de lour partie disoient outre mesme les Communes a nostre dit Seignour le Roy qe cestes matiers ensi faits accomplez en cest Parlement il lour troveroit foialx naturelx liges devers luy de parfaire son plaisir voloir a lour poiar par le aide de Dieux 'T is probable this seasonable Care of the House of Commons rescued for that time the Lands belonging to Windsor Castle for from that time these Lands continu'd in the Demeans of the Crown till very lately And some Years after Viz. Anno 31. Hen. VIII there pass'd an Act of Parliament expresly to Annex several Mannors by name to the Castle and Honour of Windsor not to be alienated from it so carefull were our Ancestors that this Noble and antientt Seat of our Kings should have some Revenue to keep the House and Parks in good repair In the same Year of Hen. IV. the Commons rehearsing how King Edward III. in the Parliament Holden in the 11th of his Reign Created his Eldest Son Duke of Cornwal and the same Dukedom annex'd to the Crown with divers Hereditaments by his Letters Patents by Authority of the same never to be Dismembred or Sold away They therefore Pray the King to resume and seize and so to unite again to the said Dutchy such Lands as were Sold away by Prince Edward King Richard or by the King himself * Rot. Par. 5 Hen. IV. N â— 22. versus Finem Non obstants Encorporation oâ— Union de qel Duchee per une haute Aâ—thorite ensi perfaite puis encea est dâ—membrez siâ—bien per diverses Alienatâ—ons faitz per le avant dit Edw. nadgaires Prince come per le darreine Roy Richard qe fuist per vous Qe pleise a vous de vostre haute discretion ove le Avis de tous Seignours eâ—prituelx temporelx en cest presenâ— Parlement Assemblez considerantz lâ— Union dudit Duchee en la manere avantdite fait de requiler tout ceo â—â—dedit Duchee est demembrez per Aâ—thorite de Parlement de reseiser rejoindre a dit Duchee come il fust a devanâ— non obstant ascune Alienation Qele Petition lue entendue fuisâ— respondus en les parolles quensuent Resp Accordez est per le Roy les Seignours en Parlement qe le dit Mounseignour le Prince per lavys de son Counâ—eil eit briefs de Scir fac Ou autre recoverer le mieltz qil avoir purra par les Estatutes leys du Roialme solonc ceo qe le cas requiert c. Wherein shall be allow'd no Protection or Praying in Aid of the King unless it be for Sir John Cornwale and Eliz. his Wife late Wife of John Holland Earl of Huntington and for such Persons to whom the King is bound by Warrantie Sinon en cas qe le Roy soit expressement tenuza la Grantie c. Rot. Par. 6 Hen. IV. N â— 14. Anno 6. Hen. IV. The Commons Pray That the King would resume the Crown-Lands Pleise a tres Excellent tres redoute Seignour Nostre Seignour le Roy pur profit du Roy encresce de sa Corone supportation des pauvres Communes de vostre Royalme Dengleterre granter les Petitions qensuent Pur ceo qe la Corone del Roialme Dengleterre est grantement emblemissez anientissez per grandez outrageouses dons faits as diverses Persones si bien esprituelx comme temporelx des Terres Tenements Fee Fermes Franchises Libertees autre Possessions dycelles Soit ordeigne en cest present Parlement pur profit du Roy du Roialme supportation des Communes qe tous Chateaux Manoirs Seignouries Terres Tenements Fees Advoesons Fee Fermes Annuitees Franchises Libertees Custumes queux fuerent membre parcelle Dancienne Inheritance de la dite Corone le an du Regne le Roy Edward Aiel nostre Seignour le Roy qorest quarantisme puis en cea soint ils donez a terme de vie ou a terme de ans en Fee simple ou en Fee taile ou sur Condition ou as Seignours Esprituelx a eux a lour Successours forsprises Gardes Marriages Eschetes horspris ceo qest assigne a Reigne en Dower soint entierement resumes repris seises es maines notre Seignour le Roy rejointz al Corone avant dite a y celle perpetuelment demeurer sans ent per aucune voie ou ymagination estre severez dicelle en temps avenir forsqe ceux qont tieux dons ou Grants qe furent parcelle del dite Corone le dit an quarantisme ou depuis per Chartre especiale faite par Authority de Parlement Et qe nulles Persones du Roialme de qel estat ou Condition qils soient ne eient tenient ne enjoient parcelle del Corone avant dite de ancienne enheritance dicelle alienez grantez ou donez puis le dit an quarantisme sans Authoritee de Parlement sur peine de incurrer la Forfeiture dicelles Terres Tenements ensy parcelle del dit Corone Emprisonement per trois ans Et qe nul Officier de nostre Seignour le Roy face ne mette en execution aucune tiele donne ou Grant en Temps avenir sur peine de perdre son Office de forfaire qanqe il purra forfaire envers notre Seignour le Roy le Emprisonement de trois Ans Et qe toutes Maneres de Persones ou Officers Ministres du Roys qeux ont auscun don ou Grant des ascuns tieux Chastelx Seignouries Manoires Terres Tenements Fees Advoesons Fee Fermes Annuites Franchises Libertees Custumes suisditz qeux issint sont parcelle dancienne Inheritance de la dite Corone apres ceo qe les Paiements Affaires pur le Houstiel du Roy ses Chambres Garderobes soient pleinement paiez ou assignes la Reigne paiez de sa Dower duement endowez soient recompensez a la volontee du Roy de la surplusage residue des Ferms annuitez suisditz Purveux toutezfoitz qe toutes les Seignours esprituelx temporelx qi ont aucunes Libertees Franchises de don nostre Seignour le Roy qorest oâ— de ses Progenitours puis le dit an qarantisme paient Fee Ferm a la verray value pour ycelles ou ent rendent due accompte al Oeps notre Seignour le Roy chescun an a son Eschequer aussi tous les Citees Burghs deins le Royalme Dengleterre qont Franchises Libertees du Grant nostre Seignour le Roy ou de ses Progenitours Roys Dengleterre confirmez per nostre Seignour le Roy qorest pur Fee fermes annuellement a paie a nostre Seignour le Roy ou qont fait fyn pur y ceux Franchises avoir a nostre Seignour le Roy qorest ou a ses Progenitours ne soint oustez ne disheritez de lour Franchises
