , but you must prove the mortality of the wound , mr. s — ck . why , sir , you must know , that at that time our bank was as bigg as they could tumble with expectation of being the sole bank of england , and having the power of giving laws to the kingdom , and the land-bank settlement just then starting out , our bank took a fright , miscarried of their expectation , fell into fits of the mother , and never claw'd it off to their dying day . counsel . this is full evidence of the first wound , pray , mr. s — ck , give the court and the jury an account of what you know of the second wound , by the clause brought into the house of commons , for enabling the trustees of the land-bank at exeter-exchange to purchase the reversions of the annuities . mr s — ck i don't know any thing of it counsel vvell , do you believe in your conscience that this clause was one cause of the death of the bank of england ? mr. s — ck . ay , on my soul and conscience do i. sir w. c. nay , i am sure of it ; for i remember something about a clause about something at exeter-exchange , and i believe that must be it ; and i am sure my stock fell l. per cent. upon it ; i am sure i have lost l. by their damn'd clauses and settlements , or one thing or other . counsel . well , well , there 's the second stroke proved , and now we 'll go on to the act of parliament . counsel . come mr. s — ck , give the court — mr. s — ck . nay , i think i can say the words my self now , i o — ah s — ck do believe in my soul and conscience that the act of parliament for establishing the land-bank was the cause of the death of the bank of england . sir w. c. well sworn s — ck , faith. counsel . sworn ! he swears as well as if he were serv'd with a subpoena : and for all sir w. s. call'd me block-head , you see i understand evidence , and now i have nothing to do but to summ it up ; which is in short , that the land-bank murdered the bank of england ; for which i pray judgment . trustees . and we pray the verdict may be given before judgment . counsel . the verdict is but a ceremony , with which the court may dispence . mr. r — r. nay , mr. g — , we are counsel for the prisoners , and will do them justice , therefore i am for the verdict before judgment . trustees . thanks for justice : then , mr. g. — , before your verdict prove the bank of england dead . mr. s — ck . i have the evidence for that about me : here 's their last will. counsel . this same o — ah manages evidence almost as well as i do . come , read the will. cl. of the arr. know all our creditors by these presents , that we the governour and company of the bank of england , being weak in body through the wounds received from the land-bank at exeter-exchange ( to whom we lay our death ) but of as good sense as ever we were , finding our selves impaired in our credit and reputation , and despairing of recovery , do make this our last will and testament . first , we bequeath our soul to the devil , in order to serve the publick out of our creditors money : and as to the qualities of our mind , we dispose thereof as follows , viz. all our skill in foreign exchanges , and our probity and candor in making up the accounts of the loss thereof , we give to all and every of our directors ( except four or five ) jointly and severally , to hold to them and their successors in tail-bank , as heire-loomes and indelible monuments of their skill and probity for ever . all our obstinacy and blunders we give to our present g — r. all our oaths , impudence and lies , we give unto our present d — g — r , and our d — r sir h. f. to hold in joynt partnership during their lives , and the survivor to have the whole . all our shuffling tricks we give to our d — r sir w. g. all our cinicalness and self-conceit we give to our d — rs i. w. and g. h. equally to be divided betwixt them , share and share alike , as tenants in common . all our blindness and fear we give unto our d — r o — ah s — ck , and we also give him five pounds in money , to buy him a new cloath coat , a new half beaver hat , a second hand periwigg , and an old black sword , to solicit with in the lobby , and also to buy him a pair of spectacles to write letters to lords with . and as to the residue of our temporal estate ( besides the said l. ) we dispose thereof as followeth : imprimis , we devise to our own members ( when they shall have paid in their whole l. per cent. ) our fund of l. per ann. charged and chargeable , nevertheless with the summ of l. for which it stands mortgaged by bank bills , in full satisfaction of all their great expectations from the probity and skill of our directors , advising them to accept a redemption thereof by parliament whenever they can have it . item , all our ready moneys ( before any of our debts paid ) we give to our executors herein after named , upon trust that they shall from time to time , until the first day of august , . lend the same into the e — r , upon condition to defeat the establishment of the land bank : and from and after the said first day of august , then to lend out the same into the said e — r upon security of promises to establish our executors the next sessions instead of the land-bank , and for such other premiums as our said executors can get to themselves for doing thereof . and we do direct our said executors to continue the stock and pensions already allowed to our fast friends they know where and after all our ready moneys so disposed , we leave the residue of our effects for payment of our bills and notes , at such days and hours , and in such manner and proportion , and with such preferences as our said executors shall think fit . and we do hereby constitute our directors executors of this our will , giving unto each of them power out of our cash to discount their own talleys , bills and notes at par , and the bills and notes of other our creditors at the highest discount they can get for the same : and our body we commit to be buried with all privacy , lest our creditors arrest our corps . in witness whereof we have hereunto set our common seal , the th . day of may , . trustees . where was your bank buried ? m. s — ck why fools ! don't you hear 't was a private funeral to conceal the body : but here 's a copy of their epitaph . sir w. c. old s — ck blows 'em , faith ! he swears the better for being heated a little . the epitaph . cl. of the arr. here lyes the body of the bank of england , who was born in the year . and dyed the th . day of may , . in the third year of their age. they had issue legitimate by their common seal l. called bank bills , and by their cashier two millions of sons of whores , called speeds notes . trustees . well , we are satisfied the bank of england is dead , but must 〈◊〉 your witness to keep his stool for one heat more , while we cross-examine him , to prove the bank of england felo de se. mr. s — ck . i don't know what that is . trustees . why , that your bank murdered themselves ; and if so , their effects are forfeited , and you as executors cannot have them . mr. r — r , mr. g. what do you say to the law in that point ? counsel . 't is crown law ; but it may be so for ought i know , and therefore i cannot advise the executors to give any evidence . mr. r — r , look you gentlemen at the bar , have you any other evidence here ? for we cannot force men to swear against themselves , that is to make them all felons de se. trustees . yes , here is the inquisition post mortem taken before the justices of the peace , because the body could not be found for the coroner to take an inquisition upon view of it ; and we pray it may be read . the inquisition . cl. of the arr. london ss . an inquisition intended , taken at grocers-hall the th . day of may , . before a , b , c , d , &c. justices , by e , f , g , h , &c. jurors , return'd , sworn and impannell'd to enquire into the cause of the death of the bank of england , who upon their oaths do say , that on the last day of the session of parliament , in which the said bank was established , the said bank then being in health , the directors of the bank aforesaid , the fear of the laws of the kingdom before their eyes not having , but moved and seduced by the instigation of covetousness and folly , at grocers-hall aforesaid , the day and year aforesaid , intending to evade the said act of parliament , did devise and frame several unlawful engines called cashiers notes , and with the engines aforesaid did draw in several great summs of clipt moneys , and certain peices of wood called talleys , whereby they came indebted above the summ of l in contempt of the said act of parliament . and the jurors aforesaid do say , that in the session of parliament then next following , the directors of the bank aforesaid , the love of truth in their hearts not having , but moved by the fear of punishment , with intent to impose upon the subjects of this kingdom , at grocers-hall aforesaid , a certain false libel , called an advertisement did devise and frame , in these words following , or to the like effect , viz. the directors of the bank of england do hereby give notice , that they will lend money on all real securities at interest of l. per cent. and the same false libel into the gazette did put , and the jurors afore said do say , that the directors of the bank aforesaid their promise not regarding , the moneys aforesaid did not lend , nor have hitherto lent , in decepit of the subjects of this kingdom . and the jurors aforesaid do say , that the directors of the bank aforesaid , in further prosecution of their covetousness and folly , being ignorant and unskilful in forreign exchanges , and having no goods or effects in forreign parts , did undertake and contract for the remitting of great summs of money beyond the seas . and the jurors aforesaid do find , that the bank aforesaid having by their cashiers notes , and remitting of moneys as aforesaid , contracted great debts at home and abroad , out of their further covetousness and folly did deliver a memorial for procureing an act for recoining the silver moneys of this kingdom , and reducing the price of guinea's , in hopes thereby to recover their losses by their remittances aforesaid ; and also fondly fancying that their said unlawful engines would have drawn in unto them the moneys recoined , and the guinea's reduced , in the same manner as they did the clipt moneys . and the jurors aforesaid do say , that the recoining the said silver moneys did occasion the greatest part of the moneys then in the subjects hands to be drawn from them , in order to be recoined , which ( contrary to the fond conceit of the directors aforesaid ) after the said th . day of may , . did occasion great demands to be made upon them at home and from abroad , for payment of the bills and notes , in currant moneys . and the jurors aforesaid do say , that the bank of england aforesaid their form●r trespasses and debts calling to mind and despairing of the payment and forgiveness thereof , on the th . day of may , between she hours of and of the same day at grocers-hall aforesaid , a certain desperate speech ( by the mouth of their governour ) did attempt to utter , and in the attempt thereof then and there instantly dyed . and so the jurors aforesaid do say , that the bank of england aforesaid , on the th . day of may . between the hours of and , of the same day , at grocers-hall aforesaid , of the payment and forgiveness of their former debts and trespasses utterly despairing , then and there of despair dyed . trustees . there 's our evidence : but because your counsel is not used to crown law , we will be so fair to inform him , that the executors may traverse the inquisition , if they please , being not taken super visum corporis : or if he can prove the bank of england non compos mentis at the time when they gave themselves the strokes , they will not be felo de se. counsel . for your advise of traversing ( which is matter of law ) you may keep it to your selves , for i know 't is as troublesom as challenging the jurors : but for the evidence i 'll try it . mr. s — ck , can you swear the bank of england or their directors to be mad at the times they evaded the act , printed a lye to the kingdom , and ruined their own credit by laws procured by themselves . mr. s — ck . nay , in my soul and conscience i think we were all mad , and bewitch'd too , for if you did but see our hall upon a pay-day , you 'd think hell were broke loose . trustees . yes , yes , they say you keep watch and ward there , to defend your cashier from your creditors , and your directors from the devil . mr. s — ck . o ho ! i know whereabouts you are , you have read the letter to mr. l — ck . have you ! but did you never read our payments defended against it ? trustees . yes , yes , defended vi & armis . mr. s — ck . well , and han't i spoke lattin in my letter to a lord , hic labor hoc opus est . trustees . yes , paying your bills is hard work . mr. s — ck . hard work ! han't i made it easie by general directions to the subjects to do as they did before the th . of may. trustees . yes , yes , face about gentlemen as ye were , do as ye did yesterday , as the militia major said to his men. mr. s — ck . said to his men , you fools you , han't i named the skill and probity of the directors three times in four pages . trustees . yes , yes , three blew beans in a blew bladder , rattle bladder rattle , say that nine times in a breath if you can . mr. s — ck . breath , fools ! han't i said our hall is well scituated ? trustees . yes , for a den of thieves , as your predecessors the bankers of old made the temple at ierusalem : but can you get no one else to write for you ? mr. b — coe . an 't shall like your worships , i 'le write for you if you please . r. w. and i an 't shall please your honours . cryer . or i , master s — ck . mr. s — ck . where do you all live ? mr. b — coe . an 't please you , sir , i live in white-cross-alle● , in middle moorfields , but i ply in the lobby in parliament time . r. w. i live about charing-cross , an 't please you , but i ply here at the old-bayly in sessions time , where i meet with a jobb of testimony now and then . cryer . truly , sir , i can't say i live any where , but i am at the grecian coffee-house six hours every day . mr. s — ck . what trades are you ? mr. b — coe . sir , we club together , and write journey-work in partnership , like fidlers , 't is no matter which of us you give the money to . trustees . why you 'l get a clap together by mingling your brains so . mr. s — ck well , what will you have to write for us , and against the land-bank this sessions ? trustees nay , they can write against no body but themselves . cryer . master , don't believe them , we wri●e as strong as mustard , i wrote a book against five gentlemen in their vindication , i wrote mr. i. a's argument proved to be no argument , and assigned two errors in hi● settlement . first , that the bills do not charge the land. secondly , that the lands can never be discharged of them . there 's a dilemma for your worship , master s — ck r. w. o we are old dogs at dilemma's , we three wrote mr. i. a's plagiarism , ( there 's a hard word for you ) and proved . first , that he stole mr b — coe ' s notions . secondly that he did not write his own book . there 's even and odd with a witness mr. b — coe . and i si●n'd a bond with condition to be void , if the money were not paid at the day . mr. a — d. and we write quick , every one takes his part , and we 'll run y● up pages presently , all the same stile , sense and language . r.w. and there 's no hacks-nest in town can under write us . cryer . no! we go as near the thumb as any men , i always write in my own hair and brown paper . mr. b — coe . then we care not what we say , for we have nothing to loose but our ears , and the residue of mr. a — d's hair. mr. s — ck . well , well , i partly understand the prizes of these matters ; we have had several things done in grub-street . mr. b — coe . come master , to be short , we 'll leave it to your worship , but i hope you 'l consider that i have been at great charge in printing books , and breaking open chests , it cost me eighteen pence to a blacksmith to come at the cash in my bank. r. w. ay , that i 'll swear for i had some of the money for advice upon the clausum fregit . mr. s — ck . you must deliver your papers in the lobby twice a week . mr. b — coe . yes , yes , your worship shall see us there every day , if your directorship please to put on your spectacles . mr. r — r. come gentlemen , you must not make the court a market overt to sell your wares in . mr. g. have you done ? counsel . i have done , i 'll let it rest here , we have proved the bank of england dead , and their directors mad , and if that be not evidence enough to hang 〈◊〉 bank men , i don't know what is . r. w. an please your worships , if you want evidence , i 'll swear them into the plot for you in my band. trustees . ay , we had rather you 'd write against us twice , than swear against us once . your hand upon the bible is as terrible as a heroes upon his sword. mr. r — r. gentlemen of the jury , do you want any more evidence ? sir w. c. no , no. 't would be a disparagement to mr. s — ck , to have any one joined with him ! come honest o — ah . thou hast done enough for one day , dismount the stool , and let me come up and give the verdict . ( up foreman ) cl. of arr. gentlemen of the jury are ye agreed of your verdict ? iury. yes . cl. of arr. who shall say for you ? iury. our fore-man upon the stool . cl. of arr. how say you sir w. c. are these murderers guilty , or not guilty ? sir w. c. guilty , guilty , i am sure i am l. the worse for them , one way or other . cl. of arr. what guineas or mill'd money do you find they had ? sir w. c. thousand guineas , which we carried to exeter-exchange in a cart one morning by break of day . mr. r — r. well , gentlemen , i have a direction not to spill blood , but that your judgment shall be , and the court doth award , that you shall go from hence to exeter-exchange , ( being the place from whence you came ) and from thence take the thousand guineas which are found upon you , and carry them to grocers-hall , ( being the place of execution ) for repa●ing the bank of england the l. they lent , on condition to defeat the land bank. trustees . if you 'll give us a receit upon the back of what we 'll now produce , you shall have the money . mr. r — r. vvhat is that ? give it to the cl. of arr. cl. of the arr. articles of a league offensive and defensive , made between — and the directors of the bank of england , the day of bringing in the bill for establishing a land-bank . . that there shall be provided a flying squadron of volunteers ( to be commanded by sir i. f. ) who shall go pickeering in all coffee-houses and other publick places , to rail against the land bank. ii. that in case the power of the enemy shall prevail to pass the bill into an act , all possible care shall be taken to add such clauses to the bill as may disable the prosecutors thereof to raise the moneys thereby intended ; and if by any mistake or inadvertency any clause shall be agreed to , which upon second thoughts shall be thought to tend towards the raising the said moneys , the same shall afterwards be opposed , expunged or cut out . iii. that all possible care shall be taken , that the act be so long delayed , that the commission may not be issued soon enough for receiving any subscriptions in clipt ; money before the th of may , pursuant to the clause in the act for remedying the ill state of the coine , pag. . and that the commission shall by any frivolous objections be delayed as much as may be to the st . of august , to streighten the commissioners in time , and that all persons expediting the commission shall be reprimanded and affronted . iv. that after the commission issued , there shall be a proclamation issued out by some body of the — prohibiting all officers of court to subscribe to it . v. that the said directors ( between the passing the said act and the st . of august , . ) shall furnish out of their creditors money l. to maintain the seige against the commissioners for taking subscriptions , and shall send their oaths of fidelity to their members , who took the same , forbidding them to subscribe to the land-bank upon pain of damnation . a proclamation issued out by one of the — the day of issuing out the commission for taking subscriptions to the land-bank . some body ( by his own procurement ) one of the — to all auditors , tellers , clerks , and other officers of the exchequer : to all commissioners , receivers , collectors , and other officers of the publick revenue : to all pay-masters of the army and navy , to all agents of regiments , and all other officers , agents of servants , having or receiving any sallary , stipend , fee or wages , out of the receipt of the exchequer , greeting . whereas we are given to understand , that the commissioners for taking subscriptions to the land-bank intending to invade out exchequer with the summ of two millions five hundred sixty four thousand pounds , and to distress his majesty , his army and navy , by paying the same into our hands for their use , in order thereunto have intrenched themselves within two several garrisons , the one at mercers-hall , london ; the other at exeter-exchange near the savoy , where they have provided among themselves l. and more , and do there daily rendevous , and from thence sally out in great numbers to forrage in all places where they have intelligence of any ready moneys : we have thought fit to issue out this our proclamation , strictly charging and requiring you , and we do hereby strictly charge and command you , that you 〈…〉 from within ten miles of the said garrisons , and all other places where the enemies come to forrage , that they may be thereby distressed , and left destitute of subscriptions . and we do also strictly charge and command you , that in all places , and on all occasions , ye do endeavour to possess the subjects against the said commissioners , as prejudicial to our designs , and destructive to our ambition , and that ye do in all things treat and use them as enemies against us in open vvar. and we do hereby strictly charge and command all officers extraordinary , who are waiting for or expecting any offices or places under us , or wherein we have any influence , that they be from time to time aiding and assisting to you in aspersing and affronting the commissioners aforesaid . and of this you are not to fail , for fear of loosing your possessions , and they their expectations . given , &c. mr. r — r where had you those papers ? trustees . we pickt them out of mr. s — ck pocket , while he was kneeling to one of his patrons in the lobby . mr. b — coe ay , just so they stole my notions from me , and then turned my book into an almanack to make it ridiculous . trustees ay , just as the painter clapt a tail to a fellow of a monkey-face , and then sold him for a jack-an-apes . mr. b — coe but pray mr. r — r can 't i bring an indictment of felony against them for this ? mr. r — r if the value were above a shilling you may , or else 't is but petty larceny . r. vv. no 〈◊〉 the whole value was but pence , and therefore i have stiled it plagiarism , which is the punishment in petty larceny . cryer ay , but suppose 't were done in the night , 〈◊〉 with submission it will be burglary . mr r — r if the book had clasps on i conceive it 〈◊〉 for the opening the clasps in the night will be such a break●● as to make it burglary mr. b — coe some of them had covers in the second year won't that do ? r. vv. is one witness enough to prove the burglary ? mr r. — r yes , if it be a good one . r. vv. then mr. b — coe get clasps put on one of your books and let me have it , and i 'll form the oath for you , and swear it when i have done . mr. r — r what thieves and murderers too gentlemen , come i must tell you , the blood and vvounds — trustees two shillings for your oath sir , if you please . mr. r — r what d' ye banter the court too , i promise you i shall commit you to dr. c — lains messengers , to cool your stomachs for you , since your brains are so hot this morning . i say the blood and wounds of the bank of england , ( i know what i'm going to say ) will rise up in judgment against you , as the blood of the horses will against vvhitney when they meet . trustees ay , well remembred , and what 's next ? l — m — r i 'll have the printing of this trial. that 's next . mr. r — r what reason for that , this is the first word you have offered in the case . l — d m — r what a that , why should i be put to speak , are nor you the mouth of the court ? enter a. g — t. a. g — t is mr. s — ck here ? cryer yes . a. g — t here , i have been at your bank for l. and your cashier tells me the bills are out , and that i must come to you . mr. s — ck let 's see the bills , why these bills are out , i wonder that you being an ancient practicer , should know the rules of the court no better , i think i have a copy of them about me , ( and delivers them to mr. g. ) we can't pay you any money till we receive this thousand guineas from those land-bank men . a. g. vvhat do you tell me of rules of court and land-bank men , all you and your banks are a pack of cheats . i entered my mannor of m — font , with dr. c — lain three months agoe , and can get no money yet , here we pay taxes and polls , and all the money is gone away into banks , and sallaries to officers . i offered at first to furnish them with a set of judges for l. a year a peice ; as good as any they have for l. my brother should have been one , and then i lost l. by one of my familiar peers , whom i used to take by the buttons in king iames's time , but he gave me the slip to run away with his master . if you 'll chop and change your revolutions on such suddains , how can any man get in his debts ffrst , i am sure i have no place , and i 'll tell you plainly if you don't pay me my money i 'll sue you , you and all your banks , and your land-banks for a pack of cheats . counsel . and who shall pay me ? cl. of arr. and me . cryer . ay , and me . mr. s — ck i don't know , we never pay any money in specie , nor divide any bills under l. and that 's too much for you all . vve 'll give the jury a dinner and mr. g. a supper , and that 's all we can do at present . counsel hay , hay , i am finely bubled into a trial , and called blockhead to boot . cl. of arr. bubled ! a plague rot 'em all for me , what must i arraign rogues for nothing ? cryer nay , good master s — ck , crying is dry work pray sir. trustees vvell gentlemen , if you have done with us , we 'll leave you together , to print your trial , and pay your bills and fees amongst your selves . and so your humble servants . the rules of court delivered by mr. s — ck to ant. g — dot . the directors of the bank of england , for the instructions of all practicers in their court , do order that these rules folowing he skreen'd in grocers hall. . that no bill shall be presented to the cashire , to know whether be will pay it or not , 'till one month at least after the date . . that when the bill stands duely presented , the cashier shall date the day of the presentation . . that any person having a bill so duely presented and noted , may lawfully move the cashier at the side-bar to have a day appointed for payment of such part of the money as the cashier shall think fit . . that the cashier shall thereupon give a day for payment , unless cause be shewed to the contrary . . that want of money , or other opportunities to dispose of it to profit , be allowed as a good cause of non-payment . . that no bill of 〈…〉 ing or more shall be capable of being presented to the cashier without one motion made to the directors , and a scire facias sued out thereupon . . that the cashier accept no bills of the bank in payment ●o forreign bills , and that all merchants who refuse the bank bills in payment of forreign bills , shall be summoned to wh — hall as dis●flected no the government , for that their bills ( and notes contrary to law ) are the only species of money in the kingdom , to be accepted and taken by all persons but themselves . the epilogue . vanums and vacuums in pulpits may make sounds , indefinites will serve to go the rounds ; but when we 'd view them in their naked dress , nothing but vain words can vain things express . i do appoint mr. john b — coe's printer in bartholomew-close to print this trial , and that no other person presume to print the same . j. h. m — r. a proclamation declaring old un-clipt merk-pieces, and broad un-clipt english money to be currant. scotland. privy council. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing s estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a proclamation declaring old un-clipt merk-pieces, and broad un-clipt english money to be currant. scotland. privy council. scotland. sovereign ( - : william ii) sheet ([ ] p.) printed by the heirs and successors of andrew anderson, printer to the kings most excellent majesty, edinburgh : . caption title. royal arms at head of text; initial letter. intentional blank spaces in text. dated: given under our signet in edinburgh, the twenty eighth day of january, and of our reign the seventh year, . signed: gilb. eliot, cls. sti. concilii. reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng coinage -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . finance, public -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . broadsides -- scotland -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - john pas sampled and proofread - john pas text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a proclamation declaring old vn-clipt merk-pieces , and broad vn-clipt english money to be currant . william by the grace of god , king of great-britain , france , and ireland , defender of the faith , to _____ macers of our privy council , messengers at arms , our sheriffs in that part , conjunctly and severally , specially constitute ; greeting , forasmuch as , we are informed , that several of our subjects within this our ancient kingdom of scotland , have of late at their own hands , without any warrand , taken upon them to refuse the old scots merk-pieces , and their fractions , albeit they be not clipped ; and the broad un-clipped english money , to the great interruption of trade , and hindering the payment of lawful debts : therefore , we with advice of the lords of our privy council , do hereby peremptorly ordain , and command the saids old un-clipped merk-pieces , and their fractions , and all broad un-clipped english money , to be currant , and to pass among all persons within this kingdom , in all payments , whether of debts , merchandize , or others whatsomever , and discharges any persons to refuse the same , as they will be answerable . our will is herefore , and we charge you strictly , and command , that in continent thir our letters seen , ye pass to the mercat-cross of edinburgh , and to the mercat-crosses of the remanent head-burghs of the several shires and stewartries within this kingdom , and there in our name and authority , by open proclamation , make intimation hereof , that none may pretend ignorance . and ordains these presents to be printed . given under our signet at edinburgh , the twenty eighth day of january , and of our reign the seventh year , . per actum dominorum secreti concilii . gilb . eliot cls. sti. concilii . god save the king. edinburgh , printed by the heirs and successors of andrew anderson , printer to the kings most excellent majesty , . act anent the half ducatdouns and old scots merk-pieces. july . . scotland. privy council. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing s estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) act anent the half ducatdouns and old scots merk-pieces. july . . scotland. privy council. sheet ([ ] p.) printed by the heirs and successors of andrew anderson, printer to his most excellent majesty, edinburgh : . caption title. initial letter. signed: gilb. eliot. cls. sti. concilii. reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng coinage -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . finance, public -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . broadsides -- scotland -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - megan marion sampled and proofread - megan marion text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion act anent the half ducatdouns and old scots merk-pieces . july . . forasmvch as , by a proclamation of the date the twelfth day of july currant ; the rate of the ducatdouns was raised to three pound fourteen shilling , and the scots four merk-piece , and sundry other species of money , with their halfs and quarters proportionally , were declared and ordained to be currant at the rates therein-mentioned , and all persons obliged to receive the same in all payments whatsomever , at the said value , as the currant coyn of this kingdom ; and seing sundry of his majesties leidges , either through ignorance , or mistake , do scruple and demur to receive the half ducatdouns at the proportional value foresaid ; and the old scots merk-pieces at the value and rate of the quarter-pieces of the scots four merk-piece , whereby many of the meaner sort of people are thereby prejudged : and the obedience due to his majesties commands and intention , for having the said old merks currant , at the rate and value of the quarter-pieces of the said four merk neglected : therefore the lords of his majesties privy council , declare the half ducatdouns to be currant at the value of one pound seventeen shilling scots ; & the old scots merks , to be currant at the value of the quarter of the scots four merk-pieces ; and ordains the same to be received in all payments accordingly , & that conform to the foresaid proclamation in all points . and ordains thir presents to be printed and published at the mercat-cross of edinburgh , and other places needfull . gilb . eliot . cls. sti. concilii . god save the king. edinburgh , printed by the heirs and successors of andrew anderson , printer to his most excellent majesty , . proclamation for calling down the french three-sous-pieces to three shillings scots, and appointing the scots fourtie-pennie-pieces to pass at three shilling six pennies scots per piece. scotland. privy council. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing s estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) proclamation for calling down the french three-sous-pieces to three shillings scots, and appointing the scots fourtie-pennie-pieces to pass at three shilling six pennies scots per piece. scotland. privy council. scotland. sovereign ( - : william ii) sheet ([ ] p.) printed by the heirs and successors of andrew anderson, printer to the kings most excellent majesty, edinburgh : anno dom. . caption title. initial letter. intentional blank spaces in text. dated: given under our signet at edinburgh the ninth day of december, and of our reign the ninth year, . signed: gilb. eliot. cls. sti. concilii. reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng coinage -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . coins, french -- scotland -- early works to . finance, public -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . broadsides -- scotland -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - elspeth healey sampled and proofread - elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion proclamation for calling down the french three-sons-pieces to three shillings scots , and appointing the scots fourtie-pennie-pieces to pass at three shilling six pennies scotsper piece . william by the grace of god king of great-britain , france and ireland , defender of the faith , to _____ macers of our privy council , messengers at armes , our sheriffs in that part , conjunctly and severally , specially , constitute greeting ; forasmuchas , the subjects , & interest of this our antient kingdom do sustain a great & growing prejudice , by the inbringing great quantities of the small french money called the three sous piece , and passing the same at three shilling six pennies scots a rate far above their true worth and value ; and that several of our leidges does scruple and demur to receive in payments the fourty penny pieces coined and minted within this kingdom by our predecessors at the rate of three shilling six pennies scots , upon pretence that they are bare and worn through use , albeit the print and vestige of the coine of this kingdom be visible upon them : therefore , and for remeed of the fonesaids abuses , we with advice of the lords of our privy council , do hereby prohibite and discharge the small french money called the three sous piece , which heretofore passed at three shilling six pennies scots , to pass for hereafter , or be offered in payments , but at the rate of three shilling scots only , and to be received at no higher rate or value by any of our leidges : ordaining and commanding , nevertheless , the french crown to pass at fifty eight shilling scots , with its half and quarter proportionally as before : and farder we with advice foresaid require and command all our leidges to pass and receave in payments of all sorts , the fourty penny pieces of the coine and mint of this kingdom , at three shilling six pennies scots money how bare soever and worne by use the famen be , if the print and vestige of the coine of this kingdom be visible upon them ; discharging hereby any of our leidges to refuse the saids scots fourty penny pieces , at the rate of three shilling six pennie , under the pain of being lyable to pay the double of what they refuse to the party who offered the same , which is immediatly without any process to be decerned and exacted from the refuser by any magistrat within this kingdom in favours and to the behove of him from whom any of the said fourty penny pieces is refused . our will is herefore , and we charge you strictly and commands , that incontinent these our letters seen ye pass to the mercat cross of edinburgh , and to the remanent mercat crosses of the head burghs of the several shires , and stewartries within this kingdom , and there in our name and authority , by open proclamation make intimation hereof ; that none may pretend ignorance , and ordains these presents to be printed . given under our signet at edinburgh the ninth day of december , and of our reign the ninth year , . per actum dominorum secreti concilii . gilb . eliot . cls. sti. concilii god save the king. edinburgh , printed by the heirs and successors of andrew anderson , printer to the kings most excellent majesty , anno dom. . an ordinance of the lords and commons assembled in parliament for advancing by way of loane, the summe of fourty thousand pounds, for payment of sir thomas fairfax armie. england and wales. parliament. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription b of text r in the english short title catalog (wing e ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo b wing e estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) an ordinance of the lords and commons assembled in parliament for advancing by way of loane, the summe of fourty thousand pounds, for payment of sir thomas fairfax armie. england and wales. parliament. [ ], , [ ] p. printed by t.w. for edw. husband ..., [london] : . "ordered by the commons in parliament, that this ordinance be forthwith printed and published. hen. elsynge cler. parl. d.com." place of publication from by wing ( nd ed.). bound and filmed as th item with : - : . reproduction of original in: trinty college (dublin, ireland) library. eng england and wales. -- army -- appropriations and expenditures -- early works to . finance, public -- law and legislation -- great britain -- early works to . great britain -- history -- civil war, - -- finance -- early works to . great britain -- politics and government -- - -- early works to . b r (wing e ). civilwar no an ordinance of the lords and commons assembled in parliament· for advancing by way of loane, the summe of fourty thousand pounds, for payme england and wales. parliament b the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the b category of texts with fewer than defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - olivia bottum sampled and proofread - olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an ordinance of the lords and commons assembled in parliament for advancing by way of loane , the summe of fourty thousand pounds , for payment of sir thomas fairfax armie . october the . . ordered by the commons in parliament , that this ordinance be forthwith printed and published . hen. elsynge cler. parl. d. com. printed by t.w. for edw. h●sband , printer to the honourable house of commons . . an ordinance of the lords and commons assembled in parliament , for advancing by way of loane , the summe of fourty thousand pounds , &c. . october , . the lords and commons assembled in parliament , finding the many battells , sieges and other service performed by the army under the command of sir thomas fairfax , and the necessary recruiting and supplying thereof at so great a distance hath occasioned a farre greater expence , then was at first conceived , and also the great advantages , which through the blessing of god , the common-wealth hath received by the unwearied indeavours of the said army ; doe hold it necessary , that a considerable summe of money bee forthwith advanced for the supply of the said army , and defraying of the charges incident thereunto , have ordained , and doe hereby ordaine by authority of parliament , that the summe of forty thousand pounds shall be forthwith advanced by way of loane for the intents and purposes aforesaid , by , and on such persons of abilitie as shall voluntarily , or by assessment lend the same on the security , and termes hereafter expressed . and in regard many persons of abilitie through disaffection or otherwise have been slow in the like services tending to the good and preservation of the publique , it is therefore by the said lords and commons ordained , for the more speedy and orderly raysing of the said summe of fourty thousand pounds . that the committee appointed by severall acts of common counsell for gathering of the arrears or any seven or more of them shall be a committee to register and take the subscriptions of all persons that shall voluntarily lend and advance moneys as aforesaid , and to assesse such person or persons as shall not according to their abilities , voluntarily and proportionably advance the same . and to assesse such part of the said summe ( as shall not bee voluntarily advanced ) on such persons of abilitie as they shall thinke fit , the same to be paid by the persons respectively , as shall so lend or pay the same unto sir john wvollaston , and the rest of the treasurers at warre , appointed by the ordinance of the of march last , at the place of receipts in guild-hall london . and be it ordained by authority aforesaid , that all and every person or persons , being assessed by vertue hereof , and neglecting or refusing to pay the said severall summes so assessed unto the said treasurers at warre within ten dayes after notice given , or left at his or their usuall place of aboad , or at the dwelling house or place of aboad of any partner or factor of the person or persons so assessed , inhabiting within , or neere the citie of london , shall be by vertue of a warrant from the committee of lords and commons appointed by the said ordinance of parliament of the of march last past , who ( or any five of them , one thereof being a peere upon consideration of every such assessment ) are hereby authorised to approve , increase , or moderate every such assessment , and thereupon to make and give warrants to such persons as shall be by the committee now appointed nominated for that purpose , compelled to pay the same by distresse of the goods and chattels of such person or persons so refusing or neglecting to pay the same , which goods so distreyned shall be sold by such persons as the said committee shall appoint for satisfaction of the said assessment , and the surplusage , if any be , the said assessment and charges satisfied , be returned to the party distreyned . and if any person shall neglect , or refuse to pay the sum assessed , untill a distresse be taken for the same then , that every person or persons so neglecting or refusing as aforesaid , shall pay such reasonable charge for every such distress , removall , or sale of his , her , or their goods as the said committee ( of lords and commons , or any five of them one thereof being a peere ) appointed by the ordinance of the of march . shall allow to be imployed for the better execution of this ordinance . and if no sufficient distress can be had , or taken of the goods of the persons that shall be assesed , by vertue of this present ordinance , then such person or persons shall be by vertue of a warrant from the committee of lords and commons as aforesaid who are hereby authorised to grant the same , be committed to safe custodie , there to remaine untill such person or persons shall satisfie the said summe assessed upon them by vertue hereof , which money so brought into the treasurers at warre shall be issued forth by warrant from the said committee of lords and commons appointed by ordinance of the of march aforesaid , excepting what shall be by order of the committee appointed by this present ordinance deducted for payment of persons imployed in the execution of this ordinance not exceeding three pence in the pound . and for the better incouragement and securing of such persons as shall advance the said summe or any part thereof , the lords and commons doe hereby ordaine that such person or persons as shall pay or lend any money upon or by vertue of this ordinance , and pay the same to the treasurers at warre aforesaid , shall be repaid the severall summes which shall be by them advanced . out of the receipt of the excize and new impost , with interest after the rate of eight pound per centum , per annum for so long time as they shall forbeare the same . and the commissioners of excize and new impost for the time being , are hereby authorized and required to pay unto the severall lenders , their executors and assignes , at the end of sixe months , the interest for so much money as shall be advanced by vertue hereof , and the principall and remainder of the interest thereof after the rate aforesaid , in due course , order and ranke as the same stands charged upon the said excise and impost , unto the persons that doe advance the same . and the rcceipt of the said treasurers at warre or any two of them , one being an alderman , the other a commoner , shal interest and intitle every person or persons to whom it shall be given , his or their executors , administrators or assignes , into the security and benefit of this present ordinance with interest aforesaid . and it is further ordained that no ordinance nor assignement , not past in the said receipt of the excise before an ordinance of the second of september last , for the payment of fifty thousand pounds in course , for the service of the army under the command of sir thomas fairfax , shall preceede this ordinance ; but that it shall be paid in its course from that time accordingly and the aforementioned receipts of the treasurers at warre , together with the acquittance of the persons advancing the same , shall be a sufficient warrant and discharge to the commissioners of excise and every of them , for payment of the said summes to the severall persons as aforesaid . and it is further ordained that all majors , sheriffs , constables and headboroughs and all officers of the trayned bands and auxiliaries within the said limits , shall be ayding to the said respective committees , and such as they shall imploy in the execution of this present ordinance . and the said respective committees shall have power to impose upon such officers or persons so neglecting their duties therein , such fine or fines as to them shall seeme meet , not exceeding forty shillings for any one offence , and to cause the same to be leavied by distresse and sale of the goods as aforesaid . and it is further ordained that all persons acting in pursuance of this ordinance shall be saved harmeles by authority of parliament . and that no priviledged places shall be exempted from the said assessment . provided that such persons as shall make it appeare to the said committee of arreares by their protestation or oath that he or they are not worth one thousand pounds , shall not be assessed by this ordinance . provided alwayes that this ordinance or any clause therein conteyned shall not extend to any of the peers of this realm , or to the members of the house of commons , or assistant , attendant or officer of the house of peers , or officer of the house of commons . h. elsynge , cler. parl. dom. com. die martis . september , , it is this day ordained by the lords and commons assembled in parliament ; that fifty thousand pounds shall bee paid in course for the service of the army under the command of sir thomas fairefax , out of the receipts of the excise , by ordinance of the eleventh of september , , unto the treasurers at warre ; and the receipt of any foure of them together with this ordinance shall bee a sufficient discharge unto the commissioners of excize and every of them , for payment of the said fifty thousand pounds , and interest for the same after the rate of eight pounds per cent. for so long time as the same shall be unpaid , before it become due as aforesaid . h. elsynge , cler. parl. d. com. finis proclamation crying down the english milned crowns and half-crowns ordaining the old-merk and half-merk-pieces to pass, and stopping the taking of bullion, at the mint-house. scotland. privy council. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing s estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) proclamation crying down the english milned crowns and half-crowns ordaining the old-merk and half-merk-pieces to pass, and stopping the taking of bullion, at the mint-house. scotland. privy council. scotland. sovereign ( - : william ii) sheet ([ ] p.) printed by the heir of andrew anderson, printer to his most excellent majesty, edinburgh : anno . caption title. royal arms at head of text; initial letter. dated: given under our signet at edinburgh the twenty one day of may, and of our reign the eight year, . signed: gilb. eliot cls. sti. concilii. reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng coinage -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . finance, public -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . broadsides -- scotland -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - john pas sampled and proofread - john pas text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion proclamation crying down the english milned crowns and half-crowns : ordaining the old-merk and half-merk-pieces to pass , and stopping the taking of bullion , at the mint house . william by the grace of god , king of great-britain , france and ireland ; defender of the faith , to _____ macers of our privy council , messengers at arms , our sheriffs in that part , conjunctly and severally , specially , constitute , greeting : forasmuch as by a proclamation of the date the twelfth day of july , one thousand six hundred and ninety five years : the rate of the silver milned crown of england , was raised to three pound six shilling , and the english milned half crown proportionally : and it being found prejudicial to the nation , that the said english crowns and half - crowns should pass at a greater rate in this kingdom , than they do in england . therefore , we with advice of the lords of our privy council ; have thought fit to cry down the said milned english crowns and half - crowns to the former rate of three pound , and one pound ten shilling scots respective , and ordains the samen only to pass at the saids rates , and discharges our general master and other officers of our mint to receive or take in the saids english crowns or half-crowns , as bullion , or any other bullion to be coined , after the day & date hereof , until further order from the lords of our privy council , under the pain of tinsel of their respective offices , in case they contraveen , and to be otherwise punished as our privy council shal think fit . and prohibits and discharges all gold-smiths and others to melt down the saids english crowns and half - crowns , under the pain of double of the value of the said money that shal be so melted down : and ordains the magistrats of royal burghs , and burghs of regality , & others within whose bounds & jurisdictions , there is any gold-smiths or others melters of mony ; to take bond from the saids goldsmiths and others , that they shal not melt down the saids english crowns and half - crowns , under the pain foresaid : and impowers the saids magistrats to take the oaths of the goldsmiths and others foresaids , that dwells within their respective burghs and jurisdictiors , once every half year , and oftner if they see cause , or when persons informs against them , if they have melted down any of the saids milned english crowns , or half-crowns , that they may be punished in manner above-mentioned ; the one half of the value of what shall be proven to be melted down to be applyed for the use of the burgh within which the saids gold-smiths , or other person who shall contraveen dwells , & the other half to the informer . and forasmuch as , that notwithstanding of a former proclamation , of the date the twenty eight of january last , ordaining the old scots merk , and half merk pieces to pass amongst all persons within this kingdom as current mony , yet many presume to refuse the saids old merk and half-merk pieces in payments , upon pretence that by long use they are become barer , and appears thinner , albeit they be not clipt , and it being necessar that the said abuse should be obviat : therefore , and in pursuance of the said proclamation , we with advice foresaid , require and impower all magistrats of burghs , sheriffs , baillies of regalities , stewarts and their deputs , and all justices of peace to cause to pass the said old merk and half merk-pieces , which are only worn barer & thinner through time , and are not clipped , and to be received in all payments within their respective jurisdictions , and to judge of all debates arising thereanent ; and to punish the refusers of the saids old merk and half mark pieces , by fyning them summarly for their disobedience , not exceeding the double of the mony wrongously refused to be payed to the party who offers to pass the samine . our will is herefore , and we charge you strictly , and command , that incontinent these our letters seen , ye pass to the mercat-cross of edinburgh , and to the mercat-crosses of the remanent head-burghs of the several shires & stewartries within this kingdom , and there in our name and authority , by open proclamation make intimation hereof , that none pretend ignorance : and ordains these presents to be printed . given under our signet at edinburgh the twenty one day of may , and of our reign the eight year , . ex deliberatione dominorun secreti concilii . gilb , eliot cls. sti. concilii god save the king . edinburgh , printed by the heirs and successors of andrew anderson , printer to his most excellent majesty , ano dom. . the case of sr john champante, kt. respond to the appeal of sir robert dashwood, knight and baronet, sir samuel dashwood kt. john perry and edward noel, surviving executors of george dashwood, esq; deceased appellants. champante, john, sir, d. . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing c b estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the case of sr john champante, kt. respond to the appeal of sir robert dashwood, knight and baronet, sir samuel dashwood kt. john perry and edward noel, surviving executors of george dashwood, esq; deceased appellants. champante, john, sir, d. . dashwood, robert, sir, - . sheet ([ ] p.) s.n., [london? : ?] lpro copy found with items from the s; may is latest date in text. reproduction of original in the folger shakespeare library, washington, d.c. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng dashwood, robert, -- sir, - -- trials, litigation, etc. -- early works to . england and wales. -- parliament. -- house of lords -- early works to . england and wales. -- court of chancery -- early works to . finance, public -- ireland -- early works to . complex litigation -- england -- early works to . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the case of s r john champante , k t respond . to the appeal of sir robert dashwood , knight and baronet , sir samuel dashwood kt. john perry and edward noel , surviving executors of george dashwood , esq deceased appellants . richard earl of ranelagh , and eight others ( whereof george dashwood the appellant's testator was one ) by indenture under the great seal of england , contracted and became undertakers with king charles the second to receive the whole revenue of ireland , and to pay the whole charge of that kingdom contained in the civil and military lists for five years , ending the th of december , ; and had two years time afterwards for collecting the arrears , and making good the payments grown due within the five years . a commission under the great seal of england , issued to the said undertakers , and in their absence in ireland , to others therein by them named to be their representatives ; wherein mr. edward roberts was named by the said george dashwood , to be his representative , and to act on his behalf . in virtue of which commission the now respondent was duly constituted deputy-receiver-general , vice-treasurer , and treasurer at war , who entred into bonds of l. penalty , for the execution of the said places and performance of his said trust , which he all along faithfully performed . but the said revenue proving defective , or at least not coming in fast enough to answer the ends and uses of the said undertaking ; and the undertakers being pressed to make payments according to their contract , the said undertakers and their representatives , or so many of them as were requisite in that behalf , to comply therewith , did by several orders and letters importune and direct the respondent to advance and lend , and to procure from others what money he could , upon the credit , and towards the support of the undertaking , and undertakers , under promise of being repaid and indempnified , and for which there was to be an allowance of per cent. ( the usual interest in ireland ) besides gratuity and commission-money : many , if not all of which letters and orders were signed by george dashwood , or the said roberts his representative . pursuant whereunto , in order to support and preserve the credit of the said undertakers and undertaking , the respondent did lend and advance great sums of his own , and by direction of the undertakers in england , did become bound to sir john james , and others , residing in england , then unknown to the respondent , for great sums of money which were procured by the undertakers ; all which money so lent and procured by the respondent , were duly applied to the uses of the undertaking , and the undertakers for so much were discharged against the king upon their contract . two several accounts , the one ending christmas , the other at christmas , between the undertakers and the respondent , touching the undertaking , were made up , stated , and examined by the said roberts , and others employed by the undertakers for that purpose , and duly signed and passed , upon the foot of which last account there was a ballance of l. due to the respondent , which together with the other moneys afterwards lent , and secured by the respondent for the use and credit of the undertakers and undertaking ( besides what the undertaking produced ) did amount to above l. principal money ( besides interest , commission-money , & gratuity ) . to obtain satisfaction wherein , and to have his accounts setled , the respondent used great importunities with the undertakers , who all along owned the great service and kindness he had done them , by crediting them and the undertaking so far , and promised to give directions for stating and setling accounts , and to take effectual care for his payment and satisfaction . and in order thereunto about june , sir james hayes one of the undertakers went into ireland ; and he with john stepny , esq another undertaker , and john hayes brother of sir james , and interessed in the undertaking , having sufficient power , as they pretended , and as the respondent believes , from all the undertakers , to settle and conclude the affairs of the undertaking ( they being the only persons then acting therein ) , in august , impowered the said roberts by an instrument under their hands , to make up , state , and certifie the respondent's accounts , from the . of decemb. , to the th of june . in pursuance whereof the said mr. roberts , ( who was the same person imployed and relied upon by the undertakers to make up the former accounts ) with the assistance of the secretary of the undertaking , and two of their clerks , spent several months in stating the respondent's accounts , and comparing them with the vouchers , which justified the said accounts in all things ; and after the strictest scrutiny imaginable , two distinct accounts were made and closed in the same method as the two former accounts ; the one commencing the th of decemb. . and ending decemb. , and the other going on from thence to june , upon the foot of which last account there remained a ballance for principal money , ( not reckoning interest , commission-money , nor gratuity ) , the sum of l. s. d ¼ : and thereupon all the respondent's vouchers were delivered up , and abstracts thereof , and of the accounts were delivered to the undertakers , or their representatives . but the sum of l. ( which the respondent had received from sir john jame's agent as borrowed money , and as such had given bond , and became lyable for the same , by the direction of the undertakers ) not appearing at the time of making up the said accounts , but afterwards to be money due to the undertaking , the said edward roberts thought it proper to enter a memorandum thereof in the accounts , which caused a change and transcribing of some of the leaves , but no alteration of any sum , article , figure , or other thing in the said accounts , save the entry of the said memorandum , which reduced the ballance to l. s. d ¼ as is fully in proof in the cause , and hath been cleared to the satisfaction of the courts of exchequer , both in england and ireland , at the respective hearings of the cause , notwithstanding any seeming reflections upon the respond●nt concerning the same . it being evident , that the respondent had not , nor could have any advantage if the said memorandum had not been incert●d , for 〈…〉 obliged to pay the l. as above ; and when it was ●●●●●vered to be paid in england , and so not to be allowed again to the said sir john james in ireland , he had his security delivered up , which made the matter equal to this respondent . the respondent ( notwithstanding many promises ) not being able to get the money due to him , was forced to exhibit his bill for that purpose , in the exchequer in ireland , against the said undertakers and their representatives , some of which being brought to hearing , and the bill against others taken pro confesso , a decree was made for the now respondent's recovering the said l. s. d. ¼ , against the then desendants , with his costs ( no mention being made of interest , commission-money , or gratuity , but that left to be recovered afterwards ) . but the earl of ranelagh exhibiting a cross-bill against the now respondent , procured a re-hearing of the cause , which being had , and taking up six several days , in june . the said court of exchequer approved the authority given to roberts , and the accounts by him made , the undertakers and their representatives having free access to all the now respondent's books , and to all the offices of cheque in that kingdom , and having in their custody the respondent's vouchers delivered up , with several other particular accounts of his daily receipts and payments , the said court upon full and mature deliberation of the whole matter , was pleased to affirm the former decree , as well against the said earl , as other the defendents , for paying to the respondent the said l. . s. . d. ¼ . that decree proving in a great measure ineffectual in ireland , in regard the appellant's testator , ( upon whose credit and ability the respondent mainly depended in his whole proceedings ) and some other of the undertakers having no estates nor