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<DATE>2013-07-16</DATE>
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<NAME>Colm MacCrossan</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed.</ITEM>
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<BIBNO T="oclc">11761937</BIBNO>
<VID>48712</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>AN ABSTRACT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF W. CARTER; Being a PLEA TO SOME OBJECTIONS Urged again&s;t HIM.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON:</HI> Printed for the Author, MDCXCIV.</P>
<PB REF="2">
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>TO THE Merchants, Clothiers, and Drapers, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Gentlemen,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>I Have for Twenty four Years, u&s;ed my endeavours not only to prevent the Lo&s;s of your Trade in the Woollen Manufacture (&s;et up in <HI>France,</HI> with <HI>Engli&s;h,</HI> and <HI>Iri&s;h</HI> Wooll) and the Impor|tation of <HI>French</HI> Silks, Stuffs, and Lace, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But al&s;o u&s;ed my utmo&s;t to regulate the abu&s;es in the Aulnage (notwith&s;tanding the objections again&s;t me) what Steps I made in both, are in part contained in the following Di&s;cour&s;e.</P>
<P>In which I have demon&s;trated, that my labour was not alto|gether Fruitle&s;s, again&s;t the de&s;igns of <HI>France;</HI> notwith&s;tanding all the Craft, and Bribes of <HI>French</HI> Agents, by all the Intere&s;t they had in our Court the two la&s;t Reigns; both by &s;ecret di&s;gui&s;e, and open violence, and al&s;o endeavouring by a Law to ruine our Trade under a very fair and plau&s;ible pretence: Which, give me leave to &s;ay, that had not the War fell out as it did, we &s;hould have hard|ly been able to keep that Trade we now have; although I had frequent Acce&s;s to that Government, and did by that means put a &s;top at &s;everal times to it, as in part, in the clo&s;e of this and ano|ther Di&s;cour&s;e doth more fully appear.</P>
<P>You cannot but know (at lea&s;t many of you) that I Printed my &s;entiments in the Year 1669. and Re-printed the &s;ame in the Year 1671. with &s;ome enlargement of what evil con&s;equence the Ex|portation of Wooll to <HI>France</HI> was.</P>
<PB REF="3">
<P>And in the following Year, <HI>(viz.)</HI> 72. Wrote an Adverti&s;ement to you therein, an Ab&s;tract of which is included in this Paper, to|gether with what pa&s;t in the Years, 1676, and 77.</P>
<P>But, Sirs, I am now growing Old, being upward of Sixty Years, having &s;pent the prime of my Years in your Service, with very many hard&s;hips, Watchings, and Dangers, when you have taken your R<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;t, and improved your time, for your particular and pri|vate advantage: It cannot in rea&s;on now (at this Age) be ex|pected that I &s;hould act in that Po&s;t much longer; and although upon that account it's not probable I may be able to perform tho&s;e Services in Travels and Watchings, as formerly on the Sea-Coa&s;t, yet nothing &s;hall be wanting on my part (here at the Helm) which I am capable of, for the promoting of your real Intere&s;t, and by in|&s;tructing &s;uch as may for the future be employed by you.</P>
<P>Having given &s;ome hints about the Trade of <HI>France,</HI> of my en|deavours to prevent it, I &s;hall crave leave to &s;peak &s;omething about the Aulnage. When I was attending the Council and Parliament about the Wooll-Affair, I was by &s;ome Merchants and Drapers in <HI>London,</HI> put upon the Redre&s;&s;ing tho&s;e abu&s;es then complained of, and was by them de&s;ired to Print a Paper containing the &s;ame; and by my omitting a Licence, was for that rea&s;on clapt up in the Gate Hou&s;e, which was not a little co&s;t to me; notwith|&s;tanding that di&s;couragement, in pur&s;uance of the Deputation, I afterwards received, both from Drapers and &s;ome others dealing in the Woollen Manufacture, <HI>(Viz)</HI></P>
<FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="deputation">
<P>WEE Who&s;e Names are Sub&s;cribed Woollen-Drapers, of <HI>Winton</HI> and <HI>Alsford,</HI> having been for &s;everal Years la&s;t pa&s;t expo&s;ed to great trouble, with the Officers of the Aulnage; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> their entring our Shops, and carrying away our Goods from us, to the di&s;turbance of us in our Trade, and prejudice of our Goods, thereby to force us to a Compo&s;ition with them; which we have been forced to do. &s;ome of Ten Pounds, others Five Pounds, and Annually, &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">me Thirty, and others Twenty Shillings, to free us from future trou|ble: Do therefore Authorize our Worthy Friend Mr. <HI>William Carter,</HI>
<PB REF="3"> as our Agent, and Atturney, to Appear, Petition and pre&s;ent for us, unto, and before His Maje&s;ty and Council, and before the Parliament, when&s;oever they &s;hall be A&s;&s;embled for the removeal of the afore&s;aid abu&s;es, and preventing of &s;uch abu&s;es for time to come; and to do all other things Lawful in and about the &s;ame, and to all and do for us, in &s;uch Lawful way and manner, as by Council &s;hall be ad|vi&s;ed, as fully, and effectually as if we were, or might in our own Per&s;ons do the &s;ame:</P>
<CLOSER><DATE>Witne&s;s our Hands the 14th Day of <HI>June,</HI> 1671.</DATE> <SIGNED>William Harwood, Tho. Wavell, God&s;on Penton, Thomas Munday, Edward Grace, Wiliam Smith, and Tho. Standen.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</FLOATEXT>
<P><HI>Another Deputation from the dealers in the Woollen Manu|facturies, of &s;everal Counties in</HI> England, <HI>and particularly of</HI> Exon, <HI>thus Worded,</HI> (Viz.)</P>
<FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="deputation">
<P><HI>WE who&s;e Names are Sub&s;cribed Manufactures of Wooll, for the Counties of</HI> Devon, <HI>and</HI> Summer&s;et, <HI>&amp;c. Having con&s;idered as well in what we know, as by the Information we have received from other parts of this Kingdom; the great abu&s;es that have been done to us, and other Manufactures, by &s;uch as have been employed in the Office of Aulnage,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<CLOSER><DATE>The Deputation is <HI>Verbatim</HI> as before, only the Date is the 12th of <HI>May,</HI> 71.</DATE> <SIGNED>Signed by <HI>Thomas Cri&s;pin,</HI> and many hundred of others.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</FLOATEXT>
<P>I &s;ay, in pur&s;uance of the &s;aid Deputations, when pro&s;ecuting &s;ome of tho&s;e abu&s;es, and being in the Court of Exchequer, in the Year 1673. tho' then complained again&s;t by the Council for the then Farmers of the Counties of <HI>Suffolk</HI> and <HI>E&s;&s;ex:</HI> Yet was then ju&s;tified in open Court by the then Lord Chief Barron, pur&s;uant to a Report to the King and Council made by his Lord&s;hip Two Years before; as may appear by a Copy thereof, in Page 6th. I am &s;orry, I have the occa&s;ion to make an Apology to you upon this Head, whom I have &s;o freely &s;erved; and to &s;ay &s;ome|thing fir&s;t of the occa&s;ion of the Bill&punc; by which &s;o much trouble was about it, and to no purpo&s;e but rather prevented another Bill which would have pa&s;t, to have put the Laws in Execution
<PB REF="4"> again&s;t the Exportation of Wooll, and al&s;o to have Regulated the abu&s;es of the Aulnage.</P>
<P>The rea&s;on of the complaint in Parliament, was occa&s;ioned by the differing lengths of &s;ome of <HI>Glo&s;ter</HI> Cloths, not to &s;ay by a Clothier him&s;elf of that County; but before the Bill was brought into the Hou&s;e of Commons, I had &s;everal meetings with the Agent, and told him that if he would attend the Kings Council, I would per&s;uade the Farmers to con&s;ent to &s;uch a Bill, as that no oppo&s;ition could be made again&s;t it. I remember, I was then go|ing to <HI>Maid&s;tone</HI> A&s;&s;izes, to pro&s;ecute &s;ome Exporters of Wooll, and whil&s;t I was there, the Bill was brought into the Hou&s;e of Commons, which hath occa&s;ioned &s;o much trouble, not only to no purpo&s;e, but al&s;o prevented &s;uch a Bill which would have an|&s;wered the ends of all parties.</P>
<P>The Bill which was &s;o long depending, was to Transfer the Collecting the Sub&s;idy of Aulnage at the Cu&s;tom-Hou&s;e; and to &s;ubject it to all the Laws again&s;t Frauds in the Cu&s;toms, and the duties to be paid there, by the Merchant, and by him to be di&s;|counted with the Clothier, for the &s;ame, upon a &s;uppo&s;ition that it would &s;ave charge, and by that means pay the D. of <HI>Rich|mond,</HI> and tho&s;e concerned in Intere&s;t; and al&s;o be an overplus to defray the nece&s;&s;ary expence in preventing the Exportation of Wooll; which Bill, after the &s;everal Hearings and Examinations, in&s;tead of doing both, it did not an&s;wer one in that manner, be|&s;ides the inevitable Trouble and Controver&s;ie betwixt the Mer|chant and Clothier, for that &s;ome of the Woollen Manufacture, pays Cu&s;tom by weight, and &s;ome by the piece; when at pre&s;ent the Aulnage pays all by the piece.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
<PB REF="4">
<HEAD>THE PREFACE.</HEAD>
<P>IT may &s;eem &s;trange to &s;ome that after Twenty four Years time, the extence of my E&s;tate, loo&s;ing a profitable Trade, and adventuring my life &s;o often, as one Action, in&s;tead of many, &s;et down in the clo&s;e of this Paper, that after all this am con&s;train'd to make an Apology to tho&s;e, and for who&s;e Intere&s;t I have, with &s;o much candour and freedom, to my own lo&s;s, expos'd my &s;elf; I mu&s;t confe&s;s, I expected better u&s;age from &s;ome than I have as yet received; but &s;ince mo&s;t cannot be ignorant of the Truth of this Ab&s;tracted Narrative of my Proceed|ings, and that in it I have e&s;pou&s;ed your Cau&s;e, and engaged in your Quarrel, and &s;o long fought your Battels, it will not, I hope, be thought unrea&s;onable, if I do now expect but what is ju&s;t and equitable from rea&s;onable Men; but in&s;tead there|of, it hath not been a little &s;urprize to me, to &s;ee a Paper Intituled, <HI>The Ca&s;e of the Merchants, Clothiers, Drapers, &amp;c.</HI> with relation to the abu&s;e of the Aul|nages, wherein I am there named <HI>Wool-Carter,</HI> as a per&s;on &s;eemingly ju&s;tifying the &s;aid abu&s;es, and contradicting m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> former practice, and thereby oppo&s;ing a regu|lating tho&s;e abu&s;es, which charge, if true, I mu&s;t confe&s;s, that a Face of Bra&s;s is proper for me; but if the contrary appear, it will return upon the Author of that Paper, as a <HI>Fal&s;e Accu&s;er,</HI> but if it had been done by the advice and con&s;ent of tho&s;e per&s;ons therein named, then I mu&s;t &s;ay its hard, for me, and creates not a little trouble to be wounded in the Hou&s;e of my Friends, and at &s;uch a time, when I was with &s;o much affection, great difficulty and hazard, pur&s;uing their real In|tere&s;t, in that affair wherein they have nam'd me, and more particularly endeavou|ring to prevent all Trade, Commerce and Corre&s;pondency with <HI>France,</HI> in which I have not &s;tuck at any pains and difficulty in the Service; but for a&s;much as the &s;aid Paper was Publi&s;hed (as I was informed) not only without the knowledge of mo&s;t <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">f the per&s;ons therein named, but again&s;t the advice of &s;ome of tho&s;e that did appear at <HI>Parliament,</HI> in pur&s;uance of the de&s;ign in promoting the Bill that have been de|pending, and mi&s;carried in Four Se&s;&s;ions of Parliament.</P>
<P>As for the Charge given again&s;t me, give me leave to an&s;wer for my &s;elf, which Charge is, <HI>viz. We are very &s;en&s;ible of the &s;everal Artifices us'd to oppo&s;e the Bill, among&s;t the numbers employ'd therein, there is one known by the name of</HI> Wooll-Carter, <HI>who was formerly a zealous Solicitor again&s;t the</HI> Aulnage-Office, <HI>but now by rea&s;on of yearly payment, is become their friend, this Man pretending him&s;elf a friend to the Shop-keepers, have in &s;everal Se&s;&s;ions &s;ent down Printed-Forms of Letters to a great many Corporations, for them to Tran&s;cribe and Sub&s;cribe, and direct to their Parliament-Men the &s;ub&s;tance of the Letters were to pray them to oppo&s;e the Bill, and think of &s;ome other method for the ea&s;e of the Shop-keepers.</HI> Which Charge being an&s;wered by ano|ther hand, I &s;hall &s;ay the le&s;s to it now, only this, that I was not only a pretender, but a <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">eal friend to the Shop-keepers, for it's matter of fact, that I did not only pro&s;ecute the &s;everal Petitions of the Shop-keepers in mo&s;t Counties in <HI>England,</HI> the &s;eve|ral Se&s;&s;ions of Parliament, from the year 1673 to 81. mo&s;t upon my own co&s;t, but when I <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> do no good in Parliament, by all that labour and time expended, an opportuni<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> was put into my hand by m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">ns of &s;ome friend of mine, o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;ome great
<PB REF="5"> figure, that I purcha&s;ed the freedom for the &s;aid Shop-keepers, without any co&s;t to them and likewi&s;e endeavoured to have &s;o &s;ettled it by a Law, that it &s;hould not be in the power of any <HI>Aulnager</HI> to have given them any manner of di&s;turbance; and al&s;o, to have a Seal of content for the Honour and Reputation of the Woollen Manufacture it &s;elf, and Credit of the Clothier, and to prevent all manner of di&s;putes and controver&s;ies betwixt all per&s;ons concerned; which, I think, is more than a <HI>pretence of kindne&s;s.</HI></P>
<P>But whil&s;t I was pur&s;uing this latter de&s;ign, I was by the importunity of &s;everal eminent Merchants and Factors in <HI>London,</HI> taken off the &s;aid Service to prevent the Exportation of Wooll, what I did in that affair is hereafter more enlarged, which I think I need not to make any further Apology, and may &s;ay 'tis a <HI>manife&s;t A&s;per&s;ion,</HI> cau&s;le&s;ly charged upon me.</P>
<P>Then as to my &s;ending Printed Forms of Letters for the Shop-keepers to trans|&s;cribe and &s;ub&s;cribe, and &s;end it to their Parliament-Men, I own it, being their de&s;ire, not only when I have been in the Country with them, but when in <HI>London</HI> they have wrote to me, to &s;end them Forms of Letters to an&s;wer their de&s;ires.</P>
<P>As to the Charge again&s;t me being formerly a zealous Solicitor again&s;t the <HI>Aul|nage-Office,</HI> but now am become their friend, tho' I have in a &s;en&s;e an&s;wered this charge before, yet I &s;hall be now more full in it; for as I was the per&s;on that con|tracted for the whole Farm, &s;o I was by that means made more capable to free the Shop-keepers from tho&s;e abu&s;es put upon them by the former <HI>Aulnagers,</HI> which give me leave here to relate &s;ome of them, <HI>viz.</HI> The fir&s;t complaint I produced at a Committee in the year 1673. was four Shop-keepers' in the County of <HI>E&s;&s;ex</HI> paid as a Fine and other Fees the &s;um of one hundred and &s;ixty Pounds, and forc'd to promi&s;e to pay them yearly &s;everal &s;ums of Money to free them from future trouble; and among&s;t many more at <HI>Winche&s;ter, Wind&s;or,</HI> and other places, there was one <HI>James Smith</HI> of <HI>Eaton,</HI> &s;ince dead, was at the expence of about four-&s;core Pounds, and being but a young man was ruin'd in his Trade, by his being impri&s;oned, and his Goods lay a long time under Sei&s;ure, and no cau&s;e for it, Fleven half pieces of Broad-Cloth, &s;ome being the latter ends of the Cloths, where the Seal is not u&s;u|ally fixed, and the <HI>Aulnager,</HI> without further examination, took away the others that had Seals upon them, all which was fully proved before the &s;aid Committee; all this trouble and charge was becau&s;e he did Replevy his Cloth which the <HI>Aulnager</HI> had &s;ei&s;ed.</P>
<P>Let me odd one in&s;tance of my own ca&s;e by the &s;ame <HI>Aulnagers,</HI> having &s;ent a <HI>Spani&s;h</HI> Black-Cloth to a Draper in <HI>Port&s;mouth,</HI> in value about 26 l. which Cloth was rightly Seal'd and fixed at the head-end of the Cloth, but the <HI>Aulnagers</HI> pretending no Seal, took away the Cloth, and carried it away to their Lodging, the Draper having not the liberty to examine the &s;ame, was forc'd to pay them down five Pounds, and immediately found by opening the Cloth the Seal fixed as before, notwith&s;tanding which the &s;aid <HI>Aulnager</HI> would not repay the five Pounds, I was forc'd to allow the Shop-keeper, or el&s;e have lo&s;t his Cu&s;tom, and run the hazard of a Suit at Law for my Money.</P>
<P>So that my Proceedings were not again&s;t the <HI>Office of Aulnage,</HI> but again&s;t &s;uch abu&s;es, which being by me regulated, as before, I ought not in ju&s;tice to &s;uffer for my <HI>Real Service.</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>W. C.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="approbation">
<PB REF="5">
<HEAD>Give me leave to add the Te&s;timony of another Per&s;on, who to &s;ome it may be thought &s;trange; &s;eeing he him&s;elf was a Farmer of &s;ix Counties, and by my means lo&s;t his Farm.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Gentlemen,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>UPON The peru&s;al of a Paper Intituled, The Ca&s;e of the Clothiers, Weavers, Merchants, Drapers and Mercers, about the abu&s;es of the Aulnagers; I find Mr. <HI>Carter</HI> is there reflected on, as a per&s;on incon&s;i&s;tent with him&s;elf; and the better to de&s;cribe him, he is Charactered by the Appellation of <HI>Wooll Carter:</HI> I mu&s;t confe&s;s it's a &s;trange way of requital, to him that hath &s;o vi&s;ibly &s;erved not only the Nation in general, but tho&s;e in particular who&s;e Name the Paper bears. Now in regard I have known Mr. <HI>Carter</HI> many years; (tho' the occa&s;ion, to &s;ome, would think it &s;trange, that by his means was put out of a Farm, for &s;ix Counties, for the &s;ub&s;idy of Aulnage; yet in as much as I found in his proceedings, preferring the publick before his private Intere&s;t, and tho' an Enemy, yet acting fairly and above board:) I could not but do him Ju&s;tice, in vindicating his proceedings, not|with&s;tanding my own Lo&s;s by him.</P>
<P>The &s;aid Mr. <HI>Carter,</HI> 1673. in pur&s;uance of a Deputation he received both from Drapers and others, Solicited in the Hou&s;e of Commons, in the Name of the Drapers, in the Counties of <HI>He<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">|ford, E&s;&s;ex,</HI> and <HI>Berks;</HI> the matter of the Complaint he hath al|ready mentioned in this Preface, but the Parliament being then at that time Prorogued, nothing more then was done by him.</P>
<P>In the Year 1675. he revived the &s;ame Petition, and &s;olicited that, and many other Petitions, and &s;everal hearings were had,
