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<DATE>2007-09-10</DATE>
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<NAME>Pip Willcox</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<IDG S="marc" R="OX" ID="A88820">
<STC T="W">L692</STC>
<STC T="T">669.f.19[37]</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99870971</BIBNO>
<VID>163375</VID>
</IDG>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
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<DIV1 TYPE="petition">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD>To the Honourable, the Referrees of his Highne&s;&s;e mo&s;t Honourable Councel, in the Cau&s;e between Sir <HI>John
Stowell</HI> and the Purcha&s;ers.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">The Petition of <HI>William Lawrence</HI> of <HI>Edenburgh,</HI> <ABBR>E&s;q</ABBR></HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="body of petition">
<OPENER>Humbly &s;heweth,</OPENER>
<P>_THat whereas your Petitioner is imployed in his Highne&s;&s;e &s;ervice in <HI>Scotland,</HI>
which requires his per&s;onal attendance there; And he being one of the &s;aid
Purcha&s;ers, as he is informed, the &s;aid Sir <HI>John Stowel</HI> in his ab&s;ence, without
&s;ummons or other legal notice, hath, and doth endeavour by &s;urprize to pur&s;ue
your Petitioner, and work divers things again&s;t him prejudicial to his right. And
whereas your Petitioners purcha&s;e was before he left <HI>England,</HI> confirmed by Act of Parlia|ment,
and in confidence thereof, your Petitioner &s;u&s;pecting nothing, left no provi&s;ion nor
order again&s;t any &s;uits, not doubting the &s;ame. And your Petitioner in the pre&s;ent conditi|on
he is in, is now deprived of all coun&s;el, intelligence, Agents writings, evidences, proofs,
and other things nece&s;&s;ary to maintain a Title, and of all fit means to make u&s;e of them.</P>
<P REND="indent"><HI>Your Petitioner therefore humbly prayeth that no proceedings be &s;uffered again&s;t him otherwi&s;e
then is by Law allowable again&s;t a per&s;on not &s;ummoned, and out of the Nation, and who hath
be&s;ides the warrant of an Act of Parliament, which if permitted to be que&s;tioned, there can be
no end of controver&s;ie. And that for the farther &s;ecurity of your Petitioner, the pre&s;ent Pe|tition
and Rea&s;ons annexed, may be read or in&s;pected, and re&s;t with the papers of other Purcha|&s;ers
before your Honours to prevent any mi&s;information from the &s;aid Sir</HI> John Stowell.</P>
<CLOSER>And your Petitioner &s;hall ever pray, &amp;c.</CLOSER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="supporting arguments">
<HEAD>Rea&s;ons that the Petitioners purcha&s;e ought not to be que&s;tioned by Sir <HI>John Stowell.</HI></HEAD>
<P>I. Your Petitioner &s;aith that &s;uch members of the Committee of Articles as have acted for
the &s;aid Sir <HI>John Stowell,</HI> again&s;t Purcha&s;ers, are parties, and not Judges, and their Orders
and Certificates ought to have no credit or authority. And your Petitioner &s;aith they have
mi&s;tated the Ca&s;e, tran&s;gre&s;&s;ed the duty of an inferiour juri&s;diction and pre&s;umed on Acts of
Sovereigne power, they have wrongfully indebted the Common-wealth in va&s;t &s;ummes of
money to the &s;aid Sir <HI>John Stowel,</HI> they have occa&s;ioned fal&s;e &s;candal on it of infringing his Ar|ticles,
and have not beene indifferent or equal in their proceedings, either as to publike or
private rights, all which your Petitioner will be ready to prove.</P>
<P>II. Your Petitioner &s;aith, that divers Purcha&s;ers, &s;ome through fear, and others by con&s;pira|cy
with the &s;aid Sir <HI>John Stowell,</HI> have, and do put in divers feigned and feeble Petitions and
pleas, part of which the &s;aid Sir <HI>John Stowell</HI> to delude the vulgar, hath put in print, and the
&s;ame purcha&s;ers have and do endeavour to betray the Cau&s;e of the Common-wealth, and are
