HINC ILLAE LACRYMAE OR AN EPITOME OF THE LIFE and DEATH OF Sir William Courten AND Sir Paul Pyndar Late of London K nts Deceased With their great Services and Sufferings under the Crown of ENGLAND Together with a Brief NARRATIVE of the Case and Tryal of certain Persons for Pyracy and Felony on the 10th of February 1680. Upon a Special Commission of Oyer and Terminer grounded upon the Statute of the 28 of Henry the 8. Faithfully and Modestly Collected by Thomas Carew Gent. with some Remarques thereupon LONDON Printed for the Persons Interessed Anno Dom. MDCLXXXI To the Honourable Sir John Nicholas Knight of the Bath One of the Clerks of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Councel SIR AT the Instance and Importunity of the Heirs Executors and Administrators of Sir William Courten and Sir Paul Pyndar and several of their most considerable Creditors for whom I have been an Agent almost these forty years last past am now constrained to write this brief Narrative of their Services and Sufferings for the Crown and Kingdom of England Wherein so many Orphans and Widows have long Groaned under the misfortune of those two most Eminent Merchants in the World of their time whose Tears are not yet wiped away It s held for an Opinion amongst the Casuists that although a Trespassor should be Iudicially acquitted and discharged of a particular Injury done unto his Neighbour without giving him satisfaction Yet he stands obliged in Equity and good Conscience to make him Restitution and Reparation for the Wrong and Damages sustained The Arguments are far stronger against those that have Spoiled Courten and Pyndar in the East and West-Indies with a Continuando Although their Rights and Properties were Invaded at Home and Abroad no Power could divest the Proprietors and Interessed in this Case of their Senses and Reason In all Revolutions of Government nothing could make them Disloyal to their Prince nor Unfaithful to their Country they never appeared otherwise then with their Humble Addresses for some Seasonable Satisfaction to their Iust Demands The Substance of the whole matters contained in this History with the Prosecution thereupon are reduced into the following Abstracts only the Scire Facias brought by His Majesty and the Plea thereupon recited at large as they remain upon Record and Humbly represented Methodically to the Right Honourable Viscount Hyde which will naturally fall under the Consideration of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury being all contracted at last into three several Petitions the one relating to the Barbados and the Products thereof the second to the Disbursements for the Crown before the year 1641. the third to the Debts and Damages due from the East-India Company of the Netherlands and some particular Inhabitants in Amsterdam and Middleburgh to the Estates of Sir William Courten and Sir Paul Pyndar wherein the Honour and Interest of the King and Kingdom are concerned to see Right done to the Petitioners respectively who had many kind Offices done for them in the Premisses by your Father and have all of them a great Confidence in your Zeal to Iustice and your readiness to do them all Lawful Favours in the duty of your Office and with that assurance I remain SIR Your most Obliged Friend and Servant THOMAS CAREW July 12th 1681. To the Right Honourable Lawrence Lord Hyde Viscount Killingworth Baron of Wooten Basset Primier Commissioner of the Treasury and one of the Lords of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Councel Right Honourable IT was thought necessary and expedient by the late King Charles and the Lords and others of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Councel in the year 1635. upon the decay of the East-India Trade and His Majesties Customs in the Port of London The Merchants Trading to the East-Indies having wasted several great Ioynt Stocks being undermined and beaten out of Commerce by the Dutch to give Command and encouragement to Sir William Courten and his Partners by a new Charter and Grant under the Great Seal of England to undertake Trading Uoyages to Goa the parts of Mallabar Chyna Japan c. Upon whose Foundations and Discoveries the present East-India Company have taken such Methods and Measures whereby they have Trebled their Principal Actions Increased Navigation and brought Honour and Wealth to this Kingdom But Sir William Courten and his Partâ—ers as iâ— most enterprises for the publick good 〈…〉 great Difficulties Losses and Damages after they had settled several Fact 〈◊〉 in places of Strength and Seâ—urity at their vast Expence and Charges upon hopes of Protection from the Crown of England which prâ—â—ed otherwise pro tempore by reason of the late Intestine Troubles in England Scotland and Ireland that gave opportunity to the Hollanders to spoil those Noble undertakings of Sir William Courten and his Associates The King of Great Britain having granted the Priviledge and Favour to Sir William Courten and his Partners in the said Charter as an Ensigne that they were imployed by His Maiesty to carry iâ— all their Ships the same Colours commonly called the Iack oâ— English Flâ—gg Whereby Captain Proud and other