<PB REF="6"> and thereupon divers Councels were retained by him; and the Par|liament &s;oon after being again Prorogued, nothing could be more done till the next Se&s;&s;ion, <HI>(viz.)</HI> 1677, and 78. And then the whole was Re-heard, and the Hou&s;e of Commons came to the&s;e Votes, thereupon. <HI>(Viz.)</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. That the Sub&s;idy of Aulnage, ought to be paid by the makers of the Woollen Manufacture, and not by the Re|taylers, or any other per&s;ons what&s;oever.</P>
<P N="2">2. That the Aulnagers &s;earching of Waggons, and Packs on the Road was an abu&s;e.</P>
<P N="3">3. That the Aulnagers making Drapers, and other Retaylers to pay Yearly Compo&s;itions for not &s;earching their Shops and Ware-hou&s;es was an abu&s;e.</P>
<P>And a Bill accordingly was ordered to be brought in, to Redre&s;s the &s;aid abu&s;es, but the Parliament was then again Prorogued.</P>
<P>Shortly after &s;undry per&s;ons having taken a Farm of the &s;aid Sub&s;idies, and Duties for <HI>London</HI> and <HI>Middle&s;ex;</HI> and in order to take the whole Farm of <HI>England,</HI> (as was de&s;igned to be &s;o let) con|tracted with many Factors and Ware-hou&s;e Men in the City, for Annual Rents; not to &s;earch their Goods, thereby to make the other Farmers of the &s;everal Counties unable to pay their Rents, when the Seal of one Cloth or Stuff was made u&s;e for &s;everal other Pieces, and to be able to give a greater Fine for the whole than any others; they did de&s;ign, as &s;oon they had contracted for the whole, to break off tho&s;e Agreements in <HI>London,</HI> when the Year was out, and to make Sei&s;ure of what Goods they &s;hould then find un&s;ealed, and to do the like in all Corporations, and other Towns in <HI>Eng|land,</HI> by the Officers of the Exci&s;e; by which oppre&s;&s;ive Action they might have got great Summs of Money, which de&s;ign coming to the Ear of Mr. <HI>Carter,</HI> he prevented the &s;ame; and then Con|tracted for the whole Farm, paying down 9000 <HI>l.</HI> &s;ome con&s;ider|able time before the Lea&s;e Commenced, and the Farmers were at
<PB REF="6"> the Expence of near 5000 <HI>l.</HI> more, with Intere&s;t and other in|cident Charges in Seating the &s;ame, both for the ea&s;e of the Clothiers and Drapers, before they had made any profit, by the rea&s;on of the &s;tanding out of &s;everal con&s;iderable Counties in the former Lea&s;es, and notwith&s;tanding all that great Summ paid down, and the incident Charges, yet the Farmers took not advantage of any one Seizure, but only to Seal the Goods; which I think was very good Service done by him, and was then looked upon &s;o; and the rather, that the &s;aid Shop|keepers were not only freed from the Fines and Rent formerly paid by them, but from future damages, or any expence for the &s;ame; be&s;ides which Mr. <HI>Carter</HI> cau&s;ed the Shalloon-Makers in the Counties of <HI>Southampton,</HI> and <HI>Berks,</HI> to be ea&s;ed one quarter of what they had paid the former Farmers.</P>
<P>And al&s;o procured the Clothiers them&s;elves, or &s;uch as they ap|proved to be Collectors, or Deputies; which I think was real Service to all parties concerned.</P>
<P>And if any accidental difference falls out, he is &s;till ready to endea|vour to accommodate the &s;ame: And therefore he de&s;erves not to be &s;tigmatized, as he is in that Paper Printed, and &s;ent into mo&s;t Towns in <HI>England;</HI> who has without charging, Faithfully and heartily pro&s;e|cuted the &s;ame de&s;ign he ever did. <HI>(Viz.)</HI> Settling the duty in its right place, and to prevent all abu&s;es that have or may happen to the Retaylers thereby; which as it hath been &s;o, I doubt not but it will be his con&s;tant endeavour.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>J. R.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
<PB REF="7">
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="table of contents">
<PB REF="7">
<HEAD>The Contents,</HEAD>
<P><TABLE>
<ROW>
<CELL>THat in <HI>Nov.</HI> 1667. I di&s;covered great quantityes of <HI>Wooll</HI> that had been exported in <HI>Augu&s;t</HI> before, from <HI>Rumney-mar&s;h</HI> (and &s;eized &s;ome) and al&s;o from <HI>Ireland,</HI> and di&s;covered the &s;ame to the <HI>Parliament</HI> then &s;itting,</CELL>
<CELL><HI>p.</HI> 1st.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>I petitioned <HI>K. Ch.</HI> 2<HI>d.</HI> for a Party of Hor&s;e in <HI>Rumney-mar&s;h,</HI> and &s;ome Frigats at Sea, which was granted, and thereby great quan|tities of <HI>Wooll</HI> were prevented from Exportation,</CELL>
<CELL><HI>i. b.</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Sept.</HI> 1668, I made Propo&s;als to the &s;aid <HI>K. Ch.</HI> to prevent the Exportation of <HI>Wooll,</HI> which was reffered to the Council of Trade, and reported,</CELL>
<CELL><HI>p.</HI> 2<HI>d.</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL><HI>Augu&s;t,</HI> 69 I Addre&s;t the &s;aid King, about <HI>Ireland,</HI> which was refered to the Ld. <HI>Roberts</HI> then going, and good effects there were by preventing great quantities of <HI>Wooll</HI> from being carried beyond Sea,</CELL>
<CELL><HI>i. b.</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>About the &s;aid <HI>Mon.</HI> of <HI>Augu&s;t,</HI> I made a di&s;covery of 5 Ve&s;&s;els that came into <HI>Callice</HI> with <HI>Wooll,</HI> and obtained the then Lord Keepers Letters, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>p.</HI> 2<HI>d.</HI> and 3<HI>d.</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>By a Report from the Lord Cheif Baron, in <HI>Ianuary</HI> 1671, is the effects of my pur&s;uing the former di&s;covery,</CELL>
<CELL><HI>p. 6th.</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>In the &s;aid Year of 71, I prevented a de&s;ign of Tran&s;porting <HI>Wooll</HI> from <HI>Ireland,</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>p.</HI> 19.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>That I pro&s;ecuted at the A&s;&s;izes in <HI>Maid&s;ton</HI> in <HI>Kent,</HI> fower Per&s;ons, and convicted the &s;ame,</CELL>
<CELL><HI>p. 7th.</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>An Ab&s;tract of an Adverti&s;ement to the <HI>Merchants,</HI> and <HI>Clo|thiers</HI> in the Year 1672,</CELL>
<CELL><HI>p.</HI> 16. 17. 18.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>In the Year 1678, I prevented the de&s;ign of Mr. <HI>Monk,</HI> of le&s;&s;ening the penalties of the Laws for the preventing the Exporta|tion of <HI>Wooll,</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>p. 8th.</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<PB REF="8">
<ROW>
<CELL>In the Year 1684, I prevented a farther de&s;ign of the &s;aid Mr. <HI>Monk,</HI> in a Commi&s;&s;ion, and petitioned the <HI>Lords</HI> of the <HI>Trea|&s;ury</HI> to Impower the &s;everal Companies of <HI>Merchants &amp;c.</HI> To take a perticular care of that Affaier, and thereupon I did then affre&s;h undertake to look after it, and I prevented great quantities of <HI>Wooll</HI> that Year from Exportation,</CELL>
<CELL><HI>p. 9th.</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>In the Year 85, I attended the <HI>Parliament,</HI> for the Pa&s;&s;ing of a <HI>Bill,</HI> and petitioned the late King for 2 <HI>Sloops</HI> to Cru&s;e upon the Seas, and did obtain them, tho' oppo&s;ed by the then Commi&s;&s;ioners of the Cu&s;toms; by which means there was above 20 <HI>French</HI> Shal|lops taken, and condemned, with 2 or 300 <HI>Baggs</HI> of <HI>Wooll,</HI> be|&s;ides much ca&s;t over-bord,</CELL>
<CELL><HI>p, 10th.</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>That in <HI>May</HI> 1686, I did reque&s;t, and did obtain an <HI>Order</HI> from the then <HI>Lord Trea&s;urer,</HI> to bring up the <HI>Wooll</HI> which was condemned, to <HI>London,</HI> and to be &s;old to the <HI>Clothiers,</HI> which be|fore u&s;ed to be &s;old after Seazure, to tho&s;e that had exported it, and then exported by them again,</CELL>
<CELL><HI>p. 11th.</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>That in <HI>Dece.</HI> 1686, I di&s;covered a de&s;ign of gaining a Lycence to Export 6000 <HI>Baggs</HI> of <HI>Wooll</HI> from <HI>Ireland,</HI> and prevented the &s;ame,</CELL>
<CELL><HI>p. 12th.</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>A di&s;covery of a Confederacy betwixt the Officers of the Cu&s;toms, and the Exporters of <HI>Wooll,</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>p. 12th. 13th.</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>The Difficulty I was put to, and Examinations at the Trea&s;ury,</CELL>
<CELL><HI>p. 14th. 15th.</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
</TABLE></P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="account">
<PB N="1" REF="8">
<HEAD>THE PROCEEDINGS Of William Carter Again&s;t TRANSPORTATION OF WOOLL.</HEAD>
<P>WHereas divers Merchants, Clothiers and Factors, upon con&s;ideration of the great detri|ment that accrued to this Kingdom, and to the Woollen Trade thereof, in that great quantities of Wooll were tran&s;ported frequently into <HI>France, Holland,</HI> and <HI>Flanders</HI> &amp;c. did de|&s;ire and encourage me, to endevour the preventing the &s;ame; which being readily willing to undertake, I perceived that tho' there were many &s;evere Laws made again&s;t exporting Wooll, and tho' the wi&s;dom of our Ance&s;ters &s;ound it &s;o mi&s;cheivous and de&s;tructive to this Kingdom, as to make the Offence Capital, notwith&s;tanding either by the wilful corruption, or gro&s;s neg|lect of Officers, great quantities of Wooll were clande&s;tinely exported, by tho&s;e who, for a little private gain to them&s;elves, dare venture their Necks, to ruin the Trade of a Nation.</P>
<P>Applying my &s;elf therefore cheerfully to &s;o nece&s;&s;ary a Work in <HI>Augu&s;t</HI> 1667, I made a di&s;co|very of twelve <HI>French</HI> Shallops loaded in one Night, from <HI>Rumney-Mar&s;h</HI> in <HI>Kent,</HI> with con&s;ider|able quantities of Wooll, and &s;ometime afterwards, I cau&s;ed a quantity of Wooll, to be &s;eized as it was carrying on the Beach, near <HI>Camber</HI> Point in the &s;aid <HI>Mar&s;h,</HI> in order to be &s;hipped on board &s;ome Shallops, that lay in <HI>Rye</HI> Harbour.</P>
<P>I al&s;o di&s;covered great quantities of Wooll, likewi&s;e exported beyond Sea out of <HI>Ireland;</HI> al|though in that Kingdom, the exportation thereof be al&s;o prohibited, unle&s;s the &s;ame by Li|cence be exported into <HI>England.</HI></P>
<P>At the next Parliament, in <HI>November</HI> 1667. I pre&s;ented the exportation of Wooll, and the National Dangers thereof, to the Hou&s;e of Commons, which being referred to a Committee, to con&s;ider of, they examining of the <HI>Iri&s;h</HI> exportations, &s;oon found the ground of that Mi&s;chief to be, that under colour of a Licence granted by his late Maje&s;tie, to export &s;ome hundred Packs of Wooll, &s;everal thou&s;and Packs were colour'd by that Licence from <HI>Ireland:</HI> Upon which the &s;aid Committee made an Addre&s;s to his &s;aid Maje&s;tie, to revoke the &s;aid Licence, for the apparent frauds practi&s;ed therein, which his Maje&s;tie accordingly did.</P>
<P>After the adjurnment of that Parliament, upon the importunity of the &s;aid Merchants, and finding the Wooll-exporters, by their impunity grown to &s;uch confidence, as to Ship off their Wooll openly in the day time, with armed Men to a&s;&s;i&s;t them, in the doing thereof; I petiti|oned his &s;aid Maje&s;tie for a party of Hor&s;e to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">cout about <HI>Rumny</HI> Mar&s;h, and &s;ome Frigats to cru&s;e at Sea, to prevent tho&s;e exportations, which by his &s;aid Maje&s;tys Grace and Favour I did obtain, and by my attendance, &s;ometimes at Sea, and &s;ometimes at Land, with one and &s;ome|times two Servants, did prevent the exportation of above one Thou&s;and Packs of Wooll that Summer from the &s;aid Mar&s;h, and by that means was bought up by the Clothiers and Staplers, which the Year before was mo&s;t of it Exported.</P>
<P>In <HI>September</HI> 1668, I pre&s;ented &s;ome propo&s;als to his &s;aid Maje&s;ty in Council, in order to pre|vent the &s;aid exportations, which were referred the <HI>20th</HI> of <HI>November</HI> following to the Coun|cil, of Trade, with this particular Order, <HI>(Viz.)</HI> <Q REND="inline">You are very &s;trictly to enquire, and in form your &s;elves by what ways and practi&s;es the Wooll of this Kingdom comes to be &s;tollen, embe&s;&s;ed, and &s;ent away into forreign Parts, contrary to Law; what places <HI>(&amp;c.)</HI> are mo&s;t &s;u&s;pected in <HI>England</HI> or el&s;e where, and who doth buy the &s;aid Wooll in tho&s;e places, to the end that nothing of care or watch may be omitted, but that all &s;uch &s;trict and &s;evere cour&s;es be taken, that an evil, &s;o mi&s;cheivous and inconvenient, may be to ally prevented.</Q></P>
<PB N="2" REF="9">
<P>When I carryed this Order, with my Propo&s;als, to the &s;aid Council of Trade, they imme|diatly cho&s;e a &s;elect Committee on purpo&s;e to peru&s;e them, where I was ordered to attend, which attendance la&s;ted a good part of that Winter; the &s;aid Committee &s;ummoned and heard divers Merchants, Clothiers, Factors, and Staplers, and then made their Report, which was Read before his Maje&s;ty in Council, upon which, an Order was made the 2. of <HI>April</HI> 1669. in the&s;e words <HI>(viz.)</HI></P>
<P><HI>Whereas in pur&s;uance of an Order of this Board, of the</HI> 20th. <HI>of</HI> November <HI>la&s;t, referring, to the Council of Trade the Propo&s;als of</HI> William Carter, <HI>for preventing the Exportation of Wooll; the &s;aid Councel having returned their Report to the Board, that having di&s;cour&s;ed with the &s;aid</HI> Willam Carter, <HI>and &s;uch other Per&s;ons, as they thought capable of giving them any good information, touching this mat|ter, they find the Exportation of</HI> Wooll, <HI>is of a de&s;tructive con&s;equence to the Trade of this Kingdom, and that the &s;ame hath grown into practice; as well by rea&s;on of the doubtfullne&s;s and provi&s;ions in the Statute made in the</HI> 12th <HI>year of his Maje&s;ties Reign Prohibiting the Exportation of</HI> Wooll, <HI>as by the neglect and remi&s;&s;ne&s;s of Officers, in not putting the Laws in execution:</HI> And therefore propo&s;ed, that the care of that bu&s;ine&s;s, &s;hould be e&s;pecially recommended to the Pre&s;ident and Governors of <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> Ho&s;pital in <HI>London,</HI> for the &s;everal Rea&s;ons in the &s;aid Report, pur&s;uant to which Report, his Maje&s;tie directed a Commi&s;&s;ion to pa&s;s under the great Seal of <HI>England</HI> for that purpo&s;e, to the &s;aid Pre&s;edent and Governors: but before the Commi&s;&s;ion pa&s;t under Seal, I did carry the &s;aid Report, and Order upon it to the Pre&s;ident and Governors of the &s;aid Ho&s;pital, who imme|diately cau&s;ed a Court to be called, and upon reading thereof, did accept of that Authority then intended to be given them, upon which I informed the Council of their willingne&s;s there|in, and did then proceed and &s;olicite the bu&s;ine&s;s &s;o <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ar, as to pa&s;s the Commi&s;&s;ion at my own charge, under the great Seal, and carried it to the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">re&s;ident and Governors, in expectation they would have taken it upon them, as they had agreed, but in &s;ome &s;hort time after they de|clined the imployment, and returned the Commi&s;&s;ion back to the King and Council, and plain|ly refu&s;ed to act therein, upon &s;ome frivolous objections, without allowing me one penny for the money expended, which was not le&s;s th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n 40<HI>l.</HI> be&s;ides my own Labour and Attendance.</P>
<P>The next Se&s;&s;ion of Parliament, being in the year 1669 Sr. <HI>Orlando Bridgman</HI> the then Lord Keeper, brought into the Hou&s;e of Lords an explainitory Bill for hindring the &s;aid Exportation, under &s;ome new penalties.</P>
<P>Before which time <HI>William Facon</HI> of <HI>Canterbury</HI> Wooll-Comber, and one <HI>Mar&s;h</HI> of <HI>Hoakam</HI> near <HI>Dover</HI> a Farmer, were brought up before the Hou&s;e of Commons for Exporting 44 Packs of Combed <HI>Wooll</HI> from <HI>Canterbury,</HI> where being examined, they were ordred to be tryed at the the next A&s;&s;izes at <HI>Maid&s;tone</HI> in <HI>Kent,</HI> whereupon I was comanded by his Maje&s;tie and Council, to pro&s;ecute them according to Law, for the &s;aid Felony; but when I came to <HI>Maid&s;tone</HI> I could not hear of any &s;uch per&s;on, there being no Recogni&s;ance taken for their appearing there, nor any Witne&s;&s;es attending to prove the Fact, &s;o I lo&s;t my Jorney but afterwards I under&s;tood that he had compounded with his Accu&s;ers, and taken off the Witne&s;&s;es, &s;o that the Order of the Hou&s;e of Commons, and his Maje&s;ties care therein, proved altogether ineffectual.</P>
<P>About <HI>Augu&s;t</HI> following in the &s;ame year 1669, under&s;tanding that the Late Earl of <HI>Radnor</HI> was de&s;igned to go Lord Leivtenant for <HI>Ireland,</HI> I petioned his Maje&s;tie in Council, for &s;ome care to be taken in preventing the Exportation of Wooll from <HI>Ireland,</HI> who was plea&s;ed to Or|der a Letter in Council, recomending the care thereof, to the &s;aid Lord Lievtenant, on whome I waited at his departure as far as <HI>St. A<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">bans,</HI> and at my parting with his Excellency there, he promi&s;ed to Act effectually therein, which his Lord&s;hip did accordingly: In &s;o much, that within &s;ix weeks time after he came to <HI>Ireland,</HI> there were landed at <HI>Minehead,</HI> above one thou&s;and Packs of <HI>Wooll</HI> more in that time, than had been there landed within the like &s;pace of time, in any year before, and the like proportionable at <HI>Liverpool, Che&s;ter, Bri&s;tol</HI> and <HI>Barn&s;table,</HI> which quantitie of <HI>Wooll</HI> in other years u&s;ed to be Exported out of <HI>Ireland</HI> beyond the Seas, upon pretence of being &s;hipt for <HI>England.</HI></P>
<P>In a &s;hort time after, I made a di&s;covery of five Ve&s;&s;els loaden with <HI>Wooll</HI> arived at <HI>Callice</HI> in <HI>France,</HI> one of which belonging to <HI>Dover,</HI> two to <HI>Folk&s;tone,</HI> and two to <HI>Hythe</HI> in the County of <HI>Kent,</HI> upon which the Lord <HI>Keeper</HI> was ordred by the King in Council, to write a letter to the Mayors of <HI>Dover, Folk&s;tone</HI> and <HI>Hythe,</HI> which was to this effect.</P>
<PB N="3" REF="9">
<FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="letter">
<OPENER><SALUTE>Gentlemen,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P><HI>THis bearer</HI> William Carter <HI>brings along with him a Coppy of an Information, concerning the Tran&s;portation of</HI> Wooll; <HI>but it being a matter of &s;o high Concernment to his Maje&s;tie and this Kingdom, as &s;carce any thing more; to prevent the Tran&s;portation of</HI> Wooll, <HI>and the puni&s;hment of the Offenders: I do earne&s;tly recommend it to you, to examin the Per&s;ons named in the Information, and to make all the enquiry you can, concerning the&s;e and &s;uch others, as you &s;hall have cau&s;e to &s;u&s;pect to be guilty in this kind, and to certifie what you find herein, that his Maje&s;tie in Council may give further Orders there|upon, not doubting of your care herein,</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your Loving Friend <HI>Orlando Bridgman.</HI></SIGNED>