companions, your Petitioner therefore de&s;ireth that no proceeding be made again&s;t him in
gro&s;&s;e, but his cau&s;e heard patiently and particularly.</P>
<P>III. Your Petitioner &s;aith that it hath been already decided and adjudged by Parliament,
that the &s;aid Sir <HI>John Stowell</HI> hath forfeited his Articles. And thereupon the Act of &s;ale of his
e&s;tate was made, and that judgement being given by Parliament, to who&s;e proceedings Pur|cha&s;ers
neither could or ought to be privie, and &s;o much time &s;ince pa&s;t, That though the E|vidence
and proofs were then never &s;o clear, yet the memory may be now lo&s;t; The Mem|bers
witne&s;&s;es proofs dead, removed, unknown, or taken off. It would be unrea&s;onable to
put Purcha&s;ers now to prove over againe what hath beene adjudged, and would not onely
que&s;tion Sir <HI>John Stowels,</HI> but mo&s;t part of all the lands the Parliament ever &s;old or &s;hall &s;ell.</P>
<P>IV. Your Petitioner &s;aith, notwith&s;tanding that if he &s;hall be inforced, he will prove that
the &s;aid Sir <HI>John Stowell</HI> never &s;ubmitted to compo&s;ition according to Articles, and that he
hath both omitted &amp; committed divers Acts then and &s;ince which have clearly forfeited them.</P>
<P>V. There is &s;ufficient publikely and vulgarly known of the &s;aid Sir <HI>John Stowell,</HI> as none
needs admire at the judgement pa&s;&s;ed again&s;t him, for he offered nothing but in&s;olencies and
affronts to the Parliament it &s;elf, when brought before them, he reviled the Committee for
compounding, charging them to be delinquents them&s;elves. He charged the Judges at the
Upper Bench that they &s;ate by a countefeit Seale, and that they were mock-Judges, and the
Jury a pack of Knaves; he openly denied and defied the Supreme authority, and charged the
Court and Attorney-General with high Trea&s;on for acting by it, publickly, and to their faces.
He declared for the Scots in Armes again&s;t this Common-wealth, &amp; till all was lo&s;t; he made
only a &s;hew and pretence to de&s;ire to compound, but really re&s;olved and declared again&s;t it,
and derided and &s;corned all tho&s;e who &s;ubmitted to it. All which was be&s;ides many others.</P>
<P>1. No fit language or behaviour to demand a Compo&s;ition with.</P>
<P>2. A breach of the peace within the Parliaments quarters.</P>
<P>3. An incen&s;ing of the people to rebel, and adhere to the enemy.</P>
<P>4 The highe&s;t prejudice to the Parliaments quarters a pri&s;oner could do, though he knew
by his Articles he was not to prejudice the &s;ame, and had given &s;ecurity to that end.</P>
<P>5. Divers of the &s;ame Acts have been made trea&s;onable by Ordinance of Parliament.</P>
<P>6. If any innocent per&s;on had pre&s;umed on halfe &s;o much, it had been his ruine.</P>
<P>VI. The &s;aid Sir <HI>John Stowell</HI> refu&s;ed to acknowledge him&s;elf a Delinquent, and thereby
wilfully refu&s;ed his Compo&s;ition.</P>
<P>1. It was the command of the Parliament, and the Commi&s;&s;ioners for compounding could
not ju&s;tifie compo&s;ition on any other termes.</P>
<P>2. The hou&s;e of Lords being part of the Parliament, had not then confirmed his Articles.</P>
<P>3. The Parliament had con&s;iderately de&s;igned that all Delinquency &s;hould remaine of Re|cord,
that both in the di&s;po&s;ing of offices of tru&s;t and power, and other future Acts relating
to the Common-wealth, they might the more readily guide them&s;elves.</P>
<P>4. A di&s;honour might have been a&s;per&s;ed upon them, That it had been <HI>Latrocinium,</HI> and
not <HI>Bellum,</HI> a robbery, and no ju&s;t warre, if together with the penalties a confe&s;&s;ion or tryal
of the offence had not likewi&s;e appeared.</P>
<P>5. Both Commi&s;&s;ioners and Seque&s;trators might have been otherwi&s;e liable to future acti|ons
and &s;uits from the &s;aid Sir <HI>John Stowell</HI> and his heirs.</P>
<P>6. The Parliament had appointed other Courts, as namely the Commi&s;&s;ioners of Appeals,
