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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of British Committees, Commissions, and
+Councils of Trade and Plantations, 1622-1675, by Charles M. Andrews
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: British Committees, Commissions, and Councils of Trade and Plantations, 1622-1675
+
+Author: Charles M. Andrews
+
+Release Date: August 1, 2010 [EBook #33313]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRITISH COMMITTEES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, David Garcia and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note: Portions of this text are written in an archaic
+manner in which macrons over single or double letters stand in place
+for an abbreviation. This has been represented in the text version
+by enclosing the letter in square brackets and preceeding the letter
+(or letters) with a tilde character. There are also copious single
+and multiple superscripted abbreviations represented in the text version
+by enclosing the superscripted characters with curly braces, preceded
+by a caret.]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+         Series XXVI           Nos. 1-2-3
+
+         JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY STUDIES
+                       IN
+         Historical and Political Science
+
+      Under the Direction of the Departments
+        of History, Political Economy, and
+                Political Science
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+BRITISH COMMITTEES, COMMISSIONS, AND COUNCILS OF TRADE AND PLANTATIONS,
+1622-1675
+
+
+BY CHARLES M. ANDREWS
+Professor of History
+
+
+
+  BALTIMORE
+  THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS
+
+  PUBLISHED MONTHLY
+  January, February, March, 1908
+
+
+  Copyright 1908 by
+  THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS
+
+
+
+
+TABLE OF CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+CONTROL OF TRADE AND PLANTATIONS UNDER JAMES I AND CHARLES I.
+
+  Before 1622, Privy Council the sole authority                         10
+  Commission of Trade, 1622-1623                                        11
+  Commission of Trade, 1625-1626                                        12
+  Privy Council Committee of Trade, 1630-1640                           13
+  Temporary Plantation Commissions, 1630-1633                           14
+  Laud Commission for Plantations, 1634-1641                            14
+  Subcommittees for Plantations, 1632-1639                              17
+  Privy Council in control, 1640-1642                                   21
+  Parliamentary Commission for Plantations, 1643-1648                   21
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+CONTROL OF TRADE AND PLANTATIONS DURING THE INTERREGNUM.
+
+  The Council of Trade, 1650-1653                                       24
+  Plantation Affairs controlled by the Council of State, 1649-1651      30
+  Standing Committee of the Council for Plantations,
+    1651-April, 1653                                                    33
+  Plantation Affairs controlled by the Council of State,
+    April-Dec., 1653                                                    35
+  Trade controlled by Council of State and Parliamentary Committees,
+    Dec., 1653-June, 1655                                               36
+  Importance of the years 1654-1655                                     36
+  The great Trade Committee, 1655-1657                                  38
+  Parliamentary Committees of Trade, 1656-1658                          43
+  Plantation Affairs controlled by Protector's Council and Council
+      of the State, 1653-1660                                           43
+    Special Council Committees for Plantations, 1653-1659               44
+    Council Committee for Jamaica and Foreign Plantations, 1655-1660    44
+    Select Committee for Jamaica, known later as Committee
+      for America, 1655-1660                                            45
+  Inadequacy of Control during the Interregnum                          47
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE PROPOSALS OF THE MERCHANTS: NOELL AND POVEY.
+
+  Career of Martin Noell                                                49
+  Career of Thomas Povey                                                51
+  Enterprises of the Merchants, 1657-1659                               53
+  Proposals of Noell and Povey                                          55
+    "Overtures" of 1654                                                 55
+    "Queries" of 1656                                                   58
+    Additional Proposals, 1656, 1657                                    58
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+COMMITTEES AND COUNCILS UNDER THE RESTORATION.
+
+  Plantation Committee of Privy Council, June 4, 1660                   61
+  Work of Privy Council Committee                                       63
+  Appointment of Select Councils of Trade and Plantations, 1660         64
+  Membership of these Councils                                          67
+  Comparison of Povey's "Overtures" with the Instructions for
+    Council for Foreign Plantations                                     68
+  Comparison of Povey's "First Draft" with Instructions for
+    Council of Trade                                                    71
+  Work of Council for Foreign Plantations, 1660-1665                    74
+  Control of Plantation Affairs, 1665-1670                              79
+  Work of Council of Trade, 1660-1664                                   80
+  Parliamentary Committee of Trade, 1664                                85
+  Commission for English-Scottish Trade, 1667-1668                      86
+  Reorganization of Committees of the Privy Council, 1668               87
+  Work of Privy Council Committee for Foreign Plantations, 1668-1670    90
+  New Select Council of Trade, 1668-1672                                91
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE PLANTATION COUNCILS OF 1670 AND 1672.
+
+  Influence of Ashley and Locke                                         96
+  Revival of Council for Foreign Plantations, 1670-1672                 97
+    Membership                                                          97
+    Commission and Instructions                                         99
+    Meetings and Work                                                  101
+  Select Council of Trade and Foreign Plantations, 1672-1674           106
+    Membership                                                         106
+    Commission and Instructions                                        107
+    Meetings and Work                                                  109
+  Causes of the Revocation of the Commission of Select Council, 1674   111
+  Later History of Plantation Control, 1675-1782                       112
+
+
+APPENDICES.
+
+  I.   Instructions, Board of Trade, 1650                              115
+  II.  Instructions, Council for Foreign Plantations, 1670-1672        117
+       Additional Instructions for the Same                            124
+  III. Draft of Instructions, Council of Trade and Foreign
+         Plantations, 1672-1674                                        127
+  IV.  Heads of Business; Councils of 1670 and 1672                    133
+
+
+
+
+BRITISH COMMITTEES, COMMISSIONS, AND COUNCILS OF TRADE AND PLANTATIONS,
+1622-1675.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Control of Trade and Plantations Under James I and Charles I.
+
+
+In considering the subject which forms the chief topic of this paper, we
+are not primarily concerned with the question of settlement, intimately
+related though it be to the larger problem of colonial control. We are
+interested rather in the early history of the various commissions,
+councils, committees, and boards appointed at one time or another in the
+middle of the seventeenth century for the supervision and management of
+trade, domestic, foreign, and colonial, and for the general oversight of
+the colonies whose increase was furthered, particularly after 1650, in
+largest part for commercial purposes. The coupling of the terms "trade"
+and "foreign plantations" was due to the prevailing economic theory
+which viewed the colonies not so much as markets for British exports
+or as territories for the receipt of a surplus British population--for
+Great Britain had at that time no surplus population and manufactured
+but few commodities for export--but rather as sources of such raw
+materials as could not be produced at home, and of such tropical
+products as could not be obtained otherwise than from the East and West
+Indies. The two interests were not, however, finally consolidated in
+the hands of a single board until 1672, after which date they were not
+separated until the final abolition of the old Board of Trade in 1782.
+It is, therefore, to the period before 1675 that we shall chiefly direct
+our attention, in the hope of throwing some light upon a phase of
+British colonial control that has hitherto remained somewhat obscure.
+Familiar as are many of the facts connected with the early history of
+Great Britain's management of trade and the colonies, it is nevertheless
+true that no attempt has been made to trace in detail the various
+experiments undertaken by the authorities in England in the interest
+of trade and the plantations during the years before 1675. Many of
+the details are, and will always remain, unknown, nevertheless it is
+possible to make some additions to our knowledge of a subject which
+is more or less intimately related to our early colonial history.
+
+At the beginning of colonization the control of all matters relating
+to trade and the plantations lay in the hands of the king and his
+council, forming the executive branch of the government. Parliament
+had not yet begun to legislate for the colonies, and in matters
+of trade and commerce the parliaments of James I accomplished much
+less than had those of Elizabeth. "In the time of James I," says Dr.
+Prothero, "it was more essential to assert constitutional principles
+and to maintain parliamentary rights than to pass new laws or to create
+new institutions." Thus the Privy Council became the controlling factor
+in all matters that concerned the colonies and it acted in the main
+without reference or delegation to others, since the practice of
+appointing advisory boards or deliberative committees, though not
+unknown, was at first employed only as an occasional expedient. The
+councils of James I were called upon to deal with a wide variety of
+colonial business--letters, petitions, complaints and reports from
+private individuals, such as merchants, captains of ships voyaging
+to the colonies, seamen, prisoners, and the like, from officials
+in England, merchant companies, church organizations, and colonial
+governments, notably the governor and council and assembly of Virginia.
+To all these communications the Council replied either by issuing orders
+which were always mandatory, or by sending letters which often contained
+information and advice as well as instructions. It dealt with the
+Virginia Company in London and sent letters, both before and after the
+dissolution of the company, to the governor and council in Virginia,
+and in all these letters trade played an important part. For example,
+the order of October 24, 1621, which forbade the colony to export
+tobacco and other commodities to foreign countries, declared that such
+a privilege as an open trade on the part of the colony was desirable
+"neither in policy nor for the honor of the state (that being but a
+colony derived from hence)," and that it could not be suffered "for that
+it may be a loss unto his Majesty in his customs, if not the hazarding
+of the trade which in future times is well hoped may be of much profit,
+use, and importance to the Commonalty."[1] Similarly the Council issued
+a license to Lord Baltimore to export provisions for the relief of his
+colony at Avalon,[2] ordered that the _Ark_ and the _Dove_, containing
+Calvert and the settlers of Maryland, be held back at Tilbury until the
+oaths of allegiance had been taken,[3] and instructed the governor and
+company of Virginia to give friendly assistance to Baltimore's
+undertaking.[4]
+
+Of the employment of committees or special commissions to inquire
+into questions either commercial or colonial there is no evidence
+before the year 1622. A few months after the dissolution of the third
+Stuart parliament, James I issued a proclamation for the encouragement
+of trade, and directed a special commission not composed of privy
+councillors to inquire into the decay of the clothing trade and to
+report to the Privy Council such remedial measures as seemed best
+adapted to increase the wealth and prosperity of the realm.[5] At the
+same time he caused a commission to be issued to the Lord Keeper, the
+Lord Treasurer, the Lord President of the Council and others "to collect
+and cause a true survey to be taken in writing of the names, qualities,
+professions, and places of habitation of such strangers as do reside
+within the realm of England and use any retailing trade or handicraft
+trade and do reform the abuses therein according to the statutes now in
+force."[6] The commissioners of trade duly met, during the years 1622
+and 1623, summoned persons to appear before them, and reported to the
+Council. Their report was afterward presented to the King sitting with
+the Council at Wansted, "was allowed and approved of, and commandment
+was given to enter it in the Register of Counsell causes and to remain
+as an act of Counsell by order of the Lord President."[7] There is
+evidence also to show that the commission issued orders on its own
+account, for in June, 1623, the Mayor and Aldermen of the city of London
+wrote two letters to the commission expressing their approval of its
+orders and sending petitions presented to them by citizens of London.[8]
+
+On April 15, 1625, less than three weeks after the death of James I,
+a warrant was issued by his successor for a commission of trade, the
+duties of which were of broader and more general character than were
+those of the previous body.[9] The first record of its meeting is dated
+January 18, 1626, but it is probable that then the commission had been
+for some time in existence, though the exact date when its commission
+was issued is not known. The text of both commission and instructions
+are among the Domestic Papers.[10] The board was to advance the
+exportations of home manufactures and to repress the "ungainful
+importation of foreign commodities." Looked upon as a subcommittee of
+the Privy Council, but having none of the privy councillors among its
+members, it was required to sit every week and to consider all questions
+that might be referred to it for examination and report. The fact that a
+complaint against the patent of Sir Ferdinando Gorges was referred to it
+shows that it was qualified to deal not only with questions of trade but
+also with plantation affairs.[11] At about the same time a committee of
+the Council was appointed to take into consideration a special question
+of trade and to make report to the Council. Neither of these bodies
+appears to have had more than a temporary existence, although the
+commission sat for some time and accomplished no inconsiderable amount
+of work.
+
+The first Privy Council committee of trade that had any claim to
+permanency was that appointed in March, 1630, consisting at first of
+thirteen members, the Lord Keeper, the Lord Treasurer, the Lord
+President, the Lord Privy Seal, Earl Marshall, the Lord Steward, Earl
+of Dorset, Earl of Holland, Earl of Carlisle, Lord Dorchester, the
+Vice-Chamberlain, Sir Henry Cottington and Mr. Secretary Coke. This
+committee was to meet on Friday mornings. The same committee, with the
+omission of one member, was appointed the next year to meet on Tuesdays
+in the afternoon. In 1634 the membership was reduced to nine, but in
+1636, 1638 and 1639, by the addition of the Lord Treasurer, the number
+was raised to ten, as follows: the Lord President, the Lord Treasurer,
+the Lord Keeper, the Lord Privy Seal, Earl Marshall, Earl of Dorset,
+Lord Cottington, Mr. Comptroller, Mr. Secretary Coke and Mr. Secretary
+Windebank. The meetings were again held on Fridays, though on special
+occasions the committee was warned to meet on other days by order of the
+Council, and on one occasion at least assembled at Hampton Court.[12]
+To this committee were referred all matters of trade which came to the
+attention of the Council during the ten years, from 1630 to 1640. Notes
+of its meetings between 1631 and 1637 were kept by Secretaries Coke and
+Windebank and show the extent and variety of its activities. Except for
+the garbling of tobacco it does not appear to have concerned itself
+with plantation affairs.[13] As the King was generally present at its
+meetings, it possessed executive as well as advisory powers, not only
+making reports to the Council, but also drafting regulations and issuing
+orders on its own account. Occasionally it appointed special committees
+to examine into certain trade difficulties, and on September 21, 1638,
+and again on February 3, 1639, we find notice of a separate board of
+commissioners for trade constituted under the great seal to inquire into
+the decay of the clothing industry. This board sat for two years and
+made an elaborate report to the Privy Council on June 9, 1640.[14]
+
+Though committees for trade, ordnance, foreign affairs, and Ireland
+had a more or less continuous existence during the period after 1630,
+no similar committee for plantations was created during this decade.
+Temporary commissions and committees of the Council had been, however,
+frequently appointed. In 1623 and 1624 several sets of commissioners for
+Virginia were named "to inquire into the true state of Virginia and the
+Somers Islands plantations," "to resolve upon the well settling of the
+colony of Virginia," "and to advise on a fit patent for the Virginia
+Company." In 1631 a commission of twenty-three persons, of whom four
+constituted a quorum, was created, partly from within and partly from
+without the Privy Council, "to advise upon some course for establishing
+the advancement of the plantations of Virginia."[15] Similar commissions
+were appointed to meet special exigencies in the careers of other
+plantations, Somers Islands, Caribbee Islands, etc. In 1632, we meet
+with a committee forming the first committee of the Council appointed
+for the plantations, quite distinct in functions and membership
+from the committee for trade and somewhat broader in scope than the
+commissions mentioned above. The circumstances of its appointment were
+these: In the year 1632 complaints began to come in to the Privy Council
+regarding the conduct of the colony of Massachusetts Bay. Thomas Morton
+and Philip Ratcliffe had been banished from that colony and sent back
+to England. Sir Christopher Gardiner, also, after a period of troubled
+relations with the authorities there, had taken ship for England. These
+men, acting in conjunction with Gorges and Mason, whose claims had
+already been before the Council, presented petitions embodying their
+grievances. On December 19, 1632, the Council listened to the reading
+of these petitions and to the presentation of a "relation" drawn up by
+Gardiner. After long debate "upon the whole carriage of the plantation
+of that country," it appointed a committee of twelve members, called the
+Committee on the New England Plantations, with the Archbishop of York at
+its head, "to examine how the patents for the said plantations have been
+granted." This committee had power to call "to their assistance such
+other persons as they shall think fit," "to examine the truth of the
+aforesaid information or any other information as shall be presented to
+them and shall make report thereof to this board and of the true state
+of the said plantations." The committee deliberated on the "New England
+Case," summoned many of the "principal adventurers in that plantation"
+before it, listened to the complainants, and reported favorably to the
+colony. The essential features of its report were embodied in an order
+in council, dated January 19, 1633.[16] This committee, still called the
+Committee for New England, was reappointed in December, 1633, with a
+slight change of membership, Laud, who had been made primate the August
+before, taking the place of the Archbishop of York as chairman. But this
+committee was soon overshadowed by the greater commission to come.[17]
+
+The first separate commission, though, in reality, a committee of the
+Privy Council, appointed to concern itself with all the plantations,
+was created by Charles I, April 28, 1634. It was officially styled
+the Commission for Foreign Plantations; one petitioner called it
+"the Lords Commissioners for Plantations in General," and another
+"the learned Commissioners appointed by the King to examine and rectify
+all complaints from the plantations." It is probable that the term
+"Committee of Foreign Plantations" was occasionally applied to it,
+as there is nothing to show that the committee of 1633 remained in
+existence after April, 1634.[18] Recommissioned, April 10, 1636, it
+continued to sit as an active body certainly as late as August, 1641,
+and possibly longer,[19] though there is no formal record of its
+discontinuance. Its original membership was as follows: William Laud,
+Archbishop of Canterbury; Richard Neile, Archbishop of York; Sir Thomas
+Coventry, the Lord Keeper; Earl of Portland, the Lord Treasurer, Earl
+of Manchester, the Lord Privy Seal, Earl of Arundel, the Earl Marshall,
+Earl of Dorset, Lord Cottington, Sir Thomas Edmondes, the Master
+Treasurer, Sir Henry Vane, the Master Comptroller, and the secretaries,
+Coke and Windebank. Later the Earl of Sterling was added.[20] Five
+constituted a quorum. The powers granted to the commission were
+extensive and almost royal in character: to make laws and orders for the
+government of the English colonies in foreign parts; to impose penalties
+and imprisonment for offenses in ecclesiastical matters; to remove
+governors and require an account of their government; to appoint judges
+and magistrates, and to establish courts, both civil and ecclesiastical;
+to hear and determine all manner of complaints from the colonies;
+to have power over all charters and patents, and to revoke those
+surreptitiously or unduly obtained. Such powers clearly show that the
+commission was designed as an instrument for enforcing the royal will
+in the colonies, and furnishes no precedent for the later councils and
+boards of trade and foreign plantations. Called into being probably
+because of the continued emigration of Puritans to New England, the
+complaints against the Massachusetts charter, and the growth of
+Independency in that colony, it was in origin a coercive, not an
+inquisitory, body, in the same class with the courts of Star Chamber and
+High Commission, and the Councils of Wales and the North. Unlike these
+bodies, it proved practically impotent, and there is nothing to show
+that it took any active part in the attempt to repeal the Massachusetts
+charter or in any important particular exercised the powers granted
+to it. It did not remove or appoint a governor, establish a court, or
+grant or revoke a charter. It received petitions either directly or
+from the Privy Council and made recommendations, but it never attempted
+to establish uniformity in New England or to bring the New England
+colonies more directly under the authority of the Crown. Whether it was
+the failure of the attempt to vacate the Massachusetts charter, or the
+poverty of the King, or the approach of civil war that prevented the
+enforcement of the royal policy, we cannot say, but the fact remains
+that the Laud commission played a comparatively inconspicuous part
+during the seven years of its existence and has gained a prominence in
+the history of our subject out of all proportion to its importance.
+
+More directly connected with the commercial and colonial interests of
+the realm were the subcommittees which the Privy Council used during
+these years and earlier as advisory and inquisitory bodies. In addition
+to committees of its own, the Privy Council called on various outside
+persons known to be familiar with the circumstances of a particular
+case or experts in the general subject involved, and entrusted to
+them the consideration of important matters that had been called to its
+attention. As we have already seen, such a subcommittee on trade had
+been appointed in 1625, and after 1630 we meet with many references to
+individuals or groups of experts. The attorney general was called upon
+to examine complaints regarding New England and Maryland in 1632 and
+1635; the Chancellor of London was requested to examine the parties in
+a controversy over a living in St. Christopher in 1637; many commercial
+questions were referred to special bodies of merchants or others holding
+official positions. In 1631 a complaint regarding interlopers in Canada
+was referred to a committee of three, Sir William Becher, clerk of the
+Council; Serj. (Wm.) Berkeley, afterward governor of Virginia, and
+Edward Nicholas, afterward clerk of the Council, and a new committee
+in which Sir William Alexander and Robert Charlton took the place of
+Becher and Nicholas was appointed in 1632.[21] Berkeley, Alexander,
+and Charlton were known as the Commissioners for the Gulf and River of
+Canada and parts adjacent, and were all directly interested in Canadian
+trade.[22] These committees received references from the Council,
+summoned witnesses and examined them, and made reports to the Council.