<DATELINE><HI>E&s;&s;.</HI> Hou&s;e, <DATE><HI>Aug.</HI> 30. 1669.</DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
</FLOATEXT>
<P>With this Letter I rod Po&s;t to <HI>Dover,</HI> and having there &s;ecured one <HI>Thomas Peirce,</HI> a Ma&s;ter of one of the &s;aid Ve&s;&s;els; whil&s;t he was examining before the Mayor, his wife being pre&s;ent, and hearing the names read of the other Ma&s;ters at <HI>Folk&s;tone,</HI> and <HI>Hythe</HI> in the Information men|tioned, and her Husbands Ve&s;&s;el then lying at <HI>Folk&s;tone,</HI> &s;he pre&s;ently gets a Hor&s;e and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">rides thither, and di&s;covers the bu&s;ine&s;s there; by which means, when I came to <HI>Folk&s;tone,</HI> (tho' it was the &s;ame day) I was fru&s;trated of my de&s;ign there, the Mayor and Ma&s;ters being all got out of the way before I came, but ha&s;ting to <HI>Hythe,</HI> by chance met with one <HI>Mark Spicer,</HI> Ma&s;ter of another of the &s;aid Ve&s;&s;els: But before I could find the Mayor of <HI>Hythe,</HI> to examine the &s;aid <HI>Spicer,</HI> he made his e&s;cape towards <HI>Folk&s;tone,</HI> whether I followed him, and ju&s;t as he came to the Sea &s;ide, where a Boat lay to receive him, I &s;eized him; but the Women of the Town being before alaramed by <HI>Perce</HI>'s Wife (it being all in one day) came out of their Hou&s;es, and gathered up &s;tones upon the Beach, which they flung about my ears &s;o violently, that having no help, I was forced to quit my Pri&s;oner, hardly e&s;caping my &s;elfe.</P>
<P>Returning back to <HI>London,</HI> and there being a Council de&s;igned to meet at <HI>Hampton Court,</HI> I went thither and waited on the Lord <HI>Keeper Bridgman,</HI> to whome I gave an account of my whole Journey, his Lord&s;hip ordred me to attend while the Council &s;ate, which I did, and was then called in and related all the &s;aid particular pa&s;&s;ages to his Maje&s;tie, who was plea&s;ed to command me to go down into <HI>Kent</HI> again, and ordered a party of Hor&s;e to a&s;&s;i&s;t me.</P>
<P>But before the party of Hor&s;e were ready, I received an Information of Ten Thou&s;and Stones of <HI>Wooll,</HI> Shipt in five Ve&s;&s;els from <HI>Gallaway</HI> in <HI>Ireland,</HI> and coulorably entred for <HI>Ply|mouth</HI> and <HI>London,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>I better knowing, than being able to prevent the u&s;ual Frauds practi&s;ed in <HI>Ireland,</HI> where under pretence of getting a Licence from the Lord <HI>Livetenant,</HI> to Ship <HI>Wooll</HI> for <HI>England,</HI> &s;ome|times double the quantity Licenced was Shipt, and the Law requiring Bonds with &s;ureties, to be given for landing the <HI>Wooll</HI> Licenced at &s;ome Port in <HI>England,</HI> &s;ome times in&s;ufficient Secu|rity was taken, and &s;o the Bonds were of no effect, &s;ometimes fal&s;e and counterfeit Certificates were procured out of <HI>England,</HI> in di&s;charge of tho&s;e Bonds, that the <HI>Wooll</HI> was landed in <HI>Eng|land,</HI> when in truth it was not, &s;ometimes tho&s;e Bonds tho' actualy forfited and detected, yet were ea&s;ily compounded for at low and cheap Rates, and at other times by the corruption of Officers, &s;everal Bonds were compounded for, a&s;&s;oon as they were entred into, even before the departure of the Ve&s;&s;el out of the Port, whereby Offenders were incouraged to break the Laws, by knowing and paying the price of their Puni&s;hment before they committed the Offence; which mi&s;cheifs being willing to obviate &s;o far as I was able, upon diligent enquiring, I had good rea&s;on to &s;u&s;pect, the &s;aid Ten Thou&s;and Stone of <HI>Wooll</HI> was really de&s;igned to be Export|ed beyond the Sea, and not intended either for <HI>Plymouth</HI> or <HI>London,</HI> as was pretended by the Entries.</P>
<PB N="4" REF="10">
<P>And thereupon I applyed my &s;elf to the then Farmers of his Maje&s;ties Cu&s;toms, for an order to ride down into the Southern Ports, to examine what <HI>Wooll</HI> was lately come thither from <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">reland,</HI> to prevent Frauds by counterfit Certificates, which I obtained. Being arrived at <HI>Exeter</HI> with their Order, I under&s;tood, that one <HI>Blake</HI> an <HI>Iri&s;h</HI> Man had been lately there, tampering with &s;ome of the Cu&s;tom Officers, to get the Form of their u&s;ual Seal, and the Names of the &s;aid Officers; upon which I immediatly wrote to my Corre&s;pondent in <HI>Ireland,</HI> who upon my Information found out the &s;aid <HI>Blake</HI> at <HI>Galloway,</HI> and di&s;covered that he was concerned in all, or mo&s;t of the &s;aid five Ve&s;&s;els, and that he had gotten counterfit Certificates, Importing as if the &s;aid Wooll had been really landed in <HI>England,</HI> when it was not, and by that Means was de&s;igning to get up or di&s;charge the &s;aid Bonds, but I prevented the doing there|of by examining the Matter, and finding that &s;ome of tho&s;e Ve&s;&s;els unloaded their Wooll at <HI>Flu&s;hen</HI> in <HI>Zeland,</HI> &s;ome at <HI>Am&s;terdam,</HI> and one at St. <HI>Ma<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">os</HI> in <HI>France;</HI> of the Truth of which I procured Oaths and Atte&s;tations, &s;ome of which are now in my Cu&s;tody, whereby tho&s;e falce Certificates were detected, and the di&s;charge of tho&s;e Bonds prevented.</P>
<P>Afterwards returning to <HI>London,</HI> and di&s;patching into <HI>Kent,</HI> according to His Maje&s;tie's Com|mand, the Party of Hor&s;e being then gone before to <HI>Canterbury,</HI> for my A&s;&s;i&s;tance in <HI>Rumney-Mar&s;h,</HI> we had Notice of a parcel of Wooll, &s;ecured in a Hou&s;e called <HI>Brokman</HI>&punc;s <HI>Barn,</HI> which &s;ecuring and the Per&s;on in who&s;e Cu&s;tody it was, a great Di&s;covery by him (of other Exporters) was made and pro&s;ecuted, as more fully may appear hereafter.</P>
<P>&rindx; Note, <HI>That</HI> William Facon <HI>before nentioned, who had been before the Hou&s;e of Commons,</HI> Anno Dom. 1668, <HI>was brought up to the King and Council, in</HI> Anno Dom. 1669, <HI>and before he could have his Tryal, was privately Compounded with by his Accu&s;ers the &s;econd time, tho' the King had expre&s;ly ordered his Tryal.</HI></P>
<P>In <HI>September</HI> 1669, the Late King going to meet His Si&s;ter the Princes <HI>Henereta Maria,</HI> at <HI>Dover,</HI> (during His aboad there) going out one day to Sea, and ob&s;erving a Ve&s;&s;el belonging to Cap|tain <HI>John St<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ell,</HI> Sergeant to the Admiralty, to out Sail any of His own Plea&s;ure Boats: Such was the Zeal His Maje&s;ty had again&s;t the Exportation of Wooll, and his Care to prevent it, that He was plea&s;ed to hire Her on purpo&s;e for that Service, Commanding the A&s;&s;i&s;tance of my Ad|vice to the Captain, in Cru&s;ing about the Coa&s;t of <HI>Kent,</HI> to prevent the &s;aid Exportation, which was &s;o &s;uccesful, with &s;ome other Ve&s;&s;els for &s;ome time, that together with the Di&s;cove|ry before mentioned, both as to <HI>Ireland</HI> and <HI>Kent,</HI> a great &s;top was then put to the &s;aid Expor|tation; which is confirmed in a Letter, afterwards wrote from <HI>Lile,</HI> the 5^t^h^. of <HI>March</HI> 1671, viz.</P>
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<OPENER><SALUTE>Sir.</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P><HI>I Received Yours of the</HI> 17^t^h^. <HI>&amp;</HI> 27^t^h^. <HI>of</HI> February, <HI>under co|vert,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>about the Wooll Affair; I have much <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ea&s;on to believe, unle&s;s &s;ome are made Examples, there will be continual Abu&s;e; the Comodity both</HI> Engli&s;h <HI>and</HI> Iri&s;h, <HI>Raw and Combed, abound &s;o much in the&s;e Countries, that for that which would yeild, not long &s;ince</HI> 8 Stivers <HI>and a half</HI> per. <HI>Pound, will yeild now but</HI> 6 <HI>and a half; yet they would be contert to give</HI> 15 <HI>rather than want it, for they cannot make abundance of</HI> Fabrik, <HI>viz</HI> Wollen Manufacture, <HI>without</HI> Engli&s;h <HI>or</HI> Iri&s;h <HI>Wooll.</HI></P>
<P><HI>There is a City not</HI> 5 <HI>Leagues from this, called</HI> Tourney, <HI>a Place renownd, for the making of all &s;orts of Stockings of Wooll; it's not above</HI> 20 <HI>Years &s;ince, that they betook them&s;elves, to make the Wor&s;ted Ho&s;e; A Trade, whicb in my Minority, was con&s;iderable from</HI> London, <HI>into the&s;e Countries, and now you may have a Parcel of</HI> Engli&s;h <HI>Wor&s;ted Ho&s;e</HI> 20 <HI>Years by you,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P><HI>It's not above three Year<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> agon, that there was a&s;carcity of Combed Wooll, in this Quarter of the Coun|try, and &s;everal of tho&s;e Stocking Merchants, came hither to buy &s;ome; I told them, that &s;uch &s;everity was u&s;ed in</HI> England, <HI>that People Were mad if they Adventure.</HI></P>
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<PB N="5" REF="10">
<P>The next Se&s;&s;ion of Parliament 1670, the Hou&s;e of Commons being under the Con&s;ideration of rai&s;ing of Money for His Maje&s;ty; it was propounded, that Wooll might be Tran&s;ported from <HI>Ireland,</HI> paying 2<HI>d.</HI> or 3<HI>d.</HI> Per. <HI>pound</HI> Cu&s;tom, and 3 rea&s;ons, was offered, the an&s;wer to which; I &s;hall now wave tell I come the to proceeding in Parlement in a di&s;tinct di&s;cour&s;e.</P>
<P>The Parliament then adjourning in the year 1671, I &s;etled a Corre&s;pondancy in <HI>Irland</HI> and <HI>Flanders,</HI> in order to know, whether the quantities of <HI>Wooll</HI> exported from one was caried to the other, and directed Captain <HI>Steel,</HI> the Owner and Ma&s;ter of the Ve&s;&s;el beforementioned, to &s;tear his cour&s;e accordingly, but after this Core&s;pondancy was &s;etled I was taken ill of a Feavor in <HI>June</HI> 1671 which held me 4 monthes, and a little time after the &s;aid Ve&s;&s;el was called in, and &s;o the Exporters for &s;ome time had liberty to carry out their <HI>Wooll</HI> without controul.</P>
<P>In <HI>Augu&s;t</HI> 1671 one <HI>Edward Nichols,</HI> being commited to Newgate dureing my &s;ickne&s;s for Tran&s;porting <HI>Wooll,</HI> and no per on being willing to pro&s;ecute him, was like to be di&s;charged upon which I a&s;&s;oon as I was recovered did Immediately addre&s;s my &s;elf to his Maje&s;tie in Council, for the further continuance of the &s;aid <HI>Nichols</HI> in Pri&s;on, till he &s;hould be di&s;charged by Law, and an Order was forthwith granted accordingly. But there aro&s;e a Que&s;tian before the King and Council, in what Court he &s;hould be <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">rve<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, whether by the Admiralty; or by common Law, (the Ve&s;&s;el b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ing taken with the <HI>Wooll</HI> in the River of <HI>Thames</HI> near <HI>Graves-end)</HI> and it was refer'd to all the Judges to meet and con&s;ider the matter, and afterwards to Report their Opinion to the King, upon which Report, it was debated before the King in the pre&s;ence of the &s;aid Judg|es, and the then Judg <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">f the Admiralty, whither the &s;aid <HI>Nichols</HI> &s;hould be tryed by Common Law or not, and a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">er a long con&s;ultation in the Council, it was Ordered as followeth, <HI>(viz.)</HI></P>
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<OPENER><DATELINE>White Hall <DATE><HI>the</HI> 13th. <HI>of</HI> December 1671:</DATE></DATELINE></OPENER>
<P><HI>It is this day Ordered by his Maje&s;tie in Council, that the Recorder of the City of</HI> London <HI>do, and is hereby required, by the le&s;t wayes he can, &s;peedily to find out in what County that part of the River of</HI> Thames <HI>lyeth, wherein the &s;aid</HI> Edward Nichols <HI>was apprehended, for Tran&s;porting of</HI> Wooll <HI>contrary to Lay, and that he Report the &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">me to the Lord Cheif Ju&s;tice of his Maje&s;ties Court of</HI> Kings Bench; <HI>to the end his Lord&s;hip may give order for removal of the &s;aid Pri&s;oner, to the Goal of the &s;aid County, where it &s;hall appear he was taken, in order to his Tryal at the next A&s;&s;izes, to be holden for that County.</HI></P>
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<P>But the burthen and care of ob&s;erving this Order, lay cheifly on me: Tho' the Ve&s;&s;el was in truth taken with the Wooll on board on the <HI>E&s;&s;ex</HI> &s;hore, and for that rea&s;on the Pri&s;oner re|moved to <HI>Chelmsford</HI> Goal, and thence brought to Tryal at <HI>Chelmsford</HI> A&s;&s;izes, yet upon exa|mining the Witne&s;&s;es on the Tryal it did appear, that the Pri&s;oner was not &s;ecured when the Ve&s;&s;el was Seized, tho' then on Board, but got away out of the Ve&s;&s;el, and two daies after were taken on Shore at <HI>Graves-end,</HI> upon which the Tryal was Ordered to be at the then next <HI>Maid&s;tone</HI> A&s;&s;izes, held for the County of <HI>Kent,</HI> which was the <HI>12th.</HI> of <HI>Marcb</HI> 1671, Where|upon my pro&s;ecution, the &s;aid <HI>Nichols</HI> was tryed and Convicted of Felony, as afterward will more fully appear: About which time I did al&s;o di&s;cover the owner of the Wooll for which <HI>Nichols</HI> was Convict, and cau&s;ed him to be taken into Cu&s;tody, and unto Tryal al&s;o; but not|with&s;tanding, his mony purcha&s;ed &s;uch Intre&s;t, that he did Compound and was di&s;charged, without my knowledg, and again&s;t my will: About which time, and before the Tryal of the &s;aid <HI>Nichols,</HI> I petitioned his late Maje&s;ty for &s;ome &s;upply to carry on the Affayre; which be|ing refered to the then Lord Cheif Barron, his Lord&s;hip Reported as followeth, <HI>(viz.)</HI></P>
<PB N="6" REF="11">
<FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="letter">
<OPENER><SALUTE>May it plea&s;e Your Mo&s;t Excellent Maje&s;ty.</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P><HI>In Obedience to your Maje&s;ties &s;econd Order of Refferance bearing, date the</HI> 20th. <HI>of</HI> December <HI>la&s;t, hereunto annexed; I have con&s;idered of the Matter thereby to me Refered, and have di&s;cour&s;ed with the Petitioner about his Charges and Ex|pence, in pro&s;ecuting the Tran&s;porters of Wooll; the which he hath reduced to &s;ome certainty, and put it into writing, and hath al&s;o made Affidavit of the Truth thereof; the which is likewi&s;e hereunto annexed, whereby it appears that during the&s;e</HI> 4 <HI>Years la&s;t pa&s;t, wherein he hath brought into your Maje&s;ties Exchequer about</HI> 800<HI>l. more than in former Years had been received, he hath Expended near as much, but there be many more Informations &s;till depending, if proved may bring in a grater Summ; But without &s;ome &s;upply at pre&s;ent from your Ma|je&s;ty he will not be able to proceed with them; if therefore your Maje&s;ty be plea&s;|ed to give your Petitioner</HI> 300<HI>l. it will incourage and Inable him to pro&s;ecute the Informations depending. And if he &s;hall Convict the Offenders, he will be capa|ble of your Maje&s;ties further Grace and Favour, all which I mo&s;t humbly &s;ubmit unto your Maje&s;ties Judgment.</HI></P>
<CLOSER><DATE>January 3<HI>d.</HI> 1671.</DATE>
<SIGNED>Ed. Turnor.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</FLOATEXT>
<P>In which Report it doth appear that I had then expended 800<HI>l.</HI> and ordered 300<HI>l.</HI> in part until other Pro&s;ecutions brought in more Money, in a further pur&s;uance of the &s;aid Offenders, I expended about 150<HI>l.</HI> more, and the very Fees, Attendances, and Gratuitys to recieve the 300<HI>l.</HI> co&s;t me 50<HI>l.</HI> &s;o that I had then but 100<HI>l.</HI> towards my 800<HI>l.</HI> And tho' I had pro&s;ecuted &s;everal Offenders <HI>(viz.)</HI> Indicted &s;ome at the A&s;&s;izes and exhibited divers Informations in the Exchequer again&s;t others, yet notwith&s;tanding, partly by Compo&s;itions of the Officers, and partly by an Act of Parliament for a general pardon, I was then fru&s;trated of my de&s;ign, and prevented recieving the Ballance of my Accounts, be&s;ides which being then complained a|gain&s;t by &s;ome, for u&s;ing a Millitary Power, <HI>(viz)</HI> a party of Hor&s;e in that Affayre, though on|ly for the pre&s;ervation of my own and others Lives, in execution of the known Laws; I was forced to decline that &s;ervice at that time in <HI>Kent,</HI> the effect of all which was, that great quan|tities of Wooll was then exported, as well from <HI>Ireland</HI> as from <HI>Kent,</HI> which is confirmed by the following Leter, part of which I have before incerted to prove the effect of my fir&s;t at|tempt, the remainder follows, <HI>(viz.)</HI></P>
<P><HI>Both</HI> Engli&s;h <HI>and</HI> Iri&s;h <HI>Wooll, Raw and Kembed abounds much in the&s;e Countrys, and for the Kembed Wooll, mo&s;t of which comes from</HI> Dover <HI>and</HI> Canterbury <HI>Tran&s;porters:</HI> Callis, Deep, St. Vallerys, Abliveile, Amens, Dunkirk, O&s;tend, Bridgees, Zealand, Rotterdam, <HI>and</HI> Ghent, <HI>all over the&s;e Provinces, every place is choaked with it; &s;o that you may ea&s;ily &s;ee how in&s;en&s;ibly th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> Dover <HI>and</HI> Canterbury <HI>Tran&s;porters, draw the Kingdoms Hearts Blood from them; I could ad much more of the great benefit our Neighbours receive by it, which proves to an ab&s;olute Ruine; But I gue&s;s you can as ea&s;ily comprehend my Meaning, as if I had further enlarged.</HI></P>
<P><HI>In a word</HI> France <HI>rejects our Fabricks at this day, pre&s;uming that they &s;hall never want our Wooll to make their own fanta&s;tick Fabricks, which are &s;o variable, as puts a great &s;top to the Currant de|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nd, that u&s;ed to be of our more &s;olid Fabricks, for they will pretend to give the Mode to all the World;</HI>
<PB N="7" REF="11"> <HI>and &s;o by this means, in time, all the World will be di&s;gu&s;ted with our Fabricks, when by Con&s;equence, they &s;hall receive the Mode from the French; con&s;ider of this I pray, that &s;o there may be &s;ome &s;peedy remedy.</HI></P>
<P>Which Leter is confirmed by two other in the&s;e words, <HI>(viz.)</HI></P>
<Q><HI>We have here a mi&s;erable Tarriff lalely come forth, that Taxes Serges at</HI> 25, <HI>Cloth at</HI> 40, <HI>Cottens,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>at</HI> 10 <HI>Florens per.</HI> 100 <HI>weight, the mi&s;ery is the great quantity of Wooll that is &s;tolen from</HI> England <HI>to</HI> France.</Q>
<P>So repeating the &s;ub&s;tance of the former Letter only differing expre&s;&s;ions, and more large, concluding in the la&s;t thus, <HI>(viz.)</HI></P>