as have made wise men at such a season not desire to hold the Helm and this has fatal Consequences for then the Ship is left to the Guidance of giddy and unskilful Pilots All this good Princes have ever observ'd and when either the greatness of their Minds or the Benignity of their Nature has led them to be too open handed they have retreated as soon as possible from so false and dangerous a step But lest they should be careless in a point so necessary to the Common welfare and so much for their own Preservation the Wisdom of the Laws has provided for their Safety in this matter which fence the Prince's Revenue with divers Constitutions and Restrictions all intended to preserve it from the Rapine of those about him in order to which the Politic of well near all Countries has contriv'd that his Gifts should pass and be register'd in several Offices to the end that either some faithful Minister should put him in mind or that he himself should have leisure to repent of Liberalities detrimental to the Publick Not only the Law of this Kingdom but of other Places and the Roman Laws provide that the Prince should not be deceiv'd in his Grants for he whose Thoughts are employed in the weighty Cares of Empire is not presum'd to inspect minuter things so carefully as Private Persons The Laws therefore relieve him against the Surprizes and Machinations of Deceitful Men. For his further Security the Laws likewise inflict severe Punishments upon those who defraud him in his Stores Treasure or Revenues counting such Publick Robbers more Criminal than petty and common Theives But the Laws seem chiefly levell'd against those in whom he reposes the greatest Trust therefore the Legislative Power of all Countrys has rigorously animadverted upon such Ministers and Officers through whose Fraud Negligence or Crime his affairs have suffered any damage of which in its proper Place we shall give variety of Presidents And when he has been exhausted by the too great Munificence of his own Temper and through the false Representations and subtle Contrivances of those about him and when thereby the Publick has become weak ruined and unable to protect it self he has been assisted by the Laws and such as have been vigilant for his safety jealous of his honour and careful for the common Good have thought it their Duty to look into his Gifts and to resume his Grants of which we shall give divers Instances and Examples But notwithstanding the Wisdom of the Laws and of Law-makers it has been always a Point of the highest difficulty to keep within its proper Veins this Lifc blood of the Body Politick so prone have corrupt Ministers ever been to urge Princes to needless and destructive Bounty especially when they themselves are to be the largest sharers in it Kings are the Fathers of their Country but unless they keep their own Estates they are such Fathers as the Sons maintain which is against the order of Nature who makes all these Cares descend and places Fostering Nourishment and Protection in the Parent but the Prince is our common Father and therefore all that tends to his Safety Ease and State is due to him however the less he is necessittaed to depend upon his Children the more he is respected And Kings are not to accompt themselves Fathers of a Party only or of none but those who rush into the Presence and whisper to 'em they are Fathers of the whole Body of the People They are not to reckon themselves Fathers of of their Favorites only as Harry the 3d of France did who said he Would grow a good husband when he had marryeâ— his Children the Dukes of Joyeuse and Espernon Their Paternal Affection is to reach to all their subjects And as in a private Family Partiality to one Brother begets Hatred and Divisions so in a Nation it produces Discontent and Heartburnings to see three or four without any superior Merit lifted high over all the rest inriched with the Universal Spoils of a Country and wallowing in Luxury and Wealth while the whole People groans under heavy Burthens Not that Mankind repine that the Prince should have Friends with whom he may communicate his Thoughts and unbend his Cares nor to see such Friends the better for his Favours 't is warranted by Examples in the best Reigns Mecaenas and Agrippa cherish'd inrich'd and promoted by Augustus were yet as dear to the rest of Rome as they were to that wise Emperor But they behold with Indignation Men exalted who return not to the Prince reciprocal kindness who abuse his Favours who sell his Words who by false Representations traduce all others that they may engross him to themselves who arrogate to themselves all the Good and lay upon him the blame of unfortunate Councils who have no regard to his Honor when their own Safety is in question whose Advices tend to their own private Profit without Consideration of their Master's or the Publick Welfare who draw all Lines to their own corrupted Center whose Ambition is not gratify'd with any Honors and whose Avarice is not satiated with multiplicity of Employments nor with repeated Gifts and Grants out of a stript Revenue and an exhausted Exchequer 'T is such a sort of Favourites and Ministers that the People hate and exclaim against and whose Heads they commonly reach at last Without any regard whither or no it be between Sun and Sun if the Prince is robb'd the Country pays it and therefore when the Hue and Cry hotly pursues the Robbers Governments are not to wonder 'T is true they now and then escape especially when in their Depredations upon the