+Similarly, the dispute between Vassall and Kingswell was referred on
+March 10, 1635, to Edward Nicholas and Sir Abraham Dawes for examination
+and report, and because it was an intricate matter, consumed
+considerable time and required a second report.[23] Again a case
+regarding the Virginia tobacco trade was referred to the body known
+as the "Commissioners of Tobacco to the Lords of the Privy Council,"
+appointed as early as 1634 and itself a subcommittee having to do with
+tobacco licenses, customs, and trade. The members were Lord Goring,
+Sir Abraham Dawes, John Jacob, and Edmund Peisley. The first specific
+references to "subcommittees," _eo nomine_, are of date May 23, May 25,
+and June 27, 1638. The last named reference mentions the receipt by the
+Privy Council of a "certificate" or report from Sir John Wolstenholme
+and Sir Abraham Dawes "unto whom their lordships had formerly referred
+the hearing and examining of complaints by John Michael in the Laconia
+case."[24] As the earlier reference of May 23 had to do with the estate
+of Sir Thomas Gates and that of May 25 to a Virginia matter, it is
+evident that this particular subcommittee had been appointed some time
+before May 23, 1638, and that the only thing new about it was the
+term "subcommittee" as applied to such a body. This conjecture seems
+reasonable when we note that Wolstenholme and Dawes had already served
+on the commission for Virginia and were thoroughly conversant with
+plantation affairs, while Dawes was also a member of the tobacco
+commission and had served on the committee in the Kingswell-Vassall
+case. An examination of later "subcommittees" shows that many of the
+same men continued to be utilized by the Council in their capacity as
+experts. Lord Goring, John Jacob, Sir Abraham Dawes, with Sir William
+Becher and Edward Nicholas, clerks of the Council, and Edward Sandys,
+brother of Sir Edwin Sandys, and a councillor of Virginia under Governor
+Wyatt, formed the subcommittee to whom, on July 15, was referred the
+complaint of Samuel Mathews against Governor Harvey. When the same
+matter was referred again to a subcommittee on October 24, Sir Dudley
+Carleton, formerly one of the commissioners for Virginia, and Thomas
+Meautys, clerk of the Council, were substituted for Dawes and
+Nicholas.[25] These committees were instructed "to call the parties
+before them, to examine the matter, and find out the truth, and then
+to make certificate to their lordships of the true state of things and
+their opinion thereof."[26] Similar references continued to be made
+during the year 1639, on January 4, February 22, March 8,[27] June 12,
+16, July 17, 26, 28, August 28, and the evidence seems to show that the
+committee, though frequently changing its membership, was considered
+a body sitting regularly and continuously. The certificate of July 9,
+1638, in answer to the reference of June 16, was signed by Sir William
+Becher, Thomas Meautys, Sir Francis Wyatt, and Abraham Williams; that
+of July 23 by Becher, Dawes, Jacob, and Williams. After August 28 we
+hear no more of the subcommittee. Whether this is due to a failure of
+the Register to enter further references and certificates or to the
+actual cessation of its labors, we cannot say. The committee was always
+appointed by the Council, and always reported to that body. Frequently
+its certificates are entered at length in the Register.[28] The petition
+upon which it acted was sometimes sent directly to itself, frequently
+to the Privy Council, which referred it to the subcommittee, and but
+rarely to the Commissioners for Foreign Plantations.[29] The committee
+was limited in its scope to no one colony. It reported on matters in
+England, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Somers Islands, and Virginia.
+It dealt with secular business and ecclesiastical questions, and on one
+occasion at least was required to examine and approve the instructions
+issued to a colonial governor.[30] It does not appear ever to have acted
+except by order of the Privy Council, and was never in any sense of
+the word a subcommittee of the Commissioners of Foreign Plantations,
+although in reporting to the Council it was reporting to those who
+composed that commission.[31]
+
+From 1640 to 1642 plantation business was managed by the Privy Council
+with the aid of occasional committees of its own appointed to consider
+special questions. The term "subcommittee," as we have seen, does not
+appear to have been used after 1639,[32] but commissions authorizing
+experts to make inquiry and report are referred to, and committees
+of the Council took into consideration questions of trade and the
+plantations. During the year from July 5, 1642, to June, 1643, no
+measures relating to the colonies appear to have been taken, for
+civil war was in full swing. In 1643, Parliament assumed to itself
+the functions of King and Council and became the executive head of the
+kingdom. Among the earliest acts was the appointment of a parliamentary
+commission of eighteen members, November 24, 1643, authorized to control
+plantation affairs. At its head was Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick,
+and among its members were Philip, Earl of Pembroke, Edward, Earl of
+Manchester, William, Viscount Say and Seale, Philip, Lord Wharton, and
+such well known Puritan commoners as Sir Arthur Haslerigg, John Pym, Sir
+Harry Vane, Junior, Oliver Cromwell, Samuel Vassall, and others. Four
+members constituted a quorum. The powers granted to this commission were
+extensive, though as far as phraseology goes, less complete than those
+granted to the commission of 1634. The commissioners were to have "power
+and authority to provide for, order, and dispose all things which they
+shall from time to time find most fit and advantageous to the well
+governing, securing, and strengthening, and preserving" of "all those
+islands and other plantations, inhabited, planted, or belonging to any
+of his Majesty's the King of England's subjects." They were authorized
+to call to their assistance any inhabitants of the plantations or owners
+of land in America who might be within twenty miles of their place of
+meeting; to make use of all records, books, and papers which concerned
+any of the colonies; to appoint governors and officers for governing
+the plantations; to remove any of the officials so appointed and to put
+others in their places; and, when they deemed fit, to assign as much of
+their authority and power to such persons as they should deem suitable
+for better governing and preserving of the plantations from open
+violence and private disturbance and destruction.
+
+In the exercise of these powers the commissioners never embraced the
+full opportunity offered to them by their charter. They did appoint
+one governor, Sir Thomas Warner, governor of the Caribbee Islands.
+They granted to the inhabitants of Providence, Portsmouth, and Newport
+a patent of incorporation and conferred upon the patentees authority
+"to rule themselves by such form of civil government as by voluntary
+consent of all or the greater part of them they should find most
+suitable to their estate or condition.[33] They also endeavored to make
+a grant of the Narragansett country to Massachusetts, at the special
+request of Massachusetts' agents in 1643, but failed, partly because
+they had no certain authority to grant land and partly because the
+only clause of their commission which seemed to give such authority
+required the consent of a majority, and the agents could obtain but nine
+signatures to the grant. Even these activities on the part of the board
+lasted but little over a year, and after 1644 the commissioners played a
+more or less passive role. They continued to sit but their only recorded
+interest in colonial affairs concerned New England. From 1645 to 1648
+they became involved in the controversy over the Narragansett country,
+and in the attempt of Massachusetts to thwart her enemies, the
+Gortonists and the Presbyterians.[34] Whether the commission continued
+to sit after the execution of the King is uncertain; there are no
+further references to its existence. That many of its members remained
+influential in colonial affairs is evident from the fact that at least
+seven of the commissioners became members of the Council of State,
+appointed February 13, 1649: Philip, Earl of Pembroke (died 1650); Sir
+Arthur Haslerigg, Sir Harry Vane, the younger; Oliver Cromwell, Dennis
+Bond, Miles Corbet, and Cornelius Holland. Haslerigg was a conspicuous
+leader in colonial as well as other matters during the entire period of
+the Commonwealth and the Protectorate; Vane became president of the new
+board of trade created in August, 1650, was at the head of the Committee
+of the Admiralty, which often had colonial matters referred to it, and
+served frequently on plantation committees from 1649 to 1659; while
+Bond, Corbet, and Holland, though never very active, were members of
+one general and a few special committees that concerned themselves with
+trade and plantations. Thus the spirit of the Independent wing of the
+old commission continued to influence the policy of the government
+in the early years of the Commonwealth period. The Council of State,
+appointed by act of the Rump Parliament, was given full authority to
+provide for England's trade at home and abroad and to regulate the
+affairs of the plantations. Though its membership underwent yearly
+changes and its composition and members were altered many times before
+1660, its policy and machinery of control remained constant except as
+far as they were affected by the greater power which the Council gained
+in the face of the growing weakness of Parliament.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Footnote 1: Privy Council Register, James I, Vol. V, p. 173; repeated
+p. 618.]
+
+[Footnote 2: P.C.R., Charles I. Vol. V, p. 106.]
+
+[Footnote 3: P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. IX, p. 291.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Cal. State Papers, Colonial, 1574-1660, p. 170, § 78.]
+
+[Footnote 5: Rymer, Foedera XVII. pp. 410-414.]
+
+[Footnote 6: Public Record Office, Chancery, Crown Dockets, 4, p. 280,
+June 26, 1622.]
+
+[Footnote 7: P.C.R., James I, Vol. VI, pp. 333, 365-368, July, 1624.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Analytical Index to the Series of Records known as
+Remembrancia preserved among the Archives of the City of London,
+1579-1644, p. 526.]
+
+[Footnote 9: Cal. State Papers, Domestic, 1625-1649, pp. 4, 84.]
+
+[Footnote 10: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1625-1649, pp. 225, 522, §§ 19,
+20, p. 495.]
+
+[Footnote 11: P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. II, Pt. I, p. 68.]
+
+[Footnote 12: P.C.R., Charles I, Vols. V, p. 10; VI, p. 7; X., p. 3;
+XII, p. 1; XV, p. 1.]
+
+[Footnote 13: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1629-1631, p. 526; 1634-1635,
+pp. 453, 472, 513, 584; 1635, pp. 30, 515, 548, 598; 1635-1636,
+pp. 44, 231; 1636-1637, p. 402; 1637, pp. 47; 1637-1638, p. 410.
+The secretaries' notes will be found as follows: Coke, 1629-1631, pp.
+526, 535; Windebank, 1634-1635, pp. 500, 513; 1635, pp. 11-12, 29, 502,
+536; 1635-1636, pp. 291-292, 428-429, 551-552; 1636-1637, pp. 402; 1637,
+p. 47.]
+
+[Footnote 14: Historical MSS. Commission, Report XV. Manuscripts of the
+Duke of Portland, VIII, pp. 2-3.]
+
+[Footnote 15: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574-1660, pp. 44, 62, 63, 64,
+130; Virginia Magazine, VIII, pp. 29, 33-46, 149.]
+
+[Footnote 16: Bradford, pp. 352-355; P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. VIII, pp.
+346-347; Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574-1660, p. 158.]
+
+[Footnote 17: P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. IX, p. 1. The order in Council
+of July 3, 1633, regarding Virginia and Lord Baltimore, is headed "Lords
+Commissioners for Foreign Plantations." It is evident, however, that
+this body is not a separate board of commissioners but the Privy Council
+sitting as a committee of the whole for plantations. The membership does
+not agree with that of the committee of 1632, that committee did not sit
+in the Star Chamber, and such a committee could not issue an order which
+the Privy Council alone could send out. There was no separate commission
+of this kind in July, 1633, as Tyler, England in America, pp. 122-123
+(Amer. Nation Series, IV) seems to think.]
+
+[Footnote 18: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574-1660, pp. 184, 200, 251,
+259.]
+
+[Footnote 19: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1675-1676, § 193.]
+
+[Footnote 20: P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. X, p. 1; XII, p. 1; XV, p. 1; Cal.
+State Papers, Col., 1574-1660, pp. 177, 232.]
+
+[Footnote 21: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574-1660, pp. 9, 140, 151, 158,
+211, 258.]
+
+[Footnote 22: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574-1600, p. 129.]
+
+[Footnote 23: Cal. State Papers, Col., pp. 197-198, 207.]
+
+[Footnote 24: P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. XV, p. 300.]
+
+[Footnote 25: Virginia Magazine, X, p. 428; XI, p. 46.]
+
+[Footnote 26: P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. XV, p. 508.]
+
+[Footnote 27: "Att Whitehall, 8th of March, 1638(9)
+
+Their Lordships do pray and require the subcommittee for foreign
+plantations to consider of this petition at their next meeting and to
+make report to their Lordships of their opinion concerning the same.
+
+Will. Becher."]
+
+[Footnote 28: P.C.R., Charles I, Vols. XV, p. 343; XVI, pp. 542-543.]
+
+[Footnote 29: P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. XVI, p. 558; Cal. State Papers,
+Col., 1574-1660, p. 301.]
+
+[Footnote 30: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1675-1676, § 190.]
+
+[Footnote 31: The commissioners frequently formed a majority of those
+present at a Privy Council meeting. For example, in 1638, the Council
+wrote a letter to the governor of Virgina. This letter was signed by
+eleven councillors, of whom eight were members of the Commission.
+It is sometimes difficult to distinguish the different capacities in
+which Archbishop Laud acted. A series of minutes drawn up by him in 1638
+of the subjects upon which he had prepared reports to the King notes
+the following: concerning the six plantations, grants of offices in
+reversion, new patent offices and monopolies, the execution of the
+King's former directions, and trade and commerce. In making these
+reports Archbishop Laud acted as president of the Council, president
+of the Commission for Foreign Plantations, president of the committee
+for Foreign Affairs, High Commission Court, etc.]
+
+[Footnote 32: The term "subcommittee" is used by petitioners as late
+as August, 1640 (Cal. Col., 1574-1660, p. 314), but no references and
+reports of so late a date are to be found in the Calendar or the
+Register.]
+
+[Footnote 33: This is, of course, the well-known Williams patent of
+1644. Rhode Island, Colonial Records, I, pp. 143-146.]
+
+[Footnote 34: Osgood, The Colonies in the Seventeenth Century, III,
+pp. 110-112.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+Control of Trade and Plantations During the Interregnum.
+
+
+The earliest separate council to be established during the period from
+1650 to 1660 was that appointed by act of Parliament, August, 1650,
+known as the Commission or Council of Trade, of which Sir Harry Vane
+was president and Benjamin Worsley, a London merchant and "doctor of
+physic," already becoming known as an expert on plantation affairs,
+was secretary. This body was specially instructed by Parliament to
+consider, not only domestic and foreign trade, the trading companies,
+manufactures, free ports, customs, excise, statistics, coinage and
+exchange, and fisheries, but also the plantations and the best means
+of promoting their welfare and rendering them useful to England.
+"They are to take into their consideration," so runs article 12 of the
+instructions, "the English plantations in America or elsewhere, and
+to advise how these plantations may best be managed and made most
+useful for the Commonwealth, and how the commodities thereof may be so
+multiplied and improved as (if it be possible) those plantations alone
+may supply the Commonwealth of England with whatsoever it necessarily
+wants." These statesmanlike and comprehensive instructions are notable
+in the history of the development of England's commercial and colonial
+program. Free from the limitations which characterize the instructions
+given to the earlier commissions, they stand with the Parliamentary
+ordinance of October, 1650, and the Navigation Act of 1651, as forming
+the first definite expression of England's commercial policy. Inadequate
+though the immediate results were to be, we cannot call that policy
+"drifting" which could shape with so much intelligence the functions
+of a board of trade and plantations. There is no trace here of the
+coercive and politico-ecclesiastical purpose of the Laud Commission, or
+of the partisan policy in the interests of the Puritans that the Warwick
+Commission was instructed to carry out. Here we have the first attempt
+to establish a legitimate control of commercial and colonial affairs,
+and to these instructions may be traced the beginnings of a policy which
+had the prosperity and wealth of England exclusively at heart.
+
+Of the history of this board but little has been hitherto known and
+its importance has been singularly neglected. It was more than a merely
+advisory body, like the later councils and boards of trade, for it had
+the power to issue orders of its own. It sat in Whitehall, received
+information, papers,[1] and orders from the Council of State, and
+reported to that higher authority, which approved or disapproved of
+its recommendations. To it the Council instructed traders and others
+to refer their petitions, and itself referred numbers of similar papers
+that came into its hands.[2] This board took into consideration the
+various questions touched upon in its instructions, especially those
+concerning fisheries (Greenland), manufactures, navigation, commerce,
+trade (with Guinea, Spain, Canary Islands, etc.), the poor, the trading
+companies (especially the East India and Guinea companies), the merchant
+companies (chiefly of London), and freedom of trade. During the first
+year of its existence it was an active body and could say on November
+20, 1651, that it had made seven reports to the Council of State and
+seven to Parliament, that it had its opinions on six subjects ready
+to be reported, and eight other questions under debate.[3] In two
+particulars a fuller consideration of its work is desirable.
+
+The Council of Trade devoted a considerable amount of time to regulating
+the buying and selling of wool, and to settling the difficulties that
+had arisen among the curriers, fellmongers, staplers, and clothiers
+of London and elsewhere regarding their trade privileges. Late in the
+spring of 1651 petitions and statements of grievance had been sent
+both to the Council of Trade and to the Common Council of London by
+the "freemen of the city trading in wool," for redress of grievances
+practiced by the Society of Staplers. Shortly afterward, May 13,
+apparently in answer to the complaint of the freemen of London, the
+fellmongers of Coventry petitioned the Council of Trade, begging that
+body not to interfere with its ancient privileges. Taking the matter
+into consideration, the Council, on May 14, issued an order requiring
+the companies to present their expedients and grievances, and appointed
+a committee of two expert wool staplers, members of the Staplers
+Company, to meet with the other companies and draft a certificate of
+their proper and ancient rights. The Common Council, on the same day,
+ordered its committee of trade, or any five of them, to attend the
+Council of Trade and assist the "Company of Upholders," the committee
+presenting the original complaint, in its attempt to obtain a redress
+of grievances according to the plan already placed before the Common
+Council. These efforts were not very successful, for the wool growers
+refused to meet the committee of staplers appointed by the Council of
+Trade, and the fellmongers and clothiers could not reach an agreement
+with the staplers as to the latter's ancient privileges. Consequently,
+the Council of Trade, on June 11, issued a second order requiring the
+committee of trade of the Common Council to report on "the foundation
+and nature of the Staple and the privileges pretended to by that
+Society." This committee "heard certain of the principal staplers and
+perused the acts and records produced by them in defence of the same,"
+and reported to the Council of Trade on June 26 that, in its opinion,
+the Company of Staplers had become an unnecessary and useless Society,
+and were the principal cause for the dearness of wool, the badness of
+cloth, and the general decay of the woolen trade.[4]
+
+The trouble seems to have been that the fellmongers and staplers
+were deemed useless middlemen between the growers and the clothiers,
+and injurious to the clothing industry because of their abuses. The
+controversy was carried before the Council of State and its committees,
+and both fellmongers and staplers argued long and forcibly in defence
+of their trade.[5] On November 3, 1652, the two societies presented an
+answer to the particular order of the Council of Trade which declared
+them unnecessary and disadvantageous, denied the charges, and prayed
+that they might enjoy their trade as before. Even as late as April 16,
+1653, the fellmongers petitioned for leave to produce wool-growers and
+clothiers to certify the necessity of their trade.[6] But fellmongers
+and staplers as factors in English trade and industry were beginning
+to pass away by the middle of the seventeenth century.
+
+The second important question that came before the Council was no less
+significant in its relation to the growth of British trade than was the
+decay of the Societies of Fellmongers and Staplers. It concerned the
+breaking down of the privileges of the merchant companies in general,
+and the establishment of free ports and free trade in England--that is,
+free trade controlled and ordered by the state. To this end, the Council
+appointed a committee of eleven merchants to whom it gave elaborate
+directions to report on the feasibility of setting apart four free ports
+to which foreign commodities might be imported without paying customs
+dues if again exported. These merchants met and drew up a report dated
+April 26, 1651, and again on May 26 of the same year expressed further
+opinions on the advisability of the "opening of free ports for trade."
+"Trade being the basis and well-being of a Commonwealth, the way to
+obtain it is to make it a free trade and not to bind up ingenious
+spirits by exemptions and privileges which are granted to some
+particular companies." In addition to the home merchants, the Council
+of Trade presented its queries to the merchant strangers and to the
+Committee for the Affairs of Trinity House, all of whom returned
+answers. It also made public its desire to consider the appointment of
+"convenient ports for the free trade in the Commonwealth," and as early
+as May 22 a number of the out-ports, Dover, Plymouth, the Isle of Wight,
+Barnstaple, Bideford, Appledore, and Southampton petitioned that they be
+recognized as free landing places. The period was one of rivalry between
+London and the out-ports, and the latter believed that the various acts
+of 1650 and 1651 were in the interest of the London merchants only.