<Q><HI>The</HI> French <HI>are now got into a way of makeing a low price &s;ort of Cloth, called</HI> Searg de Berry, <HI>which comes as che<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">p as</HI> Northern <HI>Cloth, its about</HI> 5 <HI>quarters broad; they have &s;o much, in wbich they have Cloathed a great number of their Souldiers, and all made of</HI> Engli&s;h <HI>and</HI> Iri&s;h <HI>Wooll.</HI></Q>
<P>After the A&s;&s;izes were over, I went again into <HI>Kent,</HI> and aboad &s;ome time there, looking after the Exporters, on the Sea Coa&s;ts I found 2 Ve&s;&s;els near <HI>Hy<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">he</HI> appointed, and lying ready to carry away Wooll, one of which I had been informed had <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">one little elce for a long time, of which <HI>William <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ayly</HI> before mentioned was Ma&s;ter, the other Ve&s;&s;el was new built by another per&s;on u&s;ually employed in that de&s;ign, but nothing was attempted whil&s;t I was in the Country: But having occa&s;ion to come to <HI>London,</HI> I gave notice of the De&s;ign to two &s;everal Officers, by me appointed to be vig<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">lent, who Seized 12 Packs of the Wooll de&s;igned to be Tran&s;ported in one of the &s;aid Ve&s;&s;els, being brought down to the Sea &s;ide, ready to be &s;hip'd off, and &s;e|cur'd in the Hou&s;e of one <HI>Nicholas Davis,</HI> and afterwards part of it was re&s;cu'd by the Inhabi|tants, who ro&s;e in the night with Weapons, to the number of 20 Per&s;ons, and wounding the Officers, carry'd away 8 of the &s;aid 12 Packs; but afterwards the &s;aid <HI>Nicholas Davis</HI> was taken and &s;ecured, in order to his Tryal.</P>
<P>Thereupon the &s;aid <HI>Nicholas Davis,</HI> together with <HI>Thomas Knight</HI> and <HI>Thomas Stoner,</HI> all three Inhabitants of <HI>Rumney-Mar&s;h,</HI> were by me pro&s;ecuted at <HI>Maid&s;tone</HI> Summer A&s;&s;izes 1671 for Tran&s;porting Wooll, where they were al&s;o Tryed and Convicted thereof; and the &s;ame A&s;&s;iz|es, together with the &s;aid <HI>Edward Nichols,</HI> formerly convicted, were burnt in the Hand, as may appear upon Record.</P>
<P>The&s;e are to Certifie, that at the General Goal delivery holden at <HI>Maid&s;tone,</HI> in the County of <HI>Kent,</HI> the <HI>12th.</HI> of <HI>March</HI> in the <HI>24^t^h,</HI> Year of His now Maje&s;ties Reign 1671 <HI>Edward Ni|chols Marriner</HI> was convicted of <HI>Fellony</HI> for Tran&s;porting of Wooll; And that on the fir&s;t Day of <HI>Augu&s;t</HI> in the <HI>24^t^b.</HI> Year afore&s;aid, <HI>Thomas Night, Nicholas Davis,</HI> and <HI>Thomas Stoner,</HI> were convicted of <HI>Felony</HI> for the like Offence.</P>
<FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="legal report">
<P>The&s;e are further to Certifie, that <HI>Wm. Carter</HI> Gent. did on His Maje&s;ties behalf attend the re&s;pective Tryals of the &s;aid <HI>Nichols, Night, Davis,</HI> and <HI>Stoner,</HI> for the re&s;pective <HI>Felonies</HI> afore|&s;aid, and did then manage the re&s;pective Evidences again&s;t them, and thereupon cau&s;e them to be pro&s;ecuted and convicted for the &s;aid <HI>Felonies</HI> as afore&s;aid; given under my Hand, the <HI>22th.</HI> of <HI>April</HI> 1676, and in the <HI>28th.</HI> Year of our Soveraign Lord <HI>Charles</HI> the Second, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED><HI>Tho. Lee</HI> Clark of the A&s;&s;izes.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
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<P>The&s;e Proceedings being carryed on in the Intervale of Parliaments, at the next Se&s;&s;ion I procured and &s;olicited a Bill to pa&s;s, &s;o farr as to be read twice, refered and engro&s;&s;ed in the Hou&s;e of Commons, being the Sub&s;tance of that Bill before mentioned, brought in by the
<PB N="8" REF="12"> Lord Keeper <HI>Bridgman,</HI> but by the Means of one Mr. <HI>Francis Monk,</HI> it was ob&s;tructed, on pur|po&s;e to u&s;her in another Bill of his projecting, pretendedly to ob&s;truct, but intendedly to en|courage the Exporting Wooll, as by a Draught of the &s;aid Bill it &s;elf is ready to be made appear.</P>
<P>In the Year 167<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, the &s;aid Mr. <HI>Monk</HI> Solicites another Bill in the Hou&s;e of Commons; pretending thereby to make the Laws more practicable; but intending to Repeal the &s;trength of the Act in the 14^t^h^. Year of his late Maje&s;ties Reign, which Bill being Committed, and al|mo&s;t pa&s;t the Committee (I being &s;o much di&s;couraged for want of Money, that I had little In|tere&s;t in the Clarks) neverthele&s;s watching his Motion, did get a worthy Member to move the Committee, to appoint &s;ome <HI>Merchants</HI> and <HI>Factors</HI> to attend them, and to the end, for that time adjorned, by which means I prevented his de&s;ign that Day: And in the mean time printing &s;ome Rea&s;ons again&s;t the Exportation of Wooll, for the Information of the Commit|tee&punc; before their next Meeting; whereupon his Bill was rejected and laid a&s;ide.</P>
<P>After which time little was to be done in Parliament, for 3 or 4 Years, by rea&s;on of other things then Tran&s;acted.</P>
<P>But about he Year 1682, Mr. <HI>Monk</HI> Petitioned the late King in Council, to have a Com|mi&s;&s;ion Empowring divers Per&s;ons to put the Lawes in Execution again&s;t the Exportation of Wooll, &s;ome of which Per&s;ons came to my Hou&s;e in the Country, upon the Pretence that &s;ome Gentlemen at <HI>White&punc;Hall,</HI> being willing to undertake the bu&s;ine&s;s, and hearing that I had &s;pent &s;ome time in that Affaire, de&s;ired my A&s;&s;i&s;tance, and to give them a Meeting, which accordingly I did, and had &s;everal Meetings with the Gentlemen, till I was informed by &s;ome of them that Mr. <HI>Monk</HI> was concerned: Upon which notice I told the Gentlemen, that the Project laid by Mr. <HI>Monk</HI> would not do, and advi&s;ed them to &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">are their Money, and &s;o part|ed: But notwith&s;tanding my Caution, they did proceed upon the &s;aid Petition before men|tioned, untill their whole De&s;igne was laid a&s;ide, as you will find by the following Reffe|rences, and Reports thereon, <HI>(viz.)</HI></P>
<P>By an Order of Council dated the 2<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"><HI>&s;t. March</HI> 1682. and the Reports from the Lords Com|mittee of Trade, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> made to his late Maje&s;tie upon the Petition of <HI>Francis Monk</HI> and others, praying a Commi&s;&s;ion to put in Execution the Laws Prohibiting the Tran&s;portation of Wooll, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Informing his &s;aid Maje&s;tie that there were very great abu&s;es in unlawful Exportations of that kind, which were of pernicious con&s;equence, and that the fitne&s;s of the Commi&s;&s;ioners to be imployed in that Affayre, and the cautions to be u&s;ed therein, were refered to the late Lords of the Trea&s;ury to con&s;ider of, for the better putting of the Laws in Execution.</P>
<P>The matter of the &s;aid Order of Council, with other Papers and Propo&s;als, made by the Petitioners, were referred by their Lord&s;hips, to the Commi&s;&s;ioners of his &s;aid Maje&s;ties Cu&s;|tomes; who by their Report dated the <HI>8th.</HI> of <HI>June</HI> 1683 do approve that &s;ome Per&s;ons be appointed for that Service, under &s;uch Authority as &s;hould &s;eem meet: And that the Per&s;ons to be intru&s;ted ought to be of known Hone&s;ty.</P>
<P>Al&s;o the whole Matter affore&s;aid was referred to <HI>Mr. Attorney General,</HI> who made his Report concurring with the Commi&s;&s;ioners of the Cu&s;tomes; and he further adds, that Security &s;hould be given, that upon Seizures no Compo&s;itions &s;hould be made without Lycence.</P>
<P>After which, the whole matter and Reports being referred to the Company of <HI>Merchant Adventurers</HI> of <HI>England;</HI> they Reported that all Per&s;ons, that &s;hall faithfully endeavour to hinder the Exportation of Wooll, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> as afore&s;aid (without connivance to the Offenders, or &s;ini&s;ter regard to them&s;elves) ought to be encouraged; for as much as the Exportation is become a National Mi&s;chief, and threatens the utter Ruine of the Woollen Trade, if not time|ly prevented; that &s;everal Nece&s;&s;itous <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">er&s;ons, having been formerly Commi&s;&s;ionated, Study|ing their own Profit, in&s;tead of hindering the &s;aid Exportation, have rather A&s;&s;i&s;ted and Pro|moted, than Prevented the &s;ame.</P>
<P>Which Reports being Read by their Lord&s;hips, and the An&s;wer of Mr. <HI>Monk,</HI> were &s;ent the <HI>10th.</HI> of <HI>March</HI> 1683 to the &s;aid Company for their further Con&s;ideration; who in <HI>April</HI> 1684 &s;ent for <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e to attend them about the whole matter; who after &s;everal meetings with a Con|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">it<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ee of the &s;aid <HI>Merchants Adventurers, Levant</HI> and <HI>Ea&s;t-Land</HI> Companys, I attended the
<PB N="9" REF="12"> Sea Coa&s;t with 2 Men, one on Board Captain <HI>Brown,</HI> and another on the Shore, by which great quantitys of Wooll were Seized and Condem'd, and much more prevented from being Exported that Summer, than was Seized or Condemned.</P>
<P>The &s;aid <HI>Monck</HI> and others Exhibiting again further Propo&s;als for the carrying on that Ser|vice, on the <HI>4th.</HI> of <HI>April</HI> 1684, the &s;ame were tran&s;mitted to the Commi&s;&s;ioners of the Cu&s;tomes, who the <HI>25th.</HI> of the &s;ame Month, Reported that they did look upon tho&s;e men not fitt to be Imployed in &s;o great a Tru&s;t, notwith&s;tanding they produced the Certificates of &s;everal Clo|thiers, &amp;c. Purporting their de&s;ire that the &s;aid per&s;ons might be imployed in that Service, which Clothiers &amp;c. So Certifying they found to be generally mean Per&s;ons, not to be credited in a thing of that Nature and Con&s;equence: and requiring the &s;aid undertakers to produce Cer|tificats from known Merchants, <HI>Blackwell-Hall</HI> Factors &amp;c. they declined to do the &s;ame.</P>
<P>The &s;aid Company of Merchants-Adventurers of <HI>England,</HI> made their Report on the Pa|pers &s;ent the Commi&s;&s;ioners the <HI>10th.</HI> of <HI>March</HI> 1683 wholy again&s;t the undertakers, for that they de&s;igned their own private profit, more than the effectual carrying on the intended Work; and the &s;aid Company were well a&s;&s;ured that if the undertakers could have no gain at all, Hone&s;tly, they would of nece&s;&s;ity mi&s;s the main de&s;ign of their undertaking.</P>
<P>Upon all the&s;e Tran&s;actions there was a Petition drawn up by me, and exhibited to the &s;aid Lords of the Trea&s;ury by &s;everal Clothiers and Factors of the Woollen Manufacture within the Countys of <HI>Worce&s;ter, Gloce&s;ter, Somer&s;et</HI> and <HI>Wilts;</HI> and taking notice that the undertakers were de&s;igning to obtein &s;uch a Commi&s;&s;ion as afore&s;aid, upon &s;uppo&s;ition that they were there|unto encouraged by many Thou&s;ands of the Woollen Manufacturers, the Petitioners di&s;own any &s;uch Power, and do therein Pray that the propo&s;als, being matter of weight, may be recommended to the <HI>Hamburgh, Turkey</HI> and other Companys, whom the Petitioners were a&s;&s;ured would propo&s;e &s;uch methods for effecting the &s;aid Prohibitions, as may be mo&s;t effectual and &s;uccesful.</P>
<P>Upon which Petition the &s;aid late Lords of the Trea&s;ury cau&s;ed Letters to be written to the &s;aid Companys, taking notice in the &s;aid Letters what proceedings had been made therein, and al&s;o &s;ending Coppys thereof; did in the &s;aid Letters de&s;ire the &s;aid Companyes or &s;ome of their members to meet together to peru&s;e the &s;aid Papers, and con&s;ider of &s;uch Rules and Methods as they &s;hould judge proper and &s;ufficient for the effectual re&s;traint of the Exportation of the &s;aid Commodity; and in the &s;aid Letters de&s;ired the &s;aid Companys to &s;end their Re&s;olution thereon in writing; as al&s;o whether they or any of their Members would be willing to engage in the Care of &s;eeing the Laws for Prohibting the Exportation of Wooll ob&s;erved.</P>
<P>A Committee of each company mett, and the Letters and Papers being Read (and my Pro|po&s;als for a Method) all concluded it nece&s;&s;ary to find out &s;om fund proportional <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o the Charge when adju&s;ted; at which time by one of the Committee it was declared the Clothiers were ready for their part to contribute 1600 <HI>P. Per. Annum.</HI> And it was then propounded that the &s;ame &s;hould be farther communicated to other Merchants trading for <HI>France, Spain, Portugal,</HI> &amp;c. for to procure likewi&s;e their a&s;&s;i&s;tance, And it was al&s;o agreed by the &s;aid Committees at their next meeting to come prepared with re&s;olutions how much each Company would rai&s;e.</P>
<P>Att which meeting the nece&s;&s;ary Charge was brought in to amount to about 4000P. <HI>Per. Annum;</HI> after which time the Factors of <HI>Blackwell-Hall,</HI> in behalf of the Clothiers entred into a Voluntary Sub&s;cription of 2<HI>d. Per. Cloth,</HI> 1<HI>d. Per. Serge,</HI> and &s;o <HI>Pro Rato,</HI> to ray&s;e their 1600P. beforementioned, for 3 Years.</P>
<P>The Merchant Adventurers of <HI>England,</HI> agreeing to contribute 300<HI>p. Per. Annum</HI> for the like time, and other Companys, by their Deputys agreeing likewi&s;e to contribute in propor|tion to their Trade in the Woollen Manufacture.</P>
<P>The&s;e Sub&s;criptions being entered into, the Difficulty lay how to Collect it; the Parliament then &s;uddenly meeting, a Bill was drawn up by me, corrected by Council, and approved of by the then Lord Trea&s;urer, which Bill, had not the Parliament been Prorouged, and I &s;traitned for want of Money, would probably have pa&s;&s;ed into a Law, there being nothing on my part wanting in Solicitation.</P>
<PB N="10" REF="13">
<P>That fayling I Petitioned his Maje&s;tie for two <HI>Sloops</HI> to be employed for the preventing Ex|portation of Wooll; and tho' there was &s;ome Oppo&s;ition to it, yet his Maje&s;tie was Graciou&s;ly plea&s;ed to give Order to Sett out the &s;aid Sloops in that &s;ervice, and the Care for their dy|rection being committed to me, I did accordingly undertake it: and whil&s;t the Ve&s;&s;els were preparing at <HI>Dover</HI> I &s;ent over a Man to <HI>Calice</HI> to make &s;ome di&s;covery, which he effectually did and a&s;&s;oon as one of the Ve&s;&s;els were ready, I went to Sea in her, and &s;ent for my Man to come from <HI>Calice,</HI> fearing he might be di&s;covered, and had he not ha&s;tened at the receipt of my Letter, in all probability he might have been Killed; for another Per&s;on was &s;et upon in <HI>Calice</HI> as &s;uppo&s;ing him to be my Man, and was like to have been Murdered, had not his Land|lord rectified the <HI>French-Mens</HI> mi&s;take: Meeting my Man at Sea in the Packet-boat, we took him on Board, and by his di&s;covery we took &s;everal <HI>French</HI> Shallops before we came into <HI>Do|ver,</HI> and tho' great Oppo&s;ition was made in the Exchequer by many Claymes and other vex|atious motions there, to di&s;courage me; yet I pro&s;ecuted, and condemned three in Michalmas Term 1685, and cau&s;ed more to be Seized at that time, which afterward were pro&s;ecuted to Condemnation; and in the middle of <HI>December</HI> I took a Jorney into the <HI>North,</HI> leaving my Man at <HI>Dover,</HI> to ob&s;erve my dyrections whil&s;t ab&s;ent. The Exporters contriving how to hinder my de&s;ign, had got a <HI>Quo minus</HI> out of the Exchequer again&s;t him for 500<HI>l.</HI> in the name of <HI>John Noble,</HI> a Per&s;on that he never &s;aw or heard of before and kept it in their hands above a Month, that they might &s;urely fix him in Pri&s;on, becau&s;e the Ve&s;&s;els were di&s;covered by him (I hav|ing &s;ent him privately to <HI>Calice</HI> for that purpo&s;e) and al&s;o the Information Exhibited in his name, tho' the Forfiture of forreign Ve&s;&s;els are wholly the Kings. And before they executed their <HI>Quo minus,</HI> &s;ome of them made Affidavit and &s;ent it up to <HI>London,</HI> and moved the Court of Exchequer the fir&s;t day of the next Term <HI>(viz) 23th.</HI> of <HI>January</HI> 1685 for an attachment again&s;t him, under pretence of a Contempt of an Order of Court, for not delivering of a Ve&s;&s;el Sei&s;ed and not Condem'd; and an Attachment was awarded again&s;t him, unle&s;s he &s;hewed Cau&s;e to the contrary in five or &s;ix dayes; and that he might not be capable of &s;hew|ing Cau&s;e, the &s;aid Exporters, a&s;&s;oon as they heard of an order of Court, Arre&s;ted him and carryed him a Pri&s;oner to <HI>Dover-Ca&s;tle,</HI> upon the 500<HI>l.</HI> Action; but Mr. <HI>Breton</HI> the Collector of <HI>Dover,</HI> believing it to be a &s;ham Action, de&s;igned to Bayle him, till <HI>William Eaton</HI> (one of the contrivers) &s;ent him a Letter to di&s;&s;wade him, a&s;&s;uring him it would be proved a Real Debt; &s;o he was forced to ly in Pri&s;on.</P>
<P>About this time coming home I was informed of the Order of the Court of Exchequer, and the next day, I did appear my &s;elf in the &s;aid Court, and owned the proceedings of my Man, as done by my Order, and therefore would be lyable to the Judgment of the Court for what he had done, and &s;ent for him up to an&s;wer, not knowing him then to be a Pri&s;oner in <HI>Dover-Ca&s;tle:</HI> but being informed of that, I moved the Court upon an Affidavit, and got a friend with me, and we become Bayle in Court, and removed him by <HI>Hebeas Corpus:</HI> &s;o all that bu&s;ine&s;s fell to the ground; till afterwards having gott him a Pri&s;oner att <HI>Bulloine</HI> In <HI>France,</HI> they proceeded again&s;t him on a feigned Action in the Crown Office, and would have brought it to Tryal att <HI>Maid&s;tone</HI> A&s;&s;izes, but I &s;topt it at Mr. Attorny-Generals.</P>
<P>After which time, upon the encouragement of the Contribution before mentioned, there were fitted out two of the be&s;t of tho&s;e <HI>French</HI> Ve&s;&s;els which I had gott condemned; and toge|ther with the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of tho&s;e two Sloops his Maje&s;tie (upon my petition) had Set out, there has been aboue 20 Ve&s;&s;els &s;eized and condemned, and divers parcels of Wooll, be&s;ides great quantites ca&s;t over board by the Exporters, that they and their Ve&s;&s;els might make their e&s;cape.</P>
<P>But in the mid&s;t of the&s;e Tran&s;actions the late Lord Trea&s;urer hearing little from the Mer|chants, after his Maje&s;tie had &s;ett out the two Sloops before mentioned, his Lord&s;hip by his Letter dated the <HI>15th.</HI> of <HI>March</HI> 1686/5, to the Company of Merchant Adventurers of <HI>England,</HI> pre&s;t the &s;aid Company, to con&s;ider what his Maje&s;tie had done, in &s;etting out two Sloops as an encouragement for them to proceed; and of what evil Con&s;equence Delayes were in that con+cern. To which the &s;aid Company, by their Letters of the <HI>25th.</HI> of the &s;ame Month, in|formed