Old Officers yet Living of the East-India Companies Ships upon the Command of a great Gun Struck their Flaggs and Lowered their Lop-Sails at Goa iii view of theÌ„ Portugals and Dutch such a respect was paid to the Kings Colours when he was in Prosperity that soon afterwards in the year 1643. were taken down from the Bona Esperanza and dragged aâ—out the Streets by the Hollanders in Battavia when they had spoiled Courten of his Ships and Goods My Lord It would seem a great piece of Folly to make any impertinent Repetitions in a Case so well known to the World wherein every Paragraph is an Abstract out of Matters of Record Only I am bound to acquaint Your Honour that the late Lord High Chancellor of England Your Father was much concerned in several Transactions thereof who I presume if he were now Living would Study all ways and means possible to compose the Differences and Controversies in this Case rather then suffer those things to be Argued publickly in the Highest Court of Iudicature and there to remain unto Posterity wherein the Kings Honour and Iustice would be exposed by recriminating divers persons that lie under such Circumstances of Grand Mistakes and Oppression The Memory of Sir William Courten and Sir Paul Pyndar who had so déeply suffered in the East and West Indies and of their great Services otherwise for the Crown of England readily Inclined His now Majesty and the Ministers of State in the year 1660. to recommend their Cases more especially for Satisfaction and Reparation which were Solicited several years together with great Industry and Expence both at Home and Abroad without any effect otherwise then some preparatory means towards relief in two of their Demands as follows that is to say First Concerning Sir William Courten's Title to the Barbadoes wherein he was Absolute Proprietor by Original Right of Discovery and
dictus Dominus Rex nunc unquam seu aliqualiter fuit deceptus Rich. Wallapp R. Powell Edm. Saunders J. Somers Charles Molloy ON the first day of Easter-Term the said George Carew appeared in person at the Kings-Bench-Bar and moved the Court by Mr. Saunders his Councel that his Appearance might be Recorded which was done accordingly But no Information was brought in against the said Carew all that Term Then in Trinity-Term following the said Carew ordered his Clerk in the Petty-bagg to give Rules that the Attorney-General might Reply to the said Plea that Issue might be joyned in that Affair to make all things ripe for a final determination in Parliament either upon a Writ of Error or otherwise as occasion should offer But to this day no further Prosecution is made at the Kings Instance concerning the Scire Facias Wherefore several of the persons Interessed in pursuance of an Assignment indented and made the 14 th day of Iuly 1666. between the said George Carew of the one part and Iohn Graham Esq and Iohn Brown Gent. of the other part agreed to make a new Entry of five Ships and Pinnaces in due Form with the Register of the Admiralty Court de bene esse the week after Trinity Term and to set forth the same to Sea from time to time until the said Debt and Damages should be Recovered or a Composition made for the same according to the true intent and meaning of the said Letters Patents recited in the Plea to the Scire Facias aforesaid which they entred accordingly The Statutes of England in several Acts of Parliament are very positive in it that persons spoiled at Sea shall have the Law of Reprizals for their relief By the Laws of Moses Goods taken wrongfully away were to be restored fourfold which implyed the Damages sustained and the Costs in acquiring restitution By all Christian Precepts and Examples since Christianity came into the World it was practised in all Ages that Restitution was injoyned before any Absolution where the persons were of ability to do it To inforce the Argument in this Case something further it may be observed in the Patent recited in the Plea that the King foreseeing it was against all Natural Justice to mention any Pardon without a Restitution and Compensation to the Parties Injured the Hand points at the words ☞ That notwithstanding any Peace concerning General Reprizals yet this Remedy remains until satisfaction c. Which imploys that although he remits the Crimen Lasae Majestatis the particular Injury relates to particular Persons Nothing is more usual then Appeals of private persons after Soveraign Pardons whereby the Criminals have suffered for not making their Peace with the particular persons next of Blood But some will object that a Soveraign Prince may pro bono publico give away a particular Debt of his Subject although ascertained under the greatest circumstances But whether that assertion be consistent with the Law of England or that the particular should be satisfied out of the publick Purse or left to the proper Remedy granted I leave it to better Judgments upon Arguing the Plea It is remarkable that the said Daniel Gyles made a Contract with the Dutch-Skipper that he should give him the said Gyles 100. l. Sterling to Seize the said Captain Gwyther and his men who lay at Anchor near Cows-Castle with two of the Dutch Seamen on Board in the