+"Yet thus much that act seems to have on it only a London stamp and
+a contentment to subject the whole nation to them, for most of the
+out-ports are not capable of the foreign trade to Indies and Turkey. The
+Londoners having the sole trade do set what price they please upon their
+commodities, knowing the country cannot have them nowhere but by them,
+whereby not only the out-ports are undone but the country brought to the
+devotion of the city. But a great abuse is here, for the city are not
+contented with this act but only so far as it serves their own turns,
+for they procure (upon some pretexts or other) particular licenses for
+many prohibited commodities contrary to that act, as namely for the
+importation of French wines and free both of custom and excise tax,
+and for the importation of whale oil and skins so as either directly or
+indirectly they will have the whole trade themselves."[7] Evidently the
+Council of Trade favored the establishment of a freer trade as against
+the monopoly of the merchant companies, believing, it may be, that
+London did monopolize trade and that it was "no good state of a body
+to have a fat head and lean members." The city authorities, apparently
+alarmed at the favorable action of the Council, took immediate action.
+On June 19, 1651, the Court of Aldermen instructed Alderman Fowke, one
+of its most influential members, in case the Council of Trade came to
+an agreement favorable to free trade, to move for a reconsideration in
+order that London might have a hearing before the matter was finally
+settled.[8] But the hearing, if had, could not have been successful in
+altering the determination of the Council, for a few months later, on
+December 5, 1651, the Common Council of London, probably convinced that
+the Council of Trade was in earnest in its policy and alarmed at the
+prospect of losing its trading privileges, ordered its committee of
+trade to prepare a petition to Parliament, the Council of State, or the
+Council of Trade, asking that London be made a free port. The petition
+was duly drawn up and approved by the Common Council, which ordered its
+committee "to maintain" it before the Council of Trade.[9] Evidently the
+matter went no further. The Council of Trade continued its sittings and
+debated and reported on a number of petitions "complaining of abuses and
+deceits" in trade, but after 1652 it plays but an inconspicuous part.
+Even before that date many questions before it were taken over by the
+Council of State and referred to its own committees. Fellmongers and
+staplers defended their cause before the higher body and the free trade
+difficulty continued to be agitated, at least as far as concerned the
+Turkey trade and the Greenland fishing, by the Council committee after
+it had passed out of the hands of the lesser body.[10] The period was
+one of transition from a monopolized to an open trade, and consequently
+to many trade everywhere appeared to be in decay. Remedies were sought
+through the intervention of the state and the passing of laws, but the
+early period of the Commonwealth was not favorable to a successful
+carrying out of so promising an experiment. On October 3, 1653, trade
+was reported from Holland as "somewhat dead" and the Council of Trade,
+which the Dutch at first feared might be "very prejudicial" to their
+state, was declared "only nominal," so that the Dutch hoped that in time
+those of London would "forget that they ever were merchants." In fact,
+however, the Council of Trade had come to an end more than four months
+before this report was made.
+
+That the Council of Trade, notwithstanding its carefully worded
+instructions, had no part in looking after the affairs of the colonies
+is probably due to the activity of the Council of State, which itself
+exercised the functions of a board of trade and plantations. According
+to article 5 of the Act of February 13, 1649, appointing a Council
+of State, it was to use all good ways and means for the securing,
+advancement, and encouragement of the trade of England and Ireland
+and the dominions to them belonging, and to promote the good of all
+foreign plantations and factories belonging to the Commonwealth.
+It was also empowered "to appoint committees of any person or persons
+for examinations, receiving of informations, and preparing of business
+for [its] debates or resolutions." The members chosen February 14, 1649,
+were forty-one in number and were to hold office for one year.[11]
+February 12, 1650, a second council was elected, of which twenty were
+new members and the remaining twenty-one taken over from the former
+body.[12] On November 24, 1651, a third council was chosen under the
+same conditions.[13] The same was true of the fourth council of
+November 24, 1652.[14] Many of the "new" members were generally old
+members dropped for a year or more. On July 9 and 14, 1653, the number
+of members was reduced to thirty-one, and this council was designed to
+last only until the following November.[15] Two councils, the fifth
+and sixth were, therefore, elected in the same year, each composed of
+fifteen old and fifteen new members. The sixth council, elected November
+1, 1653, was chosen for six months, but after six weeks was supplanted
+by the body known as the Protector's Council, elected December 16,
+1653, under the provisions of the _Instrument of Government_.[16]
+This council was to consist of not more than twenty-one nor less than
+thirteen members, and according to the method of election provided for
+in that instrument, was practically controlled by Cromwell himself. The
+membership varied from time to time, rarely numbering more than sixteen,
+with an average attendance of about ten. Cromwell was frequently absent
+from its meetings, but the council, though designed constitutionally to
+be a check upon his powers, was in reality his ally and answerable to
+him alone, particularly after the dissolution of Parliament in January,
+1655. The council provided for in _The Humble Petition and Advice_ was
+but a continuation of the Protector's Council, so that from December,
+1653, until May, 1659, the Protector's Council, representing Cromwell
+policy and interest, continued to exist. After the abdication of Richard
+Cromwell and the restoration of the Rump Parliament, the Protector's
+Council came to an end, and a new council, the eighth, was chosen on May
+13, 14, 15, 1659.[17] This body contained ten members not of Parliament
+and lasted until December 31, when a new Council of State was chosen
+for three months; but on February 21 the council was suspended, and two
+days afterward the tenth and last council was chosen.[18] On May 21,
+1660, this council was declared "not in being," and formally came to
+an end on May 27, when Charles II, who had had his Privy Council more
+or less continuously since 1649, named at Canterbury Monck, Southampton,
+Morrice, and Ashley as privy councillors. The first meeting at Whitehall
+was held May 31.[19]
+
+The Council of State itself acted as a board of trade and plantations
+and directly transacted a large amount of business in the interest of
+manufactures, trade, commerce, and the colonies. It initiated important
+measures, received petitions, remonstrances, and complaints, either at
+first hand or through Parliament, from which it also received special
+orders, entered into debate upon all questions arising therefrom,
+summoned before it any one who might be able to furnish information
+or to offer advice, and then drew up its reply, embodied in an order
+despatched to government officials, private individuals, adventurers,
+merchant and trading companies, colonial governments in particular
+or in general. For example, it ordered letters to be written to the
+plantations, giving them notice of the change of government in 1649,
+sending them papers necessary for their information, and requiring them
+to be obedient if they expected the protection which the Republic was
+prepared to extend to them. Until March 2, 1650, it does not appear to
+have organized itself especially for this purpose, but on that date it
+authorized the whole council, or any five members, to sit as a special
+committee for trade and plantations, and on February 18 and December 2,
+1651, repeated the same order.[20] During the early part of this period
+it depended to a considerable extent on committees, either of merchants
+and others outside the council, men already engaged in trade with the
+plantations, such as Worsley, Maurice Thompson (afterward governor of
+the East India Company), Lenoyre, Allen, Martin Noell, and others,
+or of councillors forming committees of trade (sitting in the Horse
+Chamber in Whitehall), of plantations, of the admiralty, of the navy,
+of examinations, of Scottish and Irish affairs, and of prisoners, to
+whom many questions were referred and upon whose reports the Council
+acted. It also appointed special committees to take into consideration
+particular questions relating to individual plantations, Barbadoes,
+Somers Islands, Bermudas, New England, Newfoundland, Virginia. Of all
+these committees none appears to have been more active, as far as the
+plantations were concerned, than the Committee of the Admiralty, before
+whom came a large amount of colonial business, which was transacted
+with the coöperation of Dr. Walker, of Doctors Commons, advocate for
+the Republic, and David Budd, the proctor of the Court of Admiralty.
+
+An important departure was introduced on December 17, 1651, when a
+standing committee of the Council was created, consisting of fifteen
+members, to concern itself with trade and foreign affairs. This
+committee took the place of that which had formerly sat in the Horse
+Chamber in Whitehall, and renewed consideration of all questions which
+had been referred to that body. It was organized, as were all the
+Council committees, with its own clerk, doorkeeper, and messenger, and
+as recommissioned on May 4, 1652, and again on December 2, 1652, when
+the membership was raised to twenty-one and the plantations were brought
+within the scope of its business, became a very independent and active
+body until its demise in April, 1653. Its members were Cromwell, Lords
+Whitelocke, Bradshaw, and Lisle, Sir Arthur Haslerigg, Sir Harry Vane,
+Sir William Masham, Sir Gilbert Pickering, Colonels Walton, Purefoy,
+Morley, Sidney, and Thomson, Major Lister, Messrs. Bond, Scott, Love,
+Challoner, Strickland, Gurdon, and Alleyn.[21] This committee, to which
+new members were frequently added, sat in the Horse Chamber at Whitehall
+and took cognizance of a great variety of commercial and colonial
+business. It considered the question of free trade versus monopolies
+and during the summer of 1652, after the Council of Trade had fallen
+into disfavor, debated at length the desirability of opening the Turkey
+trade as freely to adventurers as was that of Portugal and Spain. It
+listened to a number of forcible papers presented in the interest of
+free trade in opposition to trade in the hands of companies; it dealt
+with the operation of the Navigation Act of 1651 and rendered decisions
+regarding penalties, exemptions, licenses, and the disposal of prizes
+and prize goods; it devoted a large amount of time to plantation
+business; and, for the time being, probably supplanted consideration
+of these matters by the Council of State, and rendered unnecessary the
+appointment of any other committee on colonial affairs. Except for the
+Admiralty Committee and one or two other committees to which special
+matters were referred, as concerning Newfoundland, there appears to
+have been no other subordinate body actually in charge of affairs in
+America between December 17, 1651, and April 15, 1653. The period was
+an important and critical one, and the committee must have had before
+it business connected with nearly every one of the colonies in America.
+The Council of State referred to it petitions, etc., from and relating
+to Massachusetts, Plymouth, New Haven, Rhode Island, Newfoundland,
+Maryland and Virginia, Barbadoes, Nevis, Providence Island, and the
+Caribbee Islands in general. It dealt with the proposed attack on
+the Dutch at New Amsterdam, losses of merchant ships, privateer's
+commissions and letters of marque; the Greenland and Newfoundland
+fisheries, naval stores, and land disputes. It drafted bills and
+governors' commissions, considered vacancies in the colonies, and
+received applications for office, and, in one case, promoted the
+founding of a plantation in South America.[22] This business was
+performed to a considerable extent through subcommittees, many of
+which met in the little Horse Chamber and acted in all particulars as
+regular committees. On one occasion, the entire committee was appointed
+a subcommittee, and very frequently the committee met for no other
+purpose than to hear the report of a subcommittee. These subcommittees,
+which were generally composed of councillors, referred matters to
+outside persons, merchants, judges, and doctors of civil law, while
+the committee itself called before it merchants, officials, members
+of other committees, and indeed any one from whom information might
+be extracted. The main work was performed by the subcommittees, their
+reports were reviewed by the committee itself, and, if approved, were
+sent to the Council of State, which based upon them recommendations to
+Parliament.[23] After April 15, 1653, we hear no more of this committee.
+There is some reason to think that the duties entrusted to it were
+deemed too extensive and a division between trade, plantations, and
+foreign affairs was planned, but no definite record of such a separation
+of functions is to be found. A Council Committee of Foreign Affairs was
+appointed, probably before June, 1653, reappointed on July 27, and again
+reappointed August 16, but no committees of trade and of plantations
+appear. Very likely the Council of State, with the assistance of the
+committees on Scottish and Irish affairs, admiralty, navy, and customs,
+and a few special committees and commissioners, assumed control of
+plantation affairs. The interests of industry and trade may have been
+looked after by the Committee on Trade and Corporations appointed by the
+Barebones Parliament, July 20, 1653, "to meet at Whitehall in the place
+where the Council of Trade did sit."[24] Several times during the year
+this committee proposed the establishment of a separate council of trade
+to take the place of the former Council, to which proposition Parliament
+agreed, but nothing was done, and the Parliamentary Committee of Trade
+and Corporations seems to have been the only official body that existed
+during the year 1653 for the advancement of trade and industry.[25]
+
+On December 29, 1653, the Protector's Council made known its purpose
+of taking "all care to protect and encourage navigation and trade,"
+and in March, 1654, we meet with a reference to a committee of the
+Council appointed for trade and corporations. As this body was organized
+for continuous sitting, with a clerk, doorkeeper, and messenger, and
+as a second reference to it appears under date August 21, 1654, the
+probabilities are in favor of its existence as a regular committee
+during the year 1654.[26] That it was an important committee is
+doubtful, for we meet with practically no references to its work, and
+when in January, 1655, the project of a select trade committee was
+brought forward it was referred for consideration and report, not to
+this committee, but to Desborough of the Council and the Admiralty
+Committee.
+
+The events of the years 1654 and 1655 mark something of an era in the
+history of trade and commerce, not because the capture of Jamaica had
+any very conspicuous effect upon Cromwell's own policy or upon the
+commercial activities of the higher authorities, but because it opened
+a larger world and larger opportunities to the merchants and traders of
+London who were at this time seeking openings for trading ventures in
+all parts of the world. To better their fortunes many men accompanied
+the expedition under Penn and Venables, and the merchants at home were
+seized with something of the spirit of the Elizabethans in planning,
+not only to increase commerce and swell their own fortunes, but also
+to drive the Spaniard from the southwestern waters of the Atlantic
+and extend British control and British trade into regions heretofore
+wholly in the hands of Spain. Barbadoes, Jamaica, Florida, Virginia,
+New England, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland became a world of great
+opportunities, and with plans for the expansion of trade went plans for
+naval and military activity. If the merchants of the period had had
+their way, a systematic and orderly policy of colonial control in the
+interest of British power and profit would have been inaugurated during
+the second period of the Interregnum, but circumstances do not appear
+to have been propitious, and the disturbed political order during the
+years 1658 and 1659 led not only to a cessation of activity as far
+as the government was concerned but also to decay of trade, shrinking
+of profits, decrease of fortunes, and widespread discouragement.
+Furthermore, there is nothing to show that Cromwell himself ever rose
+to a statesmanlike conception of colonial control and administration.
+He was thoroughly interested in those matters, was personally influenced
+by the London merchants, frequently called on the most conspicuous of
+them for advice, placed them on committees and councils established for
+purposes of trade, and was always open to their suggestions. But while
+he was willing to act upon their opinions and recommendations in many
+respects, he never seems to have grasped the essentials of a large
+and comprehensive plan of colonial control, and it is not possible
+to discover in what he actually accomplished any broadminded idea of
+uniting the colonies under an efficient management for the purpose of
+laying the foundations of an empire. His expedients, interesting and
+practical as many of them were, do not seem to be a part of any large or
+well-formed plan. Whether he would ever have risen to a higher level of
+statesmanship in these respects we cannot say, but he never found time
+to give proper attention to the suggestions of the merchants or to the
+demands of trade and commerce.
+
+That he took a great interest in the industrial and commercial
+development of England is evident from one of his earliest efforts to
+provide for its proper control. Even while the fleet was on its way
+to the West Indies, the Council of State instructed Desborough and
+the Admiralty Committee, January 29, 1655, to consider "of some fit
+merchants to be a trade committee." There is some reason to think
+that this instruction was in response to a paper drawn up by certain
+merchants of London in 1654, entitled, "An Essaie or Overture for the
+regulating the Affairs of his Highness in the West Indies," drafted
+after the expedition had sailed and with the confident expectation of
+conquest in mind.[27] If the original suggestion did not come from the
+merchants, we may not doubt that in the promotion of the plan they
+exercised considerable influence. In 1655, Martin Noell and Thomas Povey
+sent a petition to the Protector regarding trade, and suggested that
+there be appointed "some able persons to consider what more may be done
+in order to those affairs and a general satisfaction for the fixing the
+whole trade of England." They wished that a competent number of persons,
+of good reputation, prudent and well skilled in their professions and
+qualifications should be "selected and set apart" for the "care of his
+Highness Affairs in the West Indies." The number was to be not less than
+seven, and these not to be "of the same but of a mixt qualification,"
+constituting a select council subordinate only to the Protector and the
+Council. After careful attention to the fitness of a large number of
+prominent individuals, a committee of twenty was named on July 12, 1655.
+If the "Overture" was responsible for the decision to name a select
+council, its influence went no further, for except that merchants were
+placed as members, there is no likeness between the plan as finally
+worked out and that formulated by the merchants. Indeed, Povey himself
+later expressed his dissatisfaction in saying that "that committee which
+[we] so earnestly prest should be settled will not tend in any degree
+to what we proposed, the constitution of it being not proportionable
+to what was desired."[28] The committee of twenty was soon expanded into
+a much larger and more imposing body, possibly due to the receipt of the
+news of the capture of Jamaica and the decision announced in Cromwell's
+proclamation of August to hold the island. On November 11, 1655,[29]
+a board, made up of officers of state, gentlemen, and merchants, was
+commissioned a "Committee and Standing Council for the advancing and
+regulating the Trade and Navigation of the Commonwealth," generally
+shortened to "Trade and Navigation Committee," or simply "Trade
+Committee." Its membership, instead of being seven, was over seventy,
+and it was thus a dignified though unwieldy body. At its head was
+Richard Cromwell and its members were as follows: Montague, Sydenham,
+Wolseley, Pickering, and Jones of the Protector's Council; Lord Chief
+Justice St. John and Justices Glynn, Steele, and Hale; Sir Henry Blount,
+Sir John Hobart, Sir Gilbert Gerard, gentlemen of distinction; Sir
+Bulstrode Whitelocke and Sir Thomas Widdrington, sergeants-at-law; Col.
+John Fiennes and John Lisle, commissioners of the Great Seal; the four
+Treasury Commissioners; Col. Richard Norton, governor of Portsmouth;
+Capt. Hatsell, navy commissioner of Plymouth; Stone and Foxcroft, excise
+commissioners; Martin Noell, London merchant and farmer of the customs;
+Upton, customs commissioner; Bond, Wright, Thompson, Ashurst, Peirpont,
+Crew, and Berry, London merchants; and Tichborne, Grove, Pack (Lord
+Mayor), and Riccards, aldermen of London; Bonner, of Newcastle; Dunne,
+of Yarmouth; Cullen, of Dover; Jackson, of Bristol; Toll, of Lyme;
+Legay, of Southampton; Snow, of Exeter; and Drake, of Sussex. At various
+times, and probably for various purposes, the following members were
+added between December 12, 1655, and June 19,1656: Secretary Thurloe,
+William Wheeler, Edmund Waller, Francis Dincke, of Hull; George Downing,
+at that time major general and scoutmaster; Alderman Ireton, of London;
+Col. William Purefoy; Godfrey Boseville; Edward Laurence; John St.
+Barbe, of Hampshire, [Lord] John Claypoole, Master of the Horse, and
+Cromwell's son-in-law; John Barnard; Sir John Reynolds; Col. Arthur
+Hill; George Berkeley; Capt. Thomas Whitegreane; Thomas Ford, of Exeter;
+Francis St. John; Henry Wright; Col. John Jones, Alderman Frederick,
+sheriff of London; Richard Ford, the well-known merchant of London;
+Mayor Nehemiah Bourne; Charles Howard; Robert Berwick; John Blaxton,
+town clerk of Newcastle; Col. Richard Ingoldsby; Edmund Thomas;
+Thomas Banks, and Christopher Lister. Thus the Trade Committee, composed
+of members from all parts of England, represented a wide range of
+interests. Furthermore, any member of the Protector's Council could come
+to the meetings of the committee and vote.[30] Such a body would have
+been very unmanageable but for the fact that seven constituted a quorum
+and business was generally transacted by a small number of the members.
+The instructions were prepared by Thurloe after a scrutiny of those
+of the former Council of Trade, and bore little resemblance to the
+recommendations of the "Overture," because they were designed to cover
+a far wider range of interests than were considered by the merchants.
+The "Overture" was planned only for a plantation council. The Trade
+Committee was invested with power and authority to consider by what
+means the traffic and navigation of the Republic might best be promoted
+and regulated, to receive propositions for the benefit of these
+interests, to send for the officers of the excise, the customs, and the
+mint, or such other persons of experience as they should deem capable of
+giving advice on these subjects, to examine the books and papers of the
+Council of Trade of 1650, and all other public papers as might afford
+the members information. When finally its reports were ready for the
+Council of State, that body reserved to itself all power to reject or
+accept such orders as it deemed proper and fitting.