<PB N="11" REF="13"> his Lord&s;hip what progre&s;s they had made in that matter; and that for their &s;hare they had re&s;olved to contribute 300<HI>l. Per Annum</HI> for 3 Years; as the Factors had for their Clo|thiers, by their Sub&s;criptions of 2<HI>d. Per.</HI> Cloth (and for the better carring on the &s;aid Work, had ordered two Sloops that had been taken and condemned by me, to be fitted out for that Service) though other Merchants had not come to any Re&s;olution in that matter, how much they would contribute. Upon the Receipt of this Letter his Lord&s;hip directed Letters dated the <HI>30th,</HI> of the &s;ame month to the other Companys, to inform them what progre&s;s the &s;aid Company of Marchants Adventurers had made, &amp;c. Whereupon the &s;aid Com|panys (or mo&s;t of them) gave an&s;wer to his Lord&s;hip of their readine&s;s to a&s;&s;i&s;t proportiona|ble to their Trade, for &s;o good a Work; Copies of which Letters were &s;ent to the Merchants Adventurers, by Mr. <HI>Guy,</HI> the <HI>10th.</HI> of <HI>April</HI> following <HI>(viz.)</HI> 1686.</P>
<P>And having, as before mentioned, cau&s;ed not only &s;o many Ve&s;&s;els and great quantities of Wooll to be condemned at my own Charge, tho' in the Officers names, and intending to bring up the Wooll to <HI>London</HI> to be &s;old to Clothiers, (it being generally &s;old before by the Officers to the Exporters) &s;ome of the the Officers refu&s;ed to agree therto, becau&s;e it would yeild more mony at <HI>Dover:</HI> upon which in <HI>May</HI> 1686, I wrote to then Lord Trea&s;urer the matter of Fact, and his Lord&s;hip by Mr. <HI>Guy</HI> ordered the Commi&s;&s;ioners of the Cu&s;tomes to direct their Officers to permit me to take the Wooll as apprai&s;ed (I paying the Charge) and bring it up to <HI>London,</HI> to be &s;old to the Clothiers. In pur&s;uance thereof, after I had condemned the Wooll at my own charge, and paid the King's moiety into the Exchequer, and remitted money to <HI>Dover,</HI> and paid the Officers moiety, with all their charge there, I ordered it to be brought up: And having &s;etled things at <HI>Dover,</HI> as I thought well, and ex|hibited &s;everal Informations in the Exchequer on the Forfietures of 3<HI>s. per.</HI> Pound, and pre|pared to Pro&s;ecute others on the Statute of the <HI>14th.</HI> of <HI>Charles</HI> the &s;econd. By this means &s;o great a &s;top was put to the &s;aid Exportation by the&s;e Pro&s;ecutions, that Wooll did ri&s;e in <HI>France</HI> above 30. <HI>per. Cent.</HI> in 6 months time, <HI>(viz.)</HI> between <HI>January</HI> 1685, and <HI>July</HI> 1686: After which I took a Jorney into the North on the Borders of <HI>Scotland,</HI> in order to prevent the mi&s;chiefs in tho&s;e parts; but whil&s;t there, was informed, that &s;ome of the Officers of the Cu&s;tomes in con&s;ederacy with the Exporters, did endeavour to ob&s;truct my Proceedings, which they had been a long time contriving.</P>
<P>And whil&s;t I was in the North, was informed that the Wooll I had condemned for the Offi|cers in their own Names, and paid all the Charges, and running the risk of bringing it up to <HI>London,</HI> as before mentioned, was by one of the Officers &s;old by &s;ome under hand means, and he received part of the money for it, which I had fully paid him for before, and &s;o went out of Town, which occa&s;ioned a great Controver&s;y betwixt my Friends here, (that had &s;upplyed me with money, and to whom the Wooll &s;hould have been delivered) and &s;ome others: This coming to the Ears of the Exporters at <HI>Canterbury</HI> and <HI>Dover</HI> in few hours, for their encourage|ment (as well as it came to me in the North for my di&s;couragement) their Plot took effect, and &s;o from that time, <HI>(viz.) Augu&s;t</HI> and <HI>September</HI> 1686, the Exporters revived their old Trade, that in a little time twenty thou&s;and Packs were exported: The forementioned Officer was Commander of one of the Sloops that I had prevayled by Petition to his Maje&s;tie to fit out, and would have been put out of his place through his folly long &s;ince, and the Sloop laid a&s;ide; had not I through the importunity of his Friends born with him, and kept him in; by which means the advantage he hath received thereby, cannot be le&s;s than 600l. in 2 Year and halfs time; but having for &s;ome time left him to his own conduct, he is through his Folly and Knavery di&s;mi&s;t from his employ.</P>
<P>At my return from the North, the fir&s;t thing to be done was to get my man out of Pri&s;on, but in little or no Capacity to hinder the &s;aid Exportation from <HI>Kent,</HI> the 2 Ve&s;&s;els before mentioned that were put out, being laid up, having neither Power to Seize Wooll, nor Col|lect money to pro&s;ecute the Offenders.</P>
<P>After which time I Petitioned the then Lord Trea&s;urer to Impower the &s;aid Companies, Factors and Clothiers, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> that had entered into a voluntary Contribution, that they might be in a condition to carry on &s;o good a Work, the Petition being referred to the Commi&s;&s;io|ners
<PB N="12" REF="14"> of the Cu&s;tomes nothing was done; this attempt fayling I Petitioned his Maje&s;tie in Council, &s;ome time after to the &s;ame effect, annexing a Copy of the Commi&s;&s;ion to Chri&s;ts Ho&s;pital before mentioned, which being referred to the Lords Commi&s;&s;ioners of his Maje&s;ty's Trea&s;ury about <HI>F<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">bruary</HI> 1686, their Lord&s;hips referred the whole to the Commi&s;&s;ioners, as before the late Lord Trea&s;urer had done, and there it re<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">ed.</P>
<P>Neverthele&s;s, tho' I could not do what I would, yet I neglected no opportunity I was capa|ble of; for hearing that there was a de&s;ign privately to procure a Licence to Export 6000 Baggs of Wooll from Ireland; which might contain 20000 Packs: the Names of the Per&s;ons being given to me, I went immediatly to Mr. Attorney Generals, Trea&s;ury, Secretary of State and Signer Offices, and entered <HI>Caveats</HI> at each Office; and a Friend of mine wrote a <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">etter to a Worthy Merchant and Gentleman in the Country, who did immediatly, with &s;ome other Gentlemen write to a great Mini&s;ter of State; who was plea&s;ed to an&s;wer as followeth, <HI>(viz.)</HI></P>
<FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="letter">
<OPENER><SALUTE>Gentlemen,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P><HI>Yours of the fourth In&s;tant was conveyed to me la&s;t night, while I attended his Maje&s;tie at Councel, which I immediatly communicated: Both His Maje&s;tie and we that had the honour to attend him were all &s;urprized, that the Ma|licious Falce Reports that you &s;eem to In&s;inuate, had obteined credit in your Neigh|bourhood, of His Maje&s;ties Intentions, to give Licence for the Tran&s;portation of</HI> Iri&s;h <HI>Wooll to parts beyond the Seas: It hath been &s;o farr from His Maje&s;ties Inten|tions, that He has long ago given &s;trict Orders, both to His Admiralty, and in His &s;everal Ports to u&s;e their utmo&s;t endeavours for the &s;trict Pro&s;ecution of all Offenders in that kind, and hath further given directions to the Officers of the Cu&s;tomes, to give their utmo&s;t a&s;&s;i&s;tance in the Affair: But for your &s;atisfaction the King Com|manded me to let you know His Royal Plea&s;ure the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ein, and that He expects You to take Care that His Royal Intentions may be made Publick.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I have al&s;o in Command that the Ju&s;tices of A&s;&s;izes, do take e&s;pecial Care to &s;a|tisfy the Country in this particular; &s;o Gentlemen having no more at pre&s;ent to trou|ble you, I crave leave to Sub&s;cribe my &s;elf,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE>London <DATE><HI>14th. Feb.</HI> 1686.</DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
</FLOATEXT>
<P>After which time &s;ome of the Officers in further pur&s;uance of their de&s;ign, to baffle me in my proceedings for future, upon the alteration of &s;ome per&s;ons in Office &s;o repre&s;ented me; that I was rendered thereby wholly uncapable of any thing, and by &s;ome greatly reflected on, 't<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ll I had prevailed by the means of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="3 letters">e eminent Merchants, to have a hearing before the Lords Com|mi&s;&s;ioners of His Maje&s;ties Trea&s;ury: At which hearing it was judged rea&s;onable, I &s;hould be re-imbur&s;t m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> Charge in that Service, and ordered to bring my Accounts, and Certificates from Sr. <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ob. Howard,</HI> what money was brought into the Exchequer by my Pro&s;ecutions; which being done, and their Lord&s;hips referring the whole matter to the Commi&s;&s;ioners of Cu&s;tomes, in <HI>May</HI> 1687, upon receipt of which, the Commi&s;&s;ioners were plea&s;ed to direct Letters to the Officers, (in who&s;e Names I had pro&s;ecuted and paid in the money, as before mentioned) to know <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">hither they did own what I had done, and &s;ome o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> them, (even tho&s;e very men, that I had directed how to Seize, and undertook to runn the risk, as be|fore mentioned, for their Advantage) were not only &s;o ba&s;e as to deny what I had done
<PB N="13" REF="14"> for them, but al&s;o guilty of Forgery; &s;o at that time I was rendered by &s;ome very Obnoxi|ous, and at the &s;ame time perplexed in the Court of Exchequer by the Exporters; and was forc<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d to pay great Summs in my own defence, and particularly for one Witne&s;s being his Bayle it co&s;t me near 50l.; notwith&s;tanding all which, I at la&s;t recovered my &s;elf in my Reputation, and gave An&s;wer to tho&s;e Officers Letters, and &s;ent it to the Commi&s;&s;ioners as followeth. <HI>(viz.)</HI></P>
<P>Whereas it hath been objected that I pretend the Pro&s;ecution of Wooll and Ve&s;&s;els, when is hath been done by the Officers, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">etters are produced, which would &s;eem to make good the pretence; to in&s;tance one for all, <HI>(viz.)</HI> Captain <HI>Knight</HI>'s to the Commi&s;&s;ioners.</P>
<FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="letter">
<OPENER><SALUTE>May it plea&s;e Your Honours,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P><HI>The Wooll I have taken and &s;eized was by my own Endeavours and Indu&s;try, Condemned by a due Cour&s;e of Law, and the King's Moiety paid with my own Money: No<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> I humbly pray your Honours that if his Maje&s;tie plea&s;e to grant the Bounty, I may receive it for my En|couragement,</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED><HI>Your Honours mo&s;t Obedient and Humble Servant</HI> Peter Knight.</SIGNED>
<DATELINE>Dover <DATE><HI>the 9th. of</HI> June 1637.</DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
</FLOATEXT>
<P>In an&s;wer thereunto, I &s;hall annex the <HI>A&s;&s;idavit</HI> of two of his own men, that prove, that Captain <HI>Knigbt</HI> was not at <HI>Dover,</HI> at the time of the date of the pretended Letter; but at Sea &s;ix Dayes before and four after, and by an <HI>Affidavit</HI> of his Sonns, that the matter in the Letter is Fal&s;e, by which others ma<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> be judged; be&s;ides the matter of <HI>John Knight</HI>'s <HI>Affidavit,</HI> I did, in a late parcel of Wooll, Seized by the &s;aid Captain <HI>Knight,</HI> Condemn and pay the Charge, and the King's full Moiet, as it was apprai&s;ed; yet when I Sold it, I was forced to abate 3l. <HI>per.</HI> Pack of the Apprai&s;ement, and &s;tood to the lo&s;s, &s;ingly, that I might not hinder the bringing up the Wooll, tho' it yeilded more Money at <HI>Dover</HI> than here, being done before the Proclamation came forth: The Truth of this An&s;wer will appear in the following Affida|vits, <HI>(viz.)</HI></P>
<FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="affidavit">
<P>Robert Kedman <HI>and</HI> William Ayres <HI>maketh Oath, that the&s;e Deponents being employed under Captain</HI> Peter Knight, <HI>Commander of a Sloop to prevent the Exportation of Wooll, and having been at Sea with the &s;aid Captain</HI> Knight <HI>as Mariners, in His Maje&s;ties Service about tenn Days, came not on Shore from Sea, 'till Sunday la&s;t: by which rea&s;on they could not Appear according to the contents of a</HI> Su<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> <HI>i&s;&s;ued out of this Honourable Court, requiring them to be at</HI> We&s;tmin&s;ter <HI>on Munday l<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;t at one of the Clock, to give their Te&s;timony for the King again&s;t</HI> Henry Culmer. <HI>And they could not po&s;&s;ibly come to</HI> London <HI>before Teu&s;day morning l<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;t, and are come on purpo&s;e to give their evidence at the &s;aid Tryal, which they apprehend to be on Thur&s;day, if they could not come</HI>
<PB N="14" REF="15"> <HI>time enough on Munday, and they are able to prove, that the &s;aid</HI> Henry Culmer <HI>hath Exported divers quantities of Wooll, having taken him in the Fact of Ex|porting the &s;ame.</HI></P>
<CLOSER><DATE>Jur. Decimo &s;ept. Die Aprilis 1687.</DATE>
<SIGNED>Coram me, E. Atkins.</SIGNED>
<SIGNED>Robert Kedman. W. A. the mark of <HI>William Aires.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</FLOATEXT>
<FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="affidavit">
<P>John Knight <HI>maketh Oath that being employed as Mate under his Father</HI> Peter Knight <HI>in the Service of the Cu&s;tomes, for about &s;ixteen Years pa&s;t, he hath ob|&s;erved that after the Seizures of Wooll by the Cu&s;tome Hou&s;e Officers, the Own|ers of the Wooll, or &s;ome Agent for them generally bought the Wooll of the Offi|cers, which afterwards was Commonly exported, and this he hath the greater rea&s;on to believe, for that &s;everal times, when this Deponent hath been pre&s;ent at the Seizing of Wooll, after the &s;ame hath been condemned, he hath taken the very &s;ame parcels again at Sea, as it hath been Exporting the &s;econd time.</HI></P>
<P><HI>And that &s;everal Officers, after they have Seized Wooll, have delivered it to the Owners, without any Proceedings therein.</HI></P>
<P><HI>And this Deponent further &s;aith, that when his Father formerly made Seiz|ures of Wooll, he agreed with the Superior Officers of the Cu&s;tomes, to give them part of the benefit of his Seizures, be&s;ides the full Charge of the Pro&s;ecution to Condemnation; by which the &s;aid Officers generally had an equal Profit of the &s;aid Seizures, with the &s;aid</HI> Peter Knight; <HI>but &s;ince Mr.</HI> Carter <HI>hath looked after the Exporters, the &s;aid</HI> Carter <HI>hath paid the &s;aid</HI> Peter Knight <HI>all his Charg|es, in Taking, Apprai&s;ing and Condemning the Ve&s;&s;els and Wooll, and the full Moiety thereof clear of all Charges, and be&s;ides when the Wooll Condemned was Sold for more than the Apprai&s;ement, the overplu&s;s was paid by the &s;aid</HI> Car|ter <HI>to his Father</HI> Peter Knight.</P>
<CLOSER><DATE>Jur. Decimo Tertia die April Anno Dom. 1687.</DATE>
<SIGNED>Ed. Atkins.</SIGNED>
<SIGNED>John Knight.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</FLOATEXT>
<P>And as to the Charge in General of my di&s;couraging Diligent Officers.</P>
<P>In An&s;wer to which, as the Affidavit of <HI>John Knight</HI> before mentioned, do in part prove the contrary: So I do Averr and &s;hall make good, that in the Seizures of Wooll and Ve&s;&s;els, that I have undertook to Pro&s;ecute, I have bore all the Charge and run the risk, in Ca&s;e the Wooll and Ve&s;&s;els were not Condemned, and have Pro&s;ecuted in the Officers Name, who have had the full benefit of the Moiety thereof, tho' I have been at the Seizing both of Wooll and Ve&s;&s;els my &s;elf.</P>
<P>And be&s;ides the Charges in Pro&s;ecuting and condemning the &s;aid Wooll and Ve&s;&s;els in the Exchequer, I have actually paid among&s;t the &s;aid Officers near 200l. for their Charges about <HI>Dover</HI> in their Seizing, Apprai&s;ing, and other Incidents, &s;everal of which Seizures had not I
<PB N="15" REF="15"> undertook, the Officers would have let fall; by all which it doth appear, whether I have di&s;couraged Officers, and gained my &s;elf; when I have within this four Years &s;pent 1000l. in Travailing, and in the &s;aid Pro&s;ecutions, be&s;ides Servants Wages and my own time, and keeping of Hor&s;es, towards all which I have received between 2 and 300l.</P>
<P>After which time I Petitioned the Lords Commi&s;&s;ionets of the Trea&s;ury, laying before their Lord&s;hips my Ca&s;e and Suffering in my Service, and what Damage His Maje&s;tie and the King|dome &s;u&s;tained thereby; and had prepared for Tryal of a Tran&s;porter in Michaelma&s;s Term, being not able to proceed and having borrowed diver&s;e great Sums to carry on the Affayre &s;o farr; which being referred to the Commi&s;&s;ioners of the Cu&s;tomes, they ordered their Soli|citor to disbur&s;t the Money, upon which I proceeded, and as before ca&s;t the Exporter; &s;ome time after I attended the Commi&s;&s;ioners upon the former reference, who were plea&s;ed to make Report as followeth.</P>
<FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="letter">
<OPENER><SALUTE>May it Plea&s;e your Lord&s;hips</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P><HI>In obedience to your Lord&s;hips commands upon the annexed Petition, and other Papers of</HI> Mr. Carters, <HI>delivered to us by your Lord&s;hips in</HI> May <HI>la&s;t We have con&s;idered the &s;aid Petition and Papers; and do humbly Report to your Lord|&s;hips that we have ob&s;erved the Petitioner to have been a very Zealous pro&s;ecu|tor of the Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions, and tran&s;gre&s;&s;ors mentioned in the Petition, and that upon his motion the King was plea&s;ed about two years &s;ince, att his own charge to &s;et out two Ve&s;&s;els to prevent the Tran&s;portation of Wooll, which are conti|nued in that Service to this day, that in his proceedings he hath met with great oppo&s;ition and difficulty, and upon that con&s;ideration he has upon diver&s;e occa|&s;ion obtained favourable Reports from this Board; as a Per&s;on fit to be coun|tenanced and encouraged in his proceedings: yet we never intended that his charge was to be born by the King, &s;uppo&s;ing his recompence to be out of his &s;hare of &s;uch penalties and Forfiturs, as he &s;hould him&s;elf Pro&s;ecute and recover, or &s;hould be otherwi&s;e contributed to him, by the Merchants and Clothiers, who he alledged to be willing to undergoe the Charge, and by the Account hereunto annexed we find that he has run him&s;elf into very great Expence, and we are informed that not having met with the Encouragement he Pre&s;umed upon from the Merchants and others, he has much le&s;&s;ened his own private fortune there|by. &V;pon the whole Matter we are humbly of opinion that he has with great Heartine&s;s and Zeal, Pro&s;ecuted the Offenders and Ve&s;&s;els, that have been Guilty in Tran&s;porting Wooll, and that he hath dealt therein with all Hone&s;ty and Integrity, and we are humbly of Opinion that the &s;aid Account hereunto annexed, is a true Account, he having offered to make Oath of the Truth there|of, and we do Humbly recommend the &s;ame to your Lord&s;hips Favourable con|&s;ideration, but we cannot advi&s;e the di&s;po&s;ing of his Maje&s;ties part of the For|fiture, otherwi&s;e than they are already di&s;po&s;ed by Proclamation.</HI></P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE>Cu&s;tom-Hou&s;e <DATE>February the <HI>18th.</HI> 1687.</DATE></DATELINE>