effects there , but living in england , the now respondent was forced to exhibit his english bill in the exchequer in england , in easter-term , against the surviving undertakers , and the executors and administrators of those deceas'd , for obtaining what was due to him ; being at that time about l. for principal , interest , commission-money , and gratuity ( and no part thereof since paid ) . the defendants to the said bill ( whereof the now appellants were some ) used so great delay , that it was four years before the cause could be brought to an hearing . and for further delay a cross bill was exhibited by the now appellants , and other the defendants in the same term , the respondents cause stood for hearing , with design to put off the hearing of the respondent's cause ; however it came to hearing in easter-term . and then , and in trinity-term following , it took up eight days ; and the court did decree the two first accounts made up by the said mr. roberts to be final and conclusive . and as to the two last accounts , made up till midsummer , the court considering the impossibility the respondent lay under , by reason of the length of time , and the present state of ireland , and delivery up of his vouchers to come to a new account for the same , did not think fit to adjudge them conclusive , nor to reject or disallow of the same as stated and closed accounts ; but in case the defendants had any material objections to offer against the particulars thereof , it was referred to the two auditors of the imprests to inspect and examine the same ; and also whether the same were made up and stated in the method of the two former accounts , and wherein they did agree or differ from the same ; and decreed the respondent to be examined upon interrogatories , and the auditors to resort to the court for directions , in , case of difficulty . that some of the defendants pretending they could shew reasons why they should be exempted out of the said decree , from going to an account before the said auditors , there was a clause in the said decree , viz. that such of the defendants as sought to be exempted from accounting , should bring their case to the barons to consider of ; whereupon ( amongst others ) the now appellant's , whose testator lived till the year , brought in their case , pretending their testator in may , , assigned his interest in the undertaking to the said sir james hayes , and pretended that the respondent had notice thereof ; and that therefore they ought not to be accountable from that time , or at least longer than christmas , when the time of the undertaking ended . upon hearing of which , and upon full debate of the matter , the appellants not having proved any notice , ( though they had opportunities for that purpose ) the court did ( as is humbly conceived was just ) declare their opinion , and so ordered that the appellants should be included in the whole account , they having not filed any interrogatories pursuant to the decretal order , though the respondent all along offered himself to be examined . against which said orders the said appellants have appealed to the most honourable house of lords , under pretence as if the court of exchequer refused to hear their witnesses , viva voce , to prove notice to the respondents of their testators assignmment . when as in truth none such were ever produced , and it was in issue in the cause , and roberts , dashwoods representative examined upon interrogatories , as to notice of the assignment , and all opportunities offered for such proof , if it could have been made out , but it was and is evident that none was ; and mr. dashwood wrote several letters , which were prov'd by several witnesses , and his representative acted in ireland as concerned in the undertaking , after the time of the pretended assignment , and during the two years after the undertaking ended , which by their indenture with his majesty , they had to collect their arrears in , and to make good the payments grown due within the five years . as to passing the orders complained of , they were done in usual method , and the appellants had time and opportunity to incert what of the answers they pleased , the draught of the decretal order being left with their clerk in court and soliciter , a month before it was entred . and as to the incerting the pretended allegations of council into the last orders , they being meer suggestions , and no memorial taken of them by the register , the order was drawn up without them , as is conceived was both just and usual . wherefore , and for that the appellant's pretences are some of them vain and groundless , others utterly untrue , and all of them made only for delay , to keep the respondent from recovering so great a sum of money justly due to him , his being kept out of which for above twelve years last past , hath reduced him and his family to great straits , and all further delays will tend to his utter and inevitable ruine . it is therefore most humbly prayed , that the appeal may be dismissed , and the respondent left to proceed and prosecute upon the said orders ; and decrees . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e aug. . sept. . nov. . l. nov. . may . by the king trustie and welbeloved, we greet you well : hauing obserued in the presidents and customes of former times, that the kings and queenes of this our realme vpon extraordinary occasions haue vsed either to resort to those contributions ... charles i, king of england, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a stc j. estc s ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) by the king trustie and welbeloved, we greet you well : hauing obserued in the presidents and customes of former times, that the kings and queenes of this our realme vpon extraordinary occasions haue vsed either to resort to those contributions ... charles i, king of england, - . sheet ([ ] p.). s.n., [london : ] blank form for loans to the king. this copy filled in, with date changed in ms. to . reproduction of original in: society of antiquaries. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng finance, public -- great britain -- to . great britain -- kings and rulers -- finance. great britain -- history -- charles i, - . broadsides -- london (england) -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - john pas sampled and proofread - john pas text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion by the king . trustie and welbeloved , we greet you well . hauing obserued in the presidents and customes of former times , that the kings and queenes of this our realme vpon extraordinary occasions haue vsed either to resort to those contributions which arise from the generality of subjects , or to the private helpes of some well-affected in particular by way of loane ; in the former of which courses as we haue no doubt of the loue and affection of our people when they shall againe assemble in parliament , so for the present we are enforced to proceede in the latter course for supply of some portions of treasure for divers publique services , which without manifold inconveniences to vs and our kingdomes , cannot be deferred : and therefore this being the first time that we haue required any thing in this kind , we doubt not but that we shall receiue such a testimony of good affection from you ( amongst other of our subjects ) and that with such alacrity and readines as may make the same so much the more acceptable , especially seeing we require but that of some , which few men would deny a friend , and haue a minde resolved to expose all our earthly fortune for preservation of the generall ; the summe which we require of you by vertue of these presents is _____ which we doe promise in the name of vs , our heires and successours to repay to you or your assignes within eighteene moneths after the payment thereof vnto the collector . the person that we haue appointed to collect , is _____ to whose hands we doe require you to send it within twelue dayes after you haue receiued this privy seale , which together with the collectors acquittance , shal be sufficient warrant vnto the officers of our receipt for the repayment thereof at the time limited . giuen vnder our privy seale at _____ the _____ day of _____ in the first yeare of our raigne of england , scotland , france , and ireland . . an account of the kings late revenues and debts. or a true copie of some papers found in the late archbishop of canterburies studie, (one of the commissioners for the exchequer, an. . and .) relating to the kings revenue, debts, and the late lord treasurer portlands gaines by suits, and sale of offices: necessary to be knowne for the common good. prynne, william, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (thomason e _ ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing p thomason e _ estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; :e [ ]) an account of the kings late revenues and debts. or a true copie of some papers found in the late archbishop of canterburies studie, (one of the commissioners for the exchequer, an. . and .) relating to the kings revenue, debts, and the late lord treasurer portlands gaines by suits, and sale of offices: necessary to be knowne for the common good. prynne, william, - . p. printed for michaell sparks, london, : . attributed by wing to william prynne. annotation on thomason copy: "may th". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng portland, richard weston, -- earl of, - -- early works to . england and wales. -- exchequer -- early works to . finance, public -- great britain -- early works to . misconduct in office -- england -- early works to . a r (thomason e _ ). civilwar no an account of the kings late revenues and debts. or a true copie of some papers found in the late archbishop of canterburies studie, (one of prynne, william d the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the d category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread - emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an accovnt of the kings late revenue and debts . or a true copie of some papers found in the late archbishop of canterburies studie , ( one of the commissioners for the exchequer , an. . and . ) relating to the kings revenue , debts , and the late lord treasurer portlands gaines by suits , and sales of offices : necessary to be knowne for the common good . london , printed for michaell sparks . national emblems of england, scotland, wales and ireland extraordinary monyes paid into the receipt of his maiesties exchequer , since the beginning of his raigne , till aprill .           l. s. d. sales . by contract with the city of london and others . . . . . . ½ of lands to particular persons and assessements . . of wood to particular persons . . . fines . for not taking the order of knighthood and assessements . . . . loanes . by privy seales . . . . . . ½ of the lords and laitie according to the rate of five subsidies . . . ½ of particular persons upon interest . . reprisall goods and tenths .   l. s : d . . reprisall goods and wrecks . . tenths of the admiralty . . . subsidies . of the nobillity and laity . . . ½ . . . ½ of the clergie . . . portion q●eenes portion . . . . ½ guifts towards the defence of the palatinate , and otherwise . . . fines of leases . sugars . . .   . . . petty-farmes . . . seacoles . . . . customes of ireland . . . sales of iron ordinance . . . . . ½ tobacco by agents in . yeares . . gold and silver plate . jewels . . . provisions in the kings house . . . ½ of amber , and one ship . . . privy purse . . fines , for retayling tobacco . . . . ● . . buildings . . . ireland monyes transported out of irel. for defence of the coasts . .   defective titles . . . . . .   other small extraord . . . . ½   l. s. d. summ. total . . . . the ordinary annual revenue ( besides these extraordinarie vi●set modis , amounted yearely to about . l. monies lent to king charles not repaid .   l. l. sir william curteene , remaine of . . lent anno . sir peter vanlore , remaine of . . lent anno . sir roger palmer knight . . lent anno . more lent by him , anno . . iohn bland and hugh perry remaine of . . lent anno . sir cornelius vermuden lent anno . . phillip burlamachi , lent annis . & . . viscount camden lent , anno . . sir william courteene knight remaine of . ▪ lent anno . iohn mouncie , remaine of . . lent anno . alexander storford esquier lent anno . . charles harbard esquier , lent anno . . sir iames bagg knight , ▪ lent annis . & . thomas isaack lent anno . . lord cottington lent anno . . sir iohn winter knight , lent anno . . soap-makers lent annis . & . . . totall l. s. d. . . . the state of the lord hollands debt from the king by privy seale . april : . ad. . april : . writ with the archbishops owne hand . principall money . . . by privy seale .   . for a diamond ring . . lost to the earle at play . paied of this debt . . by the wardship of the lady preston . l. s. d. . . . . by the sa●e of drayton , &c . l. . s. . d. . by the purchase of wakefield . l . by an assignment upon burlemachie . restat l. s. d. . . . . interest money demanded . . . . loss by exchange of the monyes out of france by burlemachie . . summ. . l. . s. . d. hee challenges . l. . s. . d. the principall money was guift , and made a debt by a privy seale acknowledging it ; no warrant that any forbearance money should be paid before the principal . shall the king pay so much interest , because he did not give the money sooner , or pay it so soone as it was promised ? a copie of the paper with the kings hand to it , of such monyes as he allowed the lord treasurer portland to receive . vvhen your most excellent majesty was pleased to conferr upon your most humble servant , the place of treasurer of england , he made your majesty acquainted , how unable he was to support that estate , and how unwilling to draw any of your profits or revennew pertaining to your majesty ; you were pleased to give him leave to acquire some meanes to himselfe , by such suits and businesses which passed through his hands ; which without your majesties knowledge he would not have done , and hath from time to time acquainted your majesty therewith , but doth now for your majesties better satisfaction make remembrances of such monyes as he hath had , to be subject to your majesties veiw . . when your majesty made a grant of your preemption of tinne , though the present farmers pay more yearely then the former would give , yet they freely gave your humble servant . . l. . within a while after you were pleased to bestow of your majesties abundant grace on your servant for his present support . . . iames maxwell gave him for the office of the clark of the court of wards . . sir w. withypoole for pardoning his burning in the hand . . the e. of cork at his departure , presented your servant as a meere guift . . the duches of buckingham gave him . . sir sackvile crow ▪ . sir philip caryes office . . a great debt was owing to burlemachie for which he was willing to accept of a lease of the sugars , for satisfaction of above . l. which though it was thought a hard bargaine to him , yet he well knowing how to mannage it , of his owne accord after the bargaine made , without contract or demand proferred your servant . l. wherewith he acquainted your majesty , and by your approbation accepted it , and there was paid unto him . l. . mr. fanshew for the office of clerk of the crowne . . sir allen apslye at severall times . . of the earle of barkeshire for the green-wax . . . of sir arthur ingram for the changing of his lives ▪ for his pattent of the secretaryship of york . . . of sir corn : vermuden for my part of adventure in the leadmynes , which he allowed , and afterwards redeemed of me . . of mrs. bagnall for her ward . . . the third part of the imposition upon coles . i have taken all these severall particulars into my consideration , and doe acknowledge your cleare and true dealing with me in the matters and summes above mentioned , and in acquainting me with them , from time to time , and weighing with my selfe the good service you have done me in the treasurer-ship , and the great charge you have and must be at in the sustaining of that place , i do approve and allow of all these monyes by you , to your owne use , in all amounting to . l. sterling . at hampton court the . of october , . charles r. this paper was copied out by the arch-bishops owne hand , with this endorsement : rece . april . . by which you may discerne ; that lord treasurers knew how to enrich themselves by suits and bribes . fjnjs . a proclamation for opening the mint scotland. privy council. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing s estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a proclamation for opening the mint scotland. privy council. scotland. sovereign ( - : james vii) sheet ([ ] p.) printed by the heir of andrew anderson, printer to his most sacred majesty, edinburgh : anno dom. . caption title. royal arms at head of text; initial letter. dated: given under our signet at edinburgh, the twentieth day of january, . and of our reign the second year. signed: will. paterson, cls. sti. concilii. imperfect: creased with slight loss of text. reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng mints -- scotland -- early works to . coinage -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . finance, public -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . scotland -- politics and government -- - -- sources. broadsides -- scotland -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion i r diev et mon droit honi soit qvi mal y pense royal blazon or coat of arms a proclamation for opening the mint . james , by the grace of god , king of great-britain , france and ireland , defender of the faith ; to our lyon king at arms , an● his brethren heraulds , macers of our privy council , pursevants , o● messengers at arms , our sheriffs in that part , conjunctly and severally , specially constitute , greeting : forasmuch as w● 〈…〉 that our mint should be op●ned , and that a free coynage should 〈◊〉 therein , conform to an act made and past in the last session of the lat● parliament of this our kingdom ; do i herefore , with advice of our privy council , hereby declare our mint-house to be opened , from and after the first tuesday of may next to come , and no sooner : and to the end , that all merchants and others may be certiorated of the time of the opening of our said mint , and of our having signed a warrand for coynage , of the date the fourteenth day of august last by-past , for the several speciesses of the silver coyn , conform to the foresaid act of parliament , seing we are resolved to begin with that coyn : our will is , and vve charge you strictly and command , that incontinent these our letters seen , ye pass to the mercat-cross of edinburgh , and remanent mercat-crosses of the head-burghs of the shires of this kingdom , and there , by open proclamation , make publication of our royal vvill and pleasure , concerning the opening of our said mint , from , and after the said first tuesday of ma● next ensuing , that all persons concerned may have notice thereof . given under our signet at edinburgh , the twentieth day of january , . and of our reign the second year . per actum dominorum secreti concilii . will. paterson , cls. sti. concilii . god save the king . edinburgh , printed by the heir of andrew anderson , printer to his most sacred majesty , anno dom. . by the king ryght trustie,&c. wee greet you well : as that soueraignty which under god we hold ouer you, tyeth us to take care for your safeties and welfare, so the loue of subiect and bond of duety tyes you to ayde and assist us in those actions which haue no other end, but the common preseruation both of us and your selues. england and wales. sovereign ( - : charles i) approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a stc j. estc s ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) by the king ryght trustie,&c. wee greet you well : as that soueraignty which under god we hold ouer you, tyeth us to take care for your safeties and welfare, so the loue of subiect and bond of duety tyes you to ayde and assist us in those actions which haue no other end, but the common preseruation both of us and your selues. england and wales. sovereign ( - : charles i) charles i, king of england, - . sheet ([ ] p.). bonham norton and john bill? [london? : ?] blank form for executing loans to the crown. imprint suggested by stc ( nd ed.). reproduction of original in: henry e. huntington library and art gallery. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng finance, public -- great britain -- to . great britain -- history -- charles i, - . broadsides -- london (england) -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - john pas sampled and proofread - john pas text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion by the king. riyht trustie , etc. wee greete you well . as that soueraignty which vnder god we hold ouer you , tyeth vs to take care for your safeties and welfare , so the loue of subiects and bond of duety tyes you to ayde and assist vs in those actions which haue no other end , but the common preseruation both of vs and your selues ; in which affaires , such hath been our care , and so exceeding great our charge , as that the sale of a great part of our iewels , plate , and lands ( besides the aydes and loanes already had of our people ) haue not sufficed the necessities of these publique seruices . wherefore as our ancestors , kings and queenes of this realme , haue euer vsed vpon vrgent necessities , for the common defence ( occasions nor time not permitting the calling of their people in general ) to resort vnto the priuate helps of those whom they pleased to chuse ; so we not doubting of your obedience in this behalfe , and fidelity you beare towards the surety of our person , defence of your countrey , maintenance of religion and our allies : ( the safegard of all which , all good subiects ought so much to tender , as we looke you should not faile to straine both your credit and your selfe hartily to maintaine and defend ) doe for these causes require of you , by vertue of these presents , the summe of _____ which we doe promise in the name of vs , our heires and successors , to repay to you or your assignes within one yeere after the paiment thereof to the collector . the person that we haue appointed to collect _____ to whose hands we doe require you to send it , within ten dayes after you haue receiued this priuie seale , which together with the collectors acquittance , shal be sufficient warrant vnto the officers of our receipt for the repayment thereof at the time limitted . and because we make our full account of the receipt of so much money at your hands , we require you in no wise to faile hereof . giuen vnder our priuie seale at our palace of westminster , the _____ day of _____ in the _____ yeere of our reigne of england , scotland , ffrance and ireland . a translation of the articles established by the most excellent magistracy of revisors and regulators of the publick revenue in the exchequer at venice and approved by the senate the th of march, in matter of erecting a profitable adventure for the fortunate of one hundred and fifty thousand tickets or bolletines of two ducats each : march the th, . neale, thomas, d. ? approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing n b estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a translation of the articles established by the most excellent magistracy of revisors and regulators of the publick revenue in the exchequer at venice and approved by the senate the th of march, in matter of erecting a profitable adventure for the fortunate of one hundred and fifty thousand tickets or bolletines of two ducats each : march the th, . neale, thomas, d. ? p. s.n., [london : ] attributed to neale by wing and nuc pre- imprints. place and date of publication suggested by wing. reproduction of original in chetham's library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng lotteries -- england. finance, public -- great britain -- - . lotteries -- italy. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a translation of the articles established by the most excellent magistracy of revisors and regulators of the publick revenue in the exchequer at venice , and approved by the senate the th of march , . in matter of erecting a profitable adventure for the fortunate , of one hundred and fifty thousand tickets or bolletines of two ducats each . march the th . being to establish just rules for the carrying on , and effecting a profitable adventure for the fortunate , decreed by the most excellent senate the th of december past , the following established articles are published by the magistracy of the most excellent rivisors and regulators of the publick revenues in the exchequer , and approved by the senate the th instant . that there shall be put up an adventure containing one hundred and fifty thousand tickets , or bolletines , to be taken out in three months time by all persons whatsoever , as well subjects as strangers , paying two duckets for each ticket or bolletine , which three months shall begin from the day of publishing . to this effect , a booth shall be built in st. mark 's place , wherein shall sit a magistrate deputed for this undertaking , who shall subscribe and number the tickets , or bolletines , that shall be given out to any person or persons , and shall answer to the name or sentence each person shall please to add to the number ( if they shall think fit to add any ) for their further satisfaction ; and this shall likewise be noted in the printed books to be made for this purpose only , so that they shall particularly answer each bolletine or ticket of the said undertaking , and shall be delivered to whom ever shall pay the two ducats . there shall be sent a proportion of tickets and books to the terra firma , for the easier and sooner effecting the said undertaking , where the same method shall be used as in venice , and at the time expired the books and monies shall be sent to venice to the persons appointed for the keeping of each . the money which shall be received by the payments for the said tickets , shall be kept in a chest by it self by the person appointed , to be punctually paid to those who shall have the benefitted tickets . as soon as the tickets are compleated , there shall be the like number of tickets printed and numbred , that shall answer to those that shall have been given out ; and also the notes of the books , which tickets shall be locked up in a vessel or urn , in the presence of the most excellent assistants deputed to oversee the drawing ; and this shall be kept by the said assistants , so that there shall be no fear of alteration , or any cheat imaginable . there shall also be prepared the like number of blank tickets , among which shall be the four hundred and ten benefitted tickets , as hereunder declared , and shall be put in another vessel or urn , and those , as well as the others numbred , shall be put each of them into an iron box , and the day shall be appointed to begin to draw them , which shall be publickly proclaimed , and continue daily and publick in the hall of the most serene great councel , always with the assistance of those that shall be decreed for it . the benefitted tickets that shall be put in the said vessel , and printed with the same , declared thereon , shall from time to time as they are drawn , be noted ( by a secretary ) with their numbers in a book kept apart for that purpose ; which note shall be underwrit by one of the assistants at the drawing , the said book to be kept and shewed in publick or private . the money of the benefitted tickets to be paid to them or their lawful representatives , and immediately to whomsoever shall present the tickets given out the following day that they shall have been so fortunate ; and this money shall not be liable to be stopt or sequestred by any pretence whatsoever in law , or the like , either publick or private , and this by a particular priviledge . this also shall extend to discharge the allowance that by the publick shall be paid to the register . the benefitted tickets are to be for — ducats . for — ducats . for — ducats . for — ducats . for each — ducats . for each — ducats . for each — ducats . for each — ducats . for each — ducats . for each — ducats . for each — ducats . and to the first ticket that shall be drawn , besides the benefit that may come out with it , ducats . and also ducats — . to the first ticket that shall be drawn after the last benefitted ticket shall come up ; and if it shall happen that the last benefitted ticket should be the last drawn , the shall be paid besides the benefit . and if in the abovementioned time , the whole number of tickets be not compleated , the draught shall yet be made for those that are put in , and the benefits proportioned to the number of the tickets , a diligent calculate being made . given by the magistracy of the most excellent revisors and regulators of the publick revenue in the exchequer , the th of march , . in imitation now of this venetian adventure , but without the possibility of one third of the profit that will be got by it there , and with much more advantage to adventurers , mr. neale the groom-porter , at the special request and desire of many eminent merchants , and others ( so fond of the matter , that they return money to venice to invest in those tickets , which would never be done , if it might be on better terms here ) does in the same manner propose the giving out fifty thousand tickets , at ten shillings per ticket , to be in like manner drawn at the end of four months , to be reckoned from the first day of this iuly . or sooner , if the same shall be sooner filled up against so many blanks , wanting only two hundred and fifty , which are to be benefitted tickets , and in value as herein after exprest . and for the better convenience of dispensing the tickets for the ease of the adventurers , and for their full satisfaction that the money laid down for these tickets shall again be repaid them , if the tickets should not be drawn in the time , upon giving back only their tickets to the goldsmiths who have signed the same ; and that those to whom fortune dispenses these benefitted tickets , whether absent or present , may be certainly sure accordingly to have the money in specie , as herein after exprest . and that all possible fairness , in seeing the benefitted tickets duly put in , and duly drawn out as they ought , and every other thing done that ought to be done in this case , wherein the method at venice made use of , for signing and giving out tickets both in city and country , and entring of them in books printed on purpose , and numbred just to answer the tickets given but , for which ten shillings apiece must be paid , shall and is truly intended to be the same as near as possible can be , that shall be made use of here ; with this difference only , that whereas at venice the state is to answer for the just and well-performing of all things in the articles printed , and for so doing , is allowed above l. per cent. here the groom-porter , who sets up this adventure , for all his cost , care , pains and management , is allowed only l. per cent. and no more ; and in stead of officers deputed by that senate to manage the matter to the satisfaction of all parties concerned , has and does hereby depute richard lascells near charing-cross , ioseph fells by the new-exchange , iohn coggs against st. clements church in the strand , sir francis child and richard hoare in fleetstreet , iohn iohnson in cheapside , sir stephen evans , thomas williams , iohn sweetapple , will. atwell and will. shepheard in lombard-street , london , goldsmiths , their deputy and deputies , receivers of all monies to be so paid in for tickets , and to sign and give out tickets for the same ; who have undertaken to be answerable for the money so by them to be received , and to answer and pay the same as herein before or herein after expressed . and sir benjamin thorowgood , sir tho vernon , sir peter paravicine , sir ioseph hearne , sir will. gore , sir charles cotterell , sir will. forrester , tho povey , rob. rawworth , rich. goodall , rob. nott , will. lownds , rob. squib , rich. normansel , iohn genew , rob. beningfield , rich. spencer , dalby thomas , and iohn thraile , esquires ; together with the goldsmiths before named , have been requested , and have undertaken to be overseers , directors and managers of the whole affair , in which there is nothing to be ordered or done without the concurrence of five at least of the persons before-named ; so that there will be no room left to doubt of justness and fairness throughout the whole managing of it ; and nothing , ever like this , was at so small advantage proposed . and to answer the l. so to be taken for tickets to be given out at ten shillings apiece , there will be benefitted tickets to make up the said l. abating per cent. only to be allowed for the trouble and charge ; and as soon as the tickets are given out and compleated , the overseers before-named shall meet and call for the books , and see all the money so placed as to be ready to be paid on demand , to such persons or their lawful representatives as shall present the benefitted tickets ; and the same shall be accordingly so paid the following day after they have been so fortunate ; and the said overseers shall then also appoint the day to begin to draw these tickets , which shall be made publick , and continue daily and publickly at mr. hughes . great room at the upper end of freemans-yard in cornhil , london , with the assistance of the overseers till ended , which 't is hoped may be done in two or three days . the benefitted tickets are to be of — l. of — l. of — l. of — l. of — l. of — l. of — l. of — l. of l. each — l. of l. each — l. of l. each — l. of l. each — l. of l. each — l. and to the first ticket , whether benefitted or not that shall be drawn , besides the benefit that may come out with it — l. and to the first person whose ticket shall be drawn next after all the benefitted tickets are taken out — l. and if it should happen that the iast benefitted ticket should be the last drawn , the said l. shall be paid , besides what may come by the said benefitted ticket . and if in the abovementioned time the whole number of tickets be not compleated , the draught shall yet be made for those that are put in , and the benefits proportioned to the number of tickets , of which by the overseers a diligent calculate shall be made . and to farther explain the practical part of this matter , note : books will be purposely printed , containing the whole number of tickets , and of those three of each sort ( as hereunder described ) just marked and numbred alike ; no. . c. d. or any other mark the adventurers desire may be put no. . c. d. no. . c. d. no. . b. f. no. . b. f. no. . b. f. from which book the outermost ticket signed by the goldsmith shall be first cut , and given to the person that so pays the ten shillings for it ; the next , which will be just like the tickets given out , is to be cut , and put into a strong box , whence it is to be drawn ; and then the third , just the same with the other two , will remain still in the said book , so that to whoever chance gives a ticket that entitles him to a benefit , must bring or send the said ticket to the place where the same shall be drawn , and there it must answer ( to prevent all mistakes ) the ticket of the same number drawn , which will likewise answer that that 's left in the book , and it so appearing to do , the benefit to be forthwith delivered . and now , the better to demonstrate how this is to be drawn and done , note . all tickets in the second place to be cut out of the book , as aforesaid , just numbred and marked like those given out , are , in the presence of the managers , to be put up into a large glass to be sealed and lockt up in an iron , or other strong box , and there jumbled together , and kept so lockt up , 'till 't is drawn , and the blanks , with the benefitted tickets in like manner , in the presence of the said managers , are to be put into another such like glass , to be also sealed up and lockt in another strong box , and there to so remain , 'till drawn out , which is to be done thus : an oval table is to be set in the great room in freemans-yard in cornhil , london , round which , the managers and clerks in order are to sit , and at one end shall be placed the box wherein are the tickets so numbred and markt , as aforesaid ; and at the other end of the table the other such box , wherein are such benefitted tickets and blanks , out of both which , one by one , by some strangers , they are all to be drawn out thus : first , from among the tickets so numbred and markt , one shall be drawn , and then from the blanks and benefitted tickets another , which is to be before all the company opened ; and if it does prove a blank , the said blank and numbred ticket at the same time drawn shall without more ado be put together into a hole in the middle of the table for that purpose provided : but if it does prove a benefit , that and the numbred ticket shall be both filed up together ; but first shall be noted ( by the clerk ) with the said numbred ticket at the same time drawn , in a book kept apart for that purpose , which note shall be underwrit by two of the overseers then present , the said book to be kept and shewed in publick and private , and printed as soon as all the tickets are drawn out , that all persons may see to what number each benefit does belong , and so accordingly come for the same : and all this to prevent , as aforesaid , mistakes ; and , that no possible suspition may remain of any foul play in this thing , note . the numbred tickets as aforesaid , being put in one glass , and the blanks and benefitted tickets in another , the said glasses sealed up just before the tickets are going to be drawn , shall be took out of the strong boxes , and showed to the company present , with the numbred tickets , blanks and benefitted tickets in them , and be then shaked and jumbled together , that there may be no placing of either ; which glasses shall then afterwards be again placed in the strong boxes , from whence all shall be drawn . in short , whoever is any way possest of any one of these numbred tickets , so signed by any one of the eleven goldsmiths aforesaid , will this way be certain , that another such ticket so numbred and marked as that he is possest of , shall for him be put in and drawn at this adventure ; where , whether absent or present , he will have an equal chance with the rest for the benefits proposed ; and be sure that what sum of money soever good fortune this way shall design him , on produce of his ticket that entitles him to it , shall forthwith be paid at demand , free from all charge , or any deduction whatever . all persons are desired to take notice , that although near four months are allowed for receiving the money , and giving out tickets , 't is however intended that the same shall be drawn as soon as the number is compleat ; which is hoped before bartholomew-day . this is thus undertaken to be done by thomas neale esq groom-porter to their majesties , the th of iuly . a copy of the goldsmiths security to the adventurers . i goldsmith , do hereby acknowledge to have received from tho. neale esq a book signed and sealed by the overseers , of sides or pages , on every page of which are printed ten treble tickets , every treble ticket just numbred alike , beginning with the number and ending with the number which i promise and oblige my self by these present to return to the said thomas neale undefaced , or to be accountable for s. for every ticket cut or taken off , to the said thomas neale , and overseers of and for this profitable adventure herein before named , and for the purposes , and in manner as is also above in this printed paper expressed ; or to the persons who shall return me such tickets signed by me or my servant , if the same is not compleated and drawn according to this printed paper . in witness whereof i have hereunto set my hand and seal , the day of . sealed and delivered in the presence of notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e in ready money to be paid the next day when required , without any rebate whatsoever . by the king. a proclamation, touching the speedy calling to accompt of all such persons whose accompts are excepted in the act of oblivion england and wales. sovereign ( - : charles ii) approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing c thomason .f. [ ] estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; : f [ ]) by the king. a proclamation, touching the speedy calling to accompt of all such persons whose accompts are excepted in the act of oblivion england and wales. sovereign ( - : charles ii) charles ii, king of england, - . sheet ([ ] p.) printed by john bill, printer to the king's most excellent majesty, . at the king's printing-house in black-friers, london : [ , i.e. ] actual publication date from wing. dated at end: given at our court at whitehall, the twentieth day of march, in the thirteenth year of our reign, one thousand six hundred and sixty. annotation on thomason copy: "march ". reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng finance, public -- great britain -- early works to . great britain -- history -- charles ii, - -- early works to . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion cr diev et mon droit honi soit qvi mal y pense royal blazon or coat of arms by the king. a proclamation , touching the speedy calling to accompt of all such persons whose accompts are excepted in the act of oblivion . charles r. whereas in the act made in the parliament begun at westminster the five and twentieth day of april in the twelfth year of our reign ( entituled , an act of free and general pardon , indempnity and oblivion ) there is contained an exception of the accompts of treasures , receivers , farmers and collectors , other then the sub-collectors of the several parishes , towns and hamlets respectively , for their receipts therein mentioned , who had received or collected the duties specified in the said exception . and whereas our high treasurer of england by our command hath sent out several warrants or summons to divers treasurers and other persons residing in and about london , for bringing in of their accompts into the office of our remembrancer in our exchequer , at certain dayes and times in the said warrants prefixed , to the end that all such moneys as have been received , or any wayes collected from our loving subjects , and are not pardoned by the said act of general pardon , may be duely accompted for , and answered unto vs , our heirs or successors , and that the persons so accompting may have their legall discharges according to the course of our exchequer . therefore our will and pleasure is , and we do streightly charge and command all manner of persons whatsoever , which have received or shall receive any warrants or summons from our said high treasurer , for bringing in of their accompts into our exchequer , that they bring them in according to the dayes and times in the said warrants expressed . and that all and every other person accomptable unto vs by vertue of the said exception in the said act of parliament , and whose accompts are not thereby pardoned , do appear in our exchequer in the office of our remembrancer , and deliver into the said office a perfect accompt of all such sums of money as they have received , under colour of any pretended acts or ordinances of parliament , or otherwise for the use of the publick , which are not pardoned as aforesaid ; and also an accompt of their disbursments out of their said receipts , with their vouchers for the same , before the last day of easter term next . and forasmuch as the accompts of the said receivers and collectors cannot be well taken without perfect estreats of the assessments , which every one of them had in charge to collect ; our will and pleasure is , and we do streightly charge and command all manner of persons which have acted as commissioners , by colour of any pretended act or ordinance of parliament , for the taxing or assessing of any weekly or monethly tax or assessment for the maintenance of the armies in england or ireland , that they and every of them before the end of the first week in easter term next , deliver or send into the office of our remembrancer of our exchequer perfect duplicates of the assessments made by vertue of each particular pretended act or ordinance , under the hands of two or more of them , expressing therein the total summe charged upon each parish , hamlet , ward ▪ hundred ▪ lath , rape , wapentake , or any other division ▪ with the names , sirnames and places of abode of all such persons as they appointed to be receivers or high collectors of each particular county , city , hundred , lath , rape , wapentake , or any other division , and what the total summe amounts to , which every receiver or high collector had in charge to collect . and we do hereby further command and require all manner of persons which have been treasurers , receivers , farmers , collectors or accomptants , registers , register-accomptants and comptrollers of the receipts and payments , and all manner of persons who have in their custody any orders or warrants for receipt of publick moneys not pardoned as aforesaid , or any books kept for the comptrollment of any receipts or payments of or for any publick moneys not pardoned as aforesaid , that they deliver the same into the office of our remembrancer in the exchequer , on or before the first day of easter term next . to all which we require and expect a due observance from all persons concerned ▪ upon pain of our high displeasure , and such further proceedings against them and penalties as are consonant to law and iustice . given at our court at whitehall , the twentieth day of march , in the thirteenth year of our reign , one thousand six hundred and sixty . god save the king . london , printed by john bill , printer to the king ▪ s most excellent majesty , . at the king's printing-house in black-friers . a retrospect into the kings certain revenue annexed to the crown under the survey of his majesties court exchequer : with the proceedings upon two sevral petitions presented to his majesty, concerning the chauntry rents, &c. and the first fruits, and tenths of the clergy ... / by george carew. carew, george, esq. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing c estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a retrospect into the kings certain revenue annexed to the crown under the survey of his majesties court exchequer : with the proceedings upon two sevral petitions presented to his majesty, concerning the chauntry rents, &c. and the first fruits, and tenths of the clergy ... / by george carew. carew, george, esq. p. [s.n.], london : printed anno dom. . reproduction of original in the cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng revenue -- great britain. finance, public -- great britain. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - olivia bottum sampled and proofread - aptara rekeyed and resubmitted - andrew kuster sampled and proofread - andrew kuster text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a retrospect into the kings certain revenue annexed to the crown , under the survey of his majesties court of exchequer : with the proceedings upon two several petitions presented to his majesty , concerning the chauntry rents , &c. and the first fruits , and tenths of the clergy . and several considerations offered to the high court of parliament , shewing how all the kings rents above twenty shillings a year may be more speedily brought into his majesties coffers without charge , according to the antient course of exchequer , and the laws of england . with some reasons , and arguments , given for the due payment of tythes , annexed inseparably to the office of the ministry ; with further perswasions to the bishops , and the rest of the clergy , to render the just proportion ( of their livings and spiritual promotions according to the improved value ) due to the king as supream pastor , and governour of the church . and divers observations concerning the rights , and other revenues of the crown , demonstrating the several conditions , and qualities of those men that diminish the kings tributes . quisquis deum reveretur , regem honorat , diligitque proximum , is deo quae dei sunt , caesari quae caesaris , denique revera suum cuique tribuit . by george carew of grayes inn , esq. london , printed anno dom. . to the right honourable , edward lord hyde , baron of henden , lord chancellour of england ; thomas earl of southampton , lord high treasurer of england ; and the rest of his majesties most honourable privy council . right honourable , i observe in the act of free and general pardon , passed at the parliament , begun at westminster the day of april , in the th year of the raign of our most gratious soveraign lord king charles the second ; that in the very next clause of exception ( after offences for conjurarations , witchcrafts and charmes ) are rancked accomptants , receivers , and collectors , that detained the publike mony of the nation in their hands : the antient genious of our fore-fathers , in framing the court of exchequer , with that policy and art ; was such , that all parts of the world admired that court , for the excellency and invention of it ; wherein was observed a method , that although land and mony , there was ever in plenty , ebbing and flowing . yet the prodigal , coveteous , and ambitious , minister , receiver , or accomptant , with all his sleights and stratagems , could not deceive the king without discovery . the course of that court being altered ( upon the dissolution of abbies ) there followed great losses to the crown , and many inconveniencies and grievances to the people : in the imperiall chambers abroad , the publike books of revenues lies open to the view of all people , that any kind of fraud may be discovered , or better advantages found out for the imperial estate : my lords , i am confident your own honours binds you , beyond all other obligations in the world , to promote those things that may be for the preservation and improvement of the kings prerogatives , honours , and revenues , annexed to his crown : wherein truly consists the happiness and glory of the whole kingdom : there be two contradictions used amongst men , easily reconciled by your lordships : summa ratio est summum jus , and summum jus ; summa injuria . in extraordinary matters not properly relieveable in any other court ; the lords in parliament have the prerogative , ( for their excellency , in knowledge and wisdom ) to determine such cases by their own power . may it please your lordships , i am intrusted as an executer to pay several portions , and legacies , to hospitals , free-scholes , and poor children out of mony left in the hands of sir william courten , and sir paul pinder , who parted with it to the late king , upon his letters patents , and other assignments , out of the revenue in the exchequer , before the late war : not doubting the credit of the great seal of england , and payment of the exchequer , i took upon me , the execution of the trust , and paid some part of the legacies out of my own estate : and notwithstanding i have used my indeavours with others , to get in the said debt , yet i am daily sued by the legatees for not recovering the money charged upon the revenue : wherefore i humbly conceive , that such accomptants and receivers which convert the kings revenue to their own use , do not only wound the king in cheif , but the whole nation in general ; and those poor hospitals and orphans in particular , that i am troubled for . all which i submit to your honours considerations , and subscribe my self , april . . your faithful servant , thomas gould . the preamble . it was the practice of former ages , when they met in parliaments , to examine the causes of the kings necessities , and to make those that were not faithfull in their offices to relieve the king , as they did by hugo de burgo , and the accomptants of the revenue in henry the thirds time . king james and king charles the first ( of ever blessed memory ) were both large-hearted , and ( as princes naturally are inclined very bountiful . q. elizabeth left a plentiful revenue to the crown of england : king james , in favour of the people , sold most of the lands in fee-farm ; an invention found out to prevent an act of resumption . the flowers of the crown ever since have been gathered by those that gave the king onely the stalks , which brought the king into many great debts , that stand charged upon the revenue left unsold . and it so happened , i became intituled to a considerable part of the mony , and in prosecution of the said debt , by administring upon some estate , i was involved with a corporation of creditors , that were likewise concerned for divers summs of mony , which sir william courten , and sir paul pinder had lent to the king : this gave me occasion to look into the revenue of the crown , and to make several applications to committees ( in the violent and distempred times ) for satisfaction of the said debts , but i could have no other tearms offered , then allowances as debentures towards purchasing crown lands , bishops lands , or delinquents lands , ( so called ) which i utterly refused . since his majesties restauration , the creditors have been more earnest upon me ; some crying out i should appeal to the king , the mirrour of justice : others to the hierarchy of the church , and perswade them to render that part of the revenue ( due to the king ) improved to their hands with the creditors money by those men that obstructed the payment of the kings debts : others to the lords , that have a great sence of the kings honour , and the regalia he lately parted withall : others to the commons that hold the purse-strings of the nation , & have been pardoned great arrears and accompts which should have satisfied the creditors demands . being so divided in their judgements and opinions , they brought me several papers of perplext notions concerning the revenue of first fruits , and tenths of the clergy , belonging to the king for his supream pastoral charge and government of the church , with several observations on that , and the rest of the revenues ; shewing how the king was made insolvent in those times . all which i have according to my promise ( avoiding prolixity ) put into some kind of method , under several titles , describing the several tempers of such persons as are guilty of defrauding the crown : i have been true to my own resolutions , and dealt impartially with all men , as the creditors desired . i did also according to their request before , apply my self to his majesty at white-hall , where i found many petitioners , some craving reward , others begging relief for sufferings and services done , both to his majesty , and his royal father , ( of ever glorious memory ) neither of them minding how the king should now support himself in his imperial estate answerably to the majesty of so great a prince , and the honour of so great a nation : i then cast about me to find out some expedient whereby i might be rather serviceable to the king , than burthensome or grievous to the people , and yet satisfie my self . in order thereunto i presented these petitions following according to their several dates : whereupon there have been some proceedings , but nothing finally determined . all which rest under the consideration of his majesty and his most honourable councel in parliament . i have contracted all things into as narrow a compass as i could of so much matter , not doubting , but that it may find room amongst other weighty affairs . i leave it therefore at the parliament-dore for them to do what in honour and equity the merits of the cause require . april . . veritas non quaerit angulos . george carew . to the king 's most excellent majesty . the humble petition of walter devereux , and george carew , esquires . sheweth , that there are divers collections in your majesties kingdom of england , and dominion of wales , that were formerly granted to several men , of mean quallity , and condition , by patents out of the exchequer , during pleasure , to receive the chantry rents , pensions , portions , and forreign rents , amounting formerly , to six thousand pounds yearly , or thereabouts , belonging to the crown of england . and that the said collectours , were allowed the certain fees or sallaries , which were annexed to those collections , in the times of the abbots , and friers . that through the neglect , poverty , or other dafault of the said collectours , and accomptants ; the crown of england , hath lost two hundred thousand pounds in that part of the revenue , since the beginning of queen elizabeth's reign , which stands charged in super upon those bayliffs , or collectours , in the several auditours , and receivers accompts , to the great prejudice , and dishonour of your majesties revenue , which may hereafter , be more faithfully discharged , with advantage and conveniencie to your majestie , and your subjects . your petitioners therefore humbly pray , that your majesty would be graciously pleased , to grant your petitioners a patent under the great seal , for their lives , to collect the said chantry rents , pensions , portions , and forreign rents , allowing them the said fees of the several collections ; and your petitioners shall give good assurance of their fidelity , and trust in your majestie 's said service . and your petitioners shall pray , &c. walter devereux . geo. carew . his majesty was graciously pleased afterwards , to refer the contents of the petition , to the lord high treasurer of england , who made another reference , as followeth . viz. september . . i desire the lord chief baron , and the rest of the barons of his majesties exchequer , and master surveyour general of his lands , calling to them , the clerk of the pipe , his majesties auditours , and receivers of his revenue in the several counties , or whom else they please , to examine the reason , why this part of his majesty revenue , mentioned in this petition , is so ill answered , and so great arrears upon it . and to consider the best way to prevent it in the future . and in case the proposition , of the petitioners for reducing all into one hand , or collection , may contribute thereunto , to certifie me there opinion . and to that end , i pray them to hear , what the petitioners shall in that kinde propose , and what security the petitioners will give to acertain those rents . and upon the whole matter , to certifie their opinions what is best to be done in order to this part of his majesties revenue , and his majesties service therein . tho. sovthampton . to the king 's most excellent majesty . the humble petition of george carew , thomas gould , and john culpeper , esquires , on behalf of themselves , and the rest of the creditours of sir william courten , and sir paul pinder , knights , deceased . sheweth , that king carles the first , ( of ever blessed memory ) for the ordinary support of himself in his royal estate at home , and for the necessary supply of his embassadours abroad , borrowed several great sums of money of sir william courten , and sir paul pinder , and others , amounting to . pounds , and upwards , which was taken up by the said sir william , and sir paul , and others , of several men upon bonds . that many of those persons are since deceased , and have left their widows , and orphants , in a sad , and perishing condition for want of bread. that for security and re-payment of the said money ( with interest ) his late majesty did for himself , his heirs , and successours , before the year , . by letters patents , under the great seal of england , and other assignments , upon the lands and revenues within the snrvey of the exchequer , give warrant , and commandment , to the lord high treasurer , chancellour , vnder-treasurer , chamberlains , and barons of the exchequer for the time being , to pay the said debt . that there is yet , notwithstanding , resting due unpayed of the said debt , the sum of . pounds , or thereabouts , as by the books of issues remaining with sir robert pye ( auditour of the receipts ) and the accompts stated ( remaining with the auditours of the imprest ) may plainly appear . that the money now belongs to your petitioners , by virtue of letters of administration to them granted , in right of themselves , and other creditours , and the poor orphans , and widows aforesaid . that the revenue of first-fruits , and tenths , is not duly answered by the clergie into your majesties exchequer , according to law , and the rights of proportion which belongs to the crown of england , there being great improvements made of new-buildings , draining of fens , taking in of sea-grounds , breaking up of parks , and chases , increase of rents , and many other wayes of advantage , and profits to the clergy : which ought to be accordingly considered to your majesty , and paid in proportion into your exchequer ; as a means to give satisfaction to your petitioners most just demands . the premises considered ; and for as much as your petitioners may be partly satisfied out of the improvement of first-fruits and tenths , and your majesties revenue made treble as much , as hath been formerly paid into your treasury ; the nation generally satisfied therewith , religion , and learning both advanced , by considerable augmentations , that may be further given to poor livings besides . your petitioners therefore do humbly pray , that your majesty would grant them a patent of the first-fruits and tenths , for the term of one and thirty years , at the yearly rent of threescore thousand pounds , upon the conditions , and proposals , as in the paper hereunto annexed , are expressed and set forth . and your petitioners shall pray , &c. october . . several reasons , arguments , and propositions , offered to the king 's most excellent majesty ( for the improvement of his revenue in the first-fruits , and tenths of the clergie ) annexed to the petition of george carew , thomas gould , and john culpeper , esquires ; for a patent of the first-fruits , and tenths , for the term of one and thirty years , at the yearly rent of threescore thousand pounds . that whereas in the th . year of king henry the eighth , the lords spiritual , temporal , and commons assembled in parliament , with his royal assent , did ordain , and enact : that the kings highness , his heirs , and successors , kings of this realm , should have , and enjoy for ever , the first-fruits , and profits , for one year , of every person , and persons , which should be nominated , elected , presented : or by any other ways , or means appointed , to have any arch-bishoprick , bishopprick , deanary , prebendary , parsonage , uicarage , or any other dignity , or spiritual promotion whatsoever within this realm , of what name , nature , or quality soever they be , or to whose patronages , or guifts soever they belong ; the first-fruits , revenues , or profits , for one year , of every such dignity , benefice , or spiritual promotion , whereunto such person , or persons , shall be nominated , present●d , elected , or appointed . and that every such person , or persons , before any actual , or real possession , or medling with the profits of any such dignity , benefice , office , or promotion spiritual , should satisfie , content , and pay , or agree to pay to the kings use , at reasonable days , and times , upon good sureties , the first-fruits , and profits for one whole year , into the kings treasury . and it was enacted by the authority aforesaid , that the lord chancellour of england , and master of the rolls for the time being , and from time to time , at their will and pleasure , should name , and depute by commission , or commissions , under the great seal , fit persons , to examine , and search for the just , and true values of the first-fruits , and profits , by all ways , and means that they can , and to compound , and agree , for the rate of the said first-fruits , and profits , and to limit days of payment upon good security , which should be in the nature of a statute staple . and whereas it was ordained , and enacted , by the authority aforesaid , that the kings majestie , his h●irs , and successors , kings of this realm , shall yearly , have , take , and enjoy , and receive , united , and knit to the imperial crown for ever , one yearly rent , or pension , amounting to