+
+The Trade Committee met for the first time on December 27, 1655, in the
+Painted Chamber at Westminster. Authorized to appoint officers, it chose
+William Seaman secretary, two clerks, an usher, and two messengers at
+a yearly salary of £280, with £50 for contingent expenses;[31] and from
+the entries of the payments ordered to be made to these men for their
+services, we infer that the board sat from December 27, 1655, until
+May 27, 1657, exactly a year and a half. During this time it probably
+accumulated a considerable number of books and papers, though such are
+not now known to exist. Proposals, petitions, complaints, and pamphlets,
+such, for example, as that entitled _Trading Governed by the State_, a
+protest against the commercial dominance of London, were laid before it,
+and it took into its own hands many of the problems that had agitated
+the former board. It discussed foreign trade, particularly with Holland,
+and the questions of Swedish copper,[32] Spanish wines, and Irish linen;
+home manufactures, among which are mentioned swords and rapier blades,
+madder-dyed silk, needle making, and knitting with frameworks; and
+domestic concerns, such as the preservation of timber. It made a number
+of recommendations regarding "the exportation of several commodities of
+the breed, growth, and manufacture of the Commonwealth," "the limiting
+and settling the prices of wines," "vagrants and wandering, idle,
+dissolute persons," and the "giving license for transporting fish in
+foreign bottoms." These recommendations were drafted by the Trade
+Committee, or by one of its subcommittees, and after adoption were
+reported to the Council of State and by it referred to its own committee
+appointed to receive reports from the Trade Committee. When approved by
+the Council of State, the recommendations were sent to Parliament and
+there referred to the large Parliamentary committee of trade of fifty
+members, appointed October 20, 1656. That committee drafted bills which
+were based on these recommendations and which later were passed as acts
+of Parliament and received the consent of the Protector. For example,
+the recommendation regarding exports, noted above, became a law November
+27, 1656.[33]
+
+Under the head of "navigation and trade" came the commercial interests
+of the plantations, and though there existed during this year, 1656,
+other machinery for regulating plantation affairs, a number of questions
+were referred from the Council to the Trade Committee that were strictly
+in the line of plantation development. These questions concerned customs
+duties on goods exported to Barbadoes, the political quarrels in
+Antigua which threatened to bring ruin on that plantation and the
+remedies therefor, the pilchard fishery off Newfoundland, and finally
+the controversy between Maryland and Virginia which had already been
+referred to a special committee of the Council. Upon all these questions
+the Trade Committee reported to the Council; its recommendations and
+findings were debated in that body or further referred to one of its own
+committees or to the outside committee for America, and finally embodied
+in an order regulating the matter in question.[34]
+
+Of the activity of the Trade Committee during the few months of the year
+1657, when it continued its sessions, scarcely any evidence appears.
+There is a very slight reason to believe that it took up the question of
+free ports, but there is nothing to show that it accomplished anything
+in that direction. That it came to an end in May seems to be borne out
+by the fact that the officers of the board were paid only to May 27, but
+this statement is rendered uncertain by the further fact that on June 26
+Portsmouth petitioned the committee to be made a free port and that the
+petition was brought in by one of the members of the committee for
+America, Capt. Limbrey.[35] The question cannot be exactly settled.
+Though the committee was by no means a nominal body, it accomplished
+little, and certainly did not meet the situation that confronted the
+trade and navigation of the kingdom.
+
+After the appointment of this select Trade Committee, no standing
+committee of the Council was created. Questions of trade were looked
+after either by the Council itself, that of May, 1659, being especially
+instructed to "advance trade and promote the good of our foreign
+plantations and to encourage fishing,"[36] by an occasional special
+committee, by the Trade Committee until the summer of 1657, or by the
+committees of Parliament. Of Parliamentary committees there were two:
+one a select committee of fifty members, appointed October 20, 1656, to
+which were added all the merchants of the House and all members that
+served for the port towns;[37] and a grand committee of the whole House
+for trade, appointed February 2, 1658, which sat weekly and was invested
+with the same powers as the committee of 1656 had had.[38] But except
+that the first committee adopted some of the recommendations of the
+Trade Committee, there is nothing to show that these committees took any
+prominent part in the advancement of the interest in behalf of which
+they had been created.
+
+From 1654 to 1660 the welfare of the plantations lay chiefly in the
+hands of the Protector's Council and the Council of State, and their
+system of control was in many respects similar to that which had been
+adopted during the earlier period of the Interregnum. At first all
+plantation questions were referred to committees of the Council
+appointed temporarily to consider some particular matter. From December
+29, 1653, to the close of the year 1659 some fifty cases were referred
+to about thirty committees, of which twenty were appointed for the
+special purpose in hand. Many matters were referred to such standing
+committees as the Admiralty Committee, Customs Committee, etc.; others
+to the judges of admiralty, commissioners of customs, and the like,
+while petitions and communications regarding affairs in Jamaica, New
+England, Virginia, Antigua, Somers Islands, Newfoundland, and Nevis,
+regarding the transporting of horses, mining of saltpeter, payments of
+salaries, indemnities, and trade, and regarding personal claims, such as
+those of Lord Baltimore, William Franklin, De La Tour, and others, were
+referred to committees composed of from two to eight members of the
+Council, whose services in this particular ended with the presentation
+of their report. Sometimes a question would be referred to the whole
+Council or to a "committee," with the names unspecified, or to "any
+three of the Council." The burden of serving upon these occasional
+committees fell upon a comparatively small number of councillors:
+Ashley, Montague, Strickland, Wolseley, Fiennes, Jones, Sydenham, Lisle,
+and Mulgrave. One or more of these names appear on the list of every
+special committee appointed except that to which Lord Baltimore's case
+was referred, consisting of the sergeants-at-law, Lords Whitelocke and
+Widdrington. During 1654 the committees for Virginia and Barbadoes, to
+which were referred other colonial matters, came to be known as the
+"committee for plantations," but it is doubtful if this was deemed in
+any sense a standing committee.
+
+When the affairs of Jamaica became exigent after the summer of 1655
+a committee of the Council was appointed to carry out the terms of
+Cromwell's proclamation and to report the needs of the colony. Though
+the membership was generally changed this committee continued to be
+reappointed as one question after another arose which demanded the
+attention of the Council. It reported on the equipment of tools,
+clothing, medicaments and other necessaries, on the transporting of
+persons from Ireland and colonies in America, on the distribution of
+lands in the island, and on various matters presented to the Council
+in letters and petitions from officers and others there or in England.
+After 1656 this committee, which continued to exist certainly until
+the middle of April, 1660, played a more or less secondary part, doing
+little more than consider the various colonial matters, whether relating
+to Jamaica or to other colonies, that were taken up by the select or
+outside committee appointed by Cromwell in 1656.
+
+The employment of expert advisers in the Jamaica business was rendered
+necessary by the financial questions involved, and in December Robert
+Bowes, Francis Hodges and Richard Creed were called upon to assist a
+committee of Council appointed May 10, 1655, in determining the amounts
+due the wives and assignees of the officers and soldiers in Jamaica.
+Creed was dropped and Sydenham and Fillingham were added in 1656.[39]
+But a more important step was soon taken. On July 15,1656, Cromwell
+appointed a standing committee of officers and London merchants to
+take general cognizance of all matters that concerned "his Highness
+in Jamaica and the West Indies." The following were the members: Col.
+Edward Salmon, an admiralty commissioner and intimately interested in
+the Jamaica expedition; Col. Tobias Bridges, one of Cromwell's major
+generals, afterwards serving in Flanders, who was to play an important
+part in proclaiming Richard Cromwell Protector; Lieutenant Colonel
+Miller, of Col. Barkstead's regiment, and Lieutenant Colonel Mills;
+Capt. Limbrey, London merchant and Jamaican planter, who had lived in
+Jamaica and made a map of the island, and as commander of merchant
+vessels had made many trips across the Atlantic; Capt. Thomas Aldherne,
+also a London merchant and sea captain, the chief victualler of the
+navy, and an enterprising adventurer in trade; Capt. John Thompson, sea
+captain and London merchant; Capt. Stephen Winthrop, sea captain and
+London merchant; Richard Sydenham, and Robert Bowes, already mentioned
+as commissioners for Jamaica,[40] and lastly Martin Noell, London
+merchant, and Thomas Povey, regarding whom a fuller account is given
+below. Povey, who was not appointed a member until October, 1657,
+apparently became chairman and secretary, while Francis Hodges was
+clerical secretary. Except for Tobias Bridges, the military members had
+little share in the business of the committee, the most prominent part
+being taken by Noell, Bridges, Winthrop, Bowes, Sydenham, and Povey.
+As far as the records show, Salmon, Miller, Aldherne, Thompson, and
+White never signed a report, while Mills and Limbrey signed but one.
+The committee seems to have sat at first in Grocer's Hall, afterward
+in Treasury Chambers, where its members discussed and investigated
+all questions that came before them with care and thoroughness.
+Their instructions authorized them to maintain a correspondence
+with the colonies, obtaining such infromation and advice as seemed
+essential; to receive all addresses relating thereunto, whether from
+persons in America or elsewhere; to consider and consult thereof and
+prepare such advices and answers thereupon as should be judged meet
+for the advantage of the community. Their earliest business concerned
+itself with Jamaica, its revenues, finances, expenses of expeditions
+thither, arrears due the officers and soldiers, their wives and
+assignees, individual claims, want of ministers, and other similar
+questions. But as addresses came in from other colonies the scope of
+their activity was broadened until it included at one time or another
+nearly all the American colonies. The committee reported on the
+constitution, governing powers, fortifications, militia of Somers
+Islands (Bermudas) and on the fitness of Sayle to be governor there;
+on the controversy between Virginia and Maryland and on the organization
+and government of the former colony; on the petition of the Long
+Islanders and others in New England, and on complaints against
+Massachusetts Bay; on the revenue, government, and admiralty system
+of Barbadoes; on questions of governor and arrears of salary in
+Nevis and Tortugas; on the desirability of continuing the plantation
+in Newfoundland; and lastly on the important subject of ship insurance,
+upon which Capt. Limbrey presented a very remarkable paper.[41] These
+reports were sent sometimes to the Protector, sometimes to the Council
+of State, and sometimes to the committee of the Council on the affairs
+of America. While the latter committee, under the name of "Committee for
+Foreign Plantations" continued until the return of the King, the select
+committee for America does not appear to have lasted as a whole after
+the final dissolution of the Rump Parliament, March 16, 1660. Thomas
+Povey alone seems to have been the committee from March to May, and on
+April 9 and May 11 made two reports on matters referred to him by the
+Council committee regarding Jamaica and Newfoundland. As Charles II had
+been recalled to his own in England before the last report was sent in,
+the machinery created under Cromwell for the plantations remained in
+existence after the government set up by him had passed away.[42]
+
+Any account of the system appointed for the control of trade and
+plantations during the Interregnum is bound to be something of a tangle,
+not because the system itself was a complicated one, but because its
+simplicity is clouded by a bewildering mass of details. Occasional
+committees of Parliament, the Council as a board of trade and
+plantations, committees of the Council, and select councils and
+committees do not form a very confusing body of material out of which
+to fashion a system of colonial control. Yet, despite this fact, the
+management of the colonies during the Interregnum was without unity or
+simplicity. Control was exercised by no single or continuous organ and
+according to no clearly defined or consistent plan. Colonial questions
+seemed to lie in many different hands and to be met in as many different
+ways. Delays were frequent and there can be little doubt that many
+important matters were laid aside and pigeon-holed. When an important
+colonial difficulty had to pass from subcommittee to committee, from
+committee to Council, and sometimes from Council to Parliamentary
+committee and thence to Parliament, we can easily believe that in the
+excess of machinery there would be entailed a decrease of despatch and
+efficiency. Indeed, during the Interregnum colonial business was not
+well managed and there were many to whom colonial trade was of great
+importance, who realized this fact. Merchants of London after 1655
+became dissatisfied with the way the plantations were managed and
+desired a reorganization which should bring about order, improve
+administration, economize expenditure, elevate justice, and effect
+speedily and fairly a settlement of colonial disputes. They doubted
+whether a Council, "busyed and filled with a multitude of affairs,"
+was able to accomplish these results and they refused to believe that
+affairs of such a nature should be transacted "in diverse pieces and
+by diverse councils." The remedy of these men was carefully thought
+out and carefully expressed and though it was undoubtedly listened
+to by Cromwell, it never received more than an imperfect application.
+To these men and their proposals we must pay careful attention for
+therein we shall find the connecting link between the Protectorate
+and the Restoration as far as matters of trade and the plantations
+are concerned.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Footnote 1: Among others, The Advancement of Merchandize or certain
+propositions for the improvement of the trade of this Commonwealth,
+humbly presented to the Right Honorable the Council of State by Thomas
+Viollet, of London, Goldsmith, 1651. This rare pamphlet was drawn up
+by Viollet when connected with the Mint in the Tower and sent to the
+Council of State, evidently in manuscript form. Most of the papers
+composing this pamphlet were transmitted by the Council of State to
+the Council of Trade. For Viollet see Cal. State Papers, Domestic,
+1650-1651, 1659-1660.]
+
+[Footnote 2: The Council of Trade accumulated in this and other ways a
+considerable mass of books and papers, but this material for its history
+has entirely disappeared.]
+
+[Footnote 3: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1650, p. 399; 1651, pp. 16, 29,
+38, 107, 230; 1651-1652, pp. 87. The first suggestion of this committee
+was as early as January 1650, Commons' Journal, VI, p. 347.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Guildhall, Journal of the Proceedings of the Common
+Council, Vol. 41, ff. 45, 55; Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1651, pp. 198,
+247-249, 270-271; Inderwick, The Interregnum, ch. II.]
+
+[Footnote 5: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1651-1652, pp. 470-472, 479-481.]
+
+[Footnote 6: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1652-1653, p. 282.]
+
+[Footnote 7: British Museum, Add. MSS., 5138, f. 145.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Guildhall, Repertories of the Court of Aldermen, 61, p.
+152^{b}.]
+
+[Footnote 9: Guildhall, Journal of the Proceedings of the Common
+Council, Vol. 41, pp. 67^{b}, 68.]
+
+[Footnote 10: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1651-1652, pp. 232, 235. The
+question was as to whether or not the Turkey trade could best be carried
+on by a company "as now," or by free trade, as in the case of Portugal
+and Spain. Able arguments in favor of free trade were brought forward,
+and when later the question of a monopoly of the Greenland whale fishing
+came up, the Council of State admitted free adventurers to a share in
+the business. Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1653-1654, p. 379; 1654, p. 16.]
+
+[Footnote 11: Commons' Journal, VI, p. 140.]
+
+[Footnote 12: Commons' Journal, VI, p. 361.]
+
+[Footnote 13: Commons' Journal, VII, p. 41.]
+
+[Footnote 14: Commons' Journal, VII, p. 220.]
+
+[Footnote 15: Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 283, 284, 285.]
+
+[Footnote 16: Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 343-344; Cal. State Papers,
+Dom., 1653-1654, pp. 297-298.]
+
+[Footnote 17: Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 652, 654, 655; Cal. State
+Papers, Dom., 1658-1659, p. 349.]
+
+[Footnote 18: Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 800, 849.]
+
+[Footnote 19: P.C.R., Charles II, Vol. I, May 3/13, 1649--September
+28, 1660. Meetings of Privy Councils during the Interregnum were held at
+Castle Elizabeth, St. Hillary, Breda (1649-1650), Bruges (1656, 1658),
+Brussels (1659), Breda (1660), Canterbury (May 27, 1660), Whitehall (May
+31, 1660).]
+
+[Footnote 20: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574-1660, pp. 335, 352, 366;
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1651-1652, p. 43.]
+
+[Footnote 21: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574-1660, p. 394; Cal. State
+Papers, Dom., 1651-1652, pp. 67, 232, 235, 426; 1652-1653, pp. 18-27.]
+
+[Footnote 22: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574-1660, pp. 373-402,
+_passim_.]
+
+[Footnote 23: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1651-1652, pp. 266, 350, 396,
+472; 1652-1653, pp. 18, 27, 160, 171.]
+
+[Footnote 24: Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 19, 287. On May 6, 1653,
+a new commission of trade was proposed by the Council of State but
+no appointments are given. Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1653-1654,
+pp. 310, 344.]
+
+[Footnote 25: Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 308, 319, 341, 375.]
+
+[Footnote 26: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1654, pp. 61, 285, 316.]
+
+[Footnote 27: Brit. Mus. Add. MSS., 11411, ff. 11^{b}-12^{b}.]
+
+[Footnote 28: That such an outcome was anticipated is evident from the
+concluding words of the "Overture." "If his Highness shall think fit
+to constitute a council for the general Trade of these Nations and the
+several Interests relating thereunto, these seaven may properly be of
+that number, the employment being of the same nature and therefore
+will rather informe then divert them who ought indeed to be busyed or
+conversant in no other Affaires than the matters of Trade."]
+
+[Footnote 29: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1655, pp. 27, 133, 240.]
+
+[Footnote 30: Thurloe, State Papers, IV, p. 177; British Museum, Add.
+MSS., 12438, iii; Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1655, p. 240, 1655-1656, pp.
+1, 2, 54, 73, 100, 114, 115, 141, 156, 162, 188, 252, 275, 297, 327,
+382. "We might speak also of the famed 'Committee of Trade' which has
+now begun its sessions 'in the old House of Lords.' An Assembly of
+Dignitaries, Chief Merchants, Political Economists, convened by summons
+of his Highness; consulting zealously how the Trade of this country
+may be improved. A great concernment of this commonwealth 'which his
+Highness is eagerly set upon.' They consulted of 'Swedish copperas' and
+such like; doing faithfully what they could." Cromwell's Letters and
+Speeches, II, p. 202.]
+
+[Footnote 31: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1655-1656, p. 113; 1656-1657,
+p. 556; 1657-1658, pp. 308, 589; 1657-1658, p. 69.]
+
+[Footnote 32: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1655-1656, p. 318.]
+
+[Footnote 33: Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 442, 452, 460.]
+
+[Footnote 34: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574-1660, pp. 436, 439, 440 (2),
+441, 443, 447, 453.]
+
+[Footnote 35: Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 12438, iii.]
+
+[Footnote 36: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1658-1659, p. 349.]
+
+[Footnote 37: Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 442, 452.]
+
+[Footnote 38: Commons' Journal, VII, p. 596.]
+
+[Footnote 39: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1655-1656, pp. 46, 65, 318, 351.]
+
+[Footnote 40: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1657-1658, pp. 51, 66.]
+
+[Footnote 41: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574, 1660, pp. 445, 447, 448,
+449, 450, 452, 453, 455, 456, 458, 459, 460, 461, 464, 465, 468, 470,
+477; Brit. Mus. Egerton, 2395, ff. 123, 136, 142, 148-151, 157; Add.
+MSS., 18986, f. 258.]
+
+[Footnote 42: Note to the report of May 11, 1660, is as follows: "By
+order of the Councill of State sitting and taking care of the government
+in the interval between the suppression of the Rump of the Parliament
+and the return of his Majesty which was not many days before the date of
+this report." Egerton MSS., 2395, f. 263. Probably the recall not the
+actual landing at Dover is meant.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+The Proposals of the Merchants: Noell and Povey.
+
+
+Between the colonial and commercial activities of the later years of
+the Interregnum and the corresponding activities during the early years
+of the Restoration no hard and fast line can be drawn. The policy of
+control adopted by Charles II can be traced to the agitation of men,
+chiefly merchants of London and others familiar with the colonies, who
+since 1655 had become impressed with the possibilities of the New World
+as a field for profitable ventures in trade and commerce, and desired,
+whether under a republic or a monarchy, the coöperation and aid of the
+government. Among the leaders of this movement were Martin Noell and
+Thomas Povey.
+
+Martin Noell was probably the most conspicuous London merchant of his
+time. Of his early life nothing seems to be known. He first appears as
+a merchant in 1650 trading with Nevis and Montserrat, and in the next
+few years he extended his operations to New England, Virginia, the other
+West India islands, and the Mediterranean. His ships trafficked in a
+great variety of commodities--iron, hemp, pitch, tar, flax, potashes,
+cables, fish, cocoa, tobacco, etc., and he became a power in London,
+his place of business in Old Jewry being the resort of merchants,
+ship captains, and persons desiring to coöperate in his ventures.
+He was an alderman as early as 1651, was placed a little later on the
+commission for securing the peace of the city, and held other offices
+by appointment of the city or of the Commonwealth. He was also
+a member of the East India Company and influential in its councils.
+In addition to his mercantile interests he became a farmer, first of
+the inland and foreign post-office,--one writer speaking of him as
+"the postmaster,"--and later, on a large scale, of customs and excise.