Publick there are a great many concern'd and when they have made so large a Booty that they become safe by the multitude of those who have been Partakers in it for it has been the constant Course of Ministers who would rob a Nation with Impunity to give to all that ask and to refuse no man who has either Interest or Parts that fortify'd by a strong Confederacy they may bear down all sort of Inquisition and outbrave the Laws but very often the wants of the people crying aloud have awaken'd good Patriots and bold Spirits whom neither the Power nor the Number of the Offenders could affright and these Lovers of our Constitution in many former Reigns as shall be shown in the progress of this Discourse have couragiously attack'd and brought to Condemnation persons in the highest places of Authority who in breach of their Trust had presum'd to procure to themselves Grants of the Kings Lands or Treasure and who had converted to their own use what was given and intended for the Maintenance and Preservation of the State Princes when they come to know the true state of things are not unwilling to prevent their own Ruin which is manifest from this That the most Wise Valiant and most Heroick of our Kings as shall likewise appear by and by have given
way to Inquiries of this nature and not thought it inconsistent with their Royal Dignity and Honor to resume even their own Grants when they have been represented by the whole Body of their People as hurtful to the Common-wealth In Democratical Governments War did commonly unite the minds of men when they had Enemies abroad they did not contend with one another at home which produc'd one good effect that then the Administration of Affairs was left to the best and ablest Hands They chose for their mutual Strivings for setting afoot Factions and dangerous Brigues times of the profoundest Peace and at such seasons men grown Popular by wicked Arts ambitious Pretenders light Orators and the worst sort of Citizens had the most sway and Authority among the People which occasion'd Phocion to utter these memorable words to one of this stamp I am at present against War tho it puts the Power into my Hands and tho such turbulent and naughty Spirits as you are govern all things in times of Peace But notwithstanding it has thus happen'd in some Commonwealths it has prov'd otherwise in mix'd Governments where the several parts of the Constitution have their distinct Powers Rights and Priviledges And particularly in this Kingdom it has been seen that mens minds have been most disunited when there was the greatest need of Concord Among us heretofore foreign Wars instead of allaying Factions for the present have set 'em in a higher Flame and contrary to antient Prudence when we wanted the best the worst men have got to be at the Head of business All which did chiefly proceed from the Necessities to which our Princes were reduc'd by their Expeditions abroad For War occasions Taxes Taxes bring Want Want produces Discontent and the Discontents of the People were ever the best Materials for designing and ambitious men to work upon when the People is griev'd and sullen Parties are easily form'd when Parties are form'd at first they let themselves be advised and ruled by such as have true Publick Zeal and Virtue but of those they grow quickly weary and then they fall into the hands of such as only make a false Profession of it and in a little time they are entirely directed by Persons whose sole drift is to build their own Fortunes upon the Ruins of their Country in the mean while the strength and number of their Party makes these leading men powerful and gives 'em such weight that they must be courted preferr'd and bought often they must have one half to procure the other and so considerable do they grow that if they are suffer'd they presently invade all Offices and Employments in which when they are securely planted they likewise give to one another all the Lands and Revenues of the State And our Histories shew that in former times Princes reduc'd to streights by War have been forc'd to wink at this and to permit these busie men then thought necessary to do all engross all Rob the Publick share the Crown Lands and in short to commit what other waste they please Thus as in Commonwealths the worst men are most powerful in times of Peace under Regal Governments they are strongest and ablest to do hurt in times of War But whereas in Common-wealths Peace has brought sundry Mischiefs in the Government by Kings it often produces good order and better Administration for several of our Princes whose Necessities compell'd 'em to endure the Rapine of their Ministers in time of War have in times of Peace divested those Publick Robbers of their unlawful and outragious Plunder We have now upon the Throne a King willing and able to correct the Abuses of the Age Willing from the wisdom of his Mind and the goodness of his Temper Able from that Power and Strong Interest which his Courage and his other numberless Virtues have procur'd Him in the Hearts and Affections of his People Men readily obey and follow him whom they reverence for which reason some Philosophers have placed the Original of Power in Admiration either of surpassing Form great Valour or Superior Understanding Heroick Kings whose high Perfections have made 'em awful to their Subjects can struggle with and subdue the Corruption of the times A Hercules can cleause the Augean Stable of the â—ilth which had not been swept away in thirty years Princes whom their Effeminacy Weakness or Levity have rendred contemptible may fear Idols of their own making and stand in awe of Men become terrible only by greatness derived from them They may be affraid to pull down Ministers and favorites