Prize-Ship and an English Pilot that the Captain had Hired in the Isle of Wight to bring the said Prize-Ship to London in order to her Condemnation And that the said Daniel Gyles in pursuance of his Contract Hired several Boats with Soldiers and came on board the said Prize-Ship called the Love of Rotterdam and there demanded ex officio as he pretended the Captains Commission and took it from him and the Money he had and Secured the said Captain and Seamen in Cows-Castle about the 9 th of December 1680. then took away the Prize-Ship wherein were seven pair of Pistols Swords and Pole-Axes of the Captains with all the English mens Bedding and Provisions that Boarded the said Ship which the said Gyles Seized and kept and alledged he might do it by virtue of the Kings Proclamation THat in Hillary-Term following the said Gyles appearing upon the Exchange in London several Actions were brought against him in the Kings-Bench for the said Ship Wine and other Goods whereupon he was Arrested and carried into the Powltry-Compter Who after several days Confinement being not able to give Bail moved the Court he might be Discharged upon Common Bail notwithstanding the Actious were for Trover and Conversion and Actions for Trespass on the Case at the Suits of the Proprietors the Captain and Seamen respectively to the Damages of 5000 l. and upwards Nevertheless the said Gyles was Discharged by Rule of Court upon Common Bail then the Ship and Goods were delivered in an Arbitrary way by Order of the Councel Table to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty and to Sir Robert Holmes who dispossessed the English Interessed persons of their Ship and Goods contrary to the Laws of Property and the Established Laws of England to the great Dishonour of the Government and the Damages of the persons Interessed and Injured as aforesaid who are in prosecution of their Right in the ordinary course of Iustice against the said Daniel Gyles and Sir Robert Holmes for the Ship and her Lading as also for False Imprisonment of the Men and detainng their Arms and other Goods from them A short Narrative of the Life and Death of Sir William Courten SIR William Courten was born in the Parish of St. Mary-Hill in London his Father and Mother in the time of Persecution under the Duke de Alva in Flanders having fled from Menen in the year 1567. into England for Protection having Transported all their Goods and Moneys to the City of London dealt in Silks and Fine Linnen during their Lives and left three Children Named William Peter and Margaret unto whom they gave plentiful Estats Sir Willlam being the Eldest Son was Bred a Merchant and his Fathers Factor sometime at Harlem and other while at Corterick where he Married his first Wife the Daughter of Peter Cromeling with whom he had sixty thousand Pounds Sterling In the year 1606. the said Sir William Courten entred into a Trade in Partnership with a Ioynt Stock in Company with Peter Courten his Brother and John Monâ—y his Brother in Law that Married his only Sister the Widow of Matthias Boudaen her first Husband Two parts or the Moiety of the said Stock in Company belonging to Sir William and to each of the other a fourth part This Trade was carried on Ioyntly in Silks and Linnens until the year 1631. wherein was returned Communibus Annis one hundred and fifty thousand Pounds Sterling But besides that Trade in Company to Holland France and Flanders Sir William carried on his own particular Trade to Guinea Portugal Spain and
Administration was granted to the said George Carew in the Letters patents for Reprizals before mentioned wherein the most visible part of Sir Paul Pyndar's Estate remains yet many difficulties and obstructions are laid in the way from coming to that poor remainder in this age of Forgetfulness Yet I hope it will not be in these our days as it was in the times of old when the Prophet Isaiah complained that Iudgment is turned backward and Iustice Standeth far off for Truth is fallen in the Street and Equity cannot enter Yea Truth faileth and he that refraineth from Evil maketh himself a Prey and the Text saith that the Lord was displeased that there was no Iudgment and when he saw that there was no man he wondred that none would offer himself From whence it may be inferred that they who suffer Injuries and Oppressions without Process and Appeal for Justice do not only betray themselves and their Cause but the Interest of their Country and the Laws of the Realm under which they have or ought to have protection There is one Remarkable and Fraudulent Case not to be Omitted in this Narrative ADmiral de Ruiter of Holland having taken a Fly-Boat of 200 Tun in Burthen called the Mary of Bristol belonging to Merchants of that City Laden with Sugar Cotton and Indigo from Barbadoes the said Ship and Goods were Condemned as free Prize to the States of Holland by the Admiralty of Amsterdam in the year 1665. Then the said Ship was sent from Amsterdam by the Name of the Godilive of Bruges and bound for France where she was Laden with Wine Salt and Vinegar under Spanish Colours as belonging to Iacob Neitz Michael Vander Planthem and other Subjects of the King of Spain which said Fly-Boat