+At one time or another he held the farm of the customs in general and
+of the excise of salt, linen, silk mercery, and wines in particular. In
+these capacities he acted as a banker of the government, paying salaries
+and expenses of official appointees, advancing loans, and issuing bills
+of exchange and letters of credit. His vessels carried letters of marque
+during the Dutch war and the war with Spain, and he himself traded in
+prizes and became one of the commissioners of prize goods. The Jamaican
+expeditions of 1654 and afterward gave him an opportunity to become a
+contractor and he organized a committee in London for the purpose of
+financiering the expedition, himself advancing £16,000, and in company
+with Capts. Alderne, Watts, and others contracted for the supplies of
+the ships and soldiers, furnishing utensils, clothing, bedding, and
+provisions for this and other expeditions, notably that to Flanders.
+He was Gen. Venables' personal agent in London and agent for the army
+in general in Jamaica. He also became a contractor for transporting
+vagrants, prisoners, and others to various American plantations. These
+accumulating ventures increased his interest in the colonies, and after
+the capture of Jamaica in 1655 he obtained a grant of 20,000 acres in
+that island, from which he created several plantations. In his new
+capacity as planter he was constantly engaged in shipping servants,
+supplies, and horses. The firm of Martin Noell & Company became
+exceedingly prosperous, and Noell himself one of the mainstays of the
+government. He became a member of the Trade Committee in 1655, of the
+committee for Jamaica in 1656, and was frequently called in by the
+Council of State to offer advice or to give information. He was on terms
+of intimacy with Cromwell, and because of the Protector's friendship
+for him and confidence in his judgment, his recommendations for office,
+both in England and the colonies had great weight. Povey speaks of the
+"extraordinary favor allowed him (Noell) by his Highness." He had a
+brother, Thomas Noell, who was prominent in Barbadoes and Surinam and
+in charge of his interests there. He was also represented in other
+islands by agents and factors, of whom Edward Bradbourne was the most
+conspicuous, while Major Richard Povey in Jamaica, and William Povey
+in Barbadoes, brothers of Thomas Povey, had for a time charge of his
+plantations in those islands. Noell indirectly played no small part in
+politics, particularly of Barbadoes, where Governor Searle held office
+largely through his influence. Besides his Jamaica holdings he had
+estates at Wexford in Ireland, and in April, 1658, wrote to Henry
+Cromwell that he had "transplanted much of his interest and affairs
+and relations" to that country, seeming to indicate thereby that his
+colonial ventures were not prospering satisfactorily. Noell was a
+politic man, shrewd and diplomatic, asserting his loyalty to the house
+of Cromwell, yet becoming a trusty subject of King Charles, from whom
+he afterward received knighthood.[1]
+
+Thomas Povey was born probably about 1615, son of Justinian Povey,
+auditor of the exchequer and one of the commissioners of the Caribbee
+Islands in 1637. He was one of a large family of children, nine at
+least, Justinian, John, Francis, William, Richard, Thomas, Mrs.
+Blathwayt (afterward Mrs. Thomas Vivian), Mrs. Barrow, and Sarah Povey,
+and he spent his early years at the family home in Hounslow. In 1633 he
+entered Gray's Inn and in 1647 became a member of the Long Parliament.
+"Purged" with the other Presbyterian members in 1648, he did not return
+to Parliament until the restoration of those members in 1659. He was
+evidently inclined at first to go into law and politics, but for reasons
+unnamed, possibly the slenderness of his fortune, which he says was
+hardly sufficient to support him, he turned, about 1654, to trade,
+and was thus brought into close relations with Martin Noell. Of his
+activities until 1657 we hear very little, though it is evident that
+from 1654 to 1657 he lived in Gray's Inn, engaging in many trading
+ventures in the West Indies and elsewhere, was on terms of intimacy
+with Noell and frequently at his house, and showed himself fertile of
+suggestions, as always, regarding the improvement of trade and the
+care and supply of men, provisions, and intelligence. In 1657 he lost
+by death his brothers John and Francis, and his mother, who died at
+Hounslow. As two of his brothers had gone to the West Indies with the
+expedition of 1654 and the remainer of the family was scattered, he
+decided to marry, and settled down in a house in Lincoln's Inn Fields
+next the Earl of Northampton, with a widow without children, but
+possessed "of a fortune capable of giving a reasonable assistance to
+mine." In October of that year, possibly through Noell's influence, he
+became a member of the committee for America, and from that time was
+a conspicuous leader among those interested in plantation affairs.
+As chairman and secretary of the committee, he took a prominent part
+in all correspondence, and was familiar with the chief men in all the
+colonies. He exchanged letters with Searle, of Barbadoes, D'Oyley,
+of Jamaica, Temple, of Nova Scotia, Digges, at one time governor of
+Virginia, Russell, of Nevis, Major Byam, of Surinam, Col. Osborn, of
+Montserrat, General Brayne, in command of one of the expeditions to
+Jamaica, and particularly with Lord Willoughby of Parham, with whom he
+stood on terms of intimate friendship and over whose policy he exercised
+considerable control. He was proposed at this time as agent in London
+for Virginia, but the suggestion does not appear to have been acted on.
+His brother Richard was commissary of musters and major of militia in
+Jamaica, and his brother William, the black sheep of the family, who
+had married a wife far too good for him, as Povey once wrote her, was
+provost marshal in Barbadoes and in charge of Noell's interests there,
+bringing that merchant nothing but "discontent and damage," and causing
+Thomas Povey a great deal of trouble and expense. The colonial
+appointments of these brothers were obtained entirely through the
+influence of Noell and Povey in England. The disordered and uncertain
+political situation in England in 1659 and the unsettled state of
+affairs in both Jamaica and Barbadoes at the same time cost Povey great
+anxiety and a part of his own and his wife's fortune, and he echoed
+the complaint, widespread at the time, of the decay of trade and the
+insecurity of all commercial ventures. We may not doubt that Povey,
+as well as Noell, was ready to welcome the return of the King.[2]
+
+Though Noell and Povey were intimate friends and had been engaged in
+common trading enterprises for a number of years, we have no definite
+knowledge of their earlier undertakings, beyond the fact that with Capt.
+Watts and Capt. Aldherne, whom Povey met by accident at Noell's house,
+they were particularly concerned in developing the Barbadoes and Jamaica
+trade. In the years 1657 and 1658, when Noell was "swol'n into a much
+greater person by being a farmer of the customs and excise," we meet
+with two enterprises, one for a West India Company, promoted by Lord
+Willoughby, Noell, Povey, and Watts, as partners and principals, with
+Watts as sea captain in charge of the vessel; the other for a Nova
+Scotia Company, composed of Lord William Fiennes, Sir Charles Wolseley,
+Noell, Povey, and others, with Watts and Collier as managers and Capt.
+Middleton as sailing master. The latter company was organized for
+settling a trade in furs and skins in Nova Scotia, and to that end
+engaged the coöperation of Wolseley's cousin, Col. Thomas Temple,
+lieutenant general of Nova Scotia since 1655, and of Capt. Breedon,
+a prominent merchant of New England. It sent out a ship freighted with
+goods under Capt. Middleton, but despite an auspicious beginning,
+does not appear to have prospered. The title to Nova Scotia was disputed
+not only by the French, but also by the Kirkes, whom Cromwell had
+dispossessed in 1655, when he appointed Temple as governor; hostilities
+broke out in Nova Scotia, and the company was called upon for a larger
+stock and incorporation at a time when its promoters seemed unwilling to
+risk more money. Though Povey was encouraged by the specimens of copper
+which Temple sent over, the enterprise made no progress until after the
+Restoration. It is probable that both Noell and Povey lost money by the
+venture.
+
+The project for a West India Company was more ambitious and must have
+been formulated some time in 1656 or 1657. Various propositions were
+drawn up with care, probably by Povey or by Noell and Povey together,
+for the better serving the interests of the Commonwealth by the erection
+of a company which had as its object the advancing of trade and the
+prosecution of the war with Spain. The two ideas seem, however, to have
+been kept separate. Trade was to be promoted by despatching a vessel to
+"Florida" under Capt. Watts which, in case it was unable to open trade
+there, was to take on a lading of pipe staves in New England, sail to
+the West Indies, and return thence with a cargo of sugar and other West
+Indian commodities. For the purpose of attacking Spanish towns, of
+"interrupting the Spanish fleet in their going from Spain to the Indies
+and in their return thence for Spain, and of ousting the Spaniards from
+their control in the West Indies and South America"--a subject regarding
+which Capt. Limbrey had drawn up a paper of information,--the company
+proposed that the state should furnish and equip twenty frigates which
+were to be fully provisioned, manned and officered by itself. The
+company desired to be incorporated by act of Parliament,[3] rather
+than by a patent under the great seal, because the former would confer
+"diverse privileges and assistances, and an immunity and sole trade
+in any place they shall conquer or beget a trade with the Spaniard's
+dominion," all of which a patent could not convey. The proposals were
+presented to the Council of State in 1659 and were referred to a special
+committee. They were debated in Council on August 7, and on October 20
+Povey wrote to Governor Searle that they had received encouragement
+and hoped to have a charter from Parliament, and because "they have so
+much favor from the state they will have an influence upon most of the
+English plantations."[4] Either Parliament refused to incorporate the
+company or in the distractions of the winter of 1659-1660 the proposals
+were lost sight of.
+
+The group of merchants, among whom Noell and Povey were so conspicuous,
+seemed to desire, as far as possible, a monopoly of the trade in America
+and the West Indies, and to that end controlled to no inconsiderable
+extent political appointments there. Governor Searle, of Barbadoes,
+was their appointee, and Governors Russell, of Nevis, and Osborn,
+of Montserrat, were in close touch with them and looked to them for
+support. In 1657, acting through the committee for America, they
+recommended that Edward Digges be made governor of Virginia, and about
+the same time Martin Noell and eighteen others petitioned that Capt.
+Watts be made governor of Jamaica. Lord Willoughby was practically
+one of them, and Gen. Brayne and Lieut. Gen. D'Oyley were on intimate
+terms with them. It is not surprising, in view of the importance of the
+colonial trade and the disturbed condition of the plantations, that such
+a man as Povey, who was always ready with plans and proposals, should
+have endeavored to solve the problem of colonial control. He was in
+frequent consultation with Noell concerning matters relating to the West
+Indies, and in consequence, many schemes were discussed and carefully
+worked out by them. The various drafts touching the West India Company
+are elaborated in minute detail, and Povey showed clearly that he
+possessed admirable qualities as a committee-man and an organizer.
+
+The first "overture" or plan seems to have been written in 1654 at the
+time when the expedition of Penn and Venables was on its way to the
+West Indies, and does not refer specifically to Jamaica. Its authors
+recommended that a competent number of persons, not less than seven, of
+good repute and well skilled in their professions and qualifications,
+be selected to form a council. A greater number would be undesirable,
+they said, because "in such an affair where there are many, the chief
+things are done and ofttimes huddled up by a few; and there is neither
+that secrecy, steadiness, nor particular care, nor so good an account
+given of the trust, where more are employed than are necessary and
+proportionable to the business."[5] The qualifications of the seven are
+interesting: "(1) One to be a Merchant that hath been in those Indias
+and trading that waie. (2) One also to bee a Merchant but not related
+to that trade, and who rather retires from than pursues in profession.
+(3) One well experienced Seaman, not or but little trading att present.
+(4) One Gentleman that hath travailed; that hath language and something
+of the civill Lawe. (5) One Citizen of a general capacitie and
+conversation. (6) One that understands well our municipall Lawes and
+the general Constitutions of England. (7) One to be a Secretarie to his
+Highness in all Affaires in the West Indias, and relating thereunto, who
+is solely to give himself up to this Employm^{t}." This council was to be
+subordinated only to Cromwell and the Council and its powers were to be
+fairly extensive. It was
+
+    "to have power to advise w^{th} all other Committees or Persons,
+    Officers, or others as occasion shall require;
+
+    "to consider (by what they shall observe here and what shalbee
+    represented from the Commission^{rs} now in the expedition) how
+    and what forreigne Plantations may be improved, transplanted,
+    and ordered;
+
+    "to reduce all Colonies and Plantations to a more certaine,
+    civill, and uniforme way of government and distribution of
+    publick justice;
+
+    "to keep a constant correspondence with the Commission^{rs} now
+    in the expedition, and w^{th} all the Chiefe Ports both at home
+    and abroad;
+
+    "to be able to give up once in a year unto his Highness a perfect
+    Intelligence and Account of the Government of every place, of their
+    complaints, their wants, their abundance of every ship trading
+    thither and its lading and whither consigned, and to know what the
+    proceeds of the place have been that yeare, whereby the intrinsick
+    value and the certaine condition of each port will be thoroughly
+    understood. And by this conduct and method those many rich places
+    and severall Governments and Adventures will have all due and
+    continuall care and Inspection taken of them, w^{th}out divertion
+    to the nearest Affairs of this Nation, w^{ch} being of so much of a
+    greater and a closer consequence, the Superior Council can seldome
+    bee at leisure to descend any further than to breife and imperfect
+    considerations and provisions, w^{ch} is the sad Estate of fforeigne
+    Dominions, and distant Colonies and Expeditions from whence usually
+    the most strict, or servile duty and obedience is exacted, but very
+    seldome any Indulgencie or paternall care is allowed to them.
+
+    "These therefore are to indeavour and contrive all possible
+    Encouragem^{ts} and Advantages for the Adventurer, Planter, and
+    English Merchants, in order also to the shutting out all Straingers
+    from that Trade, by making them not necessary to it, and by drawing
+    it wholly and with satisfaction to all parties into our Ports here,
+    that it may bee afterward instead of Bullion to trade with other
+    Nations, it being the Traffick of our own proper and native
+    Commodities. That our Shipping may be increased, our poore here
+    employed, and our Manufactures encouraged: And by the generall
+    consequencies hereof, a considerable Revenue may be raised to
+    his Highness.
+
+    "to debate among themselves, and satisfy themselves from others;
+    and to present their Results to his Highness in all matters
+    reserved and proper for his Highness Judgment and last
+    Impressions.
+
+    "to bee a readie and perfect Register both to his Highness and
+    all other persons, as far as they may be concerned, of all
+    particulars relating to those Affaires.
+
+    "The Secretarie may be the person to represent things from time
+    to time between his Highness and this Councill. To make and receive
+    dispatches. To make readie papers for his Highness signature.
+    And generally his Office wilbee to render the Supreame Management
+    & comp^{r}hension of this Affaire less cumbersome and difficult to
+    his Highness, hee being allwaies ready to give his Highness a full
+    and a digested consideration, if any particular relating to those
+    Affaires and w^{th}in the cognizance of that Council."[6]
+
+
+That these recommendations had any influence in determining the
+character of the Trade Committee of 1655 is doubtful, but the next
+effort of the merchants was probably more successful. Some time in 1656
+Povey drew up a series of queries "concerning his Highness Interest in
+the West Indias" in which occur the following suggesive paragraphs:
+
+    "Whether a Councell busyed and filled with a multitude of
+    Affaires, w^{ch} concerne the imediat Safety and preservation
+    of the State at home, can bee thought capable of giving a proper
+    conduct to such various and distant Interests.
+
+    "Whether an Affaire of such a nature and consequence may be
+    transacted in diverse peices and by diverse Councells, and how
+    a proper Result cann be instantly arise out of such a kind of
+    management.
+
+    "Whether a Councill constituted of fitt Persons Solely sett apart
+    to the busyness of America be not the likeliest means of advancing
+    his Highness Interest there and of bringing them continually to
+    a certain account and readiness whensoever his Highness or his
+    Privie Councill shall have occasion to looke into any particular
+    thereof.
+
+    "Whether it be not a prudentiall thing to draw all the Islands,
+    Colonies, and Dominions of America under one and the same
+    management here."[7]
+
+
+That the men who drafted these queries were mainly responsible for the
+creation of the select council of 1656, at first known as the Committee
+for Jamaica and afterwards as the Committee for his Highness Affairs
+in America, we can hardly doubt, for the constitution and work of that
+committee represents very nearly the ideas that Povey and Noell had
+expressed up to this time. It is not to be wondered at that Povey should
+have been the chairman, secretary, and most active member of this
+committee after his appointment in 1657.
+
+Two other propositions or overtures appear among Povey's papers that
+belong to the period of the Protectorate, and were written probably
+the one in 1656, known as the "Propositions concerning the West India
+Councill," and the other, known as "Overtures touching the West Indies,"
+before August, 1657.[8] In the first of these the number of the
+council was to be ten, in the second it was not to exceed six. The
+"Propositions" repeat in the main the points already quoted, including
+the recommendation that it should be the business of the council
+"to consider of the reducing all Colonies and Plantations to a more
+certaine, civill, and uniform waie of Governm^{t} and distribution
+of publick justice." The "Overtures" are much more elaborate, though
+frequently containing the identical phrases of the first "Overture,"
+with many new paragraphs which seem to show the same spirit of hostility
+for Spain that is exhibited in the formation of the West India Company.
+Indeed this document is an outcome of the same movement which led to the
+formation of that company. Some of the more important sections are as
+follows:
+
+    "To render what we already possess, and all that depends upon it,
+    to be a foundation and Inducem^{t} for future undertakings; by
+    gathering reasonable assistances from thence, and by mingling and
+    interweaving of Interest, and letting it appear that such Persons
+    and Collonies shall have the more of the Indulgencie of the State
+    as shall merit most in what they shall in any way be readier to do,
+    or contribut to the service of the whole; for hereafter they may
+    be considered as one embodied Commonwealth whose head and centre
+    is here.
+
+    "That every Governour shall have his Commission reviewed, and
+    that all be reviewed in one form, w^{th} such clauses and provisions
+    as shalbee held necessary for the promotion of his Highness other
+    public affairs, and that as soone as order can be conveniently taken
+    therein the several Governours to be paid their allowances from
+    hence (though upon their own accounts), that their dependencie bee
+    immediately and altogether from his Highness....
+
+    "That all prudentiall means be applyed to for the rendering these
+    Dominions useful to England, and England helpful to them; and that
+    the severall Peices and Colonies bee drawn and disposed into a more
+    certaine, civill, and uniforme waie of Government and distribution
+    of Publick Justice. And that such Collonies as are the Proprietie
+    of particular Persons or of Corporations may be reduced as neare as
+    cann bee to the same method and proportion w^{th} the rest w^{th}
+    as little dissatisfaction or injurie to the persons concerned as
+    may bee.
+
+    "That a continual correspondence bee so settled and ordered ...
+    that so each place w^{th}in itself and all of them being as it
+    were made up into one Commonwealth may be regulated accordingly
+    upon comon and equal Principles."
+
+
+These proposals are followed by a series of propositions designed to
+further the enterprise of the merchants and to aid in the defeat of
+the Spaniards, whereby "those oppressed People (who are w^{th}held
+from Trade though to their extreme suffering and disadvantage)" may
+be released "from the Tyranny [of Spain] now upon them."
+
+Taken as a whole, these documents form a remarkable series of unofficial
+papers which formulate foundation principles of colonial empire that
+England never applied. That these principles met the approval of those
+who were to shape the colonial policy of the Restoration a further
+examination will show.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Footnote 1: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574-1660; Dom., vols. for years
+1650-1660, Indexes; Brit. Mus. Egerton, 2395, Add. MSS., 11410, 11411,
+15858, f. 97, 22920, f. 22; Lansdowne, 822, f. 164, 823, f. 33.]
+
+[Footnote 2: Cal. State Papers, Col. and Dom. Indexes; Egerton, 2395,
+which contains Povey's collection of papers; Add. MSS., 11411, which
+contains his correspondence. See also Dictionary of National Biography.]
+
+[Footnote 3: A draft of such an act is to be found in Egerton, 2395, f.
+202.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Brit. Mus. Egerton, 2395, pp. 87-113, 176 (there is a
+duplicate of Povey's letter in Add. MSS., 11410); Cal. State Papers,
+Col., 1574-1660, pp. 475, 477.]
+
+[Footnote 5: That all these proposals were drafted by Povey is evident
+from similar terms and phrases used in his letters.]
+
+[Footnote 6: Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 11411, ff. 11^{b}-12^{b}.]
+
+[Footnote 7: Brit. Mus., Egerton, 2395, f. 86.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Brit. Mus., Egerton, 2395, f. 99; Add. MSS., 11411, ff.
+3-3^{b}. In a letter of August, 1657, Povey refers to these "Overtures,"
+which he says were designed "for the better setting and carrying on of
+the general affairs of the West Indies, enforcing the authority and
+powers of the several governors there, and the establishment of a
+certain course," etc.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+Committees and Councils Under the Restoration.