grown formidable by the united Councils of their Faction by the Number of their Followers and strength of their Adherents and so let male-administration proceed on as thinking it too big to be amended but magnanimous Kings who have the People of their side need entertain no such Thoughts and Apprehensions they know that these Top-heavy buildings rear'd up to an invidious height and which have no solid Foundation in Merit are in a Moment blown down by the breath of Kings Good Persons indeed grown great and popular from the â—ame of their real Worth and Virtues may perhaps be dreadful to bad Rulers but bad Men let 'em have never so much seeming Greatness and Power are very rarely dangerous to good Princes The Cabals of a Party the Intreagueâ— of a Court nor the Difficulties some may pretend to bring upon his affairs never terrify a Wise and Stout King bent to reform the State who has the love of hiâ— People and whose Interest is one anâ— the same with Theirs We have neveâ— yet heard of a Tumult raised to rescue â— Minister whom his Master desired to bring to a fair Accompt On the contrary to see upstarts and worthless Men inrichâ— with Spoils of a Country has been thâ— Occasion of many popular Seditions which wise Kings have appeased by a just and timely Sacrifice None are so able to mend what is amiss in State as Kings who enjoy their Crown from the Subjects Gift May be it has been sometimes thought harsh in those who were born in Purple to look into abuses with a Stricter Eye than their Predecessors But Elected Kings are presum'd to come in upon the Foot of Reformation and so are justifyed by the Voices of all Mankind in pursuing the Ends for which they were called by the People If therefore such Kings are severe in looking into their Accompts If they are frugal of the Publick Money If they examin into the Corruption of their Officers If they enquire into the sudden and exorbitant Wealth of those who have had the handling of their Treasure If they rigorously punish such as in breach of their Trust and contrary to their Oaths have converted to their own use what belongs to the State If they abandon and resign into the hands of Justice such as have robb'd them and the Publick If they resume what has been obtain'd fraudulently by surprize and upon wrong suggestions and If they take back
the way and the Fears of such as may be call'd to an accompt will make 'em set all kind of Engines at work First they will put a high Value upon their own Deserts and arrogate to themselves the Single Merit of the many Millions which the whole Nation has both freely paid and Granted They will produce Presidents of other Ages and show long Lists of Grants obtain'd under former Reigns but at the same time they will take care not to mention how such Proceedings have been always Resented and often Punish'd in this Kingdom They will endeavour to blast the Reputation of such as would enquire into their Actions and tho perhaps there are no other possible Ways and Means left to supply the State but by making 'em disgorge and but by bringing them to a Restitution yet they will pretend that all Motions leading thereunto and all Inquiries of this nature are nothing but the Effects of Discontent and the Result of Faction And because in all their Doings and Councils they have never had any view but their own private Profit they will do their best to perswade the World that no man acts upon Principle that all is sway'd by particular Malice and that there is not left in the Kingdom any Party of men which consult the Publick Good They who are conscious of their Guilt and apprehensive that the Justice of the Nation should take notice of their Thefts and Rapine will try to give all things a false Turn and to fill every place with false Suggestions Sometimes they will accuse Innocent Persons that so by putting the People upon a wrong Scent they may avoid the Pursuers and scape unpunish'd At other Seasons they will boast of the Number of their Friends and Adherents thinking to awe both the Court and Country with an Opinion that their Party is too Strong and too Powerful to be resisted And that the knowledge of their Crimes may never reach the Prince's Ear they will endeavour to engross him to themselves by misrepresenting all others that are not of their Cabal either as disaffected to his Person or as Enemies to Kingly Government Thus they did heretofore and tho there were truly but two Parties in England consisting of those who would promote male-administration because they got by it and of those who desir'd things might be well Govern d that they and such as they represented might be eas'd which two sides were heretofore distinguish'd by the Names of Court and Country Party to which likewise they could have put an end whenever they had pleased to have minister d less occasion of Complaint yet they will revive old Names of Distinction giving odious Appellations to the best Patriots pretending there are dangeroes Factions form'd so to frighten the World with Phantoms of their own Creation These false turns they will give and these wrong Suggestions they will make in order to drive all Power into what they call their own Party as if any Prince could be safe that should rely upon so narrow and Rotten a Bottom And when their Actions shall hereafter come to be examin'd in that Place to which our Constitution has intrusted the Inquiry into and the Punishment of such Offences 'T is probable That up will rise some Arrogant Man more Zealous for Himself than for his Master and cry All that we have given among one another we have deserved by our Seruices and Labours in the State what Projects have we not set afoot and what summs have we not procur'd Did not the Ministers in King Charle s's