and tho&s;e of the Common-Law for relief of per&s;ons &s;eque&s;tred, being not Delinquents, which
were open unto him for trial, if he would &s;tand on that point: But by &s;tanding on it with the
Commi&s;&s;ioners for compounding, 'tis clear he ou&s;ted them of juri&s;diction to meddle with him</P>
<P>7. His refu&s;al was not out of errour, or mi&s;take, but advi&s;edly, and ob&s;tinately, and after
he was told of it.</P>
<P>8. Both before, and at time of making his Articles, it was known that by the u&s;ual cour&s;e of
&s;ubmitting to compo&s;ition; the fir&s;t point was acknowledgement of Delinquency, and there|fore
if the &s;aid Sir <HI>John Stowell</HI> had not liked it, he might have cho&s;en whether he would
have taken Articles without an expre&s;&s;e di&s;pen&s;ation of that very point.</P>
<P>VII. Your Petitioner &s;aith that the intere&s;t of the land in que&s;tion doth not totally belong
to the &s;aid Sir <HI>John Stowell;</HI> But there are divers charges upon it, and divers tran&s;actions have
beene made touching the &s;ame to other per&s;ons, making no pretence to Articles, who never
made claime, and therefore bound by the &s;ale which your Petitioner ought to have liberty to
examine, as well by the oath of the &s;aid Sir <HI>John Stowell,</HI> as other per&s;ons, and to have a Pro|duction
of the Deeds, Titles, and Evidences of the &s;aid land in Court, if there be cau&s;e.</P>
<P>VIII. Your Petitioner &s;aith that Purcha&s;ers were commanded to pay in their &s;econd moieties
by act of Councel at <HI>White-hall,</HI> and their E&s;tates were thereupon confirmed by Act of Parlia|ment
called by his Highne&s;&s;e, which is the deepe&s;t fundamental of property can be laid, and
the highe&s;t a&s;&s;urance the Law can give, and ought not to be que&s;tioned.</P>
<P>IX. His Highne&s;&s;e hath been plea&s;ed likewi&s;e by his oath in the In&s;trument Government,
to confirme the &s;ecuring property, and to Governe therein according to the Laws, and Sta|tutes,
the benefit whereof your Petitioner doth claime.</P>
<P>X. Your Petitioner acknowledgeth Lawes may be repeall'd, Judgements rever&s;ed, and
Authorities countermanded, but humbly &s;aith, That buying and &s;elling bindes Supreame
power it &s;elf: And that in the particular &s;ale the full price, both of money and blood hath
been received. And therefore neither God nor man can revoke their own bargain, and
&s;ales, and the whole Chri&s;tian Religion it &s;elf hath no other foundation but a bargaine
and &s;ale.</P>
<P>XI. Your Petitioner &s;aith, his Purcha&s;e being a rever&s;ion, he was nece&s;&s;itated to drown,
and extingui&s;h his old Lea&s;e, for which old Lea&s;e the &s;aid Sir <HI>Iohn Stowel</HI> received of this
Petitioners father far more then the whole Inheritance was worth. And your Petitioners
occa&s;ions have likewi&s;e &s;ince his Purcha&s;e compell'd him to commit acts of forfeiture of his
&s;aid old Lea&s;e by Feoffments, and otherwi&s;e, and to charge the mixt intere&s;t of old and new
Purcha&s;e, part with a joynture, part in taile to an infant, part with debts, part orphans money,
part others. And upon &s;uch tran&s;acting and charging, the &s;ame hath bound him&s;elf in ma|ny
penal Covenants, and Bonds, to warranty, &s;o that if Ju&s;tice be not done to your Petiti|oner
in maintenance of his Right, your Petitioner is utterly de&s;troied and made incapable
of other Indemnity or Reperation.</P>
<P>XII. Your petitioner was totally ignorant of the Articles of <HI>Exeter,</HI> or any pretence of the
&s;aid Sir <HI>John Stowel</HI> to the &s;ame, and the &s;ame Sir <HI>John Stowel</HI> might and ought to have gi|ven
him notice of the &s;ame, and was earne&s;tly reque&s;ted and &s;olicited to give your petitioner
notice and directions of his de&s;ires touching his intended purcha&s;e. And the &s;aid Sir <HI>John
Stowel</HI> did notwith&s;tanding purpo&s;ely and fraudulently conceale the &s;ame from your peti|tioner,
which point, though your petitioner had nothing el&s;e to &s;ay is unan&s;werable both in