+
+
+Charles II landed at Dover on May 25, 1660 and on the twenty-seventh
+named at Canterbury four men, General Monck, the Earl of Southampton,
+William Morrice, and Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, who took oath as privy
+councillors. Others who had been members of the Council on foreign soil
+or were added during the month following the return of the King swelled
+the number to more than twenty. The first meeting of the Privy Council
+was held on May 31, and it was inevitable that during the ensuing weeks
+many petitions concerning the various claims and controversies which
+had been agitating merchants and planters during the previous years
+and had been reported on by the Committee for America should have been
+brought to the attention of the Council. Such matters as appointments to
+governorships and other offices, the political disturbances in Antigua,
+Barbadoes, and Jamaica, the titles to Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and
+Barbadoes, became at once living issues. Many of the petitions were from
+the London merchants, and we may not doubt that the personal influence
+of those whose names have been already mentioned was brought to bear
+upon the members of the Council. It became necessary, therefore,
+for the King and his advisers to make early provision for the proper
+consideration of colonial business in order that the colonies might
+be placed in a position of greater security and in order that the
+West Indian and American trade, from which the King and his Chancellor
+expected important additions to the royal revenue, might be encouraged
+and extended. Among the petitions received in June, 1660, were two from
+rival groups of merchants interested in the governorship and trade of
+the island of Nevis. One of these petitions desired the confirmation
+of the appointment of Col. Philip Ward as governor of Nevis; the other
+the reappointment of the former governor, Russell. This was the first
+difficult question that had yet arisen, for Berkeley's return to
+Virginia was a foregone conclusion, while the condition and settlement
+of Nova Scotia, Barbadoes and Jamaica were to be of importance later.
+Acting on these petitions regarding Nevis, only the second of which is
+entered in the Privy Council Register, the King in Council appointed
+on July 4, 1660, a committee, known as "The Right Honorable the Lords
+appointed a Committee of this Board for Trade and Plantations." The
+members were Edward Montague, Earl of Manchester, the Lord Chamberlain;
+Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, the Lord Treasurer; Robert
+Sydney, Earl of Leicester; William Fiennes, Lord Say and Seale; John
+Lord Robartes; Denzil Holles, Arthur Annesley, Sir Anthony Ashley
+Cooper, and the Secretaries of State, Sir Edward Nicholas and Sir
+William Morrice. The committee was instructed to meet on every Monday
+and Thursday at three o'clock in the afternoon, "to review, heare,
+examine, and deliberate upon any petitions, propositions, memorials, or
+other addresses, which shall be presented or brought in by any person or
+persons concerning the plantations, as well in the Continent as Islands
+of America, and from time to time make their report to this board of
+their proceedings."[1]
+
+It is evident from the wording of these instructions that the committee
+was designed to be a continuous one and to carry on the work of the
+former committee for foreign plantations of the Council of State. There
+is no essential difference between these committees, except that one
+represented a commonwealth and the other a monarchy. We pass from the
+one arrangement to the other with very little jar, and with much less
+sense of a break in the continuity than when we pass from the system
+under the Republic to that under the Protectorate. The Privy Council
+committee had all the essential features of a standing committee and,
+after the experiment with separate and select councils had proved
+unsatisfactory, it assumed entire control of trade and plantation
+affairs in 1675, a control which it exercised until 1696. Though an
+occasional change was made in its membership and some reorganization was
+effected in 1668, the Lords of Trade of July 4, 1660, commissioned with
+plenary powers by patent under the great seal, became the Lords of Trade
+of February 9, 1675.
+
+From 1660 to 1675 this committee of the Privy Council played no
+insignificant part although, after the creation of the councils, it was
+bound to be limited in the actual work that it performed. During the
+four months after its appointment it was the only body that had to do
+with trade and plantations except the Privy Council, which occasionally
+sat as a committee of the whole for plantation affairs. During the
+summer the committee considered with care and a due regard for all
+aspects of the case the claims of various persons to the government of
+Barbadoes. Despite the opposition of Modyford, who had been commissioned
+governor by the Council of State the April before, and John Colleton,
+one of the Council of Barbadoes, and despite the efforts of Alderman
+Riccard and other merchants of London, Francis Lord Willoughby was
+restored to the government under the claims of the Earl of Carlisle.
+At the same time the claims of the Kirks, Elliott, and Sterling to Nova
+Scotia were examined and eventually decided in favor of Col. Temple, the
+governor there. Willoughby immediately appointed Capt. Watts governor of
+the Caribbee Islands, himself, through his deputy, took the governorship
+of Barbadoes, Modyford became governor of Jamaica, Berkeley of Virginia,
+and Russell of Nevis. It is at least worthy of recall that Willoughby,
+Watts, Temple, and Russell were all within the circle of Povey's
+friends, that Povey and Noell both petitioned the King for Russell's
+reappointment, and that Temple wrote Povey begging him to exert his
+influence in his (Temple's) behalf, lest he lose the governorship. Povey
+was certainly in high favor with the monarchy; in 1660 he was appointed
+treasurer to the Duke of York and Master of Requests to his Majesty
+in Extraordinary June 22, 1660,[2] and during the years that followed
+he held office after office and with all the skill of a politician
+continued to find offices for his kinsmen. William Blathwayt, of later
+fame, was his nephew. Noell was no less honored; he became a member of
+the Royal Company of Merchants, the Royal African Company, the Society
+for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England, and was finally
+knighted in 1663 and died in 1665.[3] As we shall see, both men became
+very active in the affairs of the plantations, and it is more than
+likely that the opinions of the King in Council were not infrequently
+shaped by their suggestions and advice.
+
+How early the decision was reached to create separate councils of trade
+and foreign plantations it is impossible to say. Some time between May
+and August, 1660, Povey must have planned to recast his "Overtures"
+and to present them for the consideration of the King. At first he
+endeavored to adapt those of 1657 to the new situation by substituting
+"Foreign Plantations" for the "West Indies," "Ma^{tie}" for "Highness,"
+and "his Ma^{ties} Privie Councill" for "the great Councill"; but
+he finally decided to present a new draft, in which, however, he
+retained many of the essential clauses of the former paper. Whether the
+recommendations of Povey as presented in the "Overtures" influenced Lord
+Clarendon to recommend such councils to the King we cannot say; it is
+more likely that the practice adopted under the Protectorate had already
+commended itself to the Chancellor, who was beginning to show that
+interest in the plantations which characterizes the early years of his
+administration. That he should have consulted Noell and Povey and other
+London merchants is to be expected of the man who for at least five
+years kept up a close correspondence with Maverick of New England,
+Ludwell of Virginia, and D'Oyley, Littleton, and Modyford in the
+West Indies,[4] and who was constantly urging upon the King the
+importance of the plantations as sources of revenue and the great
+financial possibilities that lay in the improvement of trade. On August
+17, 1660, the King in Council drafted a letter to "Our very good Lord
+the Lord Maior of the Citty of London & to the Court of Aldermen of the
+said City," reading as follows:
+
+    "After our hearty commendations these are to acquaint you, That
+    his Majesty having this day taken into his princely consideration
+    how necessary it is for the good of this kingdom, that Trade and
+    Commerce with foreign parts, be with all due care, incouraged
+    and maintayned, And for the better settling thereof declared his
+    gracious intention to appoint a Committee of understanding able
+    persons, to take into their particular consideration all things
+    conducible thereunto; We do by his Ma^{ts} special command and
+    in order to the better carrying on of this truly royal, profitable,
+    and advantageous designe, desire you to give notice hereof
+    unto the Turkey Merchants, the Merchant Adventurers, the East
+    India, Greenland, and Eastland Companys, and likewise to the
+    unincorporated Traders, for Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, and
+    the West India Plantations; Willing them out of their respective
+    societies to present unto his Majesty the names of fower of their
+    most knowing active men (of whom, when his Majesty shall have
+    chosen two and unto this number of merchants added some other
+    able and well experienced persons, dignified also with the
+    presence and assistance of some of his Majesty's Privy Council)
+    All those to be by his Ma^{tie} appointed constituted and authoried
+    by commission under the Great Seal as a Standing Committee, to
+    enquire into and rectify all things tending to the Advancement
+    of Trade and Commerce; That so by their prudent and faithful
+    council and advice, his Ma^{tie} may (now in this conjuncture,
+    whilst most Foraigne Princes and Potentates doe, upon his Ma^{ties}
+    most happy establishment upon his throne, seek to renew their
+    former Allyances with this Crowne), insert into the several
+    Treatyes, such Articles & Clauses as may render this Nation more
+    prosperous and flourishing in Trade and Commerce. Thus by prudence,
+    care, & industry improving those great advantages to the highest
+    point of felicity, which by its admirable situation Nature seems
+    to have indulged to this his Majesty's kingdom. So we bid you
+    heartily farewell."[5]
+
+
+This letter was signed by Chancellor Hyde, Earl of Southampton, George
+Monck, Earl of Albemarle, Lord Say and Seale, Earl of Manchester, Lord
+Robartes, Arthur Annesley, and Secretary Morrice, who probably formed a
+special committee appointed to draft it. Some time within the month the
+answer of the Aldermen must have been received, for on September 19 the
+Council ordered the attorney general "to make a draught of a commission
+for establishing a Councell of Trade according to the grounds layed"
+in the letter of the seventeenth of August, "upon the perusal whereof
+at the Board his Ma^{tie} will insert the names of the said Counsell."
+It is more than likely that the project for the second council, that of
+plantations, went forward _pari passu_ with the Council for Trade and
+that the letter to the Mayor and Aldermen served a double purpose. At
+any rate that must have been the understanding among those interested at
+the time, for on September 26, one Norwich, Captain of the Guards, who
+had been in Clarendon's employ, sent in a memorial to the Chancellor
+begging that the King employ him "in his customs and committees of trade
+and forraign plantations."[6] The matter of drafting the commissions
+must have taken some time, for they are not mentioned as ready for the
+addition of names before the last week in October. The business of
+making up the lists of members must have been a difficult and tedious
+matter. Many lists exist among the Domestic Papers which contain
+changes, erasures and additions, drafts and corrected drafts, which show
+how much pains Clarendon and the others took to make the membership of
+the Council of Trade satisfactory. A suggested list was first drawn up
+containing the names of privy councillors, country gentlemen, customers,
+merchants, traders, the navy officers, gentlemen versed in affairs, and
+doctors of civil law. With this list was considered another containing
+the names of the persons nominated by the different merchant companies.
+Other lists seem also to have been presented.[7] Probably in much the
+same way the list of the members of the Council for Foreign Plantations
+was made up, but more slowly.
+
+The commissions were both ready by October 25 and on November 7 had
+reached the Crown Office (Chancery), ready to pass the great seal. The
+commission for the Council of Trade passed the great seal on that day
+and is dated November 7, 1660; but the commission for the Council for
+Foreign Plantations was held back that the names of other members might
+be added and it became necessary to have a new bill passed and duly
+engrossed three weeks later.[8] Therefore the commission for the Council
+for Foreign Plantations is dated December 1, 1660.
+
+An analysis of the membership of these two councils and of the
+membership of the Royal African Company, created soon after, shows many
+points of interest. The Council of Trade consisted of sixty-two members,
+that of Foreign Plantations of forty-eight,[9] and that of the African
+Company of sixty-six. Twenty-eight members are common to the first two
+bodies, eleven are common to the Council of Trade and the Royal African
+Company, and eight are common to all three groups. These eight are John
+Lord Berkeley of Stratton; Sir George Carteret, Sir Nicholas Crispe,
+Sir Andrew Riccard, Sir John Shaw, Thomas Povey, Martin Noell, and
+John Colleton. The other members common to the two councils are
+Lord Clarendon, the Earl of Southampton, Earl of Manchester, Earl of
+Marlborough, Earl of Portland, Lord Robartes, Francis Lord Willoughby,
+Denzil Holles, Sir Edward Nicholas, Sir William Morrice, Arthur
+Annesley, Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, William Coventry, Daniel O'Neale,
+Sir James Draxe, Edward Waller, Edward Digges, William Williams, Thomas
+Kendall, and John Lewis; while among the other members of the Council
+for Foreign Plantations are such well-known men as Sir William Berkeley,
+Capt. John Limbrey, Col. Edward Waldrond, Capt. Thomas Middleton,
+Capt. William Watts, and Capt. Alexander Howe. Thus the merchants,
+sea-captains, and planters, men thoroughly familiar with the questions
+of trade and plantations and intimately connected with the plantations
+themselves are members of the Council of Plantations and sometimes
+of that of Trade also. It is significant that among the four London
+merchants common to all three groups should be found the names of Noell
+and Povey. Their associates, Crispe and Riccard, were persons well
+known in the history of London trade, and probably the four names
+represent the four most influential men among the merchants of London
+who supported the King. When we turn to the work of these councils we
+shall see that Povey and Noell were active members also.
+
+However uncertain we may be regarding the influence of Povey and Noell
+in shaping the policy of Clarendon and the King, that uncertainty
+disappears as soon as we examine the instructions which were drafted
+to accompany the commission for a Council for Foreign Plantations.
+The instructions are little more than a verbal reproduction of the
+"Overtures" which Povey drafted some time during the summer of 1660
+for presentation to the King. They are based on the earlier overtures
+and proposals and certain passages can be traced back unchanged to the
+first "Overture" of 1654. Seven of the eleven clauses are taken from
+the Povey papers as follows:
+
+  _Overtures._                           _Instructions._
+
+  They may forthwith write letters       2. You shall forthwith write
+  to everie Governour ... requiring      letters to evrie of our
+  an exact and perticular Account of     Governo^{rs} ... to send unto
+  the State of their affairs; of the
+  nature and constitution of their       3. you ... perticular and exact
+  Lawes and Government, and in what      accompt of the state of their
+  modell they move; what numbers of      affaires; of the nature and
+  them, what Fortifications, and         constitution of their lawes and
+  other Strengths, and Defences are      governm^{t} and in what modell
+  upon the Places.                       and frame they move and are
+                                         disposed; what numbers of men;
+                                         what fortifications and other
+                                         strengths and defences are upon
+                                         the place.
+
+  To apply to all prudentiall meanes     5. To applie your selves to
+  for the rendering these Dominions      all prudentiall means for the
+  usefull to England, and England        rendering those dominions usefull
+  helpfull to them; and that the         to England, and England helpful
+  Severall Pieces, and Collonies bee     to them, and for the bringing the
+  drawn and disposed into a more         severall Colonies and Plantacons,
+  certaine, civill, and uniform waie     within themselves, into a more
+  of Government; and distribution of     certaine civill and uniforme
+  publick justice.                       [waie] of government and for the
+                                         better ordering and distributeing
+                                         of publicque justice among them.
+
+  To settle such a continuall            4. To order and settle such a
+  correspondencie, that it may be able   continuall correspondencie that
+  to give upp an account once a yeare    you may be able, as often as you
+  to his Ma^{tie} of the Goverment of    are required thereunto, to give
+  each Place; of their Complaints,       up to us an accompt of the
+  their Wants, their Aboundance, of      Governm'{t} of each Colonie; of
+  everie Shipp trading there, and its    their complaints, their wants,
+  lading; and whither consign'd; and     their abundance; of their severall
+  to know what the proceeds of that      growths and comodities of every
+  Place have been that yeare; whereby    Shipp Tradeing there and its
+  the instrinsick value, and the true    ladeing and whither consigned and
+  condition of each part and of the      what the proceeds of that place
+  whole may be thoroughly understood;    have beene in the late years; that
+  and whereby a Ballance may be          thereby the intrinsick value and
+  erected for the better ordering and    the true condicon of each part of
+  disposing of Trade, and of the         the whole may be thoroughly
+  growth of the Plantations, that soe,   understood; whereby a more steady
+  each Place within itself and all of    judgem^{t} and ballance may be
+  them being as it were made up into     made for the better ordering and
+  one Comonwealth, may by his Ma^{tie}   disposing of trade & of the
+  bee heere governd, and regulated       proceede and improvem^{ts} of the
+  accordingly, upon common and equal     Plantacons; that soe each place
+  principles.                            within it selfe, and all of them
+                                         being collected into one viewe and
+                                         managem^{t} here, may be regulated
+                                         and ordered upon commonand equall
+                                         ground & principles.
+
+  To enquire diligently into the         6. To enquire diligently into
+  Severall Governments and Councells     the severall governm^{ts} and
+  of Plantations belonging to            Councells of Colonies Plantacons
+  forreigne Princes, or States;          and distant Dominions, belonging
+  and examine by what Conduct and        to other Princes or States, and
+  Pollicies they govern, or benefitt     to examine by what conduct and
+  their own Collonies, and upon what     pollicies they govern or benefit
+  Grounds. And is to consult and         them; and you are to consult and
+  provide soe, that if such Councells    provide that if such councells be
+  be good, wholesome, and practicable,   good wholesome and practicable,
+  they may be applyed to our use; or     they may be applied to the case
+  if they tend, or were designed to      of our Plantacons; or if they
+  our prejudice or Disadvantage, they    tend or were designed to the
+  may bee ballanced, or turned-back      prejudice or disadvantage thereof
+  upon them.                             or of any of our subjects or of
+                                         trade or comerce, how then they
+                                         may be ballanced or turned back
+                                         upon them.
+
+  To receive, debate, and favour         11. To advise, order, settle, and
+  all such Propositions as shall         dispose of all matters relating to
+  be tendered to them, for the           the good governm^{t} improvement
+  improvement of any of the forreigne    and management of our Forraine
+  Plantations, or in order to any        Plantacons or any of them, with
+  other laudable and advantageous        your utmost skill direccon and
+  enterprize.                            prudence.
+
+  To call to its Advice and              7. To call to your assistance
+  Consultation from time to time, as     from time to time as often as the
+  often as the matter in debate and      matter in consideration shall
+  under consideration shall require,     require any well experienced
+  any well experienced Persons,          persons, whether merchants,
+  whether Mechants, or Seamen, or        planters, seamen, artificers,
+  Artificers.                            etc.
+
+
+In the "Overtures" there are no clauses corresponding to those in the
+Instructions relating to the enforcement of the Navigation Act or to the
+spread of the Christian religion; these may well be deemed Restoration
+additions, inserted at Clarendon's request. But the clause concerning
+the transportation of servants, poor men, and vagrants may well have
+been Povey's own, for both Povey and Noell were interested in the
+question and Noell had been in the business since 1654. In the "Queries"
+is the following paragraph:
+
+    "Whither the weeding of this Comon Wealth of Vagabonds, condemned
+    Persons and such as are heere useless and hurtful in wars and
+    peace, and a settled course taken for the transporting them to
+    the Indias and thereby principally supplying Jamaica is not
+    necessary to be consulted."
+
+
+Among the Povey papers is one entitled "Certain propositions for the
+better accommodating the Forreigne Plantacons with Servants," which
+Povey may have drawn up. Hence, there is no good reason to doubt but
+that Povey wrote the entire draft of these instructions himself. Even
+those portions that are not to be found in the "Overtures" are written
+in Povey's peculiar and rather stilted style.
+
+That Povey and Noell were the authors of the instructions given to the
+Council of Trade it is not so easy to demonstrate. A preliminary sketch
+of "Instructions for a Councill of Trade" as well as a copy of the final
+instructions are to be found among the Povey papers and both Povey and
+Noell were sufficiently familiar with the requirements of trade at that
+period to have drafted such a document. The fact that the second paper
+is but an elaboration of the first leads to the conclusion that they
+bear to each other much the same relation that the "Overtures" bear
+to the Instructions for the Council of Plantations:
+
+
+  FIRST DRAFT.                           FINAL INSTRUCTIONS.
+
+  1. You shall in the first place        1. You shall take into your
+  consider, and propound how to          consideration the inconveniences
+  remedy inconveniencys of the the       w^{ch} the English Trade hath
+  English trade, in all the respective   suffered in any Partes beyond the
+  dominions of those Princes and         Seas, And are to inquire into such
+  States with whom his Mat^{ie} may      Articles of former Treaties as
+  renew Alliance, and to that end        have been made with any Princes or
+  make due enquiry into such former      States in relation to Trade, And
+  treaties as relate to Trade.           to draw out such Observations or
+                                         Resolutions from thence, as may be
+                                         necessary for us to advise or
+                                         insist upon in any forreigne
+                                         Leagues or Allyances. That such
+                                         evills as have befallen these our
+                                         Kingdomes through the want of
+                                         good information in these great
+                                         and publique concernm^{ts} may be
+                                         provided against in tyme to come.