Reign give away the Crown Lands Recal those Grants and we are ready to surrender ours Resume all or none 'T is next to Demonstration that these Clamours arise from a Dis ontented Party who would disturb the Government they who lookinto our Proceedings act out of Malice because of the great thing we have done against France what if such a one got a hundred thousand pound at once did he not save the Nation If we are us'd thus what Encouragement will there he to serve Princes For my part I will never meddle more in your Business All this tends to lessen the Monarchy invade the Prerogative and to set up a Doge of Venice I Sir perhaps there may be added and the Majority are of this Opinion By this high Bearing and these false suggestions heretofore well meaning Persons have been frightned from reaching at great offenders and even the best Patriots by seeing with what warmth and Zeal the smallest Corruptions are defended have been wearyed into Silence And this has made some of our Kings believe that either the Offenders were grown above the Laws or that the People consented â—o those things which they did not think fit to punish But wise Princes see through all this They know that an honest and faithful Minister will be contented with moderate Favours That very often nothing but the ill Contrivance of the Aid belongs to those he employs and that the Gifts come from the free Affections of the Subject That Patterns to Rule by are to be sought for out of Good nor loose Reigns That Inspections which look too far backward produce nothing That a few may complain without reason but that there is occasion for Redress when the Cry is universal That no Military Action or other Merit can give a Man a just Title to Rob the Publick That even good Ministers are thought no more on when they are out and that certainly Bad ones may retire without being mist That absolute Power is not a Plant that will grow in this Soil and that Statesmen who have attempted to cultivate it here have pull'd on their own and their Masters Ruin A wise Prince likewise does not care to see Corrupt Officers so earnest to save one another for 't is always at his cost Nor does he like that his Ministers when attack'd should be able to protect themselves in their Crimes by the Power of a 〈◊〉 for they who are strong enough to bear down the Law may presume in time to think they subsist by their proper Strength and that they stand upon their own Legs and so come at last to slight his Authority Bad Men have ever given a false Colour to their Proceedings and cover'd their Ambition Corruption and Rapine with the pretence of their Masters Service They make him believe their Greatness advances him whereas truly it tends to his diminution and he is often weak for want of that Wealth and Power which they share among one another Their Riches has frequently brought Envy upon the Prince but we can hardly meet with an Instance of any who in his Distress has been assisted from the Purses of his Ministers for they are commonly the first who fly from his Misfortunes And tho they pretend that his Power is rever'd in them and that they make him Strong by the Benefits he lets them bestow yet a Wise King sees through all this Artifice and knows That he who would reap
a Tenth out of their Goods only thrice a Tenth Five Fifteens besides a Tenth and Fifteenth which amounted to 120000 l. Three Subsides of which the last came to but 36000 l. One Benevolence And of the Clergy twice the Tenth and 25000 l. by way of Subsidy and yet Cotton says for which he cites a good * Lib. Acquit in t Regem Dudley R. C. Authority That he left behind him in Bullion Four Millions and a Half besides his Plate and rich Attire of House My Lord †Life of Hen. 7. p. 230. Bacon indeed brings the Sum lower and says it was near Eighteen Hundred Thousand Pounds Sterling But to reckon according to either of these Authors the Sum was prodigious for those Times 'T is true he had very extraordinary Ways of scraping up Money such as Sale of Offices Redemption of Penalties dispensing with the Laws and the like but all these together produc'd only * Answer to the Reasons c. p. 52. 120000 l. per Annum Besides Empson and Dudley the Two Ministers of his Extortions did not commit their Rapines till towards the latter End of his Reign From whence we may reasonably conclude that the Principal Foundation of all this Wealth join'd with his own Parsimony must have been the Crown-Revenue and that the former Acts of Resumption with that which was made in his own Reign which no doubt this frugal Prince took Care to see put in Execution had reduced it to it 's former State and Condition For had no more been left than 5000 l. per Annum there would have been no matter for his Oeconomy to work upon so that we may very well infer that the fore-mentioned Resumptions had reliev'd the King's Affairs and brought the Crown-Revenue once more into a flourishing Condition But Henry the Eighth not only spent the immense Sum left him by his Father but likewise a great Part of that Revenue which came to the Crown by seizing the Abby-Lands which amounted to * Hist of the Reform Part 2. p. 268. 