<SIGNED><LIST>
<ITEM>N. B.</ITEM>
<ITEM>J. W.</ITEM>
<ITEM>D. N.</ITEM>
<ITEM>W. C.</ITEM>
</LIST></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</FLOATEXT>
<PB N="16" REF="16">
<P>In which Report you may perceive my Actions and Integrity, and that I have not re|ceived the Money I have expended, much le&s;s any thing for my Time, Hazard and Labour, nor for my Servants, or keeping of Hor&s;es the&s;e four Years, be&s;ides former Disbur&s;tments, part of which was before mentioned in the late Lord Cheif Baron's Report; more you may perceive by the&s;e following Lines, what I Wrote to the Merchants and Clothiers, and Print|ed it, as an Adverti&s;ement to them, in the Year 1672. <HI>(viz.)</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="notice">
<HEAD><HI>A Brief Adverti&s;ement to the Merchants and Cloathiers,</HI> &amp;c.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>GENTLEMEN,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>I Had an Intention, the beginning of the la&s;t Summer, (before a long and chargeable Fit of Sickne&s;s befel me for near three Months,) to inform you in what &s;tate that Affair about Exportation of Wooll, then &s;tood; in which the Life and Death of your Trade, and the &s;ub&s;i&s;tence of many Thou&s;ands of Families, that depend on that <HI>Manufacture,</HI> con&s;i&s;ts.</P>
<P>Give me leave, (by &s;ome of the many in&s;tances I could give,) to demon&s;trate, that, my Labour, in this affair, hath not been fruitle&s;s altogether.</P>
<P>I have now been four years engaged in this Service: and how I have been forced, as well upon Travils, as Watching both by Sea and on &s;hore, I pre&s;ume is well known to many of you.</P>
<P>And what expence I have been at, in that time, both for &s;ervants and hor&s;es, and in my at|tendance at Court, and on the Parliament, gratuities to Sea-men, and parties of hor&s;e, and for the holding, and maintaining corre&s;pondencies in <HI>Ireland, Flanders, &amp;c.</HI> you cannot but in &s;ome mea&s;ure be able to appehend.</P>
<P>And that it mu&s;t be the greater, in that I have not &s;pent &s;ix daies, in twelve Moneths, at my own habitation, with my Friends: either to abate expences, or to look after any private bu|&s;ine&s;s of my own.</P>
<P>What damage I have &s;u&s;tained, by lo&s;ing my Trade in pur&s;uance of this affair, is wel known (at lea&s;t) to &s;ome: for,</P>
<P>When fir&s;t I undertook this Affair, I intended to &s;pend only one Moneth, or there about, in attending on the Parliament for a new Act, which held me near &s;ix Moneths; and at the Adjurnment of the Parliament, I returned to my calling; it being kept on foot for me, during the time of my attendance.</P>
<P>But tho&s;e that knew my Trade at that time, know right well what opportunities of advan|tage I le<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">t &s;lip.</P>
<P>Therefore it mu&s;t be a great mi&s;take in &s;ome, that think I took up this Affair, as though I had nothing el&s;e to doe.</P>
<P>For I was importuned by &s;everal Merchants and Others, &s;oon after the Adjurnment of the Parlament, to addre&s;s my &s;elf unto his Maje&s;tie in Council, for a Party of Hor&s;e, to be in <HI>Rum|ny Mar&s;h</HI> in <HI>Kent,</HI> where the greate&s;t part of the Wooll is &s;hipped from <HI>England;</HI> and &s;ome Frigats, for preventing the &s;aid mi&s;chief; which through his Maje&s;ties favour and incourage|ment, I did obtain.</P>
<P>Upon the promi&s;e of tho&s;e Merchants, to re-imbur&s;e my charge, I proceeded.</P>
<P>And had tho&s;e Merchants and Others, perform'd their promi&s;e, as &s;ome few did, I had done much more than I have, (though I have left nothing undone, that I was capable to per|form, or doe, con&s;idering how little a&s;&s;i&s;tance I had from others) and indeed, my endeavours in this bu&s;ine&s;s, have had &s;o good &s;ucce&s;s, as to prevent many Thou&s;and Packs of Wooll from exportation, that the effect evidenced it &s;elf (at that time obvious to many Merchants, from their corre&s;pondents beyond Sea,) in the ri&s;e of Wooll there and the fall here.</P>
<PB N="17" REF="16">
<P>But &s;hould it now hereafter, for want of incouragment and attendane mi&s;carry, how much it will wound <HI>Englands</HI> trade to the heart, I need not tell you, for, &s;uch is the gaine and in|couragemend, for the tran&s;porting of this commodity, that if any imployed, or entru&s;ted in this affair, will be bribed, they need not make complaint for want of Money, I do a&s;&s;ure you: and if I for my integrity mu&s;t fall, (and be forced to quit thes &s;ervice,) after all this four years labour and travail, It will be no encouragement to any other Pea&s;en, to engage a-fre&s;h therein.</P>
<P>Give me leave to adde, that it was no &s;mall grief to me, during my &s;ickne&s;s, to here of the many hundred packs of Wooll that were exported, (both from <HI>England</HI> and <HI>Ireland,)</HI> more than had been at other times, which you will ea&s;ily &s;ee in the en&s;uing Petition and Let|ter; and my trouble was &s;o much the more for as much as the King had given Order, a little before, that a Ve&s;&s;el purpo&s;ely hired, becau&s;e of Her &s;wiftne&s;s, &s;hould attend that affair, and though I had made provi&s;ion (by corre&s;pondante) for intellegence to prevent that mi&s;chief, yet I had not Money to pay Servants, nor to encourage my cori&s;pondents, nor that I could find any willing or able to pur&s;ue the &s;aid bu&s;ine&s;s, either becau&s;e of the hazard or pains, or expen&s;ivene&s;s thereof. The effect of which about <HI>Michalmus</HI> la&s;t, occa&s;ioned this following Petition.</P>
<FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="petition">
<HEAD>To the Kings mo&s;t excellent <HI>Maje&s;ty</HI> The Humble Petition of &s;everal Merchants.</HEAD>
<OPENER>Sheweth,</OPENER>
<P>THat although many &s;evere Laws, have been made again&s;t the Tran&s;portation of Wooll; neverthele&s;e, many evil-di&s;po&s;ed Per&s;ons, do frequently Ship-off great quantities thereof to the great decay of the Cloathing-Trade of this Kingdom, and to the undoing of many thou, &s;ant Families, who lived comfortably thereupon: and being through an ill cu&s;tom, &s;old in|forraign parts, as cheap as in many many places of this Kingdom; by means whereof, the Woollen Manufacture of this Nation, findes but &s;mall vend abroad, and dayly decrea&s;eth in price; &s;o that neither the Clothier, nor Merchant, have any incouragement, in making, or tran&s;porting the &s;ame; together with &s;uch great duties impo&s;ed by the <HI>French</HI> King, and O|thers; as in effect amounts to an ab&s;olute prohibition, (and that no purpo&s;e to incourage the Manufacture of their own Country.) Which if by &s;ome effectual means, be not &s;peedily pre|vented, mu&s;t in a &s;hort time, wholy de&s;troy the great Manufacture, and Staple trade of this your Maje&s;ties Kingdom and con&s;eqvently to the decrea&s;ing of your Maje&s;ties Revenues, of the Cu&s;tom; and that more particularly of late dayes, a greater quantity of Wooll, hath been tran&s;ported then formerly, by rea&s;on, as is doubted, of the connivance of &s;ome Officers, and ea&s;ily compounding with the tran&s;porters when di&s;covered, which gives great incouragement to tho&s;e Per&s;ons, to continue in this mo&s;i de&s;tructive cour&s;e</P>
<CLOSER>Your Petitioners mo&s;t humbly pray, that your Maje&s;tie, would be plea&s;ed to i&s;&s;ue out your Royal Proclamation, commanding all Officers and Others, to put the Laws in execution, that &s;o all may take notice thereof: there being many poor people imployed in &s;hipping off the Wooll, who pretend ignorance, and know not the Penalty of the Law: and that no compounding be made with any, but the Laws may be &s;everly put in execution, again&s;t all Per&s;ons that may be found guilty.</CLOSER>
</FLOATEXT>
<PB N="18" REF="17">
<P>And tho' I have before upon this occa&s;ion incerted the &s;ub&s;tance of a Letter Dated, <HI>Flanders March</HI> the <HI>5^t^h.</HI> 1671. yet I cannot wave a repitition of this part of it.</P>
<FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="letter">
<OPENER><SALUTE>Sir</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>I received yours of the 17/27 <HI>February,</HI> under Covert from <HI>&amp;c.</HI> about the Wooll-affair. I have much rea&s;on to believe, unle&s;s &s;ome are made Examples, there will be continual abu&s;e; the Commodity, both <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> and <HI>Iri&s;h,</HI> Raw and Comb'd, abound &s;o much in the&s;e Countries, as at pre&s;ent it's worth nothing. &amp;c.</P>
<P>Now Sirs, how both the&s;e do an&s;wer, to what was &s;aid before, that unle&s;s this Bu&s;ine&s;s be continually attended, by &s;ome Per&s;on, that will be faithful; there will be an inevitable ruine of the Clothing Trade, may be ea&s;ily perceived.</P>
</FLOATEXT>
<P>Give me leave further to inform you, what great Sen&s;e his Maje&s;ty him&s;elf hath al&s;o of this Affair; who hath been plea&s;ed to evidence it, both by his Care and Charge, in not only com|manding His Troops, but &s;everal Frygots to attend upon every Occa&s;ion, be&s;ide his Hireing a Ve&s;&s;el; he al&s;o hath &s;pent many dayes in Council about it; and in declaring his re&s;olution, &s;trictly to execute all the Laws again&s;t the Tran&s;portation of Wooll, and to further all rational Propo&s;als, that can be f<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">rther made; and did order (upon reading the fore-mentioned Peti|on of the Merchants) his Royal Proclamation, to be i&s;&s;ued out about this Matter.</P>
<P>Now for a conclu&s;ion, Gentlemen: If this &s;ervice be acceptable, and that it be carryed on, you cannot imagine, it can be done without &s;upplies. For, you cannot expect the King &s;hould take the charge of it wholly upon him&s;elf; of which, the profit will mo&s;tly return to his Subjects. Nor that I &s;hould, if I were able, bear it my &s;elf, though indeed I have done it beyond what my condition could well permit me; and it's very plain, what hath been the con&s;e|quence of my being di&s;couraged, and taken (wholly off) but three Months from this Affair.</P>
<P>Sirs, I hope you will believe, and i'ts but Rational, &s;o to do; if I have &s;pent &s;o much of my time, and &s;trength, mo&s;tly upon my own charge, with tho&s;e hazard I have been expo&s;ed to, the&s;e four years, in this Affair, with that little incouragement I have received: that if incour|aged but with nece&s;&s;ary &s;upplies, &s;o that I might not be taken off my pur&s;uit, that I might do much more than I have; and the rather, becau&s;e every thing is more ea&s;ie than it was at fir&s;t, having di&s;covered &s;o many Per&s;ons, and their wayes, and &s;everal in cu&s;tody, in order to their Tryal, &s;ome Convicted: its Rational, at lea&s;t to &s;uppo&s;e the way fair, to put a &s;top, to this mo&s;t de&s;tructive cour&s;e.</P>
<P>Gentlemen, The&s;e in&s;tances are not of &s;mall import. To the whole Affairs, and that the a|gitations about them: call for no &s;mall attendance and travel; nor is it without its own charges, accompanying di&s;patches.</P>
<P>I have al&s;o given Declarations to two Per&s;ons, for tran&s;porting above three Hundred packs of Wooll, and had prepared Tryals with them; but was forced to forbear two or three Terms for want of A&s;&s;i&s;tance to pro&s;ecute them; for &s;uch Potent Per&s;ons, are not ea&s;ily run down: if they, and their Confederates know once with whome they have to doe, (if they will not be bribed) and that Money is wanting to pro&s;ecute, they can finde wayes by Friends, and Money, to make Suits delatory and chargeable; be&s;ides an other mi&s;chief, of taking off Witne&s;&s;es: Of which you will &s;ee a Demon&s;tration afterwards.</P>
<P>At <HI>Ea&s;ter</HI> or <HI>Trinity</HI> Term 1669, one Mr. <HI>John Morten</HI> pro&s;ecutes <HI>Mark Gabree</HI> in the Exche|quer, for tran&s;porting of Wooll. The &s;aid <HI>Gabree</HI> removes it into <HI>Surry,</HI> where Mr. <HI>Morten</HI> brings it to Tryal, <HI>Mid&s;omer</HI> A&s;&s;izes following, and &s;ubpena's one <HI>Thomas Petley,</HI> who had been <HI>Gabrees</HI> Wooll-Kember: <HI>Morten</HI> obtains a Verdict again&s;t the &s;aid <HI>Gabree;</HI> but &s;o it was ordered, that whereas the forfiture was three Shillings <HI>per</HI> pound, he had but twelve pence: and being but a &s;mall parcel, he lo&s;t by it.</P>
<P>At <HI>Michaelmas</HI> following, the Tryal afore&s;aid, <HI>Gabree</HI> arre&s;ts <HI>Petley,</HI> by a Writ of the Crown Office for Perjury, out of revenge; and to undo him, being but a poor man, and make him uncapable of being Witne&s;s any more; and to deter others.</P>
<P>At <HI>Mid<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">mmer</HI> A&s;&s;izes 1670, <HI>Gabree</HI> pretends to come to Tryal: but when he &s;aw <HI>Petley</HI> ap|pear, and had his Witne&s;&s;es for his defence, he let it fall that A&s;&s;ize.</P>
<PB N="19" REF="17">
<P>Since <HI>Michaelmas,</HI> Seventy one, <HI>Petley</HI> is again arre&s;ted as afore&s;aid.</P>
<P>But I have now pre&s;ented hi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> Ca&s;e to his <HI>Maje&s;ty,</HI> el&s;e he would have been utterly ruin'd; and now the &s;aid <HI>Gabree</HI> is in Cu&s;tody, being owner of the Wooll, taken at <HI>Grave&s;end,</HI> as afore&s;aid.</P>
<P>I &s;hall conclude with a few particular In&s;tances, that I ob&s;erved in attending the Parliament, of which I only hinted &s;ome thing in <HI>page 5^t^b.</HI></P>
<P>To begin with a Motion made in the Hou&s;e of Commons 1670, when that Hou&s;e were under con&s;ideration of rai&s;ing Money for His Late Maje&s;ty's &s;upply, it being then taken for granted, that there were great quantitys of Wooll clande&s;tinely exported from <HI>Ireland</HI> to Forreign Parts, it was then propounded, that a Tax of 2<HI>d.</HI> or 3<HI>d. per l.</HI> might be laid upon &s;uch Wooll for three Rea&s;ons, then given, <HI>(viz.)</HI> Fir&s;t, it would make it &s;o Dear to Foraigners, that the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> could under &s;ell them in our Manufactury. Secondly, It would rai&s;e a great Revenue to his Maje&s;tie. Thirdly, It would be an inducement to the Officers, to be more careful to look after the Cu&s;tome, and &s;o le&s;s would go: This &s;eemed to many Wi&s;e Grave Se|nators at fir&s;t, to be very Fe&s;ible, until I gave An&s;wer to it. And that was thus.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> 1. As to 2. <HI>d.</HI> or 3. <HI>d. per</HI> pound dearer, &s;ignifies nothing: For if they Enter 10 Packs, there &s;hall go off a 100 Packs Unentred. But grant it did all pay that Cu&s;tome there in <HI>Ireland,</HI> it pays no Cu&s;tome when it's Imported in <HI>Holland, Flanders,</HI> or <HI>France;</HI> and then to con&s;i|der the Cu&s;tome it paid here to his Maje&s;tie upon our Woollen Manufactury, when Exported, which is above five pound for a Pack of Wor&s;ted-&s;tuffs, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and it's &s;uch Wooll that is covet|ed; and that as before the <HI>French</HI> King laying &s;uch an Impo&s;t upon our <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Woollen Manu|facturies, of 20 or 30 <HI>per cent,</HI> this overballanceth by ten parts the fir&s;t Rea&s;on, and be&s;ides a|bout the Manufactors working &s;o much cheaper, which I humbly &s;uppo&s;e, is a &s;ufficient An&s;wer to the fir&s;t Rea&s;on of the Motion.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> 2. As to his Maje&s;ties Revenue by 2 <HI>d.</HI> or 3 <HI>d. per</HI> pound, is an&s;wered in &s;hort; The Cu&s;tome paid as above upon the Export of our Woollen Manufacturies, is double that Cu&s;|tome; but the Cu&s;tome upon the Importation of the Product thereof, may amount to three times the worth of the Pack of Wooll; from hence may be concluded, That his Maje&s;ties da|mage by the quantity that is a&s;&s;erted to be Tran&s;ported, cannot be le&s;s than one Million of pounds Starling; &s;o that this al&s;o is An&s;wered.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> 3. As to the Officers inducement, I &s;hall an&s;wer in &s;hort, by asking this &s;ingle Que&s;|tion, <HI>(viz.)</HI> Which in rea&s;on can be the greate&s;t Inducement, 3 <HI>d. per</HI> pound for Cu&s;tome, or 3 <HI>s. per</HI> pound Forfiture, of which three parts is given to the Pro&s;ecutor, who mu&s;t be &s;up|po&s;ed to be more watchful to gain the Forfieture, than the Cu&s;tom for the King, if Shipt to be Tran&s;ported, which is now in Force and Recoverable? But there was more in the bottom, For within a day or two of the &s;aid Motion, there was a Noble Lord did affirm in the Com|mittee for Wooll, that his Lord&s;hip was offered a hundred thou&s;and pound Sterling, to pa&s;s an Act for Tran&s;portation of Wooll; and be&s;ides, there is a Petition of many years &s;tanding, that within this few months I had a view of, for Combed Wooll to go off upon the &s;ame pre|tence as before; alledging it is cour&s;e Wooll, and not for the Clothier. It's true, that it is not fit for Cloth, but it is for Wor&s;ted-&s;tuffs, and Stockings, which is as prejudicial, if not more than Clothing Wooll.</P>
<P>By which that motion fell to the ground, but &s;ome time after the petition before mention|ed, did appear bare Faced, of which I wrote in a Letter to the Merchants and Cloathiers <HI>(viz.)</HI> in 1686 Comprehending what pa&s;t in Parliament from 75 till that time, <HI>(viz.)</HI> I be|gan this.</P>
<P>Perceiving at length what I had for &s;ome time a &s;u&s;pition of, that &s;ome Per&s;ons at the then next Se&s;&s;ions of Parliament, did not only appear to ju&s;tify the Fact of Tran&s;portation of Wooll privatly, but did appear publickly and in Print, to a&s;&s;ert and avow the conveniency that it would be to this Nation; and therefore did de&s;ire, that an Act of Parliament might be made for a limited Exportation, giving al&s;o &s;ome pretended Rea&s;ons for the &s;ame.</P>
<P>In <HI>March</HI> 1676 a Bill was put into the Hand of an Eminent Member of the then Hou&s;e of Commons, to be brought into that Hou&s;e, with whome I had &s;ome Di&s;cour&s;e, and did &s;o far di&s;wade him to delay, till the following Letter prevail'd on the <HI>Factors,</HI> and &s;ome <HI>Clothiers</HI> then in Town, to a&s;&s;i&s;t me.</P>
