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<DATE>2007-10-04</DATE>
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<NAME>Emma Leeson Huber</NAME>
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<P>THE Rioters in Lind&s;ey Levell, and their Abettors, would have it thought that our An|ce&s;tors were &s;uch ignorant men, as to make all the Lawes and &s;tatutes by which the Commi&s;&s;ion of Sewers is impowred to remove the &s;urrounder of waters with &s;uch li|mitations as are utterly impo&s;&s;ible to remove them, and would &s;o con&s;true tho&s;e Sta|tutes, as if they were only made to mock men, to &s;hew a publick good, &amp; to &s;orbid the doing of it. But by a true &s;en&s;e of tho&s;e Statutes it appears that the wi&s;dome of tho&s;e times did fore&s;ee, that by Draining the Fenns, a new Province would be added unto England, and did therefore make Lawes fully impowring a Commi&s;&s;ion of Sewers according to their judgement and wi&s;dome, to doe the&s;e publick works &s;o honourable and profitable unto this Nation; &s;o that the words in the Statutes ought in all rea&s;on to be &s;o interpreted as to inable men to perform what they require them to doe, and according to this, the Drainers of Lind&s;ey Levell have proceeded, and therein followed the &s;teps of all proceedings in all undertakings of this nature, all which have been con|firmed by all former Parliaments, not admitting of &s;uch con&s;truction of the &s;aid Statutes, as will make all &s;uch works utterly impo&s;&s;ible and contradictory in them&s;elves, as our Rioters would have it now under&s;tood. The long Parliament did Order a Bill to &s;ettle Lind&s;ey Levell, which is in Ma&s;ter <HI>Scobels</HI> hands.</P>
<P N="2">2. It is conceived that no man will deny, but that a Parliament has power by an Act, to au|thorize the Draining of any part of England on good arguments, and the opinion that &s;uch a work may prove beneficiall to the Publick good of the Nation; which is all that can be &s;aid, before a worke be done! I &s;uppo&s;e then that this Parliament hath an infallible argument to invite them to &s;ettle and &s;ecure Linde&s;ey Levell, which is a worke already done, and &s;o eminently honorable and profitable for the publick good; and to no mans prejudice, though many frivolous clamors be made of the Drainers dogs that barked at the Rioters when they pulled down their Ma&s;ters hou|&s;es, (and &s;uch like &s;tories) as al&s;o the Ho&s;pitall Lands (and others) exchanged for their own good, though Ma&s;ter <HI>Cre&s;&s;et</HI> is plea&s;ed to call it taking to much land from them, which really is &s;o: I &s;ay if all complaints of this nature, be referred unto a Commi&s;&s;ion of unintere&s;ted per&s;ons to heare and determine as it is in <HI>Bedford</HI> Levell Act, they will be &s;oon accommodated, &s;o as no man can receive prejudice, but be all benefited by this draining.</P>
<P N="3">3. It is con&s;iderable, that &s;eventy two thou&s;and acres that never paied penny to publick con|tribution, will by this Draining contribute and ea&s;e other parts. [That the cu&s;tomes will increa&s;e very much, and that &s;eventy thou&s;and pounds ready mony, may come into the Exchequer, for land belonging to the State, when this work is done] That many thou&s;ands of poor people will be imploid about Flax, Hemp, and other Manufactures, and in Husbandry very con&s;iderable, where one Drayner in two yeares, did plant above a hundred thou&s;and Trees, built a hou&s;e that co&s;t 3000 pound, and imployed for three moneths in one Summer, &s;ix hundred people to bring in his harve&s;t of Coole and Rape &s;eed, which grew on Land where Fi&s;h did u&s;e to &s;wim at Mid&s;omer before the Draining; and for which the &s;aid Drayner was &s;ued for Tythes, and made to pay them, and yet the Rioters te&s;timonies in the con&s;ented Report, doe all &s;weare po&s;itively, that the Drainers never were in po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, which makes tho&s;e te&s;timonies invallid, becau&s;e contradictory. Of all which building and plantation, there is now no &s;igne left, being all de&s;troyed and carried away by that Riot, when tho&s;e publick works were ruined.</P>
<P N="4">4. If the addition of a new Province to England be a Publick good, it doth concerne the Na|tion in point of honour, as well as profit, to incourage private men by their private hazard and charge to undertake the like publick workes. For what can be more cen&s;urable in a Nation, than to &s;uffer &s;uch trea&s;ure to be lo&s;t &s;o many yeares for want of indu&s;try? Or to &s;ee tho&s;e men de&s;troyed by a Riot, for doing that which our ance&s;tors have &s;o often invited them to doe, and this Riot done while the cau&s;e depended in hearing before a Parliament, and in contempt of &s;eve|rall Orders of both Hou&s;es, i&s;&s;ued for confirmation thereof: And yet the&s;e Rioters with their A|bettors are rewarded by 13 yeares po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of the Drayners lands for ruining tho&s;e works, as if the act were prai&s;e worthy; while their Abettors doe plead Law for tho&s;e that have by that Ri|ot de&s;troyed the foundation of al Law (as much as in them lies) al which the Drayners do humbly &s;ubmit unto the judgment of this Parliament, and do hope for &s;ome reparation from the Rioters and their Abettors, that may inable them to repaire tho&s;e publick works, and will deter others from the lika Riots hereafter.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>William Killigrew.</SIGNED><POSTSCRIPT>
<HEAD>Po&s;t&s;cript.</HEAD>
<P>IT is humbly conceived, that in honour and ju&s;tice no man will beleeve tho&s;e &s;candalous re|ports which the Rioters and their Abettors doe whi&s;per in mens eares again&s;t the Drayners, and their works of Draining nor give any credit unto the &s;everal printed Libels which have been by them delivered at the Parliament Door again&s;t the Drayners, all which their great Abettors dare not &s;o much owne, as to &s;ub&s;cribe their Names to them; and are therefore reputed as fal&s;e &s;candalous Libels, defaming men that rather de&s;erve Statues of Bra&s;&s;e, for the good by them done unto the Common-wealth, which their Adver&s;aries and their Ance&s;tors have ever indea|voured, but could never effect.</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE><DATE>January 18. 1654.</DATE></DATELINE>
<SIGNED>William Killigrew.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</POSTSCRIPT></CLOSER>
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