131607 l. 6 s. 4 d. per Ann. However he who considers the History of those Times and how much this Prince made himself the Arbiter of Europe will find his Money was not so unprofitably spent as is vulgarly imagin'd Besides †Ibid. p. 269. great Sums were laid out on building and fortifying many Ports in the Channel and other Parts of England which were rais'd by the Sale of Abby-Lands But notwithstanding the expensive Temper of this Prince he left his Successors very sufficient and substantial Landlords in England For we found in Sir Robert Cotton's Library in a * Cleopatra F. 6. Fol. 51. Book part of which is of that learned Antiquary's own Hand writing and to which King James the First has set his Name James R. which Book contains very many curious Things That the Revenue of the 12th of Elizabeth besides the Wards and Dutchy of Laâ—câ—ster amounted to 188197 l. 4 s. per Annum The Writer of these Papers does not remember to have met with any Thing relating to Resumptions in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth but the Reason why nothing of that Nature should be done in her Time is very obvious her Father had alienated from the Crown a great Part of the Abby-Lands or exchang'd 'em for other Lands as a Multitude of Acts pass'd to that Purpose in his Reign Witness And it was a strong Security to the Protestant Religion and Interest that those Estates should remain in the Hands and Possessions of private Persons A Resumption was thought on in the Reign of King James the First of which the forementioned Tracts of Sir Robert Cotton are a sufficient Evidence Besides in the †Annals of King Jam. p. 10. Annals of those Times 't is said to have been debated in Council But in the Reign of King Charles the Second a Resumption was again agitated for we find in the Journals of the House of Commons Martis 22 Die Maii 1660. A Bill for making void of Grants made since May 1642 of Titles of Honor Mannors Lands Tenements and Hereditaments pass'd under several great Seals by the late King Charles or the King's Majesty that now is or any other great Seal was this Day read the second Time and upon the Question committed c. And as a Mark that these Alienations of the Crown-Revenue were always distasteful to the People of England and to show that the House of Commons desir'd that a new Prince should betimes know the Nation 's Sence in this Matter we shall produce the following Resolves of that Parliament which restor'd King Charles Martis 4 Die Sept. 1660. Resolv'd That this House doth agree with the Committee That a Bill be brought in for Settling the Lands of the Crown so as that no Grant of the Inheritance shall be good in Law nor any Lease for more than Three Lives or One and Thirty Years where a Third Part of the true yearly Value is reserv'd for a Rent as it shall appear upon a Return of a Survey which that Act is to take Order for to be speedily had and taken and that Mr. Sollicitor General and Mr. Serjeant Glyn do prepare and bring in a Bill accordingly Resolv'd That this House doth agree with the Committee That the King's Majesty be humbly desir'd from this House to forbear to make any Leases of the Lands or other Grants of the Revenue of the Crown till the said last mention'd Act be pass'd And the Reason why these good Resolutions took no Effect is not at all difficult to discover 'T is to be fear'd that too many we mean without Doors in those corrupt Times not only were concern'd in the Grant already made but likewise did design as it prov'd afterwards to get for themselves what remain'd of the King's Lands And now for a full Answer to those who pretend Resumptions had never any Effect we shall produce a State of the Crown-Revenue as it lay before the House of Commons the same Year Martis die 4. Sept. 1660. ' Sir Heneage Finch reports from the Committee That according to the best Information the Committee could receive and by Estimate the Revenue amountted to 819398 l. per Annum viz.  l. By Customs 400000. By Composition for the Court of Wards 100000. The Revenue of Farms and Rents 263598. The Office of Postage 21500. The Proceed of Dean Forest 4000. The Imposition on the Sea-Coal exported 8000. Wine-Licenâ—e and other Additions 22300. Total 819398. From which Accompt it appears that notwithstanding the Profusion of Henry the Eighth and the irregular Bounty of K. James the 1st to his Scots the Land-Revenue of the Crown which Anno 28. Hen. 6. when the Parliament made the first formal and regular Resumption was reduc'd to 5000 l. per Annum came afterwards with the Forest of Dean to amount to 267598 l. per Annum Our Princes have seldom been known to purchase Lands The Abby-Lands could not make this
Grants shall be brought to the Principal Secretary or to one of the King's Clerks of his Grace's Signet for the time being to be at the said Office of the Signet pass'd accordingly And be it also ordained and enacted That one of the Clerks of the said Signet to whom any of the said Writings signed with the King 's most gracious Hand or the Hand of any other aforesaid or any of them fortune to be deliver'd may and shall by Warrant of the same Bills and every of them within the space of eight days next after he shall have receiv'd the same unless he have Knowledge by the said Secretary or otherwise of the King's Pleasure to the contrary make or cause to be made in the King's Name Letters of Warrant subscrib'd with the Hand of the same Clerk and sealed with the King's Signet to the Lord Keeper of the King 's Privy Seal for further Process to be had in that behalf And that one of the King's Clerks of the said Privy Seal upon due Examination had by the said Lord Keeper of the said Privy Seal of the said Warrant to him addressed from the Office of the said Signet as afore may and shall within the space of eight days next after he shall have receiv'd the same unless the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal do give them Commandment to the contrary make or cause to be made by Warrant of the foresaid Warrant to the said Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal Address from the Office of the Signet aforesaid other Letters of like Warranty subscribed with the Name of the same Clerk of the Privy Seal to the Lord Chancellor of England Lord Keeper of the Great Seal Chancellor of the Dutchy of Lancaster Chancellor