+
+  What Articles have bin provided        2. You are to consider how & by
+  in favour of the Trade of his          whome any former Articles or
+  Ma^{ties} Subjects, How they have      Treatyes have been neglected or
+  been neglected & Violated, What        violated, what new Capitulations
+  new Capitulations may be necessary     are necessary either to the
+  pro Ratione Rerum, et temporum.        freedome of Sale of your
+                                         Commodities of all sorts, as to
+  And those, either in Relation:         price & payment, Or to the best
+                                         expedition of Justice to the
+  1. To the freedome of Sale of your     recovery of Debts, or to the
+  Commodities of all sorts, as to        Security of Estates of all factors
+  price & payment.                       & their Principalls in case of the
+                                         factor's Death, Or to the
+  2. To the best expedition of           prevention of those interruptions
+  Justice for recovery of your debts.    w^{ch} the Trade & Navigations of
+                                         our Kingdomes have suffered by
+  3. To the security of the Estates      Imbargoes of forreigne Princes or
+  of all factors, and their              States, Or Imprestinge the Shipps
+  Principalls in case of the factor's    of any of our Subjects, for their
+  death.                                 Service.
+
+  4. To the Prevention of the            3. You are to consider well the
+  Interruption of the Trade &            Interest of all such trades as
+  Navigation, by Embargos of forraigne   are or shall be Incorporated
+  Princes & States, or imprestinge       by our Royall Charters, & what
+  your Shipps to their Service.          Jurisdictions are necessary to
+                                         be obteyned from such as are,
+  5. To the Interest of all Trades       or shall be in Allyance with us,
+  that are or shall be incorporated      for the more regular managem^{t}
+  by his Mat^{ies} Charters, what        & governm^{t} of the Trade,
+  jurisdictyon is necessary to be        & of the members of those our
+  obtained from our Allies, for          Corporations & forreigne
+  the more regular government            factories.
+  of the Trade & members of those
+  Corporations in forraigne              4. You are to consider of the
+  factoryes.                             several Manufactures of these our
+                                         Kingdomes how & by what occasions
+  2^{ly}. And next you shall             they are corrupted, debased &
+  consider, how the reputation           disparaged, And by what probable
+  of all the manufactures of his         meanes they may be restored &
+  Mat^{ies} Kingdome may be recovered    maintained in their auncyent
+  by a just regulation and standard      goodness & reputation, And how
+  of weight, length, and breadth,        they may be farther improved to
+  that soe the more profitable and       there utmost advantage by a just
+  ample Vent of them may be procured.    Regulation & Standard of weight
+                                         Length & Breadth, that soe the
+                                         private profitt of the Tradesmen
+                                         or Merchants may not destroy
+                                         the Creditt of the Commodity,
+                                         & thereby render it neglected
+                                         & unvended abroad, to the great
+                                         loss & scandall of these our
+                                         Kingdomes.
+
+                                         5. You are also to take into
+                                         your Consideration all the
+                                         native Commodities of the growth
+                                         & production of these our
+                                         Kingdomes, and how they may be
+                                         ordered, nourished, increased &
+                                         manifactured to the ymployment
+                                         of our People and to the best
+                                         advantage of the Publique.
+
+  4^{ly}. How the fishinge Trades        6. You are especially to
+  of Newfound Land, the Coasts           consider of the whole business
+  of England, Irland, & New              of fishings of these our
+  England may be most improoved,         Kingdomes or any other of our
+  and regulated to the greatest          distant Dominions or Plantations
+  advantage of the Stocke and            & to consult of some effectuall
+  navigation of the nation, by           meanes for the reinforceing
+  excludinge the intrusion of our        encouraging & encreasinge, and
+  neighbors into it.                     for the regulating & carryinge
+                                         on of the Trade in all the
+                                         Parts thereof. To the end That
+                                         the People and Stock, and
+                                         Navigation of these our Kingdomes
+                                         may be ymployed therein and
+                                         our Neighbors may not be
+                                         enricht with that which soe
+                                         properly & advantagiously may
+                                         be undertooke & carryed on by
+                                         our own Subjects.
+
+  3^{ly}. How the Trade of the           7. You are seriously to
+  Kingdome to forraigne parts            consider & enquire whether the
+  may be soe menaged and                 Importation of forreigne
+  proportioned, that we may in           Commodityes doe not over-ballance
+  every part be more Sellers than        the Exportations of such as are
+  buyers, that thereby the Coyne         Native, And how it may be soe
+  and present Stocke of money may        Ordered remedied, & proportioned
+  be preserved and increased.            that we may have more
+                                         Sellers than Buyers in every
+                                         parte abroad, And that the
+                                         Coyne & present Stock of these
+                                         our Kingdomes, may be preserved
+                                         & increased, We judging,
+                                         that such a Scale & Rule of
+                                         proportion is one of the highest
+                                         and most prudentiall points
+                                         of Trade by w^{ch} the riches
+                                         & strength of these our Kingdomes,
+                                         are best to be understood
+                                         & maintained.
+
+                                         8. You are to consider & examine
+                                         by what wayes & means other
+                                         Nations doe preferr their owne
+                                         growths & Manifactures, &
+                                         Importations, & doe discourage
+                                         & suppress those of these
+                                         our Kingdomes, & how the best
+                                         contrivances and managem^{t}
+                                         of Trade, exercysed by other
+                                         Nations may be rendred applicable
+                                         & practicable by these our
+                                         Kingdomes.
+
+                                         9. You are well to consider all
+                                         matters relatinge to Navigation,
+                                         & to the increase, & the Security
+                                         thereof.
+
+                                         10. You are thoroughly to consider
+                                         the severall matters relatinge
+                                         to Money, how Bullonge may be
+                                         best drawne in hither, & how any
+                                         Obstructions upon our Mynt may
+                                         be best removed.
+
+  5^{ly}. How the forraigne              11. You are to consider the
+  Plantations may be made most useful    general State & Condition of our
+  to the Trade & Navigation of these     forreigne Plantations & of the
+  Kingdomes.                             Navigation Trade & severall
+                                         Commodityes ariseinge thereupon,
+                                         & how farr theire future
+                                         Improvem^{t} & Prosperitie may
+                                         bee advanced by any discouragement
+                                         Imposition or Restraint, upon
+                                         the Importation of all goods or
+                                         Commodityes w^{th} which those
+                                         Plantations doe abound, and may
+                                         supply these our Kingdomes, And
+                                         you are alsoe in all matters
+                                         wherein our forreigne Plantations
+                                         are concerned to take advise or
+                                         information (as occasion shall
+                                         require) from the Councell
+                                         appointed & sett apart by us to
+                                         the more perticuler Inspection
+                                         Regulation and Care of our
+                                         forreigne plantations.
+
+                                         12. You are to consider how
+                                         the transportation of such
+                                         things may be best restreined
+                                         and prevented, as are either
+                                         forbiddenby the Lawe,
+                                         or may be inconvenient,
+                                         or of disadvantage by being
+                                         transported out of these our
+                                         Kingdomes and dominions.[10]
+
+
+The councils thus commissioned and instructed soon met for organization
+and business, the Council for Plantations holding its preliminary
+session December 10, 1660, in the Star Chamber, and all remaining
+meetings in the Inner Court of Wards; the Council for Trade meeting,
+first, in Mercer's Hall, near Old Jewry, afterwards in certain rooms in
+Whitehall, still later in a rented house which was consumed in the great
+fire, and, after 1667, in Exeter House, Strand. Philip Frowde became the
+clerical secretary of the Plantation Council and George Duke secretary
+of the Council of Trade, a position that he seems to have lost in 1663
+but to have resumed again before 1667. The meetings were attended
+chiefly by the non-conciliar members, for it was usually the rule that
+privy councillors were to be present only when some special business
+required their coöperation. Both councils were organized in much the
+same manner, with a number, at least seven, of inferior officers,
+clerks, messengers, and servants, and in both cases journals of
+proceedings and entry books containing copies of documents, patents,
+charters, petitions, and reports were kept.[11] Whether minutes were
+taken of the meetings of the subcommittees is doubtful; no such papers
+have anywhere been found.
+
+The Council for Plantations had a continuous existence from December 10,
+1660, when the preliminary meeting was held, probably until the spring
+of 1665, though August 24, 1664, is the date of its last recorded
+sitting. During that time it shared in the extraordinary activity which
+characterized the early years of the Restoration and represents, as far
+as such activity can represent any one person, the enthusiasm of the
+Earl of Clarendon. There was not an important phase of colonial life and
+government, not a colonial claim or dispute, that was not considered
+carefully, thoroughly, and, in the main, impartially by the Council.[12]
+The business was nearly always handled, in the first instance, by
+experts, for with few exceptions the working committees were made up
+of men who had had intimate experience with colonial affairs or were
+financially interested in their prosperity. The first committee, that of
+January 7, 1661, for example, was composed of Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper,
+who had been on plantation committees during the Interregnum; Robert
+Boyle, president of the Corporation for the Propagation of the Gospel
+in New England and one of the founders of the Royal Society; Sir Peter
+Leere and Sir James Draxe, old Barbadian planters; Edmund Waller,
+poet and parliamentarian, who had been interested in colonial affairs
+for some years; General Venables, who knew Jamaica well; Thomas Povey,
+Edward Digges, John Colleton (soon to be Sir John), Martin Noell (soon
+to be Sir Martin), and Thomas Kendall, all merchants and experts on
+colonial trade, and Middleton, Jefferies, Watts, and Howe, sea-captains
+and merchants in frequent touch with the colonies. Other committees
+were made up in much the same way, although the number of members was
+usually smaller. When letters were to be written or reports drafted that
+required skill in composition and embodiment in literary form, we find
+the task entrusted to Povey alone or to Povey assisted by the poets
+Waller and Sir John Denham. Povey was, indeed, the most active member
+of the Council, serving as its secretary in much the same capacity
+as on the Committee for America from 1657 to 1660.[13] On both these
+boards he exemplified his own recommendation that there should be on
+the Council "a Person who is to be more imediately concern'd and active
+than the rest ... allwaies readie to give a full and digested account
+and consideracon of any particular relating to those Affaires." Among
+the Povey papers are many drafts of letters and reports in process of
+construction, bearing erasures and additions which point to Povey as
+their author.[14]
+
+The Council for Plantations and its committees sat and deliberated
+apart, the latter in Grocer's Hall; but the subjects under examination
+were considered by both bodies. The subcommittees were frequently
+instructed to call in persons interested, to write to others from whom
+information could be obtained, and to pursue their investigations with
+due regard for both sides of the case. Sometimes questions would be
+submitted to the attorney general, to Dr. Walter Walker and others
+from Doctors Commons, to special members of the Council who were more
+familiar than the rest with the facts in the case. On at least one
+occasion all the members of the Council were requested to bring in what
+information they could obtain regarding a particular matter. Question
+after question was postponed from one meeting to another, because the
+Council had not obtained all the details that it felt should be in
+hand before the report was sent to the King in Council. On a few
+occasions members of the Council accompanied the report to the Privy
+Council apparently with the intention of explaining or emphasizing
+their recommendations. The subjects under debate concerned the internal
+or external affairs of all the colonies. They related to Jamaica,
+Barbadoes, Maryland, Virginia, and New England, including Nova Scotia,
+Massachusetts, Maine, and Long Island; they dealt with Quakers, Jews,
+vagrants, and servants, supplies, provisions, naval stores, emigrant
+registration, and abuses in colonial trade; they included that burning
+question of the period, the Dutch at New Amsterdam and the complaints
+that arose regarding Holland as an obstruction to English trade. The
+amount of time taken and pains expended on controversial points can be
+inferred from an examination of the New England case, which was taken
+up at the first regular meeting in January and was under examination
+from that time until April 30, when the Council sent in its report.
+Even then it was taken up by the Privy Council, referred to its own
+committee, called the Committee for New England, and in one or two
+particulars was sent back to the Council for further consideration.
+In the performance of its duties the Council for Plantations can never
+be charged with indolence or neglect. In the year 1661 alone it held
+forty meetings, or an average of one every nine days.
+
+After August, 1664, the records of the Council come to an end, but there
+is reason to believe that the Council continued its sessions at least
+until the spring of 1665. That the last meeting was not held on August
+24 is certain, not only from the wording of the minute, which reads:
+"ordered, being a matter of great moment and the day far spent, that the
+further consideration be deferred for a week," but also from two further
+references to the existence of the Council, of later date,--one dated
+September 7, when the Council sent in a report regarding the proposed
+establishment of a registry office, and the other in the form of an
+endorsement upon a letter from Lord Willoughby which says: "Ref^{d} to
+the Council, Feb. 24," that is February 24, 1665. It seems probable,
+therefore, that the Council was sitting as late as February-March
+of that year.[15] Probably its meetings were broken up by the plague
+which started in London about that time, in the westernmost parish,
+St. Giles-in-the-Fields, and lasted until the end of October. Whether
+the Council resumed its sessions after the plague had subsided it is
+almost impossible to say. No definite record exists of its meetings or
+work. Some of its members had died, Sir Martin Noell in October, 1665,
+and Sir Nicholas Crispe the next year; others had left England, Lord
+Willoughby, Capts. Watts and Kendall, and possibly Sir James Draxe;
+while others had accepted posts that took them away from London, as in
+the case of Capt. Middleton, who became commissioner of the navy at
+Portsmouth. Certainly Povey could have had very little to do with the
+affairs of a council in London in 1664-1666, when as surveyor-general of
+the victualling department he was required to be frequently at Plymouth
+and to spend a considerable amount of time travelling about England.[16]
+Yet there is nothing to show that its commission was revoked, and
+an order of the Privy Council, September 23, 1667, to which further
+reference will be made below, reads as if the Council were in existence
+at that time. If so, it must have been merely a nominal body.
+
+After 1665, and until 1670, plantation affairs seem to have been
+controlled entirely by the Privy Council and its committees, which
+proved themselves capable and vigorous bodies. Before 1666, besides
+the Committee for Foreign Plantations, which has already been noticed,
+other committees were appointed as occasion arose,--committees for
+Jamaica, for Jamaica and Algiers, for the Guinea trade, for the Royal
+Company, for fishing in Newfoundland, for Jersey and Guernsey, and
+for New England. Committees for Trade and for hearing appeals from
+the Plantations also existed. On December 7, 1666, after the plague
+had subsided and the great fire had spent itself, the Privy Council
+reappointed its plantation committee, which now entered upon a career of
+greatly increased activity.[17] At the same time the Council made use of
+its other committees, particularly the "Committee for the Affaires of
+New England and for the bounding of Acadia," October 2, 4, 1667, which
+took into consideration the question of the restitution of Acadia to the
+French;[18] and it referred important matters of business to committees
+of selected experts. Under these conditions the affairs of the colonies
+were managed until the appointment of a new Plantation Council in
+August, 1670.
+
+The Council for Trade met in Mercer's Hall some time before November
+13, 1660, and at its preliminary session considered that part of its
+instructions which related to bullion and coin. On December 13, 1660, it
+passed a resolution urging and inviting people and merchants to send in
+petitions, and it requested the King to issue a proclamation defining
+its powers in all matters relating to trade and manufactures and calling
+on "any person, concerned in the matters therein to be debated or who
+have any petition or invention to offer, to apply to them for redress
+of evils brought on by the late times or for the improvement of trade
+regulations."[19] In response to, this appeal a large number of
+petitions, sent either to the Privy Council or directly to the Select
+Council itself, were received, and the discussion of these petitions
+and the preparing of reports upon them occupied the attention of the
+Council during the first two years. These reports show that the Council
+took its duties seriously and was thoroughly in earnest to improve,
+if possible, the trade of the kingdom, and to carry out to the full
+the commands which the King had laid upon it. There is not a clause
+of the instructions to which it did not pay some attention, and upon
+many matters it debated long and ardently, making reports that are as
+valuable for the student of the trade policy of the seventeenth century
+as are the familiar writings of well-known mercantilists. The Council
+took up and discussed the export of bullion and coin, expressing its
+opinion that the penalties should be withdrawn as injurious to trade,
+because they prevented the English merchants from bringing their money
+into the kingdom where it would be detained, and saying that money most
+abounded in countries which enjoyed freedom from restraints on exports.
+The trade in the Baltic, the East Indies, and the Levant to which trade
+freedom to export bullion was preeminently important; the Merchant
+Adventurers, regarding whose history and position the Council made
+a valuable report, viewing the subject from the beginning; the East
+India Company, whose petition,--largely reproduced in the report of the
+Council,--contained a bitter arraignment of the Dutch, calling to mind
+the "impudent affronts to the honor of this nation and the horrid
+injuries done to the stock and commerce thereof," and demanding damages
+and a definite regulation of trade in the forthcoming treaty with
+Holland then under debate; treaties with foreign powers, clauses in
+which concerning trade were taken up at the early meetings of the
+Council; prohibition of imposts on foreign cloths and stuffs, regarding
+which sundry shopkeepers, tradesmen, and artificers of London had
+petitioned the Privy Council in November, 1660,[20]--all these matters
+the Council took under consideration. It dealt with the granting of
+patents, with the encouragement of home industries, particularly the
+business of the framework knitters, silk-dyeing, and the manufacture of
+tapestry, and with the establishment of an insurance company.[21] As far
+as the plantations were concerned, its recommendations were few, and
+were made chiefly in connection with reports on the ninth and eleventh
+articles of its instructions, which touched upon convoys, imports,
+and composition-ports. It drafted a carefully drawn list of necessary
+convoys in which, of all the American plantations, only Newfoundland
+is mentioned. It considered the importation of logwood and tobacco,
+and upon the latter point made the suggestion "that all tobacco
+of English Plantations do pay at importation 1/2d. a pound and at
+exportation nothing." This recommendation was accompanied by a valuable
+essay on trade in general. It dealt with the question of making Dover
+a free port for composition trade and took the ground that the Acts
+of Navigation should be inviolably kept. On this question the Earl of
+Southampton, the Treasurer, and Lord Ashley (Cooper), Chancellor of the
+Exchequer, took the opposite ground, favoring the freedom of the port,
+"Dover having formerly been a port for free trade," and adding that
+"a free trade thus settled we conceive might conduce to the advantage
+of your Majesty's customs," trade being injured by the "tyes and
+observances which the Act of Navigation places upon it." They reported
+further that the farmers of the customs wished the Act to be dispensed
+with in some cases.[22]
+
+Regarding the attitude of the Council toward the sixth article
+of its instructions, the promotion of the fisheries, we have fuller
+information. At the session of December 17, 1663, there were present the
+Earl of Sandwich, William Coventry, Sir Nicholas Crispe, Henry Slingsby,
+Christopher Boone, John Lord Berkeley, Sir Sackville Crowe, Thomas
+Povey, John Jolliffe, and George Toriano. Acting on a special order
+from the King, they debated how best the fishing trade might be
+gained and promoted, and how encouraged and advanced when gained.
+They considered the respective merits of a commission and a corporation,
+and whether, if a corporation should be agreed upon, it ought to be
+universal or exclusive, perpetual or limited, a joint stock or a divided
+stock, and what immunities and powers should be granted, the character
+of the persons to be admitted and the number. Taking up each point in
+turn, the members of the Council first considered "How to gain the Trade
+of Fishery" and laid down seven methods: 1, 2, by raising money either
+through voluntary contributions or through lotteries; 3, 4, by restraint
+of foreign importation or by impositions upon all foreign importation;
+5, by letters to all countries urging them to contribute such especial
+commodities as cordage, lumber, boards, and the like, in exchange for
+fish; 6, by declaring a war against the Dutch, and at the same time,
+7, by naturalizing or indenizing all Hollanders who would come into
+the English fishery. For the support of the trade when gained the
+Council proposed: 1, to impose a proportion of fish upon every vintner,
+innkeeper, alehouse-keeper, victualler, and coffee house in England;
+2, to refuse all licenses for fish, which were to be paid for to the
+corporation; 3, to take the stock of the poor of every parish and
+provide for the impotent and aged only out of the product, and employ
+such as were able to work in the fishery--the impotent in the making
+of nets, etc.; 4, to require the gentlemen of all maritime counties
+to raise a stock of money in their counties to be employed toward the
+advance of the fishery; 5, to raise busses, _i. e._, Dutch herring
+boats, and to set them forth to their own use and to receive the profits
+in fish or in the product of it; 6, to employ the imposition laid upon
+fish by the last Parliament for the purpose of advancing the trade; to
+accept the offer of fishmongers to raise busses and money; 8, to require
+the master and wardens of the company, and, 9, to encourage private
+persons to do the same; 10, to bring over Dutchmen to teach the English
+the art of curing, salting, and marking fish, and of making casks.