being taken by Captain Tyrance Byrne about the Month of Iuly 1666. and carried into the Port of Chichester in pursuance of a Commission by force of the Letters Patents for Repâ—izal granted to Turnor and Carew as aforesaid against the States of the United Province Upon Examination whereof it appearing that the Ship was Dutch Built Sailed from a Port in Holland to a Port in France the Seamen Hollanders and Zelanders Born and the Goods Consigned to Merchants of Amsterdam Sir Lyonel Ienkin Decreed that there was good cause of Seizure and Condemned the Master of the said Ship in Expences but in regard one Peter Gerrarda French man and common claimer of Prize-Ships appeared and claimed the said Godilive and her Lading in the Names of the said Iacob Neitz and others Subjects of Spain in Amity with the King It was ordered by the Judge that upon payment of the Costs and giving Bail to abide the Sentence of the Court upon hearing the Cause the Ship and Goods should be restored But the said Gerrard refusing so to do Arrested the said Captain Byrne in an Action of 1000 l. upon a Writ out of the Admiralty Court unto which he gave good Bail yet the said Gerrard made no Prosecution thereupon But upon Examination Ex parte and Certificates procured out of Flanders that the said Ship was Assigned to the said Neitz and others Merâ—hants of Brugis The Ship and goods were restored by the Court and delivered by the Vice-Admiral of Sussâ—x accordingly Afterwards the Proctor and Advocate of the common claimour Exhibits a Lybel in the Names of Neitz Vander Plancken and others in the year 1667. against Sir Edmond Turnor and George Carew joyntly with Captain Tyrence Byrne and Ionathan Frost his Owner uâ—on pretence that part of the Lading was Imbeaziled in the Port of Chichester and some of the Wines Perished with Lying Whereupon Sir Lyonel Ienkins pronounced a Sentence against Turnor Carew Byrne and Frost for 1800 l. Damages for spoiling their Voyage although the Ship and Goods were restored under all those Circumstances aforesaid from which Erronious and Unjust Sentence Turnor and Carew Appealed by themselves to Judges Deligates and Adjuncts who confirmed the said Sentence although against the Statute Laws of the Realm and the Common Law of England Turnor and Carew being neither Particeps Criminis nec munâ—ris and that no man in the Cases of Personal Injuries ought to suffer for the default of another for that by their own shewing in their Libel the Imbezlements being done in Chichester in the body of the County where they were to be Tryed by the Common Law Vive voce it being without the Jurisdiction of the Admiralty a Court of no Record Wherefore they Appealed to the King and obtained a Commission of review leaving the pretended Claimers and Byrne to dispute the matter Turnor and Carew being concerned no further then that their Names were used in the Process towards Condemnation Nothing of proof appearing to the contrary in all the Process transmitted in the said Cause The Humble Proposals of William Courten Esq Grand-Child and Heir of Sir William Courten Kt. Deceased Charles Earl of Shrewsbury Richard Powell Esq Thomas Coppin Esq and others here under-named on the behalf of themselves and other persons Interessed by Subscription to the said Proposals to His Majesty and the Lords and others of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Councel Ann. 1626 WHereas Sir William Courten at his own Costs and Charges set forth two Ships well provided with Men Ammunition and all Necessaries fit for Settling a Plantation They were bound for the West-Indies where they discovered an Island Landed and possessed it and called it the Barbadoes And in the same year Captain John Powell and Henry his Brother upon Sir William Courten's Account and at his Costs came thither with other Ships Freighted with Men Women Servants and all sorts of Provisions for carrying on the Plantation designed and Fetched several Indians from the main Land Built Houses Raised Fortifications and set up the Kings Colours made several Plantations of Cottons Tobacco Indigo c. Peopled the Island with English Indians and others to the number of 1850 Persons or thereabouts and Settled John Powel Iunior Governour there and the Planters paid Sir William Courten several Servile Rents of Sugar Cotten Tobacco c. as Original Proprietor 25th of February 1627. King Charles the first by Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England granted the Government thereof to the Earl of Pembrook and Mountgomery in Trust and at the Request of Sir William Courten with power to Settle a Collony there according to the Laws of England who gave John Powell a Commission to continue Governour there And Sir William Courten borrowed several great sums of Money and became much Indebted for carrying on the said Plantation 2d of Iuly 1627. Then James late Earl of Carlisle obtained a Patent for the Propriety Inheritance and Government of the Caribbee Islands But doubting it would not reach Barbadoes he surrendred it and obtained a second Patent rejecting the former containing a Grant of the Propriety and Inheritance of the Barbadoes to the said Earl and his Heirs 7th of April 1628.