of the King's Land of Ireland Treasurer and Chamberlains of the Exchequer and Chamberlains of any of his Counties Palatines or Principality of Wales or other Officer and to every of them for the writing and ensealing with such Seals as remain in their Custody of Letters Patent or Closed or other Process making due and requisite to be had or made upon any the said Grants according to the Tenor of the Warrant to them or any of them directed from the Officer of the Privy Seal as is afore specified These Cautions show how carefully our Constitution has provided that nothing shall be done which may turn in Despendium Regis aut Regni But here some flattering Lawyers will affirm That these Methods are Directive not Coerceive Or as Hobart says †Hobart's Reports Colt and Glover P. 146. That these kind of Statutes were made to put Things in ordinary Form and to ease the Sovereign of of Labour but not to deprive him of Power according to this Maxim of the same Judge That * Lord Sheffeild ver Ratcliffe p. 335. Dare Prerogativam est nobile Officium Judicis Debitum And truly heretofore Westminster-hall did so order it that these Fences intended to keep the Publick Revenues from the Hands of Spoilers were all broken down and that all these Statutes were evaded For the Force of all these wholsome Laws was enervated by Clauses afterwards incerted into the Letters Patents viz. Ex certa Scienta mero motu Gratia speciali Ex certa Scientia was very antiently made use of but the words became more necessary afterwards to defeat the 1st of Henry IV. where 't is enacted †Rot. Parl. 1 Hen. 4. Num. 98. That the true and express Value of the thing to be granted shall be incerted in the Letters Patents otherwise the Grant to be void So that these words suppose the King to have certain knowledge in every Circumstance of the thing he is to give away which happens very rarely to be the Case But notwithstanding these words if certain Proof can be made that the King was misinform'd by false Suggestion no Lawyer will say the Grant is good Ex mero motu imports the Honor and Bounty of the King who Rewards the Patentee for Merit without his Suit These words suppose the King to be truly appris'd of the Person 's Merit and were brought in to obviate the 4th of Henry IV. whereby it was enacted * Rot. Parl. 4 Hen. 4. That no Lands should be given but to such as deserv'd them and if any made Demands without Desert that he should be punish'd And to the same purpose were added the words Ex Gratia speciali yet more to denote that the Gift proceeded meerly from the King's Favour and not at the Party's Sollicitation But besides all this because anciently it seem'd a Fundamental that the Crown-Lands were not alienable and because all along Parliaments had complain'd of these Alienations as looking upon 'em to be illegal the Lawyers of old Times endeavour'd to secure and cover all by a Clause of Non Obstante to be incerted in the Patents These Clauses of Non Obstante were not known in our original Constitution Mathew Paris says they grew rife in the Reign of Henry III. Anno Dom. 1250. * Mat. Paris p. 810. Sprsimque jam tales Literae in quibus inserta est haec detestabilis adjectio Non Obstante Priore Mandato vel haec Non Obstante Antiqua Libertate Suscitabantur Then he goes on Quod cum comperisset quidam vir discretus tunc Justitiarius scilicet Rogerus de Thurkeby ab alto ducens suspiria de praedictae adjectionis appositione dixit Heu heu hos ut quid dies expectavimus Ecce jam civilis Curia exemplo ecclesiasticae Coinquinatur a Sulphureo fonte intoxicatur But this Clause grew more necessary after the 11th of Henry IV. when it was plainly and directly enacted * Rot Parl. 11 Hen. 4. Num. 23. That all manner of Heriditaments which from thenceforward should fall into the Crown should not be alienated but remain to the King And this last Law being positive unrepeal'd as we know of and still in force as much as Magna Charta and the Doctrin of Non Obstantes seeming to be condemn'd by The Ast declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject in these Words That the pretended Power of Suspending of Laws or the Execution of Laws by Regal Authority without Consent of Parliament is Illegal That the pretended Power of dispensing with Laws or the Execution of Laws by Regal Authority as it hath been assum'd and exercis'd of late is Illegal There will arise a Question how far the Grants made since the passing this Act 1 Gul. Mar. are valid by the Laws as they stand at present For we may argue thus It was enacted 11 Hen. IV. That the Crown-Lands should not be granted away However the Practice was otherwise and the Grants were supported by Clauses of Non Obstante But these Non Obstantes or the dispensing with Laws in force being declar'd Illegal it should follow that the Grants of Crown-Land made for these last ten Years are void in Law and revokable at the King's Will and Pleasure