the tenth part of all the revenues , rents , farms , tythes , offerings , emoluments , and all other profits , as well called spiritual , as temporal , now appertaining , or belonging , or hereafter that shall belong to any arch-bishop , or bishop , dean , prev●nd , parson , uicar ; or other benefice , spiritual dignity , or promotion whatsoever , within any diocess in england , or wales . and that the said yearly pension , tenth , or annual rent , shall be yearly paid to the kings majesty , his heirs , or successors , kings of this realm , for ever ; which was confirmed by several acts of parliament in . hen. . and . hen. . and . hen. . and . edward , and th . of edward the . and . eliz. and it was also further enacted , and ordained by the said authorities , that the said yearly rent , pension , or tenth part , shall be taxed , rated , levyed ; received , and paid to the kings use , in manner , and form following ; ( that is to say ) the lord chancellor of england , for the time being , shall have power , and authority , to direct into every diocess of england , and wales , several commissions in the kings name , under his great seal , to such person , or persons , as the kings highness shall name , and appoint ; commanding , or authorizing the commissioners , or three of them at least , to examine , search , and enquire , by all the wayes , and means that they can , by their discretions of , and for the true , just , and whole entire yearly values of all the mannors , lands , tenements , rents , tythes , offerings , emoluments , and hereditaments ; and all other profits whatsoever , as well spiritual , as temporal , appertaining to any such dignity , or spiritual promotions as aforesaid ; ordinary deductions to be defalked out of the same . and that the several bishops should be charged with the collections of the first-fruits and tenths , in their several and respective diocesses . and that upon the bishops certificate , any incumbent , refusing to pay his tenths , shall be discharged of his living . by the grave advice , and consent of all estates , in so many parliaments , the first-fruits and tenths were granted , and confirmed to the crown of england , for the better maintenance , and support of the royal estate ; and if the people are since multiplyed , whereby there is a further encrease of rents and tythes , and a greater value upon all commodities , the crown revenue should be improved towards the kings innumerable charges for the government , and well-being of those people , and holding correspondence answerably with all foreign princes , for their trade and commerce . kings and queens of england ▪ gave most of the lands , tenements , and hereditaments , belonging to these ecclesiastical dignities , and promotions , and have also erected divers foundations , colledges , and houses of learning , and given large inheritances , and endowments thereunto ; whereby most of the clergy have their educations , and are made fit for those dignities , and other ministerial offices in the church , without any great charge to their families , or relations ; therefore good reason the first-fruits , and tenths of all their dignities , and benefices , should be paid to the king , whom they hold of , as patron paramount , and as supreme governor of the church , and defendor of the faith of england . the statutes , and established laws of the land , are made for the full payment , and whole intire first-fruits and tenths ; wherein the clergy themselves had their uotes in parliaments . and it is as great injustice for the clergy to withhold any part of the kings dues , as others to deny them any part of their prediall , personall , or mi●t tythes ; the subject in generall suffers , wherein the kings revenue is abated ▪ which of right belongs to the crown . every private person may , as often as he pleases , improve his own revenue , as occasion offers . the meanest subject is allowed the benefit of the law , and the king does him justice , and maintains his property , according to the common , and positive laws of the land. the king may expect the same benefit of the laws , and require his own rights , and revenues , by those rules of justice , which all men are bound to observe , and obey . three objections raised against payment of first-fruits , and tenths , answered by the petitioners . . that the revenue of first-fruits , and tenths , is an innovation obtruded upon the clergy of late times . to this they answer ; that the first-fruits , and tenths , were paid in the saxons times , as appears by beda's ecclesiastical history : and have so continued ever since in england to this very day ; and that those payments , or tributes , beda calls vectigal , which signifies a badg of subordination of the clergy to the supreame civill magistrate ; and where they have cast off this tribute , the civill magistrate hath been subordinate to the authority of the church ; it was paid by the priests , in the time of the old law , to the sovereign power . . that the first-fruits and tenths are of a popish institution . answer . it may be satisfactory enough , that this tribute of first-fruits , and tenths , hath been paid to all kings , and queens of england , since the reformation in henry the ths time ; without any repeal of any of the said statutes : but in the time of popery , viz. in the second , and third year of philip and mary , the act for paying of first-fruits and tenths was repealed , but confirmed again in the very first year of queen elizabeths reformation of religion from popery , by the statute of . eliz. chap. . with a recital , and ratification of all former statutes , that confirmed the same to the crown , and have continued in force ever since ; so that , if the tythes vs jure divino payable to the clerg● , for their administration of the word , and sacraments to the people , the first-fruits and tenths , jure politico , are payable to the king , their sovereign lord , for his administration of justice , and maintaining the rights , priviledges , and liberties , both of church and state. . that the clergy , of all orders , and degrees , have lately suffered , and therefore ought not to be raised in their first-fruits and tenths . answer , that the king hath suffered more , and his revenue much diminished , by the late war , which hath been fomented , and encouraged , by many thousands of the clergy , now confirmed in their livings ; and the commons of england would more willingly pay their tythes , if they were sensible , the first-fruits , and full tenths were to be paid to the king ; as they lately expressed , in their desires upon the like occasion , of improving that part of the kings revenue . the incumbents have , and do dayly take advantages for their tythes of new tillage , and other ●mprovements of land , which ought to be proportionably answered to the king : the bishops , and 〈◊〉 other persons in spiritual dignities and promotions , do raise their tenants , and let the states to the improved values . three proposals to the king. . that the said petitioners will discharge . pounds , part of the debt , due from the crown , mentioned in their petition ; and give good security for the payment of sixty thousand pounds , yearly rent , unto his majesty , his heirs , or successors , kings of england , during the said term or one and thirty years ; without any defalcation , or other charges , or reprisal whatsoever . . that the petitioners will not take any first-fruits of such benefice , or living , which is appropriated to the cure of souls ; that upon the examination , and enquiry , shall not be indifferently found and returned , at the full yearly value of fifty pounds , upon the survey . . that the bishop shall not be troubled with the charge , or care of collection of the first-fruits , or tenths , within his diocess ; but be wholly busied in the other spiritual affairs of the church , and cure of souls . three proposals offered to the clergy . . that upon the nomination , appointment , election , or presentation , of any spiritual person into the said dignities , benefices , or promotions ; and before they enter into the actual possession thereof , they shall be bound in a recognizance , in the nature of a statute staple , with two sufficient sureties , to pay the first-fruits according to the full value , as shall be returned upon a survey , payable within four years after such nomination , election , presentation , or entrance , at eight severall payments , by equal portions , every six moneths ; and that one years tenths of every such dignity , benefice , or promotion , shall be deducted out of the said first-fruits . in case the incumbent by before all payments , the security to be discharged according to the time . . that whereas by the liberty , and disorder of the late depraved times , the clergy were not held in such reverence , and esteem , by the common people , as the dignity of their calling requires ; and they have been forced to commence severall actions for their tythes ; and by reason of confe●●tious , and distempered spirits , the preaching of the word of god hath been unprofitable to the people , that have taken a prejudice against the ministery . therefore a short bill shall be prepared by councell , and offered to the parliament , that an act may be passed for the speedy recovering of tythes , which have been paid formerly , and the title not in question ; and that the two next justices of the peace , adjacent to the place , may have power , upon complaint of any minister , or other person , to whom the tythes do , or shall belong , to issue forth their warrants , to distrain goods , and chattells of any person , or persons , refusing to pay their tythes , to whom they shall become due , and payable , as aforesaid . that love and unity may be preserved between the ministers and their congregations . . that forthwith commissions shall be issued out in his majesties name , throughout england , and wales ; to examine , and finde out the true values of all dignities , benefices , parsonages , and other spirituall promotions aforesaid : and to return the surveys thereof , with the names of the patrons , and present incumbents ; and in the mean time to suspend all proceedings in the first-fruits office. and that his majesty would be pleased to appoint a secretary for presentations ( of all such livings , as shall be in his majesties dispose ) wholly to attend his majesties service therein ; to the end , that his majesty may be fully informed of the true value of those livings . and whereas for the ease of his majesty : severall livings , and promotions , were heretofore in the lord chancellour , or lord keepers dispose , to be so continued , notwithstanding any new return of a greater value . further arguments , and considerations will be offered in convenient time , conducing much to the advantage of the king , the benefit of the clergy , and the general good of the whole nation ; as occasion requires . all which they humbly submit , george carew , thomas gould , john culpeper . octob. . . an order upon the hearing of the petition , referred to the barons of the exchequer . veneris vii . die decembris . . anglia . wallia . upon reading the petition of walter deverenx and george carew esquires ; presented to the kings majesty for a grant to be made to them for their lives , upon the reasons in the said petition mentioned of the sole collection of that part of his majesties revenue , consisting in chantry rents , pensions , portions , and other small rents issuing out of his majesties mannours , and bayliwicks in england , and wales , and of a reference thereupon , made unto us , from the right honourable thomas , earl of southhampton , lord high treasurer of england , dated the seventeenth day of september , . whereby we are desired by his lordship , to examine the reason , why that part of his majesties revenue , mentioned in the petition , was so ill answered , and so great arrears upon it , and to consider of the best way to prevent it for the future . and whether the reducing of it into one hand , might contribute thereunto , and ●●hear the petitioners proposals , and what security they would give , to ascertain those rents ; and upon th● whole matter , to certifie his lordship our opinions , what is best to be done therein for his majesties ser●●e , that in preparation for our better information in the premises , the third day of this instant december , w● issued our order to the auditours of his majesties revenue , that they should prepare certificates , first , what the pentions , portions , chantry rents , and forreign rents , within their respective circuits did amount unto in the year . secondly , what was paid to the receiver general , each of the several years , , , and . and what standeth in super , in the said receivers accompts of the said re●ts . thirdly , what were the yearly fees allowed to the severall collectours of the said rents , and what they are in arrears to the crown , and the said auditours were to let the said petitioners see the sa●d declaracions , and to attend us with their certificates this day . now , upon reading the said petition , 〈◊〉 reference , and of the proposals delivered in by the said petitioners , and hearing mr. serjeant glyn , one 〈◊〉 majesties serjeants at law , on the behalf of the said petitioners , and of sir edmond sawyer , master kinsman , and mr. philips , three of the auditours of his majestie 's revenue , and debate of the said matter . ●or as much as the said auditours , by reason of the shortness of time , could not prepare their certificates against this day ; and to the end the said auditours , and other the auditours may make perfect certificates unto us , for our better information , we do this day order , that the auditours shall by this day sevenight , bring unto us at serjeants-inn-hall in chancery lane , perfect certificates of the yearly revenue of the 〈◊〉 chantry rents , and other rents before specified , both in england , and in wales , what hath been set in su●●r , in the several accompts of the receivers general , and other ministers since the first year of the reign of the late king charles , unto the seventeenth year of his reign , what hath been answered to the crown , in any of those years and how long the supers , that are in such accompts , have remained . and for that some difference did arise between the said auditours , and some of the clerks in the pipe-office , concerning accompts , ●nd the regular , and just proceedings therein according to the course of that court. we do further order , t●at sir edmond sawyer shall have liberty to peruse the accompts in the pipe , in the fourteenth year of the reign of the late king james , and some of the clerks of the pipe-office , to peruse the accompts of the same year , remaining in the custody of the said edmond sawyer . and also , that the said petitioners shall have liberty after sealing-day next , to resort to the respective offices of the auditours of his majesties revenue , 〈◊〉 convenient times , and to bring along with them one of the sworn clerks , in the office of the clerk of 〈◊〉 pipe , to peruse , and see the accompts concerning the said revenue . exam. per jo. payn● . matthew hale . edw. atkins . chr. turnor . at which time and place , the whole matter was again debated before the barons , the surveyour gene●●● of his majesties lands , and others , the auditours making then great opposition , it was put off to ano●her day . in the mean time , the petitioners delivered this following instructions , touching accompts in the exchequer . the antient way of accompts in the exchequer . by the antient course of the view of the accompt of every accomptant in the exchequer after it be prepared , and written by the auditour , ought to be declared before the treasurer , and barons , or some of them , and the remembrancers , and clerk of the pipe , or their deputies ought to attend that service . the accompt being thus declared , is to be attested by the auditours above , and before the beginning of the accompt . auditours . tho. comes southampton thess. matth. hale capital . baron . edm. sawyer clericus . thus naming those worthies , before whom the accompts was declared , as also the auditours , that prepared and writ the same . afterwards the accompts , with the particulars thereof , ought to be forthwith delivered by the auditour , to the kings remembrancer , in whose office it ought to remain , as matter of record for the king , and subjects use , and the state of the accompt ought to be briefly entred there , and then the accompt ought to be delivered unto the treasurers remembrancer's office , and the state thereof , to be likewise briefly entred there . this done , the accompt is to be forthwith transmitted into the office of clerk of the pipe , and the accomptant's tallies are to be delivered to the chamberlain'● deputies , to be by them ( according to the trust reposed in them ) rejoyned , and tryed with the counterfoyls before the barons , and proving true , to be forthwith delivered to the clerk of the pipe , to be by him allowed . and the accompt being lodged in the pipe , is to be duly examined , first , by the clerk of the pipe , instrusted on the behalf of the treasurer . secondly , by the comptroller there entrusted on the behalf of the chancellour , all tending to the service of the king. and when after full examination all things prove clear , the accomptants whole charge , and discharge is to be ingrossed in the great roll , and all his payments by tallies , are to be allowed at the foot of the ingrosment of his accompt there , and thus every accomptant ought to receive his finall discharge , in , and from the record , whereof for the common safety of king and people , the comptroller of the pipe writeth a duplicate or controlment roll , verbatim from the said great roll. and all debts whatsoever depending in any such accompt are to be forthwith particularly charged in the great roll , and from thence written , and continued in process to be levied , and answered to the king , if not otherwise legally discharged . decemb. . . wal. devereux . geo. carew . the second order of the barons . die veneris th januarii , . for our better information , in reference to the petition of walter devereux , and george carew , esquires , referred to vs by the lord high treasurer ; it is ordered , that the several , and respective auditors , do bring in before vs , the last declared receivers accompts , with the ministers accompts , relating to the same for one whole year , for , or before the year , . at serjeants-inne , in chancery-lane , on friday the five and twentieth of this instant january ; and that the sworn clerks of the pipe be also then , and there ▪ ready , with their certificates , relating to the accompts , and course of the exchequer . matthew hale , edw. atkyns , chr. turner . the certificate from the sworn clerks of the pipe. to the honourable , the lord chief baron of his majesties court of exchequer , and the referrers , desired by the right honourable thomas earl of south-hampton , lord high treasurer of england , to consider of the petition to his majesty , of walter devereux , and george carew , esquires , with the reference thereupon , as touching their having a grant , for collecting certain rents , pentions , and portions , now in the charge and collection of sundry bayliffs , and collectors , accomptable onely before the auditors , in their several circuits . may it please your honours , we the secondaries , and antient sworn clerks , in the office of the ingrosser of the great roll , otherwise called the clerk of the pipe in the exchequer , who have hereunto subscribed our names , have , in obedience to your commands , signified at serjeants-inne , the seventh day of december last past , informed our selves of the clerk of the pipe his title , and claim , to have the custody of the accompts , of all receivers , ministers , and other accomptants whatsoever , accomptable in the exchequer . and we have likewise endeavoured to inform our selves so far , as ( without the sight of the accompts , now remaining in the custody of the auditors ) we could , of the several inconveniencies which have hapned , or may happen , by the auditors detaining , and keeping of such yearly , and other accompts : as also , of the conveniencies which would infallibly arise to his majesty , and his subjects , in case those accompts should hereafter be delivered over to the clerk of the pipe , as all other like accompts have constantly been , according to the antient course of the court. and humbly certifie , as followeth , viz. as to the said clerk of the pipe , his title , and claim , to have the custody of all those accompts of receivers , ministers , and others whatsoever , which were , or are accomptable in the exchequer , now remaining in the custody of the auditors . we humbly conceive , that the said clerk of the pipe , his title , and claim , to have the custody of the accompts of all receivers , bayliffs , ministers , and others whatsoever , accomptable in his majesties court of exchequer , ariseth as followeth : first , by the antient , and long-approved course of the exchequer ; and by the ordinance made in trinity term , e. . cap. . the accompts , of all accomptants whatsoever , accomptable in the exchequer , ought finally to determine in the great roll of the exchequer , by allowance which are there to be made , by tallies , writs , and the king's charters ; and that , that course was duly observed , until the first year of queen mary , that the revenues of the then dissolved augmentation court was annexed to the exchequer . secondly , by vertue of certain articles , signed by queen mary , and annexed to her letters-patents , granted under the great seal of england , bearing date the xxiiij . day of january , in the first year of her highness raign : by which she annexed all the revenues of the crown , which immediately before that time , had been within the survey of the then dissolved court of augmentations , and general surveyours , unto her highness court of exchequer ; which courts of augmentations , and general surveyours she had dissolved by other her letters-patents , under the great seal , dated the xxiij . of january , in the said first year of her raign . the said queen being impowered by act of parliament , made in the said first year of her raign , to dissolve , and determine the said courts , with others , and to unite and annex the same to any other of her courts of record . provided , that if she should annex the same , or any other of her courts to the exchequer ; that then all things , within the survey of the said court so annexed , should be ordered in like manner , to all intents , as the said court of exchequer , there was , or ought to be , by the common-laws , and statutes , of this realm . by which articles , it was ordained , and provided , by the said queen , that the accomptants , for the said late augmentation revenue so annexed , should appear in the exchequer ever hillary term , to be sworn to their accompts , for the year ended at michaelmas before , and to make , and finish the same accompts , before the xxiij . of february then next following . and that the auditors taking the same accompts , should deliver them yearly , ingrossed in parchment , authorized , and allowed , by the hands subscribed , of the lord treasurer , chancellour , under-treasurer , and barons of the exchequer , or three of them at the least , whereof the treasurer , or vice-treasurer , to be one , into the office of the pipe , within the said court of exchequer , before the xx th day of march , then next folowing , so as further process might be thereupon made , if case should so require . which accompts , should remain in the charge of the clerks of the pipe. and that all accompts , and declarations of accompts , which then were in the said dissolved courts of augmentations , should remain in the charge of the clerk of the pipe in the exchequer , in such place as the treasurer of the said court should appoint . and thirdly , and lastly , the said clerk of the pipe , claimeth to have the custody of the said accompts , by vertue of his late majesties letters-patents , under the great seal of england , bearing date the xv th of november , in the eighth year of his reign , they being granted unto him by the said letters-patents , under these words : nec-non officium omnium & omnimodum comporum ministrorum receptorum & aliorum compor ▪ quor-que in dco sccio nro haered . & succes . nostrer . compitab . and as to the inconveniencies which have risen to the crown , or otherwise by the auditors detaining of those accompts . we have not yet seen any of the accompts remaining with the auditors , and therefore we cannot so fully set forth the inconveniencies which have accrued to the crown and people , by the auditors detaining of the aforesaid accompts , as otherwise , peradventure , we might . but those inconveniencies which we have observed , touching those affairs , are as followeth : first , by the auditors , diverting the course of the exchequer , receivers and bayliffs have not been , c●lled ad computandum , nor returned to issues , as they ought , when they declared their accompts . secondly , by the receivers not appearing in the exchequer , to be sworn to their accompts , as they ought , they were left at liberty to account onely for what themselves pleased , and to pay it when they pleased . thirdly , the debts , and supers in the accompts of the receivers , and ministers , were not put in demand , by the process of the court , as they should have been , but slept in the accompts of the ministers , and receivers , sometimes , , , , , , and sometimes years together , and was then bolted forth by parcels , when the acquittances were oftentimes lost , the parties that paid the money dead , and the lands thereunto lyable oftentimes sold , to no small vexation of the subject . fourthly , there could be no controll had over the accompts by any of the chief ministerial officers of the exchequer , as by the course of the court they ought , neither could process issue out . fifthly , undue , and unsafe allowances , were made to the accomptants of their payments , by tallies , being never rejoyned , as the law requireth : through the neglect of which duty , great inconveniencies have sundry times risen in like cases : witness philips , and no●ts , and many more . sixthly , the receivers , and ministers , finding there was no controll , had over their accompts , and payments , were greatly imboldned by such unwarrantable proceedings , to set those good rents in super , which they might have commanded at their pleasure , respiting the recepts of them , till their years accompts were elapsed , that so they might pay the present , with the precedent years rent . seventhly , it also imboldened them to return that in super , upon the king's tenants , which they had long time before received , and to continue it so , until the parties were dead , and the acquittances lost , ut ●ntea . eightly , the crown hath sustained great damage by auditors , and their deputies , certifying sundry unwarrantable re-prises upon the particulars , which they made forth for the sale of the crown-lands , to pass in fee-farm , and in fee-simple , reducing the yearly value from . li. to li. &c. witness the records of m. . jac. ro. . ex parte rem . r. touching fisher deputy-auditor , who being fined marks for such frauds , acknowledged he had done no otherwise , then the rest of the auditors were wont to do . ninthly , by the auditors not delivering over the accompts into the pipe , the clerk of the pipe hath been ever since eliz. obstructed in the execution of his office , there being some thousands of rents now due to the crown , reserved out of crown-lands , upon letters-patents granted in fee , since eliz. reserved payable to the bayliffs , and receivers of the premises , accomptable onely before the auditors , which though not answered for many years last past , could not with safety be put in process , without great hazard of grievance to the people , until a full view was had of the receivers , and ministers accompts , now detained by the auditors , whether the same rents be therein charged , or discharged . tenthly , the auditors of the revenue , have omitted to charge the receiver-general in his declared accompts , with all the whole fee-farm , and farm-rents , within their respective collections , but still continues them in the way of ministerial accompts , although there can be no just or reasonable cause for it ; charging the receivers with part thereof onely , and making therein sundry great yearly allowances , and defalcations , with other discharges ; and suffering many great debts and supers to remain therein , so long as themselves please : so as in truth , the true state of the whole charge , and discharge of the revenue , of no one county , is at any time presented by the receivers accompts , to the view of the lord treasurer , ☜ or any other that shall take the same ; and herein will appear a great mystery . divers accompts depending before some of the auditors , wherein great sums of money was due to the crown , were kept privately sleeping by them for many years together , until both the ac●ompts , and debts , were pardoned . eleventhly , some of the auditors have been imboldned to neglect the declaring the receivers , ministers , and collectors accompts , after that they have been ingrossed : and thus it fared with the accompts of the dutchy of cornwall for divers years , in the time of king charles the first . twelfthly , some of the auditors have neglected , for divers years together , to ingross the receivers , ministers , and collectors accompts ; and yet nevertheless have given those receivers , ministers , and collectors , pretended yearly discharges for the same , as if the said accompts had been duly declared . and thus it hath hapned in the revenue of the dutchy of cornwall , for divers years together , in the time of king ch. the . and the accompts of the tenths of the clergy , for , or years together ; and in divers other accompts of the new impositions , taken by the late auditors of the impost : and hereof they have appropriated to themselves the several offices , trusts , employment , and fees of the lord treasurer , chancellour , under-treasurer , chamberlains , barons , both remembrancers , clerk of the pipe , and comptroller , and their respective clerks , making themselves all in all , when , in truth , no one officer of the exchequer whatsoever , ought , by the course of the said court , to be solely intrusted with the revenue of the crown . now the conveniencies which will arise to the king , and the people , in case these obstructions be removed , are briefly , the taking away , and preventing of all the several inconveniencies , before particularly expressed : for if the accompts of the receivers , and ministers , be yearly ingrossed , declared , entred wth the remembrancers ; and their payments by tallies re-joyned , approved by the chamberlains , then their accompts , and tallies , will be delivered into the pipe , where the receipts , and payments , in the accompts , will be controlled , the debts and supers therein be yearly charged , demanded , and levyed , and paid to the king's use ; for which , both accomptants , and debtors , shall receive their lawful discharge . and furthermore , the sleeping rents due to the crown ( not yet in charge ) will be thereby received , and the clerk of the pipe will be hereafter , enabled the better to perform the duty of his office. all which is humbly offered to consideration . january th , . by rich. caril , senior . ben. wallinger , william burnet , senior . nich : highmore . william saterthwait , will : burnet , junior . walter wallinger . several proposals , and considerations , further offered by walter devereux , and george carew , unto the lord high treasurer of england , chancellour of the exchequer , under treasurer , barons , and to all the officers of his majesties court of exchequer , declaring how the kings certain revenue may be brought into the publique receipt , by the tenants , and the sheriffs of the respective counties of england and wales , ( excepting the chantry rents , pensions , &c. ) according to the antient course of that court , customs , and common laws of england . the said