<PB N="20" REF="18">
<FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="letter">
<OPENER><DATE><HI>March</HI> the 22<HI>d.</HI> 1676</DATE>
<SALUTE>Sirs,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>Having been at <HI>We&s;tmin&s;ter</HI> this day, and &s;pake with divers Members, I find the Argu|ments for the Exportation of Wooll, have &s;o far prevailed with the Parliament-men, that a Bill is already put in Sr. <HI>T. M</HI>'s. Hand to bring it into the Hou&s;e which may be done this very day (altho' I had &s;ome Di&s;cour&s;e with him about it and did endeavour to di&s;wade him from it)</P>
<P>The Con&s;equence of which, &s;eeing it mu&s;t tend to the utter Ruine of the Cloathing Trade, and &s;eeing I have done the utmo&s;t that can be expected on my part to prevent it, which is to draw up Rea&s;ons effecttually to make out the Inconvenience of it, which I have al&s;o put into the Printer's hand.</P>
<P>I thought it my Duty therefore, further to acquaint you, that unle&s;s &s;ome further &s;peedy Cour&s;e be taken for a general meeting, to con&s;ider how, and in what manner this Mi&s;chief &s;hould be obviated. I conceived the Intre&s;t of the Clothier would &s;uddenly have grown de&s;|perate, &s;eeing no private or &s;ingle Mans appearing in this Ca&s;e, who ever he be can &s;ignify any thing to oppo&s;e it.</P>
<P>I am much convinced, that not only the Cloathing Trade, but the very Intre&s;t of the Na|tion in general is at &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ake, and in hazzard to be utterly lo&s;t, if this Point &s;hould now be wholy neglected? This I have for &s;ome years fore&s;een, and have talked of, but it hath not been regarded, but you will find that I &s;pake not &s;lightly, but on good grounds&punc; and what there is ju&s;t Cau&s;e to &s;u&s;pect, will come to pa&s;s, if this Matter be not with Indu&s;try and Dili|gence prevented.</P>
</FLOATEXT>
<P>After I had prevailed with the Clothiers to give me &s;ome encouragement; I did then en|deavour to u&s;e proper Arguments, and took a fit Sea&s;on to pre&s;ent them, when the Hou&s;e of Commons was &s;o earne&s;t for the prohebiting <HI>French</HI> Commodities, laying before them, that the Wooll endeavoured to be limited for Tran&s;portation was principally intended for <HI>France,</HI> which proved &s;o effectual for the Ends de&s;igned; which Arguments I refer you to for your fur|ther &s;atisfaction.</P>
<P>After this was laid a&s;ide, the next Se&s;&s;ions of Parliament comes a Gentleman that hath been all along my Competitor <HI>(viz.)</HI> Mr. <HI>Munk</HI> as in <HI>p.</HI> 8 and brings in a Bill, and prevail|ed &s;o far as to get it read and committed, upon which I drew up the following Petition, which was &s;igned by &s;everal Merchants and Factors, <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="petition">
<P>Whereas <HI>there is a Bill depending, the Parliament whereof &s;eems to be again&s;t Tran&s;|portation of Wooll, the Scope and Con&s;equence of it (as is humbly conceived) will tend rather to encourage it: For whereas it is &s;ugge&s;ted in the &s;aid Bill, that the Act made in the</HI> 14th, <HI>Year of His Maje&s;ties Reign, making Tran&s;porting of Wooll Felony, is ineffctual for the preventing thereof, and therefore prays the Re|pealing the Felony of that Act, without confirming the re&s;t of that Act; as if ma|king Tran&s;portation to be Felony did encourage Tran&s;porting; that Sugge&s;tion with all &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion is conceived to be a great mi&s;take: For though it mu&s;t be grant|ed (whatever Laws have been or &s;hall be made in this ca&s;e) that &s;ome Per&s;ons for their own Lucre (though it be never &s;o much to the Damage of the great Manu|facture of this Kingdom, and notwith&s;tanding all the Care imaginable) will adven|ture to Tran&s;port Wooll. Yet for &s;ome Years after the Act of the</HI> 14 Car. 2. <HI>was in force, there was a great &s;top put to the &s;aid Tran&s;portation, until wooll &s;o increa&s;|ed in</HI> Ireland <HI>beyond its Con&s;umption there and here, that great Quantities were actually Tran&s;ported from thence; but till that Glut the Act of the</HI> 14th. <HI>Year of His Maje&s;ties Reign (by which the Forfeture was Three Shillings for every pound of Wooll be&s;ides the Wooll forfited) conjoyned with the Act in the</HI> 14th. <HI>Year of His Maje&s;ties Reign, was found effectual to prohibit Tran&s;porting Wooll, for</HI>
<PB N="21" REF="18"> <HI>the Pro&s;ecutor having liberty to Pro&s;ecute upon what Act he plea&s;e.</HI></P>
</FLOATEXT>
<P>If the Act again&s;t Felony were repealed, there would be much more Wooll exported then hath been done; for although few Per&s;ons that have any con&s;iderable E&s;tate do now appear in the very Fact of the &s;aid Exportation, but mo&s;t times poor men; therefore in rea&s;on it cannot but be &s;uppo&s;ed if t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> Act which makes it Felony were repealed, none elce but poor men would do it, and then to what purpo&s;e would that Act be of making the Forfiture, Three Shillings <HI>per</HI> pound; to be &s;ure no one would be at the Charge to pro|&s;ecute. But then of the other hand, experience is of &s;ome u&s;e in this ca&s;e: I remember that I pro&s;ecuted &s;everal P<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">&s;ons for Exporting of Wooll about the Year 1672, upon that Act of Felony, by the p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">cule<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> or<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e of King <HI>Charles</HI> the &s;econd; and did Convict Fower of them, as in <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e <HI>7th</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ch put &s;ome &s;topp at that time to the &s;aid Exportation, &s;o that both in rea&s;on and experience that Act ought to &s;tand.</P>
<P><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o all which <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> did what hath been done &s;ince <HI>May</HI> 1687. finding the work &s;o great, both in the Ch<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">ge and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word">, and too much for my &s;elf to carry on alone, being &s;o much <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> though <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> much for the King and Kingdoms good, not being will|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> to the Ground; a third Petition was drawn up by order of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> and Clothiers in <HI>Exon</HI> (who by their Mayor had Petitioned the late King <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> Kings <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> Woollen Manufacture in his dominions) pur|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> before mentioned <HI>page.</HI> 11 and 2, and there being a <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">roclamation <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">, the &s;ame was at la&s;t agreed to, by the &s;aid Commitioners of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">roclamation Clau&s;es were de&s;ired in the Petition to be added <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> Merchants and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">ct<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">rs <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n <HI>London,</HI> to appoint per&s;ons to Seize <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> to Collect voluntary Contributions, to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"></P>
<P><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> with <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> King, undertook to have it added to the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> to carry the Petition and Clau&s;es, to the Clerk of the Cou|cil; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> Kings him&punc; that day to the Proclamation, and whil&s;t I was there <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> was b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ought that the Commi&s;&s;ioners of the Cu&s;toms would not have any <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">, &s;o I lo&s;t my labour, and the Proclamation came forth without th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e Clau&s;es&punc; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">he l<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">s I kept things on foot, though with great difficulty; and pro|&s;ecuted divers <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> the Exchequer, and convicted one <HI>Henry Colmer,</HI> who&s;e Tryal I mentioned in <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">, but not his name; which <HI>Colmer</HI> was to be employed by the order of Sr. <HI>Nicoles <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">u<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">er.</HI> in the Room of Capt. <HI>Knight,</HI> when I petition&punc;d the late King in <HI>July</HI> 1685, for the Two Sloops then laid down by the Commi&s;&s;ioners <HI>page 10th.</HI> After which time I dr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">w upon the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> Petition &s;igned by &s;everal clothiers and Factors, which being re|fer'd to the Commi&s;&s;ion&punc; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> the cu&s;toms&punc; and upon their Report at la&s;t did con&s;ent what they had a long time oppo&s;ed, and upon their Report to the Council, Mr. Atturney General was ordered to draw up a Commi&s;&s;ion, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">hich pa&s;t the Broad Seal the <HI>28th.</HI> of <HI>June</HI> 1688, and the &s;ame day I was Inportuned by &s;om of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> Commi&s;&s;ioners to &s;end down Two Men and Hor&s;es into <HI>Kent</HI> and <HI>S<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">r,</HI> t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> take ca<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e of in&s;pecting <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> preventing that Mi&s;chief, being then Shearing-time which accordingly I did do the very &s;ame day; and defrayd the Charge my &s;elf.</P>
<P>That &s;ome time after was ord<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ed by a Committee of the &s;aid Commi&s;&s;ioners, to fitt out Two Sloops to be at Sea, and two or three Men more at Land to attend that Service, and when they were fitted I went down and g<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ve directions therein from time to time, and prevented great quantities of Wooll from Exportation, and &s;ome Ve&s;&s;ells &s;eized, and &s;ome Wooll taken in the Night time&punc; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s the &s;ame was Carrying on Hor&s;e Backs to the Sea Side, and &s;ome of the Exporters them&s;elves &s;ecured, who di&s;&s;overed near Thirty others; again&s;t the Cheife&s;t of which I procured a Warrant from the late Lord Cheif Iu&s;tice <HI>Wright,</HI> and with as much warine&s;s as I could (&s;ome of them before hav<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ing Ab&s;conded) was &s;ecured 8 or 10 of the Cheife&s;t of them and de&s;ired the M<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">or o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="3 letters">ney</HI> to Committ them, but he admitted them to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">aile, tho I <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> hard <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o the contrary; But he was not &s;o well plea&s;ed that I did not come <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> which i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> po&s;&s;ible I &s;hould have hardly got one of them upon that Warrant, and good rea&s;on for that he him&s;elf is &s;ince di&s;covered
<PB N="22" REF="19"> to be, and is now pro&s;ecuted for the &s;ame Fact. I &s;hall conclude with the&s;e following Affi|davits, <HI>viz.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="affidavits">
<HEAD><HI>The Information of</HI> James Webb. John Edwards. <HI>and</HI> Henry Spillet.</HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="affidavit">
<P>THe&s;e Informants maketh Oath, that being employed in the Executing of a Warrant from the Lord Cheif Ju&s;tice again&s;t &s;everal Exporters of Wooll, living in <HI>Rumney;</HI> and was on the <HI>11th</HI> In&s;tant &s;everally informed of Thirty Packs of Wooll, intended to be <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">hipt and tran&s;ported that Night. The&s;e Deponents, <HI>James Webb</HI> and <HI>John Edwards,</HI> together with <HI>John Milner</HI> was arre&s;ted in &s;everal Actions, on purpo&s;e, as the&s;e Deponents beleive to prevent them of Seizeing the &s;aid Wooll; that at or near the &s;ame time one <HI>John Slaughter</HI> a Tran&s;porter of Wooll, and one that was taken upon the &s;aid Warrant, &amp; bound over to the A&s;&s;izes; came with a Hanger into the Room, and provoked them to Fight; until by the Mayor of <HI>Rumney</HI> was forced to be gone, the next Morning the&s;e Deponents preparing for <HI>Lyd,</HI> news was brought there, that the &s;aid <HI>John Slaughter</HI> was come Armed with Ten other per&s;ons near at hand, and Ten more expected to A&s;&s;ault the&s;e Deponents; Mr. <HI>Carter</HI> and his Company, upon which news the &s;aid Mr <HI>Carter</HI> &s;ent to the Mayor, to di&s;ire him to keep the Peace, and &s;hortly after went to <HI>Lyd,</HI> and being in|formed there al&s;o &s;um intentions to Export Wooll that Night, whereupon the&s;e Deponents and Company, prepared to go out to the Sea-<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="3 letters">, about Eight of the Clock that Night, and going in the Street, were a&s;&s;aulted b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;everal per|&s;ons unknown, and one of our Company Wounded, but afterwards di&s;covered one to be the Bayliffs Son of <HI>Lyd,</HI> who came to our Lodging and threatned that if any &s;tirred out of the Hou&s;e, we &s;hould be fired at, out of the Town; or words to that effect, he being &s;ent by the Bayliff his Father, as he &s;aid: But the rea&s;on as the&s;e Deponents beleiveth, was that they might not be interupted in the exportation of Wooll, as before intended; that about one of the Clock at Night, agreat <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ody of Hor&s;e and &s;ome Foot, (&s;uppo&s;ing after they had Shipt the Wooll) came about the Hou&s;e where we Lodged, Fireing &s;everal times; Shouting and Railing upon us, but upon the Importunity of Mr. <HI>Carter;</HI> the&s;e Deponents, nor any of the Company did Fire any Gun, when we had the op|pertunity of Killing of them, and were provoked in our own de&s;ence &s;o to do: The&s;e Deponents further maketh Oath, that when it was light, they went to the &s;aid Baylfls Hou&s;e about the Ryot, and defireing his A&s;&s;i&s;tance in the &s;earch after the per&s;ons Guilty of the &s;aid Ryot; and asked whether there was any Watch in the Towne the Night before, as his Son pretended that there was, but inquiring into it by &s;everal Jurats and others, and con&s;table, found there was no Watch that Night, nor any ordered nor had been along time before: That about Ten of the Clock the &s;ame day the&s;e Deponents, was followed by a|bout Fifty Hor&s;emen, near the <HI>Camber point,</HI> over again&s;t <HI>Rye.</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED><LIST>
<ITEM>James Webb.</ITEM>
<ITEM>John Edwards.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Henry Spillet.</ITEM>
</LIST></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="affidavit">
<PB N="23" REF="19">
<P>This Deponant, <HI>John Edwards,</HI> further maketh Oeth; that all the men ex|cept two with the hor&s;es, got into their Sloops Boats lying ready for them, an perceiveing that &s;ome of he hor&s;emen riding near the two men with our hor&s;es, the &s;aid men left their hor&s;es on the <HI>Camber-point,</HI> and got into a Boat and put off; but the hor&s;emen fired both at the men in the Boat, and al&s;o at the hor&s;es; and here &s;ince that one of the hor&s;es is killed.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="affidavit">
<P><HI>JAmes Atkins,</HI> Ma&s;ter of a Ve&s;&s;el called the <HI>Dilligence;</HI> did &s;ee a Party of Hor&s;e armed, following Mr. <HI>Carter</HI> and &s;everal of his a&s;&s;i&s;tance, the <HI>13th.</HI> In&s;tant <HI>December;</HI> intending as this Deponent beleiveth to do &s;ome mi&s;cheif to them, for that &s;ome of the hor&s;emen fired at his men in a Boat, as they was com|ing off the <HI>Cumber;</HI> the Shot Grazing near the Boat.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>James Atkins.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="affidavit">
<P><HI>JOhn Syer</HI> Marriner, maketh Oath; that being imploved in a Ve&s;&s;el, call|ed the Merchants De&s;ec<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e; to prevent the Exportation of Wooll, he the &s;aid Deponent was required, with &s;everal others to a&s;&s;i&s;t in the Execution of the Lord Cheif Ju&s;tice Warant, again&s;t &s;everal Exporters of Wooll; and having performed that &s;ervice the <HI>12th.</HI> of this in&s;tant <HI>December,</HI> came that day to <HI>Lyd,</HI> in order to go to <HI>Rye;</HI> on Board their Ve&s;&s;el then lying at Anchor there. And about Eight or Nine of the Clock in the night time, he with the re&s;t of his company at the reque&s;t of Mr <HI>Carter;</HI> was going towards the Sea-&s;ide to Seize, or Preven the Exportation of Wooll; which was &s;uppo&s;ed to be intended to be tran&s;ported that night, and as this Deponent and Company, were going through the Street, was &s;et on by &s;everal per&s;ons unknowne, who received &s;e|veral Wounds, and afterwards found one of the per&s;ons to be the Bayli&s;&s;s Son of <HI>Lyd,</HI> after which time &s;everal per&s;ons came to this Deponents Lodgings, Firing &s;everal times, and railed upon this Deponent and Company.</P>
<P>And this Deponent further maketh Oath, that the next day being the <HI>13th,</HI> in&s;tant, he with the re&s;t of the Company coming toward <HI>Rye</HI> afore&s;aid, was pur&s;ued, by about fifty hor&s;men or thereabouts, armed and had not the Boats belonging to &s;everal Ve&s;&s;els gave their attendance and took us in, we might have been di&s;troyed.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>John Syer.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="affidavit">