But 't is left to the Gentlemen of the Long Robe to determin in this Point However tho' this Doctrin of Non Obstantes invented perhaps first to enlarge the Prerogative for the People's benefit and made use of afterwards to extend it to the King and People's Damage may have heretofore receiv'd Countenance in Westrninster-hall there is another Place where in no Age it has met with Favour And the Reasons why so many Resumptions have been made might be First That it gave Offence to the Legislative Authority to see the Ministers make use of this dispensing Power Secondly That it appear'd the Suggestions were wrong upon which the Grants were grounded That is that the Soveraign did not proceed Ex certa Scientia namely that he was surpris'd and misinform'd in the value of the Thing given That he did not proceed Ex mero motu but that the Gift was wrested from him by his importunate and undeserving Courtiers That he did not proceed Ex Speciali Gratia but was rather induc'd to bestow the Favour through the necessity of his Affairs to quiet some great Man or to please some powerful Party And in all probability upon such or the like Accompts Parliaments have look'd into Grants and the best Princes have not thought it dishonorable to join in Revoking what had been thus Extorted from them And as to the distinction which the Lawyers make between Directive and Coercive Admit the Forms by which the Law has directed all Grants shall pass should be only Directive to the Soveraign and devised for his greater Ease and Safety yet without doubt they are Coercive to his Ministers No Law-givers ever intended that a solemn Law made upon mature Deliberation and prescribing a Rule in high Affairs of State should have no effect at all But the 27 Hen. VIII which Chalks out to the Secretary Lord Privy Seal and Lord Chancellor the regular Steps they are to make in passing Grants would be of no sort of signification if they may pass per Saltum and by immediate Warrant without being enter'd in the several Offices When Parliaments advise the Prince 't is humbly submitted to his Wisdom whether or no he thinks fit to approve of their Councils But when by a written Law they give Advice and lay down Rules and Directions in Matters of State for the Ministers to walk by and observe without doubt they intend Advice so solemnly given should be follow'd Hitherto we have mention'd the Cautions Provisions Restrictions and Forms which our Ancestors establish'd and made use of to preserve the King's Revenue by which the Publick was to be supported But notwithstanding all this the Wickedness of Men was either too Cunning or too Powerful for the Wisdom of the Laws in being And from time to time Great Men Ministers Minions and Favourites have broken down the Fences contriv'd and settled in our Constitution they have made a Prey of the Common-wealth plum'd the Prince and converted to their own Use what was intended for the Service and Preservation of the State We shall therefore proceed to show That to obviate this Mischief the Legislative Authority has all along interpos'd with Inquiries Accusations and Impeachments till at last such dangerous Heads were reach'd For as Courts have been watchful to Rob the Prince so antiently the Barons and afterwards Parliaments from time to time have been as vigilant to prevent his Ruin showing in the progress of their Councils great Wisdom mixt with Duty and Temper join'd with Courage The first Great Person whom we find question'd since the Norman Government was Ranulphus Bishop of Durham who bore the Office of what we now call * Dugdale Series Chronica p. 1. Lord Treasurer of England in the time of William Rufus This Man had been the Principal Instrument of the Profusion and of what is its Consequence those Extortions that disgrac'd the Reign of Rufus Of whose times William of Malmsbury speaking says None were then Rich but such as dealt with the Exchequer * Will. Malms p. 123. Nullus Dives uisi Nummularius This wicked Minister was brought to Punishment by Henry I. who cast him into Prison and loaded him with Chains Matthew Paris says †Mat. Paris p. 56. De Communi Consilio Gentis Anglorum posuit eum Rex in vinculis Malmsbury gives him this Character * Wil. Malms p. 123. Radulphus Clericus ex infimo genere hominum Lingua Assiduitate provectus ad summum Expilator Divitum Exterminator Pauperum Confiscator alienarum Hereditatum Invictus Caussidicus cum verbis tum rebus immodicus nec aliorum curaret odium dummodo complaceret Dominum It seems he was a little insolent Fellow who by his fluent Tongue and cringing at Court had got Power enough to do much hurt in England A mischievous Tool against the Publick as well as an Oppressor of private Men Subtle to invent Wickedness and Bold to put it in Execution and one who would stick at nothing to raise himself Matthew Paris speaking of him says he was †Mat. Paris p. 56. Homo perversus ad omne Scelus paratus quem Rex constituerat Procuratorem suum in Regno ut evelleret destraeret raperet disperderet omnia omnium bona ad Fifci Commodum comportaret We have thus painted out this Statesman in the Colours as he is represented by those two Venerable Writers And he so much resembles several bad Ministers who in the Ages since have succeeded both to his Post and Power that one would think they had chosen to take him for their Pattern In the 5 of Edward II. Pieres de Gaveston was accused in Parliament for having given the King ill Council and for having cheated the King of his Treasure and sent it beyond Sea and for having Estranged the King's Heart from his People so as he slighted their Councils and for having remov'd all faithful Ministers and plac'd only his own Creatures or Foreigners about the King and for having caus'd the King to grant Lands Tenements and Offices to himself and his Heirs and to divers other People insomuch that by his Wealth he was become dangerous to the great damage and injury of the King and his Crown For which he was Banish'd the Realm so as if he return'd he should be treated as an Enemy to the King Kingdom and People But take the Words of the Record because 't is very curious Rot. Ord. 5. Edw. 2. Num. 20. Purceo qe conue chose est per le examinement de Prelatz Countes Barouns Chivalers autres bones Gentz du Roialme trovez qe Pieres de Gaveston ad Malmeuez mal Conseillez nostre Seignour le Roy lad enticee a malfaire en divers Manieres deceivances en accoillant a lui toute le Tresor le Roi lad esloigne hors du Roialme en attreant a lui royal Poer royal Dignite come en aliaunce faire de Gentz par sermentz