walter devereux , and george carew , having lately given severall proposals ( under their hands ) remaining with the lord chiefe baron , and the rest of the barons of his majesties court of exchequer ; and mr. payn , in the kings rememberancers office : concerning the collection of that part of his majesties revenue ; consisting of chantry rents , pentions , portions , &c. wherein they alledged , that there were divers inconveniences formerly suffered , and abuses done to the crown , and people of england , by several miscarriages of receivers , collectors , and messengers ; as also by auditours , not duly declaring their accompts . the scops of all being an introduction to a further service , intended to the king , and subject . the auditors and receivers , unwilling to be brought to a fair accompt , used their utmost endeavours to obstruct the said service , and to continue their old practices : who tendred a new warrant to the barons for their approbation , that the lord treasurer might sign for messengers ; a strange kind of confidence to frame their own designs , and conclude the barons opinions , before they made any report to the reference upon the former petition , and proposals upon the reference concerning the collection of the said chantery rents , &c. upon the dissolution of abbies &c. there were several auditors and receivers , appointed to bring in the kings revenue which was then , very great and troublesom , to collect out of several demisable lands , profits of courts , wood-sales , &c. which are since reduced to certainties of fee-farms and tenths , being such dry rents , that neither rise nor fall : yet ( to the wonder of the world ( as sir robert cotton observes ) although the cause be taken away , the effect continues . and notwithstanding the ●ings revenue ( in all counties of england ) is brought from one shilling to a peny , yet the supernumerary ●fficers remain , to the great charge of the king , and grievance of the people . anciently the sheriff of every county was accountable for the kings rents , and it would conduce much to the kings benefit , and common good of the subject , if it were reduced into the same method . the king would then be certain of his rents , and the tenants of a good discharge , and still keep their money in the countrey , their travel and pains spared to carry their money to audits . there being several very considerable fee-farm rents ( viz. ) in yorkshire , one fee farm rent of l. per annum . in other counties many tenants pay l. others , , l. per annum , of fee-farm rents . it is therefore very absurd , unsafe , and chargeable , that the kings great rents , should be payd to a receiver , and he to pay them afterwards into the receipt ; so that when the auditors , receivers , clerks fees , dyet , poundage , arrears , supers eight thousand pounds respite money , upon accompt , always left in the hands of one and twenty receivers , at or l. a piece , and other allowances considered , the noble is brought to nine pence , the king impoverished , and those officers inriched , which hath been the continual practice , ever ●nce the auditors and receivers were appointed , to the dammage of the crown , many hundred thousand pounds , part of which is not pardoned , that they stand accountable for at this day . the proposals of walter devereux , and george carew . first , that all the kings rents shall be charged in the great roll of the exchequer . and that the tenants chargeable with any of the said rents above l. per annum , shall pay the same into his majesties receipt of the exchequer , half-yearly , and be discharged of their payments , according to the course of the court , as by the statute of . h. . and . e. . is directed . and such as fail to pay their rents , to be levied by the process of the court. secondly , that all the kings rents under l. per annum , in every county ( except the collection of the chantry rents ) to be charged in the sheriffs accompts . thirdly , that the stewards and bayliffs of the kings honours , mannor● , courts , and baylywi●ks , sh●ll take the i●sues of their offices , ( or any others , that will give most ) at certain rates , ( by lease ) according to the quit-rents , fines , casualties , and other perquissts that they have yielded for years before the late war , and to pay the said farms into the receipt , or to the sheriff , according to the value respectively . this being done , the king cannot be defrauded ; his revenue will be certainly payd . the people duly discharged and accommodated . the yearly accompt ( without difficulty ) declared by two auditors . the rest and the . receivers wholly laid aside as useless ; all things then remaining upon record to publique view , for the common safety of king and people . arguments raised from the proposals . wherein will the supernumerary auditors , and all the receivers , be prejudiced , if the king allow them pensions , answerable to their salleries , and save forty thousand pounds per annum , to the king and people ; as king henry the th did , when he suspended many of them as useless before ? or wherein will the kings tenants that pay the great rents , be prejudiced , if they pay the money into the receipt , and receive legal discharges , which are recorded for the security of the people , rather then to trust to auditors accompts in their own keeping , or to receivers acquittances , which are often lost ; and many years after , the kings tenants sued and vexed with process causlesly ? or wherein will the kings tenants of small rents be prejudiced ▪ if they pay them into the sheriffs hands , whose deputies , bayliffs , and officers , in every division , are ready , ( at their own doors ) to receive them , rather then ride twenty or thirty miles to an audit , waiting and loosing their time , and often ve●ed with messengers , to the great outcry of all people throughout the kingdom ? the like convenience will be to the kings tenants of the chantery rents ( as in the method already proposed by the said walter devereux , and george carew , to the lord chief baron ? or wherein will the kings honour or profit be lessened by this method , it being more advantagious for all men to pay their rents at home , then ride far to an audit to pay one shilling , and to eat and drink two shillings upon the kings accompt , neglecting their own occasions , to a far greater loss● otherways . objections raised by the auditors and receivers . that the revenue hath been brought in by them above eighty years , that they have patents for their lives under the great seal , to receive the said rents , and audit the accompts . that they bought their places at great rates , that the kings rents cannot be so speedily and safely answered by the tenants , sheriffs , or general collectors . and that the method of the kings houshold expences , will not be observed , if the course be altered in bringing in of the revenue . answered by walter devereux , and george carew . that it was never intended , that receivers should be continued in that way of receipt , after the rents were ascertained . but that the revenue should be brought in again by the ancient way of the sheriffs . as by the statute de scaccario made the ● h. . and the statute of rutland , in the th e. . the kings pa●ents granted to auditors , and receivers for their lives , were ex gratia & mero motu , and if they have since bought their places of others , their advantages must accru● to them , from the injuries done to the king or people . that the sheriffs of all counties , are persons chosen to serve the king and countrey , being landed men , and of ability there , to answer the king and subjects dues , they taking security of the under sheriffs , bayliffs , deputies and other officers ▪ to be answerable to them for the issues of their offices at a day certain . and the lord treasurer may design the payments of the kings revenue , according to the several purposes ordained . originally , the kings rents were payd in kinde , by cattle , corn , hay , oats , and other provisions for the kings houshold . the inconveniency of that was found great , for tenants to bring their carriages from places far distant to the court , so then by agreement , they payd their rents to the sheriffs ( the grand officers of the several shires ) who payd the said rents scaccario nostro pondere & numero . allowing d. in the pound , for wearing of the money by often telling . the uprightness of that age was such , that they accounted the kings rents sacred and individual , considering , that the kings care and charge preserved all men in peace and plenty . and the sheriffs then , minding the common-weal , and good of their countrey , answered the kings rents by proxies at london , who kept correspondence with factors , clothiers , gra●●ers , and others , trading from all parts of england to the city , and levied the rents at his leasure . by which means , he promoted trade , kept the money still in the countrey , that imployed spinners , weavers , and husbandmen , which otherwise their whole market money had been carried out of the countrey by receivers and collectors . that came as strangers amongst them . the pr●mises considered , it remains under your lordships consideration , whether it be not fit for a parliament to consult what is most necessary to be done for the advantage of the king in his revenue , and the commodity of the people in their payments , and to hear what further shall be proposed upon the whole matter , for his majesties service therein , all which is submitted to january the th . by walter devereux , george carew . the business tending to the well setling of his majesties revenue , under consideration of the lord treasurer , and others . the petitioners not doubting , but the referrees , had been fully satisfied in the premises , concerning the collections , and what was alledged in the petition ; left it for the barons to report . and on the th . of may . calling for their report , the barons desired an information of the benefit intended to his majestie in the said collection , some of them having forgotten the perticulars , and also the discoverie of the mis-carriages , and inconveniencies , which had happened by the default of the receivers , collectours , and other officers , relating to the said accounts . whereupon it was breifly answered by the petitioners , that in their proposals ( concerning the said collection ) left with mr. paine , they had offered first , that they would observe such a methode in every county , that the rents should be duly answered without the charge of poundage , which the receivers had , besides the collectours fees ▪ secondly , without the charge of s . upon every account , which the auditours clerks , were allowed for ingrossing the accounts . thirdly , that they would give good security to render a perfect account yearly upon oath , and return the supers , and upon whom depending , that process may issue duly out to avoid the charge of messengers . fourthly , they would discharge the king of ●b . being part of a debt due by letters-patent charged upon the revenue . and lastly , that they would pay the said ●ents on the first day of may , every year , during the said term desired by their petition , into his majesties receipt of exchequer . and as for the arrears , and supers depending upon the former tenants , and collectours in the ministers accounts , and receivers accounts , relating to the same , which were occasioned through the default of the auditors , and other officers aforesaid . the petitioners , then informing the barons , that they could not so clearly make them appear without an express order to some of the clerks of the court , to peruse their last declared accounts , and certifie the same . several clerks being then present , informed the court , that it was a work of time , but for their satisfaction , and upon the earnest desire of mr. walter devereux , one of the petitioners , being a member of parliame●t , the barons made this following order . die martis xiiii . may . ordered , that the last declared accounts of the ministers , and receivers in the counties of wilts . york-shire , and lyncoln-shire be brought into the exchequer chamber upon wednesday . of may by eight of the clock in the morning to be perused in the presence of one of the auditors clerks by mr. hudson , mr. wilkinson , mr. carill , and mr. burnet . matthew hale . edw. atkins . chr. turnor . notwithstanding sir edward sawyer was unconcerned in the said order for those counties , yet he appeared the next morning before the barons , and told them that it was not convenient for the auditors to bring their accounts out of their office , or that they should be perused without the lord treasurer were first acquainted with the business ( pro consequentia ) and for that the barons o●der was not obeyed , the petitioners desired a further order , which was graunted as foll●weth . viz. die mercurii , xv . may . ordered , that mr. harpham one of the attornies in the kings remembrancers office , mr. wilkinson , another attorny in the treasurers remembrancers office , and mr. burnet , one of the sworn clerks of the pipe-office , do forthwith peruse the last declared receivers accounts , with the ministers accounts , relating to the same , for the counties of wilts . york-shire , and lincoln , or any other counties , and certifie unto us the arrears and supers in the said accounts , and for how long time they have been depending their . matthew hale . edw. atkyns . chr. turnor . mr. kinsman auditor for wilts . had no declared accounts in his office since the th year of king charles the first . and mr. chislett deputy auditor to mr. gwin , for lincoln shire told the petition●rs , they had given the barons sufficient satisfaction by certificate under their 〈◊〉 concerning the supers , and arrears in their accounts in december last . and the d●puty-auditor for york-shire had no declared account in his office since the th . of the late king charls ; but the 〈◊〉 in persuance of the last order , caused the last declared accompts to be perused ( with much opposition , sir edward sawyer telling the auditors they deserved to lose their offices for suffering those persons to ●ook into their accounts ) by the attornies aforesaid , who certified the barons the 〈…〉 under their hands , as appears before the barons report in the . page . to the right reverend father in god william by divine providence lord arch-bishop of canterbury his grace , primate of england and metropolitane . right reverend father in god , i have observed in reading the acts of councils , and parliaments , held by the kings of england ? that they have supported themselves , repaired their estates ▪ and payd their debts , by improving the revenue of the crown , and lessening the charge of supernumerary officers belonging to the exchequer . and although the king hath an absolute sovereign power in himself to do it without parliaments ; yet he hath usually condescended , in such cases , to advise with the lords spiritual and temporal , and commons assembled in parliament . the state held it most just , in the seventh year of king henry the fourth , to help the king out of his own , rather then burthen the people , and improved his lands , although in lease . and also in henry the sixths time , the king was induced by his council , to convey to the arch-bishop of canterbury , and others , all profits of wards , escheats , and forfeitures , &c. towards the defraying the charge of his house , to prevent the immoderate requests of importunate suiters . may it please your grace , the creditors that are concerned in the petition for the improvement of first fruits and tenths , of the clergie , are many and troublesome , and of several opinions . they have urged me to write these further arguments and perswasions to the clergie , wherein is endeavoured to convince all men , as well of the undoubted rights and proportions due to the king from the clergie ▪ as the rights and dignities due to the clergie from the people . yet i understand the whole scope ( of their grievances ) is to be relieved out of the late improvements of bishops , deans , non-residents , pluralists sine curas , and ministers whose livings are worth above a hundred pounds per annum . the method they intend to propose , i doubt not but may please your grace , since they drive so much at the benefit of the poore clergie , and to annex certaine augmentations for ever to such livings , and vicaridges that yeild not sufficient maintenance , and encouragement to them that serve the cure. my lord , i have a double obligation upon me to honour the clergie , above all other orders and dignities , therefore desired moderation , and added some thing of my own short observations , to the advantage of the whole hierarchy of the church ( onely consistent with the old and sure foundations of good government ) in the english monarchie . and , i question not , but the cause of the church , and the cause of the widow and fatherless , will find audience and relief in parliament . i shall not trouble your grace any further , then to acquaint you , i have printed but a small number of these papers , to be delivered onely to some of the most eminent and honourable persons of both houses , and other perticular friends that have a great sense of the whole business , and a great value for the clergie ; there is much more to be sayd and considered , then what i have written : all which i humbly submit to your most pious and prudent apprehensions , and shall ever study to approve my self , your lordships most humble and faithful servant : george carevv . further considerations , offered to the clergie , concerning their first fruits and tenths , due to the king , for his supream pastoral charge ( oppugnant to the doctrine of rome ) asserting the kings right to the government of the church , vindicating the bishops office , order , and dignity in england . justifying tythes ( or bona sacra ) to be the ministers proper maintenance by divine right . vvith several arguments deduced from scripture , and reason ( promiscuously delivered for the satisfaction of all men ) proving it both sacrilegious and distructive , to de●raud the king in his tributes , rights , or revenues of the crown . when a man reads with patience , and without prejudice , he gives himself the liberty of making a true definition of those things , which comes within the reach of his own capacity to judg . the church is truly apprehended to be a state and society of men professing one faith , serving one god , and confessing one saviour and redeemer ; being a collective body of several parts , and consistences , indowed with large and honourable priviledges ( more antient then any society whatsoever ) having communion with god and angels ; that was visible in the families of the patriarchs , before , and after the food , called in holy scripture , and by the fathers , a people chosen of god ; unto whom his son , and our saviour hath manifested those things , which before were kept secret ; that this church hath been strengthned , and confirmed by the blood of apostles , bishops , preachers , and holy martyrs , against the gates , and battelments of hell. that christian king's , have the supream government of the church ; from whence bracton , and our ancient common lawyers of england , calls the kings revenues sacra patrimonia , and saies , omnis quidem sub rege , & ipse sub nullo nisi tantam sub deo : so that naturally , from thence ( by the rules of government , and protection ) arises , that the clergie are to pay their tribute to the king as well as the laity . and they that deceive the king , deceive themselves , and others . moses left this for a law to remain for ever , that the fathers should teach their children what the lord had done in their days , and to inquire in times past what was done even from the creation of the world , whereby we may truly understand , that god ordained to himselfe , the seventh part of our time , and the tenth part of our increase : jus permaneat semper nec unquam mutetur lex vero scripta sepius : man that is the measure of all things , and hath reason given him to discern between good , and evil ; must needs offend against the law of his understanding , when he deal● unjustly with god or man. it was a great offence , and a cursed thing in the time of the law to remove the land-mark , and antient bonds between neighbour , and neighbour , by reason of the great unquietness which was caused thereby : how much more do they offend , which remove , and alter the proportion allotted to the service of god , and the church , and the antient bounds which our fore-fathers have set between the king , and his people . and they that deceived the king , brought the callamities upen themselves , and the whole nation . when saul was made king , the high priest became a subject , and the first fruits , and tenths which were given by the other preists , and levites , to the high priest before , ●as then vested in the king , having the supream pastorall charge of the people : it was a proverb amongst the jews , that paying of tythes was a hedge to a mans possession , and a setled maintenance for perpetuating of religion . nature teaches men to honour god with their substance . the heathen themselves , which had not the means to apprehend much , offered the tythe of their corn , and wine to their gods , making payment in kind for the plentifull increase they had , before any use were made of the other nine parts ; the scripture , the rule of our faith , hath left examples of that particular proportion , most fit to be set apart for the service of god ; and forasmuch as the church of christ hath entred into obligation ; the statutes and decrees of the land injoyning the payment of tyths , it is a vanity , and a superfluous question to despute , whether they be of divine right . and they that denyed the kings proportion , ought not to receive their own : the publi●ke revenue ought to be preferred before the private . it 's objected , we are now free from the law of mos●s , and not bound to pay tythes any longer ; that christ suffering , and offering up himself a sacrifice for sin ; aron's order remov●● from the temple , and the ●ffice of the preisthood became evangelical : it 's granted , that the law was fulfilled but not destroyed ; the hoc agere was turned into hoc credere , yet the text says , that heaven and earth shall pass away , but not on● tittle of the law should perish ; faith is proved by works , and if there wants charity all is nothing : the equi●able consideration for tyths , continues upon the like conditions under the gospel , as they did before under the law ? the priests and levites took them for expounding the law , serving at the altar , and tabernacle , and offering up the sacrifices for the sins of the people , the preachers and ministers of the gospel receive the tythe , and offerings , for administring the word and sacraments , teaching the mysteries of salvation , and offering up prayers , as daily sacrifices for the people : in the first years after christ , the apostles , and preachers of the gospel , were dispersed , and had no settled maintenance but the voluntary contributions of those that imbraced their doctrine , and some that received their glad tydings of salvation , sold all that they had , and layd it at their feet . tertullian , cyprian , clemens-alexandrinus , eusebius , irenaeus , and others , writ of their dyet , habitation , and apparel , and of severall things indifferent in themselves , which altered with time , and place , according to the rules of princes , and established laws of their government the people of god in the primitive times desired a king to protect them from their enemies ; and by divine institution kings were appointed to govern , and rule over them , who received the power both spiritual and temporal into one and the same hand , he made choyce of the priests and deposed them as solomon did abiather , and placed zadock in his rome , and the law both judaicall and levitical was made canonicall scripture , by josiah : the rites and seremonies of the church after christ were debated and determined at national synods , and general councils , and were made cannon laws by the emperours . the apostles perswaded the people to believe christ's doctrines , not upon payn of death but damnation , and taught them to be obedient to their civil magistrates for conscience sake , for that an oath was the end of all strife . the old and new testaments were preserved by the holy spirit , and preached publickly in england in the year . the reverend and learned bishops in england in those days , much honoured for their constancy , and zeal in religion , were summoned to the generall councils of sardice and nice , and much approved of for their doctrine all the time of constantine the great . the originall of the pope's usurpation over christian princes . as to the english monarchical government ( under which our lives , liberties , and estates are best secured by magna charta , and the petition of right ) it is agreed there is but one man supream , all others act under his name , by commision ? the clergie being subordinate to the prince , having the superiority over them , do submit themselves to his government in all things according to gods commands ; knowing there is no power but of god , and they are ordained of god ; that kings are the lords anointed , his image upon earth , nursing fathers of the church , and princes of the people of god. the pope or bishop of rome usurped his authority of late times : emperours and king's formerly elected , degraded , and censured them . theodoret imployed john the first bishop of rome in the nature of an embassador to justinian the emperour , and for exceeding his commission , he kept him in prison until he dyed . in the year . pope agatho besought the emperour to forgive him the tribute which the pope of rome usually payd for his consecration . one almaine emperour chose pope leo the eight , john the fourteenth , and benedict the fifth , and so successicely ▪ but as the emperours did fall , so the popes did rise : the pope himselfe will rather renounce the succession of peter , then the donation of charlemane . the church of rome , once a member of the true catholick church , is fallen from the principles of the apostolick , and primitive puritie , both in doctrine , and manners , and came to that swelling greatness by six steps gradatim . the first , by constantines departing from rome to constantinople . the second by the fall of the empire in the west . the third , by the donation of phocas . the fourth , by the voluntary charter , that the emperour of constantinople made to benedict the second , in the year . the fifth , by the amity between zachary bishop , of rome , and king pipin of france , in the year . the sixth and last step , by the constitution of seven electours , by gregory the fifth a germane born , and kinsman to ot●o the emperour . so the beast that obscurely sprung up , increased and became insolently triumphant over kings , and emperours ; and sent their popish innovasions of doctrine , and discipline into england i● the saxons time . a foundation layd in blood , treason , and rapine , cannot support a fabrick from falling to the ground . it is in vain to read the desputations and volumnes of bellarmine , and others that writ in the defence of the church of rome , that swept away the mony of england under colour of indulgencies , that caused the common people to rob their children to inrich the fryars , and make their posterity poor by such charity and devotion , not by the scripture required : the church of god is built upon his name and word , that unmoveable rock ; the keys of heaven are faith , and good works . the people are admitted in , or kept out of the church by the ministers of the gospel , according to the ordinances of god. the prophets foretold the jews of a messiah to re-establish amongst them the kingdome of god , which was rejected by them in the time of samuel ? this expectation made them obnoxious to impostures , that have had the ambition and art ( by plausible , and false doctrines ) to attempt , and deceive the people : christ himselfe , and the apostles forewarned them of such false prophets , and told them further , that his kingdom was not of this world ; that the kings of nations had dominion over their subjects , but his kingdom purchased by his blood , was not to be possessed untill his second comming . the devil seeks , by suggesting a present dominion , to weaken the faith of christians ▪ saint peter and the rest of the apostles had power given them to teach the people the gospel , and the mysteries of their salvation , in the faith of christ , and him crucified ; when christian sovereigns were baptised into the faith ( by vertue of their office ) they obliged themselves to preserve the doctrine of christ ▪ god requiring the account from them , and at their hands , being not only pater patirae , but pater ecclesiae , therefore tythes , the patrimony of the church , should be maintained and kept inviolate by kings the nursing fathers of the church . amongst the emperial laws was omitted , the punishment for killing their fathers , supposing no man to be so horrid●y impious and wicked to commit such an act of paricide against the law of nature . it may be sayd as much , of those men that robbed and destroyed their mother , the church of england ; the pope perswaded the kings of england , that he was the universal governour of the church , and he received the revenue of first fruits and tenths from the clergie which was due to the crown , and the four orders of fryars perswaded the people that tythes were given ex debito charitatis , and not ex debito justiciae to the secular preists , and so got several grants of them to themselves for their spiritual labours , the other supernumerary orders of monks and nuns further perswaded the layety to make arbitrary consecrations of tythes to their abbies , and monastries , and to appropriate several churches and lands to their foundations of reputed clergie , who by allowing severall salaries to their stipendaries for serving the cure , gave advantage to covetous men ( upon the dissolution to dispoyle the church ) who took grants of those impropriate tythes , and turned them into lay-●ees , which was done more through the defect of councils then any force of adversaries , in subjecting that revenue of the church to their humane titles , supposing the property that god hath in them might be changed to their own uses by such contracts . whereupon several poor scandalous livings have since made scandalous ministers . that in many parts of the north , and west , of england , the vicars are necessitated to sell ale , or go to their day-labour , for the subsistance of themselves , and their families . a grave spaniard landing in king edward the sixths time , neer the ruins of an old abbie by the sea coast , perceived a poor clergie-man hedging in of his glebe land , the spaniard to satisfie his curiosity , desired the vicar to shew him his church , demanding what was his maintenance , he told him he had twenty nobles a year , being some part of god's revenue and inheritance , which was reserved to himselfe ; the spaniard wept bitterly , and gave the poor clergie-man all the mony he had , saying , that god had not been so provident for his church in england as in other parts of the world. the offices , dignities , and possessions of bishops , deans , and prebends , vindicated . episcopacy was practised in the apostles time , and it was the constant doctrine of all the fathers , that bishops succeded the apostles in the first , and best ages of the church , and ordeyned preachers in every city : presbyterian government was not thought on , before the reformation at geneva , which is aristocrary . and the independant sprung up with the new-england faction ; whose government is democracy . at the first general council ( after christ ) bishops were planted in all parts of christendom ; both for the purity in doctrine , and the safety , and external state of the church , and have continued , ever since in england , untill these late violent times of interruption , that brought their bishopricks into abeyance and consideration of the law. before the foundations of parliaments were layd , the kings of england called