<P><HI>RAndal Go&s;ley</HI> maketh Oath, that on the <HI>13th</HI> in&s;tant <HI>December;</HI> there being a great Body of Ho<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e come on the <HI>Camber</HI> near <HI>Rye,</HI> being &s;up|po&s;ed <HI>Iri&s;h,</HI> or <HI>French;</HI> which put the Town of <HI>Rye</HI> into a great fear, and be|ing on the other &s;ide of the Harbor, the Maje&s;trates &s;ent &s;ome Per&s;ons in a Boat, to di&s;cover who they were, and the Rea&s;ons being enquired into, was to do &s;ome mi&s;cheif to Mr. <HI>William Carter,</HI> and his A&s;&s;i&s;tance; who had taken up &s;um Per&s;ons for Tran&s;portation of Wooll: The&s;e Hor&s;emen following them &s;o fa&s;t that Mr. <HI>Carters</HI> Men could not get their Hor&s;es over the <HI>Ferry,</HI> but left them on the <HI>Camber Point.</HI></P>
<PB N="24" REF="20">
<P>This Deponent, being afterwards &s;ent, by the &s;aid Mr. <HI>Carter;</HI> to look after the Hor&s;es, went as farr as <HI>Lyd,</HI> where one <HI>John Slaughter</HI> owned the Hor&s;es to be in his Cu&s;tody, and would keep them &s;o for damages, pretend|ed to be done him by the &s;aid Mr. <HI>Carter;</HI> and further &s;aid that his name was <HI>Slaughter,</HI> and a <HI>Slaughter</HI> he &s;hould find of him</P>
<P>And this Deponent further &s;aith, that &s;ome others then in the Company of the &s;aid <HI>Slaughter,</HI> &s;aid that they would &s;ecure his Body, and &s;ome others his Soul, for that neither was his own.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Randal Go&s;ley.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="affidavit">
<HEAD><HI>The &V;olluntary Depo&s;ition, of</HI> William Ellis <HI>of</HI> Dover <HI>Marriner; taken as followeth.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THis Deponent maketh Oath, that coming from <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> to <HI>Rye,</HI> in the County of <HI>Su&s;&s;ex;</HI> pa&s;&s;ed by the way of <HI>Lyd,</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">&punc; and at a place called <HI>Broomhil Hou&s;e,</HI> on this &s;ide <HI>Lyd</HI> afore&s;aid; the Depo|nent met with two Men on Hor&s;eback, who askt this Deponent whether he was going, he an&s;wered for <HI>Gilford-Ferry</HI> in order to <HI>Rye;</HI> one of them Swore (God-<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">am-you) you are one of the Rogues that was at <HI>Lyd</HI> la&s;t night, and if they thought this Deponent was one (they would &s;hare him) meaning as this Deponent beleives, in Sea terms, dividing of him; but he, this Deponent u&s;ing good Language, and telling them he was not the Per&s;on they took him for, they let him pa&s;s,</P>
<P>But, when this Deponent came to <HI>Gilford-Ferry,</HI> there was one <HI>John Smith</HI> of <HI>Gilford,</HI> came in with a Bottle of Wine in his hand, and coming where this Deponent &s;at by the Fire &s;ide, he Swore (by God) this is one of the Rogues b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">longing to the Sloops, and &s;aid let us <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ind hin neck and heels, and &s;hare him, the &s;aid <HI>Smith</HI> further &s;aid, there lyes <HI>Warners Hor&s;e,</HI> and he knew who &s;hot him with a Slug, by which the hor&s;e fell downe, but ro&s;e againe, and &s;ome Per&s;on knockt him downe with a Clubb; and upon the &s;ame Shot. This De|ponent herd <HI>John Smith</HI> of <HI>Gilford,</HI> &s;ay, that the Blood gu&s;hed from the <HI>Hor&s;e&punc;</HI> and he further &s;aith, that could he light of Mr. <HI>Webb, John Warner, Henry Spillet,</HI> or any of the Sloops-crew; they would certainly Kill them. And further this Deponent &s;aith not. <HI>William Ellis.</HI></P>
<CLOSER><DATE><HI>Jurat Corum me Tre&s;ime, dio</HI> Decembres Anno. Dom. 1688.</DATE>
<SIGNED><HI>Ditto</HI> John Spaine <HI>Mayor.</HI></SIGNED>
<POSTSCRIPT>
<P><HI>The&s;e are all True Coppys of the Original upon Record, here examined by me.</HI> </P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Henry Darington <HI>Town-Clerk; and</HI> Publique Notory, <HI>of the Antient Town of</HI> Rye, Su&s;&s;ex.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</POSTSCRIPT></CLOSER>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="postscript">
<PB N="25" REF="20">
<HEAD>Po&s;t&s;cript.</HEAD>
<P>I Would not omit one Pa&s;&s;age, which may be very ob&s;ervable, That after I had taken up, and bound over to the A&s;&s;izes, the Per&s;ons mentioned, <HI>Page</HI> 21. the Mayor and Jurots of <HI>Rumny</HI> occa&s;ionally came to my Lodging the &s;ame Ev'ning, with whom I had a long Debate, I rea&s;oning with them about the evil con&s;equence of <HI>Tran&s;portation of Wool,</HI> and that many, if not mo&s;t of the <HI>Tran&s;porters,</HI> when they came to dye were found wor&s;e than nothing; the rea&s;ons I then alledged, was the evil committed, was not only again&s;t the Intere&s;t of <HI>England</HI> in general, but many Thou|&s;and poor People were ruin'd by it, &s;o it was a ju&s;t occa&s;ion to bla&s;t all the Proceedings of &s;uch Per&s;ons, in&s;omuch, that in the clo&s;e of that Di&s;cour&s;e, Two of the Company confe&s;t the Truth of what I had urged; one of which Per&s;ons had been Convicted for <HI>Tran&s;portation of Wool,</HI> on the <HI>Statate</HI> that makes the Forfeiture of <HI>three &s;hillings per l.</HI> and had Execution taken out again&s;t him for the &s;ame the <HI>Term</HI> before; the other Per&s;on was the then Mayor of another neigh|bouring Corporation: But whil&s;t I was in di&s;cour&s;e with the &s;aid Mayor and Jurots, &s;ome of the <HI>Tran&s;porters,</HI> which I had that day bound over to the <HI>A&s;&s;izes,</HI> came to my Men, and their conver|&s;ation was like to end in Bloud, had I not been very importunate with the Mayor to keep the Peace, and to di&s;mi&s;s the Company, as in the afore&s;aid <HI>Affidavit</HI> of <HI>James Webb, John Edwards</HI> and <HI>Henry Spillot,</HI> do al&s;o appear.</P>
<P>Give me leave to add the Ab&s;tract of an <HI>Affidavit</HI> of one of the Per&s;ons that was in the com|pany of <HI>Rioters</HI> before mentioned, who was the more able to give a full Account of their Num|ber and De&s;ign, which per&s;on being made &s;en&s;ible of the evil, came off from them, and was employed by me, and of great advantage in further Di&s;coveries, who made his <HI>Affidavit</HI> before Sir <HI>John More,</HI> formerly Lord Mayor of <HI>London,</HI> the &s;ub&s;tance of which followeth, <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="affidavit">
<P><HI>This</HI> Deponent <HI>maketh Oath, That upon the</HI> 13th <HI>day of</HI> December 1688, <HI>He was importun'd by</HI> James Hunt <HI>and other</HI> Tran&s;porters of Wool <HI>about</HI> Rumney, <HI>to pur&s;ue Mr.</HI> William Carter, <HI>who &s;uddenly after met with a greater number of Men, about one Hundred, who went after the &s;aid Mr.</HI> Carter <HI>and his Men, towards</HI> Rye, <HI>and had they not got into &s;ome Boats, Mr.</HI> Carter <HI>would have re|ceived &s;ome hurt, for many of the</HI> Exporters <HI>were De&s;perate Fellows, not caring what mi&s;chief they did,</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>William Ralph.</SIGNED>
<DATE>Jurat' coram Jo. More, Mayor, Septemb. 1. 1690.</DATE></CLOSER>
</FLOATEXT>
<P>I would crave leave to add to what I only hinted in <HI>Page</HI> 21. That tho' I had taken &s;o much pains, and been at &s;uch expence and hazard, yet for want of a timely provi&s;ion by a Fund to defray the charge of pro&s;ecuting tho&s;e Informations, there was an Act of Grace and Pardon pa&s;t which di&s;charged the &s;aid Oflenders; but what a&s;&s;i&s;tance I had at that time was by one Merchant, who al&s;o did di&s;bur&s;e &s;everal hundred Pounds in fitting our the &s;aid two Ve&s;&s;els, and one other which was hired, and victualing of them, in expectation of being reimburs'd, which per&s;on al&s;o paid the Fees in Pa&s;&s;ing the Act in the Year 1689. to prevent <HI>Exportation of Wool,</HI> (the Title only of which Act have been long depending this la&s;t Se&s;&s;ion) and was al&s;o at &s;ome expence the Se&s;&s;ion of Parliament 1692. for the continuance thereof, which Merchant, tho' &s;o generous and free for the Publick, having al&s;o &s;everal Thou&s;and Pounds due to him for the <HI>Tran&s;port-Ships</HI> employ'd in the reducing of <HI>Ireland;</HI> and by rea&s;on that his Trade lay formerly in <HI>Flanders,</HI> now in the <HI>French</HI> Juri&s;diction, he is &s;omewhat &s;traitned by all the&s;e means, and to help forward
<PB N="26" REF="21"> his ruine, had 78 Actions laid upon him about one and the &s;ame time, and the names of &s;ome of the Plaintiffs he ow'd not one penny to, and be&s;ides to increa&s;e the charge, &s;everal of the Summs are not above 6 or 7 <HI>l.</HI></P>
<P>I do forbear the naming of Per&s;ons, becau&s;e I would not expo&s;e them, but they who are con|cern'd knows it be&s;t.</P>
<P>And as this &s;ingle Merchant was prejudic'd by his voluntary expending near one Thou&s;and Pounds for the Publick, and twice as much more in the <HI>Tran&s;port-Ships,</HI> &s;o the Company of Mer|chant Adventurers, who had in the year 1685, and 1686. a&s;&s;i&s;ted me, and did di&s;bur&s;e about &s;ix hundred Pound towards the charge then expended, which Company having been more free than all the other Companies, again&s;t the <HI>Exportation of Wool,</HI> yet this Company was laid open in the year 1689. by the occa&s;ion of a Bill then depending to prevent <HI>Exportation of Wool, (viz.)</HI> the favourers of the Exporter, of Wool, joyning with &s;ome other Merchants not of that Company, added that clau&s;e for the free Exportation of the Woollen Manufacture&punc; and by it prevented that clau&s;e for a Fund to put in Execution the Laws again&s;t <HI>Exportation of Wool,</HI> the evil con&s;e|quence of which hath been &s;o much &s;een, and may be more felt hereafter, by which means all that provi&s;ion before mentioned fell to the ground, notwith&s;tanding which, I being unwilling a matter of &s;o great concern to the Nation &s;hould wholly be laid a&s;ide, did in the Year 169<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, humbly propo&s;e to the King in Council, &s;ome endeavours, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ot only to prevent <HI>Exportation <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">f Wool,</HI> but al&s;o Trade, Commerce and Corre&s;pondence with <HI>France,</HI> and de&s;ired four Men as my Guard, and al&s;o the Officers of the Cu&s;toms in <HI>Kent</HI> to a&s;&s;i&s;t me. and a Fifth-Rate Frigate to crui&s;e on that Coa&s;t, which being referred to the Lords Commi&s;&s;ioners of the Trea&s;ury, who&s;e Lord&s;hip; al&s;o referred the Examination thereof to the Commi&s;&s;ioners of the Cu&s;toms, who made Report thereof as followeth, <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="affidavit">
<P><HI>In obedience to your Lord&s;hips Commands, &s;ignified to us by Mr.</HI> Jep&s;on, <HI>of the 13th. in&s;tant, on the Petition of</HI> William Carter <HI>and Papers thereunto a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">'d. We do humbly Report to your Lord&s;hips, That we are of opinion, that if the Pteitioner Mr.</HI> Carter <HI>&s;hall engage in the Service his Petition re|lates to, the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of four men on Hor&s;eback, which he can con&s;ide in, is but a rea&s;onable a&s;&s;i&s;t|ance to him, and being diligently employed, may very much conduce to the propo&s;ed purpo&s;es; and we conceive that a nimble Frigate of &s;ome Force, to crui&s;e upon that Coa&s;t, who&s;e Commander may be &s;ometimes in&s;tructed by the &s;aid Mr.</HI> Carter, <HI>would al&s;o effectually conduce to the &s;ame purpo&s;e, and we think it but rea&s;onable, that the &s;aid Mr.</HI> Carter, <HI>per&s;onally engaging in the Service at afore&s;aid, &s;hould be al&s;o a&s;&s;i&s;ted by the Officers of the Cu&s;toms, which is humbly &s;ubmitted to your Lord&s;hips Con&s;ideration.</HI></P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE>Cu&s;tom-Hou&s;e, London. <DATE>18 Decemb. 1690.</DATE></DATELINE>
<SIGNED><LIST>
<ITEM>R. S.</ITEM>
<ITEM>G. B.</ITEM>
<ITEM>J. W.</ITEM>
<ITEM>R. C.</ITEM>
</LIST></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</FLOATEXT>
<P>Upon which Report the Lords Commi&s;&s;ioners of the Trea&s;ury gave direction accordingly.</P>
<P>Notwith&s;tanding I had no manner of &s;ecurity for Money to defray the charge incident in that &s;ervice, yet I took out the Orders for my men and that from the Commi&s;&s;ioners of the Cu&s;toms, and goes down into <HI>Kent,</HI> and attended that &s;ervice till I was forc'd to de&s;i&s;t for want of nece&s;&s;a|ry &s;upplies; but before I did leave the Sea-Coa&s;t, I wa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> by the Order of the Queen directed to attempt another Affair in tho&s;e parts, the effect of which &s;ervice ended in the method for a De&s;cent into <HI>France,</HI> in the beginning of the Year 1692. And whil&s;t I was attending the Coa&s;ts of <HI>Kent</HI> and <HI>Su&s;&s;ex,</HI> in the Months of <HI>May</HI> and <HI>June,</HI> found that in order to make the afore&s;aid Propo&s;als more effectual, I did humbly lay before the Queen at the Cabbinet-Council in <HI>July</HI> following &s;ome further things nece&s;&s;ary in that affair; but it being referred to the Grand Council, though there were &s;everal objections again&s;t it, yet I was heard and an&s;wered the&s;e Objections, and ob|tain'd an order upon it, and tho' I took it out, yet there were &s;ome ob&s;tructions which put a &s;top to my ju&s;t proceedings in this Affair, to the great damage of the Kingdom.</P>
<PB N="27" REF="21">
<P>The things I then propounded to the Council, and argued for, were as followeth, <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. The &s;ecuring of and &s;ending for an old Tran&s;porter of Wooll, and lately employed in that <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ffair, who to a&s;&s;i&s;t others in that evil was put into the <HI>Light-Hou&s;e</HI> by <HI>Rumny</HI> Mar&s;h, by the order <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">f the then Farmer of it, which Farmer of the <HI>Light-Hou&s;e</HI> having been a long time, not only a <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">reat Exporter of Wooll, but al&s;o an Importer of Lace and other prohibited <HI>French</HI> Goods, which <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">er&s;on was then in <HI>Newgate</HI> for countenancing and abetting of per&s;ons in going to, and coming <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">om <HI>France.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. For two Sloops to attend the Frigat before ordered, as Advice-Boats the &s;ame I had formerly <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">ted out of twenty <HI>French</HI> Sloops made &s;wift for Sailing.</P>
<P N="3">3. For &s;ome more men to be added to the&s;e four I had before ordered, where I found mo&s;t <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">anting.</P>
<P N="4">4. For to be put in a capacity to pro&s;ecute divers Tran&s;porters of Wool then di&s;covered guilty; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">e&s;e were the thing&punc; I then de&s;ired.</P>
<P>And give me leave to add the &s;ub&s;tance of a Letter that I afterwards wrote to one of the then <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ords of the Trea&s;ury, that did mo&s;t object again&s;t me at the Council, <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="letter">
<OPENER><SALUTE>Right Honourable,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>&punc;As to the Force now u&s;ed both at Sea and on Shore, to attend this Service, it is found not to be &s;ufficient, becau&s;e the effects manife&s;t it; and the Commi&s;&s;ioners of the Cu&s;toms by <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">heir &s;everal Reports have declared, that it was beyond the power of their Officers to hinder it; be&s;ides, it was not in their Commi&s;&s;ion, and therefore not their proper &s;tation.</P>
<P>&punc;And as it was with the Commi&s;&s;ioners of the Cu&s;toms, &s;o it was with tho&s;e of the Admiralty, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">r they could not exceed the number of the Ships of War, but your Lord&s;hips, as di&s;po&s;ers of Their Maje&s;ties Trea&s;ure, can direct either, as may be both for Their Intere&s;t, and the Kingdoms good.</P>
<P>&punc;And Sir, what I &s;aid at the Council Board will be proved, <HI>viz.</HI> that a Land-Guard alone, will <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> an&s;wer the end propounded, without &s;ome Ve&s;&s;els at Sea, nor they neither, without &s;uch as are proper for that &s;ervice, and to be under the care and directions, either of per&s;ons concern'd <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n intere&s;t, or known of more than ordinary Integrity, (for the Temptations therein are great) <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> that have been upwards of 20 Years employ'd, have ob&s;erv'd any thing, may be credited.</P>
<P>&punc;And if the <HI>French</HI> King (be&s;ides his Ships of War) doth employ (as I am well inform'd) near <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> hundred &s;mall <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">l<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ops (there being about Forty belonging to <HI>Dunkirk</HI> and <HI>Callis)</HI> for carry|ing on his de&s;ign, &s;hould it be thought &s;o great a charge for Their Maje&s;ties to maintain two <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> Ve&s;&s;els in th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e parts &s;o much needed, over and above the Royal Navy, e&s;pecially if it be con|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">dered, formerly in time of Peace, there was always Two Ve&s;&s;els employed by the Com|mi&s;&s;ioners of the Cu&s;toms, on tho&s;e Coa&s;ts on purpo&s;e to prevent Running of Goods, commonly <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> <HI>Stealing of Cu&s;toms.</HI></P>
<P>&punc;Sir, give me leave to &s;peak freely now, as I did warmly before your Lord&s;hips in Council, that <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">is <HI>&s;aving a Penny and loo&s;ing a Pound;</HI> not that I propounded any private advantage to my <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">elf in it, as I told your Lord&s;hips, I could be better content in my private &s;tation, but it was for the Publick I was &s;o importunate, and had been often complaining in this matter for upwards of Twenty Years, as before, from the fears of tho&s;e evils we now too much &s;ee and feel of the power of <HI>France,</HI> in&s;omuch that it may be ea&s;ily computed, that the <HI>French</HI> hath gained from <HI>England</HI> in this time, almo&s;t Eighty Millions for want of our care, the particulars I have formerly enlarged.</P>
<P>&punc;To conclude Sir, I do with &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion &s;ay, that what &s;ervice I have done in this Affair, I have not as yet put the Crown to any charge, for though I have had &s;everal &s;ums of mony or|der'd me (meerly for my expence) yet a much greater was fir&s;t brought into the receipt of the Exchequer by my Pro&s;ecutions, which are upon Record, and being matter of fact is evident enough.</P>
</FLOATEXT>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BACK>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