the lawes of peace and warre.</P>
<P>XIII. Your petitioner &s;aith, that the &s;aid Sir <HI>John Stowel</HI> might, and ought further to have
given notice to the Tru&s;tees for &s;ale, the Committee of ob&s;tructions, the Terretenants of
the Land, who had preemption, as it is the cour&s;e, and other per&s;ons have done, though in|acted
to be &s;ould, and their claimes taken away; as the &s;aid Sir <HI>John Stowel's</HI> was, but he did
not; And therefore by his own wilful defaults he lo&s;t the benefit of &s;topping &s;ales which o|thers
in the like condition obtained.</P>
<P>Your petitioner &s;aith, that the &s;aid Sir <HI>John Stowel</HI> is a &s;ubject, and the Land in que&s;tion
Engli&s;h Land, and the &s;aid Sir <HI>John Stowel</HI> neither doth nor can clame by his Articles to be
in better condition then the re&s;idue of the Subjects of <HI>England.</HI> And they, if their E&s;tates
happen to be &s;ould by mi&s;take in Parliament or erroneous Judgement at Common-law, or
their claimes have been unju&s;tly refu&s;ed, or there be a tru&s;t or title of Equity in <HI>Chancery</HI> on
the Land whereof Purcha&s;ers have no notice, mu&s;t take in lieu thereof that expedient which
the Law allows, namely reparation in value as farre as is proper. And for the re&s;idue da|mage
by way of Action, which legal expedient is made good by the &s;aid Articles, and with|out
them he can have no benefit of the &s;ame.</P>
<P>By the Act for &s;ettlement of <HI>Ireland,</HI> the Parliament declared in a farre &s;tronger ca&s;e, and
though no &s;ale were made to nece&s;&s;itate it; that per&s;ons there might be tran&s;planted from
their own E&s;tates of equal value, notwith&s;tanding they had been adjudged comprized with|in
Articles.</P>
<P>Sir <HI>John Stowel</HI> hath mea&s;ured the &s;ame, and farre wor&s;e mea&s;ure to others; For the whole
Pari&s;h of <HI>Cothel&s;tone</HI> in <HI>Somer&s;et</HI> hath been by him mi&s;erably and totally depopulated. And
not awaiting the expiring of their E&s;tates, he by force, fraud, and terrour expelled them,
their wives children, and families to &s;wim through their own tears to new Plantations. Here
therefore as the Law warrants, and nece&s;&s;ity commands; &s;o the Finger of God &s;eemes to
direct, and Ju&s;tice it &s;elf to cry aloud for Retaliation.</P>
<P>It would be a very great cruelty and inju&s;tice by not making good publick &s;ales to &s;acri|fice
to his rage and revenge all the well-affected people of fifteen or &s;ixteen great Mannours,
who have incurred his hatred meerly out of &s;ervice to the publick, and have the faith and
honour, both of military and civil power ingaged to protect them: which if not performed
unto them, he will in point of E&s;tate neither give quarter to man, woman, or childe, but will
totally extirpate and de&s;troy them.</P>
<P>The &s;aid Sir <HI>John Stowel</HI> him&s;elf is in no &s;uch ca&s;e as he pretends. For as your petitioner
is informed, his principal place of Re&s;idence being a Magnificent &s;eat is purcha&s;ed by his La|dy
for his u&s;e, and be&s;ides he hath left him un&s;old and purcha&s;ed by his Ladies a&s;&s;ignes, and
friends, fifteen hundred pounds <HI>per annum</HI> more. And if he hath the re&s;idue of his Rents
filled up with Rents of State Land, the money whereof is as good as his own; he hath nothing
to object but that he &s;cornes the title, and de&s;ires only to deal in Merchandize, will &s;wim
be&s;t if the &s;hip of the Common-wealth, and Government &s;inke together. But certainly can|not
&s;ay, but as touching his poore depopulated Tenants, whom he t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="tech" EXTENT="1 letter">rn'd out like &s;nailes from
their onely hou&s;es, to which their lives were tied. But he is far better dealt with, then he dealt
with them, or intends to deal with the re&s;idue, if ever delivered into his hands.</P>
</DIV2>
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