PROPOSALS Humbly Offered to the Honourable the House of Commons, for Raising Money to pay off all Arrears of the Army, and all other Debts, in Three Months, without any Land-Tax, or Oppression to any body.  
I. 'tis Humbly Proposed, that all Places and Offices in England, Ireland, and in the Dominion of the King of England, in America, or elsewhere, that are in the Gift of the Crown, or are in the disposal of any Place or Office that is in the Gift of the Crown, and receives salary or Profit from thence, amounting to the sum of an 100 Pounds per Ann. shall be Sold for two Lives, at Five Years purchase, except all Spiritual Preferments; and all Judges, if the Parliament shall think fit.  
II. That those Officers that are to serve in the Fleet or Army, shall have liberty to buy their Places at Three Years Purchase, and to dispose of them again( with the King's consent) at the same Rate as bought; their Arrears to be taken as ready Money: And if an Officer buys his Place, and has no Son or Heir fit for that Place, he may put in any other Life; and when he grows Old, and unfit for Service himself, he shall have the liberty to sell to any Person, the King shall approve of; or if he dies before having done so, he shall have the power( if the other Life he put in be in being) to dispose either of the Place, or the Money, which his Successor shall be obliged to pay to his Executors.  
III. That those Persons who have any Office for Life, as the Six Clerks, Clerks of the Assize, and several others; shall have an Assignment for a Life after their own, at two years and an halfs Purchase; but if they shall neglect, or refuse to pay the same, in such a limited time, the King shall have power to grant the said Assignment to any Person who will pay the said Money.  
The Objections that may be brought against these Proposals are,  
Obj. 1. THat the King would lose one part of his Prerogative, Viz. The Disposal of these Offices, seeing they are to be Sold to any body that will purchase them.  
Answ. To which I Answer; that these Proposals will enlarge the King's Prerogative; for the King will have the same Power of disposing of all Offices as before; and the same Power of putting any Person out of his Place, whom he thinks not qualified to Execute it, or has any exception against his Person, and bestowing it upon whomsoever he pleases; provided the Person that's put out, be re-pay'd his Money, by him that is to succeed him, before he shall be obliged to resign his Place: And the King will be better served, in having all Offices Executed with the greatest Care and Fidelity; for the Care of any Man will naturally bear a proportion to the value of the thing cared for, or the interest he has in it. Now the interest of all Persons in Offices will be greater than formerly, and consequently their care to preserve them will be so too; for the livelihood, not only of the Officer himself, and his Family, but the future being of his Son too, will depend upon his due Execution of his Office; for if any Officer shall be legally Convicted in any of His Majesty's Courts, of any maladministration, he shall absolutely forfeit his Interest to the King, without any consideration of the Money he paid.  
It's very well known, the King of France never fails of raising a considerable sum by this Method; and every body, I believe, will allow, that no Prince is better served; nor can there be braver Troops than those, whose Officers buy their Places; as plainly appears by those of France, and Freizland.  
But the greatest advantage the King will have by these Proposals, will be the augmentation of his Revenue; for tho' the Money that shall at present be raised, by putting Lives into all Offices, will be entirely appropriated to the public good, yet when any of these Lives fall, the profit that will arise from thence, will be wholly Converted to the King's Use; which may in time, make a considerable part of the Revenue of the Crown.  
Obj. 2. The Second Objection will be, that, Those Officers, who have the disposal of other inferior Places,( as the Master of the Rolls, Judges, &c.) will lose the Gift of the said Places, that are in their disposal.  
Answ. To which I answer, That 'twill not be a certain Injury to any particular person, for the Death of any of the Six Clerks, or Clerks of the Assize, is a very great Contingency, and they deserve but little Consideration, who will not sacrifice a Private Interest, so contingent and uncertain, for the public Good: Besides the Nomination to all the said places, may continue in the same Persons as formerly, provided the Money they are valued at, be paid in to the public Use.  
Obj. 3. The Third Objection may be, That those who are in Possession of Places, may be unwilling to lay down so much Money, and 'twill be an Injustice to turn them out, without any other reason.  
Answ. To which I answer, That there is hardly any body who will not, with great willingness, pay Five Years Purchase, to be secure of his Place for His own and His Sons Life; or if His Heir is not qualified to succeed him, he is sure his Money shall be repaid him again. It is but lending Money upon good Security, with better Interest than usual, which he that succeeds him( except the Lives he puts in fall) must pay him; so that, I believe, there will be no occasion to use any Severity in turning any body out of their Place.  
Obj. 4. The Fourth Objection may be, That, he that buys a Place, has not always a Son fit to succeed him, tho' he may be capable of it himself.  
Answ. To which I answer, That any Man has an opportunity to qualify which Son or Friend he pleases, or if he is not qualified, he is secure of so much Money, or if he dies, and leaves a Son under Age, the Son may act by a Deputy, with the consent of the King.  
Obj. 5. The Fifth Objection may be, That some persons who are in Places, by reason of the smallness of their Fortunes, are not capable of laying down a sum of Money.  
Answ. To which I answer, The Parliament may grant, That those whose Circumstances will not allow them to lay down so much ready Money, may give their Bond, which may pass till such a limited time, by which one may reasonably suppose the Money may be raised out of the said Office, and the usual Interest shall be paid in the mean time, and the Office may be made a Collateral Security for the Money.  
There is no body but will reap considerable Advantages by these Proposals; the King will very much increase his Revenue, and his Officers, when their Interest is so considerable in their places, will be afraid to hazard the forfeiting them, by any such illegal practices, as have lately been discovered in the Exchequer, so much to the Kings prejudice: All Men of Estates, will have the advantage of easing their Land of the almost insupportable burden of Four Shillings in the Pound: And all Persons that are in Offices, will have the advantage of securing them for their own Life, and another, at a very easy Rate, so that they need not make so much hast to grow rich, as some have lately done, now they depend upon Pleasure. This will be also a considerable advantage in raising Money this way, that whereas no other Tax is raised in less than a year, and some in a much longer time, and therefore the King who has an absolute necessity for ready Money( especially now, to Disband the Army, the Debt to it daily increasing considerably) is forced to allow so great Interest for it, that a good part of the said Taxes are swallowed up by it,( which is the cause of the constant Deficiencies) but this will be all paid into the Exchequer in Three Months time; and the charge of Collecting it will be inconsiderable, for it may be paid directly into the Exchequer, for all people that are concerned will come voluntarily in, to take care of their own Interests. Nor can there be any Deficiency by a false Calculation, for if this Honourable House pleases to order a List of all the said Offices, with their Salaries and Perquisites to be laid before you, it may then be exactly computed what they will raise, which can't amount to less than between Five and Six Millions.  
P. B.