onely their prelates , and nobles to council with them ; and the affaires of the kingdom , was ordered by edicts to the officers , and governours of the several counties . king henry the first , in the year of our lord , . invested the bishops by giving them a pastoral staff , and a ring , testifying that their donation , was from their sovereign . the pope ( at that time ) questioning the kings authority , and right to investitures ; the king sent expressly then to rome , herbert bishop of norwich , and robert bishop of lichfeild , to acquaint him , that he would rather loose his kingdom , then his right , to donations of churches . asius the oldest bishop of his time ( being about . years after christ , ) framed the nicen creed for the whol christian world. which much improves the benefit that the church receives by episcopacy . bishops have been antiently barons by tenure , and had their votes in parliament by a double right , the one to advise in framing of laws , that they were not made repugnant to god's word , and the other for their temporalities , having estates and families of their owne , subject to the laws and statutes of the kingdom . it is a question whether such prerogatives can be taken away , which were originally annexed to their dignities , and orders of their persons and offices . by the same rule the lords temporal may lose their privileges , prerogatives , and preheminences ( held of the crown ) which they have above other men ? honours are rather burthens then advantages , rendring men obnoxious to great expences , and offices do bring more trouble then profit , not acquiring any thing without danger or envie ; no man should in reason envie his happiness that is rather a steward , and servant to the people , then master of himself , or his own fortune . non nobis nati sumus ; every man serves god , his king , and country , in some capacity or other , moving in his station accordingly : and since the bishops have been interrupted , and kept from their votes in parliament , there hath been disorders and confusions both in church , and state , the pulpets filled with blasphemy , the people taugh● rebellion , and witchcraft , the press open to all manner of seditions , and heresies , and nothing but violence , and oppression raging throughout the whole land , no man considering that the cause of all these calamities proceeded from the sacrilege , pride , envie , and covetousness , of those persons that made such strange returns for all the labours , and studies of so many learned divin●s of this kingdom , by whose lives and doctrines the crown , and scepter of england hath been exalted above the pontifical chaire , and the people freed from the jurisdiction , and slavery of the pope . the lands , and possessions of bishops , deans , and prebends , were given by pious kings , and other 〈◊〉 benefactours ▪ originally in franck-almoyne for the service of god , and the church , and were insep●rably annexed to the offi●e and dignity of those orders , that they might have honourable support , answerable to the great care , and ●harge they wer● intrusted withall . their maintainance ought to be sufficient to keep them from corruptions , and sinister affections , and to do acts of hospitality , giving good examples to all men . poverty breeds contempt , although the persons have extraordinary parts , and deserts above other men . the meanest corporations , and civil societies of ●en , are allowed their presidents , mayors , councils , and officers , to bear rule , and government over the rest , and they hold their authority by the kings charter . it were very unreasonable in cities , provinces , and 〈◊〉 ▪ to deny god a reverend worship and esteem , and the king his prerogatives , in governing the church according to order , and deacency . the heathen when they would secure their treasure from violence , layed it in the templ●s , consecrated to their gods , knowing that the most inhumane men amongst them would not take any thing out of those places that were dedicated to their deities . the conclusion . the church is that in which men hope for salvation ( united under a visible government ) here , and triumphant in glory hereafter , going under divers elogies , both in heaven , and earth . that several ministerial officers subservient in the church militant , were ever allowed a sufficient , and honourable maintenance , according to their order : in england , before the establishment of parochial right to tythes ; barons layed foundations of churches at their pleasures , claiming onely a right to the advouson , and upon lapse to the king as patron paramount , he presents to the cure an incumbent ; being lawfully ordeined , the bishop institutes , the arch-deacon , &c. inducts . he then claiming a free liberty to perswade the people ( by preaching ) to faith , and repentance , obedience to princes , and love one to another , which is the fulfilling of the law , and by the ordinance of god and man , he so becomes intitutled to tythes , as his free-hold , for administring the word and sacraments to the people . yet the unworthiness of ministers doth not make the word unprofitable , or the ordinances uneffectuall : they may convert others , yet be themselves reprobates ; and by coveting more then their owne , they have lost a great part of that which was their due by divine right . what kings have endowed the bishops , and dignitaries of the church withall , they receive in a double capacity , both as spiritual , and temporal persons , substituted to govern , and rule under the king , over the rest , contrary to the doctrines , and erronious opinions of rome . the orthodox man blushes for the generation that are not ashamed of themselves for abusing the world , under a colour of religion , making in a wrong sense , godliness their greatest gain . he stands amazed at another sort of men ( libertines ) that were proud , malicious , and covetous , who struck at the very root , giving the greatest blow to the church that ever was given , by any that profest themselves christians . they were emperick states-men ( ignorant of natural philosophy ) destroyed mutual societies for want of learning , and knowledg ; they descovered their own weakness , and followed an ignis fatuus , shewing they were as unskilfull to govern as unwilling to obey , those were the men that obstructed the payment of the kings debts to orphans and widows : they received the kings revenue , and built large houses upon church-land , and made other improvements to ministers with the creditors money ; what is come to the hand of the clergy out of such improvements , beyond the ordinary and usuall tenths , fines , and ancient rents , being divided between the king and these poor creditors , or at least his own just proportion out of the improved value , according to law , would give a great satisfaction to all moderate men ; otherwise people will say , that covetousness is great idolatry , and if it be in the house of god , what will not the wicked do , those examples being brought in to presidents . if some tenants have forfeited their right of improvement , for want of allegiance to the king , or that they have , under a force , purchased to preserve their possession , or otherwise justly offended god , and displeased the clergy , and lost their tenant-right ; these poor creditors that petition the king for part of that improved revenue which in charity belongs to them , &c. and have not been guilty of any misdemeanour against his majesty , ought in justice to be considered , which hitherto have been wholly neglected , and dealt unkindly withall by the clergy about leases , all which is left to their own considerations . and whether it was the intent of the donors , that improvements made by violence and rapine , should go to the church or the exchequer , is left to divines and lawyers to judg ; and whether they that detain the kings rights and revenues which should go towards the payment of his debts , be not as guilty of opression and cruelty , as those violators of religion and law , were of sacriledge , and injustice , is left to the world to judge . several considerations of the creditors offered ( to the lords , and commons assembled in parliament ) concerning the king's revenue , and the debts of the crown . . a business wherein all men are equally concerned , seldom any man makes it his particular care to follow , which hath been the cause that so often good purposes fall to the ground ; most men minding their own private interest before the publick good of their coun●●ry , for which they are chosen , and trusted . . many men of abstruce learning , and great abiliti●● , do rather please themselves with their own speculations , then look into the other concernme●ts of the world ; by managing those affairs which may advantage the king in his revennue , or the people in their trade . . when the kings present wants are considered , the greatness of his debts , and the complaints of so many grants , it may not be unseasonable to enquire if some men were not executors in their own wrong , and that divers have built upon other mens foundations , to the great grievance of these which have suffered , through violence , and oppression . . those riches , and honours fall not out of the clouds ( but are acquired by honest art , ingenuity , and fidelity , to the crown ) which are permanent , yet 〈◊〉 she crown be indebted , those persons are deficient that do obstruct the paiment of the kings debt , by keeping back 〈◊〉 proportion of money which should contribute towards the discharge of the kings obligations . . antiently the nobility , and gentry , brought in the chief revenue to the king , holding most of the lands in their possessions , by knights service , and 〈…〉 , which yielded wards , marriages , reliefs , and several services to the crown , the trade of the 〈…〉 improved the lands from shillings an a●re , to . the barons , and antient gentry have parted with 〈…〉 merchants , and others that have raised their families , by industry thirst , and such like enterpris●s 〈◊〉 those purchasers were abated considerably in regard of the tenures , which upon the foundations of law yielded 〈◊〉 advantages to the king. and the creditors parted with large sums of money upon assignments of the pro●●● of that court , ▪ which cannot now be considered but out of the improvements in the exchequer , or the several 〈…〉 hold the lands , which reape the great benefits by taking away the court of wards , and purveiances . . formerly the kings of england con●erred great offices of trust , upon the clergy and called them to the council table for their w●sdom , 〈…〉 , religion , and experience . and they , gave them charge of the great seal , treasury , &c. yet some of them were defective , and put upon the kings mercy by parliaments , for wasting the revenue of the crown . the lords temporal have likewise been often censured for procuring large proportions of the crown lands to themselves , and their relations . . there hath been laws in force , that the mover of any gift , or the procurer of any grant , should be fined the double value , until the kings deb●s were paid . and , in the lord burleighs time , a customer of london was fined a considerable sum of money for farming part of the queens revenue at an undervalue , to the prejudice of the crown , and the damage of the people . . when the debts of the crown were not so great , nor the wants so many , an ordinance was made pro hospitio regis in the . year of edward the . and cardinal walsey afterwards amended the books of orders , called aulae regis the motive whereof was al honneur de dieu , & a h●nneur , & profit de saint eglise , & al h●nneur de roy , & a son profit , & au profit de son peuple &c. henry the . caused his son the prince , and the rest of his councel to ordain such moderate governance of his house that may continue au plaisir , de dieu , & du peuple , to preserve the kings honour , and prevent secret waste . . it was a question put to a noble man in henry the s . time , whether honour , or religion tyed him most to the service of the crown , he answered , they were individual concommitants , and had equal operation upon persons of worth , and understanding : honours being sacred orders , and are used both as sheilds , and ensigns , and they are obliged to defend the cause of the orphan , and widdow , next to the honour of the king , of whom they hold their dignities . the king preserves the law in its , force , and vigour , by his subservient ministers of justice , whom all estates are bound to observe ; and in token of subjection , the prince himself disdained not the old saaxon word ichdien , i serve ; the chief justice in henry the . time , committed the prince for contempt of the court , and upon his complaint . the king greatly rejoyced that he had such a judg , that durst administer justice upon his son , and that he had such a son so gracious as to obey : and afterwards kings henry the fifth himself charged the judges to minister the law indifferently , that the oppressed might be eased by speedy justice , and the offendors discouraged by judgment executed , that the land might not longer morn for the iniquity of former ages . the certain revenue of the crown was surveied , and sold by the late pretended powers , wherein many fee-farm ●ents , that before were continued as supers , in the auditors books , and receivers accompts , the purchasors made good to themselves , which the king was either defrauded of by auditors , receivers , collectors , bayliffs , or tenants ; and upon inquiry into the revenues , and profits , issuing out of all his majesties honours , castles , mannors , lands , possessions , demeasn-lands , rents , customary rents , fee-farms , farm-rents , and tenths reserved upon charters , or letters patents of perpetuity , granted from the crown ( which made such a noise in the world ) considering the vast charge , and expence of bayliffs , stewards , accomptants , auditors , receivers , bedles , collectors , and other that are paid out of the kings money , besides allowances to stypendaries , and sallaries , to vicars , chorals , curates and chaplains to hospitals , and free schools ; for procurations , and synodals , to arch-deacons , and stypends to auditors clarks for writing their accompts , and perpetual pentions , annuities , and corrodies , and yearly fees to constables of castles , keepers of houses , parks , forests and chases , surveyers fees , woodwards fees , reparations , respites , and other allowances incident to this receipt , upon examination it was found , that there came not clearly into the kings coffers above pounds per annum , but into the purchasers purse , far greater sums ; so that most of the kings small rents , as now ordered , are rather burth●nsom then advantagious to the crown , the king having granted away his wardships , reliefs , marriages , &c. for which tenure many of those rents were continued . . the tenants and common people of england ought to be kept in love and strength to serve the king. the state and majesty of the kingdom also to be continued that the king may be feared abroad , and honoured at home : and if the revenue formerly had not been intercepted , exhausted , or misapplyed , those many evils upon all estates of the kingdom had been prevented . and if the parliament did seriously consider , that the kings wants , and engagements are as well encouragements to enemies , as dishear●ning to friends , they would labour to fill his coffers out of his own , and annex a revenue inseparable from the crown , answerable to the support of his majesty , the defence of the kingdom , and that also might reward his servants , by sufficient pentions out of his exchequer , rather then to give away old lands of the crown , or new escheats , and forfeitures , which come by gods gift , to preserve justice , and equity , and the splendour of the royal family . there be many millions of people ( in england and wales ) represented onely by the king ( in parliament ) that have not fourty shillings per annum free-hold , nor their voices in cities , or burroughs at elections ; who were born loyal , and suckt in alleagiance with their mothers milk , their constitutions naturally inclining , and submitting to the king , and are most willing to pay the excise for ever , out of their labours , and bowels , if the charge in the collecting of it , might be payed by those that receive the benefit , and allow nothing in recompence for the court of wards , and purveyance to the benefit of the crown , or advantage of those creditors to whom , the profits of the court was assigned by the king for money lent upon that security . . solomon saith , that money answers all things , & oppression makes wise men mad . honours are but small additions , if they must be supported by the people , and the persons that wears them exceeds not others in virtue , and merit , as well as in order , and title . men of true learning , and understanding , do good offices for goodness sake , and study the benefit of their country , by easing the burthens of the poor , and yielding comfortable maintenance , and encouragement to them that make others rich , and honourable by their labours . in italy , princes , and the rest of the nobility , account it no indignity to deal in merchandizing affairs , in other parts of france , and germany , far remote from the seas , where they live , not so plentifully , they esteem it below their quality , and out of a custom , choose rather to put their younger sons into the wars , then adventure them for wealth , and experience into the world abroad as merchants , which hath given such advantages to the hollanders to engross the trade , and money of vrope into their hands : and it s observed that church-men of these times , are not so publique spirited as in the former ages , which makes money so scarce , and citizens complain of them as much as their tenants , and the whole nation for their unkindness to the king , not rendring him the tenth part of that he willingly , and freely gave them of late , which the king might have kept in commendam many years together , as queen elizabeth often used to do . the church of rome takes the advantage of raising considerable sums of money , by ecclesiastical offices , and dignities , above the degrees of secular priests , which claim tythes ex condigno , from god and the people , the others ex dono from the pope , and his favourites , therefore no symoney in opinion , where the benefit accrues , to a common good of the country . lewis , the th . of france , that was called the father of his country , raised a considerable revenue by offices that were not judicial ; and charles the fifth prescribed it to his son as a rule , in his last instructions , drawing his ground , and reason , from the practise of the antient romanes , for that the fees of writs , &c. were as trespass offerings , and ought to come into the publick treasury , rather then into any private purse , to enrich particular men. those potent states abroad that were raised by the aids , and supplies of the english crown , took the boldness , and liberty not onely to revile king james , and the king of denmark ( terming them bankrupt princes ) but also insulted over their subjects , in the indian plantations , &c. ) and in derision of the english nation they would usually say , the dutch merchants had gold chains to reach from amsterdam to whitehall , which would purchase any advantage in commerce , or expiate any crime , and misdemeanour in their dealings , which gave them great encouragement in their subtil and cruel practises to the prejudice of the king , and kingdom . we the creditours of sir paul pinder , and sir william courten , and so consequently the creditors of the king , are bold ( out of necessity ) to ask the lords spiritual , the lords temporal , and commons assembled in parliament releif , for the money so long detained from us , and if those things which are proposed , be not by your grave wisdom , thought fit to be improved towards all the advantages mentioned , in the several petitions , arguments , proposals , and considerations ; we leave it to your honours to finde out some other expedient that may answer the expectation of god , and the world. richard banks , thomas coleman , william smith , thomas gould , on the behalf of our selves , and the rest of the creditours . the creditors appeale , to the kings most excellent maiesty , and the lords of his most honourable privy-council , concerning the island of barbados , and the ship bona esperanza , taken by the dutch , anno . to relate all the services , and good offices done ( to the crown , and people of england ) by sir william courten , and sir paul pinder were to write volums in their praises . and to shew what honour they did the english nation abroad , what advantages they brought to the king , and subjects at home , what encouragements they gave to seamen , and merchants for encrease of shipping , and trade ; were a just reprehension to some , and a recrimination to others , that by indirect practises , have brought great miseries both upon the families , and creditors , of those two worthy patriots of their country . in the year . sir william courten , sent captain henry powel , commander of the good ship called the william and john of london , with six and fourty men of several handycraft trades , to plant and possess the island of barbados , which was not before inhabited by any person whatsoever , either native , or others . the said captain powel having landed his men , and taken possession of the island for sir william courten , continued with them upon the island , the space of a fortnight , in which time they cut down some woods , and built some small houses for their present conveniencies ; he then left them provisions , and sailed to the main upon the coast of guyana , and furnished himself with roots , plants , fowles , tobacco-seeds , sugar-canes , potatoes , and other materials , and brought along with him thirty two indians , which he placed upon the said island , who taught the english to plant the said roots , seeds , &c. ( the first that ever was planted there . ) sir william courten sent another ship called the peter , with a pinnace called the tomasine , commanded by john powel , wherein were threescore and ten men and women , with several materials also for planting the said island for sir william courten aforesaid , who were all landed there before captain henry powel returned for england , and had built a fort called the plantation fort ; that in the year sir william courten set up the king of englands colours , placed a governour , made constitutions , and ordinances there , according to the laws of england , having procured a patent , from king charles the first under the great seal , in the name of philip earl of pembroke , in trust , to countenance the said government , and plantation . and before the year they had built three forts , houses , began five plantations , viz. the corn plantation , the indian bridg , the fort , the indian east , and powels plantation , all which was done at the proper cost of sir william courten : that about the month of april , the earl of carlisle , having a patent of the charebe islands , sent a letter , directed to captain john powel , and captain william deane in barbadoes , and to others there , entreating them to give entertainment and respect unto captain charles wolverstone , whom he had sent thither with several men from london , hearing it was a hopeful plantation , and to joyn with them in it . the earl of carlisle engaging himself upon his honour in the said letter , that the said wolverstone and his men should not give them any occa●ion of offence or trouble in their said plantation ; not suspecting any prejudice from english-men , coming from a person of honour , they entertained wolverstone and fourty men or thereabouts with him : who seduced the people , under pretence , of greater privileges in the said island , and seized the forts , and took captain john powel prisoner , and others that would not adhere to them . then wolverstone declared that he was there as governour of the said island for the earl of carlisle . that in the year sir william courten sent captain henry powel again in the good ship called the peter and john , with a men well provided with arms , who took the forts , released john powel and the rest of the prisoners , and brought the said wolverstone away prisoner to london , by virtue of a warrant under the hand and seal of the said earl of pembroke . the said john powel and his company afterwards continued in the quiet possession of the said island six months or thereabouts ; and then one henery hawley arrived at the said island in a ship called the carlisle , and invited the said john powel with others to an entertainment on ship-board , who seized them and carried them away prisoners to st. christophers , and sent a company of leud persons from thence , and daily supplies from other merchants of london , who usurped the whole island , and government from sir william courten and his company , contrary to the law of god , and nations . that several persons who refused to joyn with the earl of carlisle , or those that pretended to have the power under him were stigmatized , whipt , imprisoned , and shot to death : and then several men of mean quality , understanding the condition of the island , took advantage of the times , and went over with a company of loose and idle persons who possessed themselves of the said island , and plantations , and out of the vast expence and charges of sir william courten and his endeavours , they have gotten great estates , but have yielded no satisfaction , either to sir william courten or his assigns , notwithstanding the said sir william courten had two several judgments against the earl of carlisle , and wolverstone , upon trials in the court of admiralty , concerning the propriety of the said island . the power of the said earl of carlisle being greater at the council table then sir william courten or his interest , the complaint was suspended , and the dammages , which were then thirty thousand pounds and upwards , wholly detained by those that intruded and disseized the said sir william , and his servants of the said island , and plantations . about five years after sir william courten died , and left several factories , in the east indies , to william courten his onely son and heir , and his sole executor , who took upon him the execution of his fathers will , and joyning with mr. thomas kennistone , and others , sent several ships , with merchandizes to the east-indies , for supplies to the rest , and in the year the good ship bona esperanza of london , being fraughted by the said william courten and his compartners , making a trading voiage between goa , in the east-indies , and macco in china , in the month of june the said ship was set upon by two dutch-men belonging to the states of the low countrys , and the east-india company of holland , and after the loss of the said master of the said ship , and several seamen slain out-right , with eleven more wounded in the defence thereof , the said ship with all her merchandize , was then taken and disposed of by the said two dutch-ships of amsterdam , whereby the said william courten &c. were damnified to the value of threescore and fifteen thousand pounds and upwards , besides the great loss and utter ruin of several men , women , and children , whose husbands and fathers were killed in the said service , all which is sufficiently proved , upon record , under several testimonies , of authentick witnesses taken upon oath in the court of admiralty ; since which time there hath been applications made to the east-india company of holland for satisfaction , but they being so powerful in their own courts , and by their influences in others , that there hath been no restitution as yet made for the loss and dammages of the ship , life , or goods to the said w. courten , or his compartners aforesaid . and for as much as sir paul pinder , and two other persons of honour , became bound for the said william courten for pounds , and furnished him with several considerable sums of money to keep up his credit , and expected certain returns also from the east-indies , for their satisfaction , having his partes assigned to them for counter-security , which are wholly disappointed whereby it is evident by this , and diverse other former sad examples , that many of this nation have been distroyed by such like attempts of the dutch. the premises considered , and for as much as sir william courten and sir paul pinder were such memorable merchants , so good servants and subjects to the crown of england , so great benefactours to the church , and such instruments in the common-wealth , and that it hath been already a great reflection upon the honour of the nation , and a great discouragment to others in following their examples , for being so slighted ; it is therefore the humble request of all the creditors , that since these and other sad misfortunes have befallen the heirs , and executors of sir william courten , and sir paul pinder , by the violence of these last years at home , and their great losses sustained by violence abroad , besides the debts due from the crown ; that for the relief of many hundred poor men , women , and children , your majesty would be greciously pleased to take the same into your most pious consideration , that a select committee of twelve lords , and commons in parliament may be appointed to examine the whole matters of fact , and make a report thereof to your majesty , and your m●st honourable privy-council , to determine what in justice the said causes , may , both from the said planters of barbados , and the dutch east-india company , according to the laws of nations , and the common protection due from soveraignes , to their loyal subjects , be reasonably required . epilogue . to reflect upon the late distractions of the nation , the great debts of the crown , or the sadsufferings of the creditors , were to arraign all mens actions : that transgressed the rules of law , and equity in the english monarchy ( a government comming the nearest to perfection in this transitory world ) the king in his politick capacity is not improperly likened to god , for justice , and immortality ; it s observed therefore that he neither dies , nor does any wrong , and that from the king the fountain of honour , and justice the laws like streams are conducted by the judges , and dispersed to the people , and the sacred ordinances , by the ministers of the church , to their several cures , so essentially springing from that bottom , the two main pillars of good government , religion , and law , the two inseparable supporters of regal authority : the currents were stopt by defect in the pipes . the fountain , was not dry , nor the streams , but the aquaducts failing , when they plunged themselves , and others into a deluge of miseries , and disorders ; living upon the spoils of the crown with so many hundred hands in the kings purse , that minded not the support of his royal estate , nor the ordinary protection of the people ; which brought those persons into extream wants that supplyed the king with money for his necessary occasions . the wits and inventions of other men were chiefly taken up about riches , and possessions ef the world , streaching some things beyond their latitude , and depressing others from their force , and power , which caused the oppression of ehe kings creditors ( which now lies under considerations of parliament ) either to be satisfied by a general contribution , of the nation , or by improvement of what they have proposed to the king , or by the revennue in the exchequer chargeable with their debts . king charles the first ( of ever blessed memory ) asserted the due honour of the clergy , the rites , and government of the church , and his other praerogatives also ( which were not granted by the people that were reserved to himself , when the positive law of nations was first established ) he maintained with zeal , and constancy to the last . affirming that no man could be exempted from obedience , and subjection under the government of kings any more then children from the obedience they owed to their parents , by the laws of god , and nature . and that in the estimation of right understanding men. they are very vnworthy , and vngrateful to their prince that seeks to defraud him in any perquisite or revennue of the crown , who studies daily at court how to preserve them in peace , and prosperity from enemies at home , and abroad , he that takes the value of a shilling from any mans person upon the road , dies without mercy , and he that counterfeits a single penny suffers death by the law ; yet he that robs god , and the king his vice-gerent goes unpunished for offences of fraud , and sacrilege which hath brought all the sad calamities both upon church , and state. if by this indigested discourse ( being straitned of time ) i have incurred the displeasure of some , or the hard censure of others , i can justly answer them both , that it was neither prejudice , nor intrest that engaged me , but zeal to my king , and countrey , and the miserable deplored condition of several orphans , and widdows that daily called upon me as administrator to seek some seasonable releif after so many years sufferings , and forbearance of their debts ; and by this way of improvement : i fear not but their cause will finde patrons , and advocates , if they consider rightly the benefit , and convenience that all estates may reap , where the whole design looks towards the glory , of god , the honour of the king , the advantage of the clergy , and the prosperity of the whole nation , to which all men should subscribe . connecta pacis deo concordia vinctus . gratia soli deoque gloria . george carew . some objections have been raised against the particulars following , which shall be fully answered , and further invincible reasons given , and expedients offered to the parliament , in convenient time , which will appear conducing to the benefit , and advantage of the king , and subject . some obstructions have been met withall from several persons that would rather continue mistakes , and keep those things in obscurity , which ought to be brought to light , and discoursed properly to a parliament . some grievances there may be deser●ed , upon due examination of the contents , which cannot properly , be relieved any where , but in parliament , unto whom the persons concerned , do make it their humble desires that a committee may be appointed , to debate those things which may give a general satisfaction to the nation , and a speedy remedy of several abuses , and inconveniences , daily suffered by the king , and kingdom . the contents . an epistle to the lord chancellour : lord treasurer : and the rest of his majesties most honourable privy-councel . . a preamble to the whole treatise and proceedings . . a petition of walter devereux , and george carew for the general collection of chauntry rents , pentions , portions , and forein rents , in england , and wales . . the lord treasurers referrence ( upon that petition ) to the barons of the exchequer , and others . ibid. an order of the barons , on the lord treasurers referrence . the second order of the barons , in relation to the lord treasurers referrence ibid. a methode of the antient way concerning accompts in the exchequer . . a certificate of the sworn clerks of the pipe concerning the accompts , and miscarriages of auditours , receivers , and collectors . . . several proposals , and considerations of walter devereux , and george carew offered to the lord treasurer , and others touching the kings certain revenue , how it may be brought into his majesties receipt of exchequer without charge . . the barons report , upon the petition , and referrence , concerning the collection of the chauntry rents , pentions , portions , &c. . a petition of george carew , john culpeper , and thomas gould , for a patent of the first fruits , and tenths at pounds per annum rent , for the term of one and thirty years . . the arguments , and propositions , annexed to the petition concerning the improved values of first fruits , and tenths , of the clergy which ought to be paid to the king. . . an epistle to the arch bishop of canterbury . . further considerations offered ( by the creditors ) to the clergy , concerning their due payment of first fruits , and tenths , to the king. . the kings right to the government of the church , and the original of the popes usurpation over christian princes . the office of bishops , and dignitaries of the church of england vindicated . . the inference , or conclusion from the considerations offered to the clergy . . several considerations ( of the creditors ) offered to the lords spiritual , the lords temporal , and commons assembled in parliament , concerning the kings revenue , and the debts of the crown . . . an appeale of the creditors , to the kings most excellent majesty , and the lords of his most honourable privy-councel , concerning the island of 〈◊〉 and the ship bona esperanza taken by the dutch. . the epilogue . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e the king hath been paid most of his small rents with pen and ink and dog-latine since the course of the excheq . hath been altered , and the subject often vexed & grieved without cause as in baron trevers time , a tenant in york-shire was put to l . charge by tho. westly a messenger for d . rent , charged upon his estate without his knowledge ; many of the like cases have hapned by false returns and allowances , of supers , &c. notes for div a -e damages is l . concerned in it , are sixty four persons of ●ons , many of them ●verished for want of notes for div a -e by the last general pardon , the clergy were forgiven . pounds , which was due to the king upon bonds , for first-fruits and tenths . the layity , by the king 's happy restauration , were put into possession of such estates , that were their own inheritance . but the bishops , &c. into improved vacancies , that were under consideration of the law , for many years together . notes for div a -e note , the current money of england much infeebled since those times . see the several presidents , and commissions , with returns of full values , in queen elizabeths time. 〈◊〉 nullo queat esse modo 〈◊〉 cujus gubernandi 〈◊〉 non regem sit 〈◊〉 . felicia illa olim tempora , in quibus majus subditorum animis in sedit utilitatis regiae studium , quam rerum suarum cura familiarium . object . . as the king was to the church of scotland . object . . vide lord burley 's speech ●o queen elizabeth . object . . felo de se est quisquis de jure regali demit . the present yearly revenue of the first-fruits and tenths , not twenty thousand pounds , all charges deducted . see selden upon tythes , of the eastern countryes . vide , doctour john gers●n h●s treatise , called regulae morales . notes for div a -e ir. in t . com. hill. . ma. ro. . exparte rem . thes. article . . article . article . notes for div a -e vide , the draught of a warrant ready prepared , and offered by the auditours to the barons , to sign for messengers , to levy the kings rents , although formerly adjudged illegal , at the councel table . a poor messenger in yorkshire , purchased land , worth . pound per annum ; by exactions , and oppressing the people . by return of clothiers , ●rasiers ; and others that deal in staple commodities , being advantagious to the subject , to pay their money in london , where they sell their commodities , that are made in those countries , and where the cattell are fed , that serves both countrey and city . sir ch●●stopher hatton , mr. lyons , and mr wharton , th●ee of the receivers of the revenue , are l. in arrear , which was occasioned chiefly by the auditours , not duly declaring their accompts ; so that they paid what they pleased , and when they pleased , being under no controll , that would discover the fraud . the auditours , and receivers , in many cases , take upon them the office of treasurer , chancellour , barons , chamberlains , and remembrancers . the chantry rents are troublesome to be brought into the sheriffs accompts ; it is therefore humbly conceived , that that charge is most proper for the collectour generall . vide , the report of sir robert cotton , concerning the collection of the queen's rents under halfe a crown . . l. per annum , is now , and hath been for many years paid into the wardrobe , by severall fee-farmers , and other tenants . a receiver for yorkshire lately gave . l. for his place , a● assignee from , an●●●er . notes for div a -e anno. . hen. . a writ was directed from the king to ●he treasurer , and barons , wherein it appeared that one extraordinary receiver was deemed a burthen , and unnecessary charg to the crown , and therefore according to the constant course of the exchequer , the court thought fit he should be discharged of his receipts , and transferred to ●he sherifs as formerly . notes for div a -e quere whether the baron●s were satisfied with the auditors certificates as they pretended . notes for div a -e regibus guber●andi ecclesia●● honor a deo opt. max. conceditur , non ut doctrinam sacram ultro immutent , sed , quo e● quae praecepit deus , praestentur sedulo ut prospici●nt . decimae de populo exigi alio nomine non possunt ( quae bonae sacr● ) ut inde sit quo officiae divina rite a ministris ecclesiasticis peragantur . canones ubi jam sancti & ex doctrina christianae a legum ●atoribus imperati fuerint protinus obligant , & apud omnes sub eaditione degentes divinarum institutionum vim obtine●t . ovum testamentum & si sit 〈◊〉 christianae doctrinae sectissima , amen ab authorie regum vim legis a●cepit . christus leges nova● quibus ●eremur nullas edidit , sed do●●●nam & monitae , ( unde illis ) ●●urae immortalitatis gloriae ●gni evaderemus . pontifex romanus cum minu●● dominationis suae ambitum vi●ere● , novum ordinem societatis jesu ad causa●● suam sustentand●●●onstituit 〈◊〉 f●lsis illuminationi●us sive novis luminibus populo● lementarunt & a legitimis principibus alienarunt . i●re●urando deus in testem ad●ocatur , ad●oque illius attributae ag●oscuntur , atque etiam perjur●i ●index accersitur . christus hic munus regium non obiui● sed id curavit ut homin●s regeneratos & ad adventun● suum secundum gloriosum , pr●parat●s haberet . christus nullam hic potestatem regiam exercuit . s. petrus decet debere nos subjectos esse cujus humanae ordinationi prop●●r dominum ; sive regi ut ●●per-eminenti , sive praeside●us , ut qui per e●m mittantur tum ad ultionem facinorosorum ▪ 〈◊〉 ad la●dem bene agentium ▪ ●●goniam ita est voluntas dei , ut 〈◊〉 agendo os obstruatis desip●●●tium hominum ignorantiae . . ●p . ● . . v. ● . in concili● generali vien●ensi ratum est decretum contra fratres mendicantes ; eorumque doctrin●m perstrinxit innocentius quartus in decretalibus in aegliam transmissis , nbi appellantur isti novi praedicantes , qui docent & predicant contranovum , & vetus testamentum . in decre●o illo ●use statuitur decimas a ministris praedicantibus & ecclesiae off●ciariis nequaquam esse ausere●d●s . vulgvs , ubi ministros sibi invisos habent , a religione saepe desciscunt ; quare expedit ut ministri doct● juxta atque pii sint quo●variis hominū ingen●●s undique occurrant . olim digna prosaepia erant oriundi sacerdotes , plerumque fi●ii nobi●ium minores ; postquam autem ita pess●me vaslata est ecclesia , pa●ca f●ere praemia quae ad doctr●nam extim●larent , ita ut multi sacris o●dinibus ornati ad s●ivam po●●us am●ndari quā ad suggestum concio●●●orum vocari mercre●tur . primae seismae & decimae regi reservatac , arguunt eas sub illo 〈…〉 . ignorantia aliquos reddit impudicos , alios vero morigeros . scientia aliquos instat , alios deprimit . protectio trahit subjectionem , & protectio mutuam trahit subjectionem . illi qui seme● ipsos ab authoritate regia eximi nituntur aut sacram ejus personam calumniis ▪ incursant , proculdubio erint obruti , & eorum posteri ad internecionem deleti . notes for div a -e before the law of property there was 〈◊〉 theft , but since the positive law was established . men know there duties , and the penatties , for transgressing them . the laws of england were ever a●campted the image of wisdom the force and strength of ●reason , and argument . the statutes passing the test of all estates , are likened to gold thrice refined . this revenice might be reasonably 〈◊〉 . pounds per annum , and upwards , upon 〈…〉 . a prerogative which every private per●son assumes to him●self . english men are to be led not drawn . the old dictate confirmed that the co●niers hath it on their back . the citizens in their books and the 〈◊〉 in their 〈◊〉 . a proclamation discharging forraign copper or brass-coyn. scotland. privy council. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a proclamation discharging forraign copper or brass-coyn. scotland. privy council. scotland. sovereign ( - : william ii) sheet ([ ] p.) printed by the heirs and successors of andrew anderson, printer to the kings most excellent majesty, edinburgh : anno dom. . caption title. initial letter. intentional blank spaces in text. dated: given under our signet at edinburgh the fourth day of may, and of our reign the ninth year . signed: gilb. eliot. cls. sti. concilii. reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng coinage -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . finance, public -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . broadsides -- scotland -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - john pas sampled and proofread - john pas text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a proclamation discharging forraign . copper or brass-coyn . william by the grace of god king of great-britain , france and ireland , defender of the faith ; to _____ macers of our privy council messengers at armes , our sheriffs in that part conjunctly and severally specially constitute greeting ; for as much as , we understand that several persons both natives and forraigners , presume to import into this kingdom forraign black-money , as the black-money called french doyets and irish half-pennies , or other copper or brass coyn of that sort , which is contrary to the laws of this our antient kingdom , and manifestly prejudicial to the mint and covnage thereof ; therefore , we with advice of the lords of our privy council , have thought fit to discharge , & hereby do discharge all forraign black-money , and all brass or copper coyn whatsomever not coyned at our mint , in this our antient kingdom , to be thereunto imported under the pain of confiscation of what shall be imported in the contrary , and such other pains as the laws inflict on the saids importers . and farder we with advice foresaid , ordain that no such forraign black-money or copper or brass-coin not coined within this our realm , have course therein , or be offered in payments after the day and date hereof , under the pain of ten pounds , toties quoties , to be exacted by the next magistrat , in case of transgressing the the premisses , by and attour the confiscation of the brass and copper-money to be imported , or offered in payments contrair hereunto . our will is herefore , and we charge you strictly , and command , that incontinent these our letters seen , ye pass to the mercat-cross of edinburgh , and remanent mercat-crosses of the head-burghs of the several shires and stewartries within this kingdom , and therein our name and authority , by open proclamation , make intimation hereof that none pretend ignorance ; and ordains these presents to be printed . given under our signet at edinburgh the fourth day of may , and of our reign the ninth year . per actum dominorum secreti concilii . gilb . eliot . cls. sti. concilii god save the king. edinburgh , printed by the heirs and successors of andrew anderson , printer to the king 's most excellent majesty , anno dom. . a proposal for raising a million on a fund of interest by setling one hundred thousand pounds yearly, to pay per cent. for one million two hundred thousand pounds, of which the king to have a million. neale, thomas, d. ? approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing n a estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a proposal for raising a million on a fund of interest by setling one hundred thousand pounds yearly, to pay per cent. for one million two hundred thousand pounds, of which the king to have a million. neale, thomas, d. ? p. s.n., [s.l. : ?] caption title. dated at end: january th [i.e. ?]. reproduction of the original in the university of london. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng finance, public -- great britain -- early works to . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a proposal for raising a million on a fund of interest , by setling one hundred thousand pounds yearly , to pay per cent. for one million two hundred thousand pounds , of which the king to have a million . this hundred thousand pounds yearly to be settled on trustees , who are at first to bring in two hundred thousand pounds to circulate the rest ; for which , as aforesaid , per cent. is to be paid , and per cent. for the million : out of which last per cent. for the million , the trustees to have half per cent. for their conduct and care , and one and a half per cent. pr●curation ; and those that advance the money , or take the bills , to have a currant interest on them of per cent. only ; and yet taking it alt●gether , there must by this proposition be ninety six thousand pounds yearly paid , and for it one hundred thousand pounds yearly settled , which brings this million to be took up at near l. per cent. interest yearly , and that for eleven years certain , but at three years warning redeemable after that time . the fund spoke of for this settlement is the tax ( talkt of ) on salt for four years , and then six pence out of one nine pence excise on beer and ale , engaged for so long , and which after that time may be given and settled for any use the king and parliament shall think fit to enact . a proposal for raising two millions on part of the security must be used for raising , as aforesaid , one million : and yet the people in general , who are either to advance ( or be paid with ) this money , will have the same yearly profit and interest by it , and as much security and satisfaction ( when well understood ) as the other proposal affords . the way of doing it thus : i. let one hundred and forty thousand pounds yearly , that is , the nine pence a barrel excise ( agreed on all hands to be one hundred and forty thousand pounds yearly ) be settled for ever to pay the interest of two millions and three hundred thousand pounds , at per cent. yearly , but redeemable by parliament on repaying the principal at any time after the war , supposing it cleared from the present incumbrance , which may be paid off , as herein after express'd . ii. let officers on purpose , either in or of the exchequer , or some other place as fit near the exchange , be appointed to give out bills with a running interest on them of per cent. to whoever will take them for such money as the king is to pay to any man on any account whatsoever , and at the same time and place , in books to be purposely kept . let credit be given to the person receiving such bills for the money for which those bills were then given . let such credit be made easie assignable . let it be enacted , that the king for his custom , excise , or for any other part of his revenue , shall accept of such bills and credit in payment , which will be no inconvenience at all to the crown , because on every occasion ( as they were at first ) they may be again paid out . and let it be also enacted , that interest at per cent , shall be yearly , half-yearly , or quarterly paid to whoever has the possession of the bills and credit so given out for this money . and thus the whole two millions and three hundred thousand pounds may be disposed by the crown , as occasion shall require ; and when merchants and others come to see ( which they 'll presently do ) such a safe credit and ease , as this way of paying and receiving money will give them in every case , answering ready money it self , with this further advantage , that whereas money kept by them for any occasion ( which sometimes happens many months together ) brings them no profit , money thus put out is always ready money for every occasion , and yet brings them in per cent. interest till the very hour they use it : and for these reasons , and the reasons that follow , both userers , merchants and others will quickly be so fond of having thus money in bank , that in a very short time ( as in holland it is ) 't will come to be one or two per cent. better than ready money it self : and as aforesaid , the whole two millions ( and the odd money going to clear the anticipation of what is owing now on the nine pence ) will be ready money to the king , and cost the nation less by near per cent than 't will by the other proposal , and be honourable and safe for the king and kingdom , and to all that shall be in it concerned : and if instead of per cent. as proposed , it shall be thought reasonable , and be enacted by parliament , that a currant interest of per cent. yearly shall be quarterly paid , for what money soever there shall credit be given in the books to be kept for this bank , in such case the credit of this bank will answer just as much ready money , as the fund to be settled will at or per cent. pay the interest of , and to shew this will certainly do . it cannot be denied , but that the king may at first pay it all out as ready money to whoever his majesty has occasion to pay any money to , who would be much more glad to take it than tallies , to be struck upon any tax or revenue , not presently to come in , whatsoever : for when any tallies are struck ( if not on a land tax ) they are five per cent. immediately worse than ready money , because there is no way certain whereby the person that has them can come to his money , without hiring some body to pay it him , at least till the tally grows due , and must stay longer if the money by that time be not come in to pay it ; whereas the man that takes this sort of payment has not only as good security , and as good interest for his money ( as the man that takes the tally has ) but also a way certain of turning it into money by finding a way how to pay it as such to the king , which for a very small matter at any time may be easily found . now the great objection to this is , a supposition that the king will be paid his revenue all in this credit , and what shall he do with it in case it should happen to be so ? answer , the king may still pay it out to others ( on any occasion ) as he did at the first ; but'tisa great mistake to think that that supposed inconvenience can in any great measure happen in this case for note , as usurers , when they have well placed out their money at good interest in the hands of persons that can pay it them again in a short time after 't is called for , they will never call for it , but upon mighty occasions ; so here when the money for which credit is given in the books of this bank shall come to belong to rich men , ( which in a very short time it will do ) they seeing they have as good a security , and as good interest as the government gives , besides a certain way how to come in to their money at any time upon urgent occasion , they will chuse rather to have money owing them this way than upon any other security whatsoever , and will not part with such credit in the said bank to any of their neighbours , without having something more given them than principal and interest for so doing , and this will be the case of this bank , the credit of which , as aforesaid , will answer full as much ready money as the fund to be given will at six or seven per cent. pay interest for , and three hundred thousand pounds of this credit will doubtless be chearfully taken as payment by those who are to be paid in four years out of the nine pence , and so the nine pence will be clear to be presently setled ( if the king and parliament shall so please ) for this fund . now , as aforesaid , it must be agreed on all hands , that if the king will receive this credit in payment for his revenue , 't will answer all other ends whatsoever . and the objection ( and only one more that seems to have weight ) against the king's being obliged to receive back in payment of any of his revenues , this credit so before by him paid out , raised by some much concerned in great money affairs , is this , say they , the king's revenue is greatly anticipated , and is ( as it comes in ) to be paid presently out in specie to those it is due , who have already tallies for it : and suppose the revenue which is to pay them is paid to the king in this credit ; and that those to whom 't is to be paid , will expect to be paid in hard money , and will not be content with this credit , what must be done in that case ? note , this is a supposition only , and it may as well be supposed ( for reasons aforesaid ) that by the time those debts grow due , this credit will , even in the opinion of those to whom 't will be due , come to be esteemed so much better than ready money , that 't will be chosen before it , and then the aforesaid objection will be quite out of doors ; but supposing those to whom such debts , as aforesaid , are due already by tallies , should say , they would not ( when their debt becomes due ) be content to be paid in this credit ; it cannot be supposed but that those very men ( unless out of their wits , or in crosness to strive to ruin this bank ) who have those tallies , and must stay for payment till such tallies are due , will be glad if ( instead of such tallies ) they may be presently paid in this credit ; since the objection they themselves make of the king's revenue being anticipated will be this way took off ; and if so , they that instead of tallies shall have this sort of credit , will have a much easier way of coming in to their money than when they only had remote tallies for it ; and the king being capacitated presently to pay off those anticipations by this sort of credit , may without inconvenience do it , being instead thereof enabled to receive his revenue so cleared , as it shall come in by it , or to engage it for ready money to others again , if he wants it before it comes in , and if the worst comes to the worst that some of those that have tallies will not take this credit now , and resolve to refuse it , ( as aforesaid out of crosness ) when their tallies grow due , 't is much unlikely there should be many such ; and for those that are , the lords of the treasury may easily contrive to pay them in money , having such bills by them to turn into money , or use to pay others for any other occasions , who if this credit were not in being , must be paid in money , and who instead of money will always be glad of such pay as this credit will be . and if ( after all has been said ) the wisdom of parliament shall fear in the least the thus present supplying the wants of the publick with two millions of money at six per cent. as aforesaid , ( it being taken for granted , that the charge of the war ( when ended ) must be paid by the nation ) it may be enacted , ( if the king and parliament please ) that at the end of seven years a tax of two shillings in the pound for two years , or of four shillings in the pound for one year shall be laid upon land to pay off the principal , and so free the kingdom from paying the interest of it by the nine pence till that time secured , which done , and all persons in such credit concerned being thereby assured of a time certain when they may ( if they will ) see their money in specie again , there will be no room left to doubt but that this sort of credit will most certainly do , and answer two millions , if so setled by parliament as above in this paper proposed . january th . . proclamation discharging all english unmilln'd-money to pass, except by weight, and allowing and crying-up the english milln'd crown to three pound five shilling, with it's fractions proportionally. scotland. privy council. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing s estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) proclamation discharging all english unmilln'd-money to pass, except by weight, and allowing and crying-up the english milln'd crown to three pound five shilling, with it's fractions proportionally. scotland. privy council. scotland. sovereign ( - : william ii) sheet ([ ] p.) printed by the heirs and successors of andrew anderson, printer to the king's most excellent majesty, edinburgh : anno . caption title. intentional blank spaces in text. dated: given under our signet at edinburgh the twenty third day of january, and of our reign the eight year. signed: gilb. eliot, cls. sti. concilii. reproduction of the original in the national library of scotland. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng coinage -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . finance, public -- law and legislation -- scotland -- early works to . broadsides -- scotland -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - john pas sampled and proofread - john pas text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion proclamation discharging all english vnmilln'd-money to pass , except by weight , and allowing and crying-up the english milln'd crown to three pound five shilling , with it's fractions proportionally . vvilliam by the grace of god , king of great-britain , france and ireland , defender of the faith ; to _____ macers of our privy council , messengers at arms , our sheriffs in that part , conjunctly and severally , specially constitute , greeting : for as much as , this our ancient kingdom is much prejudged by the importing of great quantities of light unmilln'd english money into the same , and that the inconveniency thereby arising , is likely to increass , since that kind of money is no more current in the kingdom of england , except by weight ; and also we considering how expedient it is , that the milln'd-money of england be raised , to a proportion with other coyns presently current within this kingdom : therefore , we with advice of the lords of our privy council , have discharged , and hereby discharge all english unmilln'd-money to pass in payments otherways than by weight , at four shilling scots the drop , making three pounds four shillings scots for the ounce , and so proportionally upwards and downwards , according to the lesser and greater weight than the said drop and ounce ; providing , that in great payments the weighing be by single ounces , and their fractions , and no greater weight : and we with advice foresaid , peremptorly require and command all our subjects to receive the said english unmilln'd-money in all payments , as current money , according to the rate of four shilling scots the drop-weight , and no otherwise , under the pain of being lyable to the double of what shall be refused , to be summarly exacted , at the instance , and for the use of the offerer , by the determination of any judge ordinary , to be given without any process of law ; as also , we with advice foresaid , have ordained , and hereby ordain the silver milln'd-crown of england , to pass , and be received in all payments , at three pound five shilling scots , and the milln'd half crown , milln'd shilling , and milln'd sixpence of england , as the fractions of the said milln'd crown , to pass , and be current in all payments within this our kingdom , according to the said rate of the crown proportionally to their value , under the pain foresaid , to be determined in manner above mentioned , and that none refuse to receive payments in the respective species of money from the day and date hereof , at the rates above-specified , under the pains foresaids , as they will be answerable . our will is herefore , and we charge you strictly , and command , that incontinent these our letters seen , ye pass to the mercat-cross of edinburgh , and to the mercat-crosses of the remanent head-burghs of the several shires and stewartries within this kingdom , and thereat in our name and authority , by open proclamation , make publication hereof that none pretend ignorance : and ordains these presents to be printed . given under our signet at edinburgh the twenty third day of january , and of our reign the eight year . per actum dominorum secreti concilii . gilb . eliot . cls. sti. concilii . god save the king . edinburgh , printed by the heirs and successors of andrew anderson , printer to the king 's most excellent majesty , anno .