+It was then decided, "after a long and solemne debate of the whole
+matter," _nemine contradicente_, "that there being no disadvantage in a
+corporation But many great Advantages, powers and Immunities that cannot
+be had by Commission That the best way of advancing & encouraging the
+Fishing Trade is by way of [a] Corporation." To this corporation were to
+be granted "the sole power of Lycensing the Eating and killing of flesh
+in Lent," the power to make by-laws, to dispose of "guifts that are or
+shalbee given for carrying on of this Trade," to administer oaths, to
+constitute officers, to exercise coercion in case of contempt against
+orders, to fine and in some cases to imprison, to send for papers,
+persons, books, etc. The corporation was to be universal, perpetual, and
+a joint stock company.[23] As a result of the report of the Council a
+charter of incorporation was issued to the Duke of York and thirty-six
+others, forming the Governor and Company of the Royal Fishery of Great
+Britain and Ireland, and George Duke, "late Secretary to the Committee
+of Trade," was recommended by the King as its secretary.[24]
+
+This account of the debate in the Council upon the fishery question
+is important not only because it gives an interesting glimpse of the
+Council at work, and the only glimpse that we have at any length of
+its procedure, but because it illustrates a phase of mercantilism in
+the making. It shows, also, the intensity of the rivalry that existed
+between England and Holland, and furnishes an admirable example of one
+of the causes of that rivalry, the Dutch predominance in the fishing
+business.[25] The Council frequently appealed to the methods employed
+by the Dutch as a sufficient argument to support its contention, and
+when objections were raised against the universal corporation it
+answered, "You destroy the essence of a Corporation by lymitting it,
+And if you lymitt it, no man will venture their Stocke, and the mayne
+reason why the Dutch employ not only their Stocke but their whole
+families in the fisheries, is because their corporation is perpetual."
+
+How much longer the Council of Trade continued its sessions it is
+impossible to say. Its last recorded action is a report, dated July,
+1664, which contained its opinion upon the question of trade with
+Scotland, a matter soon to be taken up by the higher authorities.
+It is probable that, as in the case of the Council of Plantations, its
+sessions were suspended because of the plague and the fire and were not
+resumed. Its commission was not revoked and it certainly had a nominal
+existence until 1667. That it had no actual existence in April, 1665,
+seems likely from a letter sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury at that
+time, begging that the King appoint a council of trade to find out the
+cause of the decay in the coal trade.[26] By the summer of 1665 trade
+was reported dead and money scarce and to the plague was ascribed "an
+infinite interruption to the whole trade of the Nation." The fire and
+the Dutch war completed the demoralization of commerce and in 1666 the
+plantations were deemed in great want of necessaries on account of the
+obstructions of trade by the war. Though in that year many questions
+arose that might naturally have been referred to such a council had
+it been in session, no such references appear among the records. The
+advancement of trade was looked after by the Privy Council and its trade
+committee, and particularly by the Committee of Trade appointed by
+Parliament. The latter body had been named as early as March, 1664,
+to investigate the export of wool, wool-fells, and fullers' earth.
+A few weeks later it was entrusted with the duty of inquiring into the
+reasons for the general decay of trade. As this function was conferred
+on the Parliamentary Committee at a time when the Select Council was
+still holding its sessions, it is reasonable to suppose that the work
+of the latter body had not proved satisfactory. There is some slight
+evidence to show that the meetings of the Council were at this time but
+little attended and that its members were not working in harmony.[27]
+The Parliamentary Committee, acting as a Council of Trade, ordered
+representatives from all the merchant companies to prepare an account
+of the causes of obstruction in their different branches, and when the
+latter, among other obstacles, named the Dutch as the chief enemies of
+English trade, resolved that the wrongs inflicted by the Dutch were the
+greatest obstructions to foreign trade, and recommended that the King
+should seek redress. Other causes were considered and debated.[28]
+
+An excellent idea of procedure can be obtained from studying the history
+of trade relations with Scotland during this decade. Immediately after
+the passage of the Navigation Act of 1660, the Scots petitioned that the
+Act might be dispensed with for Scotland, and special deputies were sent
+from the Scottish to the English Parliament to prevent, if possible, the
+extension of the Act to their country. The matter was referred to the
+Customs Commissioners and to the Privy Council, and the latter appointed
+a special committee to investigate it. Both of these bodies reported
+that the grant of such liberties to the Scots would frustrate the object
+of the Act, and gave elaborate reasons for this opinion.[29] As an act
+of retaliation the Scottish Parliament laid heavy impositions upon
+English goods, and English merchants in 1664 petitioned Parliament for
+relief. Parliament recommended the appointment of referees on both sides
+and in July, 1664, the Privy Council placed the matter in the hands
+of Southampton, Ashley, and Secretary Bennet. This committee laid the
+question before the Council of Trade, which suggested a compromise,
+whereby duties on both sides should be reduced to 5 per cent., the Scots
+should have the benefits of the Act of Navigation but no intercourse
+with foreign plantations, and should not buy any more foreign built
+ships. As a result of these and further negotiations Parliament passed
+an act in 1667,[30] "for settling freedom and intercourse of trade
+between England and Scotland," and under the terms of that act
+commissioners were appointed to meet with commissioners for Scotland
+in the Inner Star Chamber to negotiate a freedom of trade between the
+two countries. The commissioners duly met on January 13, 1668, and the
+papers recording their negotiations are full and explicit. The whole
+question of the relations between England and Scotland since the union,
+both political and economic, was investigated with great care; papers
+were searched for, records examined, memorials and petitions received,
+and various conditions of trade inquired into. The commissioners
+frequently disagreed and harmony was by no means always attained,
+resulting in delays in drafting the treaty and the eventual failure
+of the negotiations. In October the Scottish commissioners returned
+to Edinburgh, and the conditions remained as before.[31]
+
+The fall of Clarendon, at the end of the year 1667, led to important
+changes in the organization of the government, and the widespread
+demoralization in trade demanded an improvement of the system of trade
+and plantation control. The year 1668 is significant as the starting
+point for a number of attempted remedies in matters of finance and
+trade supervision. We have no opportunity here to examine the political
+aspects of these changes or to determine how far they were effected
+in the interest of mere political control. Suffice it to say that too
+many conditions of the reign of Charles II have been attributed to
+extravagance and political intrigue, and too few to an honest desire
+on the part of those concerned to restore the realm to a condition of
+solvency and prosperity. Heavily burdened with debt at the outset of the
+reign, distracted by plague, fire, and foreign war during the years from
+1665 to 1668, the kingdom needed the services of all its statesmen,
+and even the most selfish politician must have realized the need of
+reorganization. Acting upon a suggestion which Clarendon himself had
+made to the King, the Privy Council in 1667 began by strengthening
+its own committee system, and on January 31, 1668, established four
+standing committees--for foreign affairs, military affairs, trade and
+plantations, and petitions and grievances. These committees had almost
+the character of state departments, though they had no final authority
+of their own, all orders emanating from the Privy Council only. They
+became, however, more independent than had been previous committees by
+virtue of the fact that no order was to be issued by the Council until
+it had been "first perused by the Reporter of each Committee
+respectively," The following is a copy of the regulations:
+
+    His Ma^{tie} among other the important parts of his Affairs
+    having taken into his princely consideration the way & method
+    of managing matters at the Council Board, And reflecting that
+    his Councills would have more reputation if they were put into
+    a more settled & established course, Hath thought it fit to
+    appoint certaine Standing Comitties of the Council for several
+    Businesses together with regular days & places for their
+    assembling in such sort as followeth:
+
+    1. The Committee of FORRAINE AFFAIRES is already settled to
+    consist of these Persons following (besides his Royall Highness,
+    who is understood to be of all comittees, where he pleases to be)
+    vizt. Prince Rupert, L^{d} Keeper [Sir Orlando Bridgeman], Lord
+    Privy Scale [Lord Robartes], Duke of Buckingham, Lord General
+    [Duke of Albemarle], L^{d} Arlington, & M^{r} Sec^{ry} Morice,
+    To which Committee His Ma^{tie} doth also hereby referr the
+    corresponding w^{th} Justices of peace & other officers & ministers
+    in the Severall Countys of the Kingdome, concerning the Temper of
+    the Kingdome &c. The constant day for this Committee to meete to be
+    every Monday besides such other dayes wherein any extraordinary
+    Action shall oblige them to assemble, And the place for their
+    meeting to be at the Lord Arlington's Lodgings in Whitehall.
+
+    2. Such matters as concerne the Admiralty & Navy as also all
+    Military matters, Fortifications &c, so far as they are fit to
+    be brought to the Councill Board, without intermedling in what
+    concernes the proper officers (unlesse it shall by them be
+    desired). If his Ma^{tie} is pleased to appoint that they be
+    und^{r} the consideracon of this following Committee, vizt,
+    Prince Rupert, L^{d} General [Duke of Albemarle], E. of Anglesy,
+    Ea. of Carlisle, Ea. of Craven, Lord Arlington, Lord Berkeley,
+    M^{r} Comptroller [Sir Thomas Clifford], M^{r} Sec^{ry} Morice,
+    S^{r} W^{m} Coventry & S^{r} John Duncombe. The usuall day of
+    meeting to be Wensdays, & oftner, as he that presides shall
+    direct, & the place to be the Councill Chamber, and hereof
+    Three or more of them to be a Quorum.
+
+    3. Another Committee his Ma^{tie} is pleased to constitute for
+    the Business of Trade under whose consideration is to come
+    whatsoever concernes his Ma^{ts}: FORRAINE PLANTATIONS, as also
+    what relates to his Kingdomes of Ireland or Scotland, the Isles
+    of Jersey & Guernsey, which is to consist of the Lord Privy
+    Scale [Lord Robartes], Duke of Buckingham, Earle of Ossory,
+    Ea. of Bridgewater, Ea: of Lauderdail, L^{d}: Arlington,
+    L^{d}: Holles, L^{d}: Ashley, M^{r}. Comptroller [Sir Thomas
+    Clifford], M^{r} Vice Chamberlain [Sir George Carteret],
+    M^{r} Sec^{ry}. Morice, & S^{r} W^{m} Coventry. The usuall day
+    of meeting to be every Thursday in the Councill Chamber, or
+    oftner as he that presides shall direct, and hereof 3 or more
+    of them to be a Quorum.
+
+    4. His Ma^{tie} is pleased to appoint one other Committee to
+    whom all PETITIONS of COMPLAINT & GREIVANCE are to be referred in
+    which His Ma^{tie} hath thought fit hereby particularly to
+    prescribe not to meddle w^{th} Property or what relates to
+    Meum & Tuum. And to this Committee his Ma^{tie} is pleased
+    that all matters which concerne Acts of State or of the
+    Councill be referred. The persons to be the Arch. B^{p}: of
+    Canterbury, Lord Keeper [Sir Orlando Bridgeman], L^{d}: Privy
+    Seale [Lord Robartes], L^{d}: Great Chamberlain [?], L^{d}
+    Chamberlain [Edward, Earl of Manchester], Ea: of Bridgewater,
+    Ea: of Anglesey, Ea: of Bathe, Ea: of Carbery, Viscount
+    Fitzharding, L^{d}: Arlington, L^{d}: Holles, L^{d}: Ashley,
+    M^{r} Sec^{ry}: Morice, M^{r}: Chancellor of the Dutchy
+    [of Lancaster, Sir Thomas Ingram], and S^{r}: John Duncombe.
+    The constant day of meeting to be Friday in the Councill
+    Chamber. And his Ma^{ts} further meaning is, that to these
+    two last committees, any of the Councill may have Liberty to
+    come & vote and that his two principall Sec^{ries}: of State
+    [at this time Lord Arlington and Sir William Morrice] be ever
+    understood to be of all Com^{tees}:, And hereof 3 or more of
+    them to be a Quorum.
+
+    And for the better carrying on of Business at those severall
+    Comittees, his Ma^{tie}: thinks fit, and accordingly is pleased
+    to appoint, That each of these Committees be assigned to the
+    particular care of some one person, who is constantly to attend
+    it. In that of the Navy & Military matters his Royal Highness
+    may p^{r}side, if he so please, or else the Lord Generall [Duke
+    of Albemarle]. In Forraine matters the L^{d} Arlington. In Trade
+    & Plantations the L^{d}: Privy Seale [Lord Robartes]. In matters
+    of State & Greivances, the Lord Keeper [Sir Orlando Bridgeman].
+
+    Besides which fixt & established Committees, if there shall
+    happen anything extraordinary that requires Advice, whether in
+    matters relating to the Treasury, or of any other mixt nature
+    other than what is afore determined His Ma^{ties} meaning and
+    intention is, that particular Committees be in such Cases
+    appointed for them, as hath been accustomed. And that such
+    Committees do make their Report in Writing, to be offered to
+    his Ma^{tie}: the next Councill day following, in which, if any
+    Debate arise, the old Rule is ever strictly to be observed, that
+    the youngest Councell^{r}: do begin, and not to speake a second
+    time without Leave first obteyned. And that as on the one side
+    nothing is hereafter to be resolved in Councill, till the matter
+    hath been first examined, And have received the Opinion of
+    some Committee or other, So on the other hand, that nothing be
+    referred to any Committee, untill it have been first read at
+    the Board, except in Forraine Affaires. And his Ma^{ts} express
+    pleasure is, That no Order of Councill be henceforth any time
+    issued out by the Clerks of the Councill till the same have been
+    first perused by the Reporter of each Committee respectively.[32]
+
+
+There is very little evidence to show that the Committee of the Council
+for Trade and Plantations played any very conspicuous part in regulating
+either trade or plantations during the years from 1668 to 1675, though
+a number of petitions were referred to it. Its most important report
+was that recommending the restoration of the province of Maine to the
+grandson of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, but even that matter was taken out
+of its hands by the further reference of the Gorges' petition to the
+Committee for Foreign Affairs. In 1668, it dealt with the restitution
+of Surinam to the Dutch and the settlement of Lord Willoughby's claims;
+with relief for Barbadoes after the disastrous fire which destroyed
+St. Michaels in April of that year; with the equipment of Sir Tobias
+Bridges' regiment in the same island; and with the liberty granted to
+certain Dutch ships of trading to New York despite the Navigation Act.
+In 1669, it considered a few petitions and reported on Gorges' memorial.
+After 1670 it did little, as far as actual evidence of its activity is
+concerned, but it is entirely clear that it had to transact a great deal
+more business than is recorded either in the Register or in the Colonial
+Papers.[33] Many of the questions that were referred to the Select
+Council of Trade and the Select Council of Trade and Plantations were
+first passed upon by this committee or were referred to it after the
+report from the separate body had come in. Furthermore, we know that
+in the case of this committee, as of similar committees of the Privy
+Council after 1696, many questions were never allowed to pass out of its
+hands, except as they were reported to the Council itself. Though not
+conspicuous, it was potentially active and quite ready in 1675 to take
+up the burden of colonial control that the King placed upon it.[34]
+
+Even before it had begun the reorganization of its committee system, the
+Privy Council made known its decision to revive the system of separate
+and select councils which had probably been in abeyance since 1665.
+On September 23, 1667, it ordered its Committee for Trade and Foreign
+Plantations to take into consideration the advisability of revoking
+the commissions of the two councils of 1660,--which councils must,
+therefore, have been deemed still legally in existence--and of uniting
+these bodies so as to form a single select council for trade and
+plantations. To this end it instructed the secretaries of those
+councils, Philip Frowde and George Duke, to appear before it. For
+reasons that are nowhere found among the official papers this plan was
+given up and the decision reached to revoke only the commission of the
+Council of Trade and to issue a patent for a new body. Roger North, in
+his _Examen_, published in 1740, a work little to be depended on as far
+as historical accuracy is concerned, declares that this move was merely
+a piece of political manoeuvering and never was designed to accomplish
+anything of importance for the trade or revenue of the kingdom. He says:
+
+    "The courtiers, for his Majesty's Ease, moved that there might
+    be a commission to several of the greatest Traders in _London_
+    to examine all matters of that kind, and to report their Opinion
+    to the Council; upon which his Majesty might determine. This
+    plausible project was put in Execution and the Leaders of the
+    Fanatic party in the city [especially Alderman Love and Josiah
+    Child] were the Commissioners; for so it was plotted. The great
+    House in Queen Street was taken for the use of this Commission.
+    Mr. Henry Slingsby, sometime Master of the Mint was the Secretary;
+    and they had a formal Board with Green Cloth and Standishes,
+    Clerks good store, a tall Porter and Staff, and fitting Attendance
+    below, and a huge Luminary at the Door. And in Winter Time, when
+    the Board met, as was two or three Times a Week, or oftener, all
+    the Rooms were lighted, Coaches at the Door, and great passing in
+    and out, as if a Council of State in good Earnest had been sitting.
+    All Cases, Complaints, and Deliberations of Trade were referred
+    to this Commission, and they reported their opinion."[35]
+
+
+North's implication that the Council was a contrivance of the enemies
+of the King to effect a prohibition of trade with France which the
+government wished to keep open seems deserving of little credence.
+In the past, facts regarding this Council and its work have not been
+complete, and even a full list of its members has been wanting. Even now
+the commission and instructions, which, after considerable delay, were
+issued on October 20, 1668, have eluded discovery, and we can present
+little more than the terms of the docket as entered in the books of
+the Crown Office. The docket reads: "A Commission with instructions
+annexed establishing a Counsell of Trade, for Keeping a control and
+super-inspection of his Majesty's Trade and Commerce." From another
+source we learn that the Council was to take into consideration "the
+Conditions of your Maj^{tyes} Plantations abroad, in order to the
+improvement of Trade and increase of Navigation, and for the further
+encouragement of yo^{r} Maj^{tyes} Subjects in their Trade and Commerce
+both at home and abroad."[36] A second commission was issued on April
+13, 1669, "directed to the same persons in the same form & with the
+same powers and instructions ... with a confirmation of all Acts done
+in pursuance of the said late commission in election of officers and
+otherwise."[37] The clerical secretary was Peter du Moulin, though Dr.
+Benjamin Worsley seems to have had some official position on the board.
+The members of the Council were as follows: Duke of York, Prince Rupert,
+Lord Keeper, Lord Privy Seal, Duke of Buckingham, Duke of Albemarle,
+Duke of Ormond, Earl of Bridgewater, Earl of Ossory, Earl of Anglesey,
+Earl of Carlisle, Earl of Craven, Earl of Lauderdale, Lord Arlington,
+Lord Berkeley of Stratton, Lord Holles, Lord Ashley, Sir Thomas
+Clifford, Sir George Carteret, Sir John Trevor, Sir William Morrice, Sir
+William Coventry, Sir Thomas Osborne, Sir Thomas Littleton, Sir Henry
+Blount, Sir George Downing, Sir Andrew Riccard, Sir William Thompson,
+Silas Titus, William Garroway, Henry Slingsby, Thomas Grey, John Birch,
+William Love, Esq., Benjamin Worsley, Doctor of Physic; John Buckworth,
+Thomas Papillion, John Page, Josiah Child, Thomas Tyte, Benjamin Albyn,
+and John Shorter. In 1669 were added the Earl of Devonshire, Earl of
+Sandwich, Viscount Halifax, and George, Lord Berkeley, making forty-six
+members in all.[38] This is an extraordinary body of men to be engaged
+in pulling the wool over the eyes of the King, and though Professor
+Ashley is inclined to view North's account with approval, we doubt if
+it will stand the test of examination. Professor Ashley's further belief
+that from this Council emanated the document called "A Scheme of Trade,"
+is capable of satisfactory disproof, since but few of the signers of
+that document were members of the Council and the date when it was
+issued, November 29, 1674, was after the Council as a separate body had
+been abolished.[39]
+
+The Council lasted from 1668 to 1672 and during that time it did
+nothing, so far as we can discover, either for or against the trade
+with France. It considered the granting of patents, foreign trade with
+Piedmont and elsewhere, the export of wool, disputes among the merchant
+companies, dispensations from the operation of the Navigation Act, and
+a few matters relating to home industry, particularly as regards abuses
+in the baize trade. It took into consideration the order in Council
+of October 23, 1667, permitting the Dutch to send three or more ships
+yearly for seven years to trade from Holland to New York, and reported
+so strongly against it that the Privy Council revoked the order.[40]
+More important still, it took up the whole question of the operation of
+the navigation acts in the colonies, called upon the merchants and the
+farmers of the customs for information, and made a careful report to the
+Privy Council, which the latter, on January 20,1669, embodied in the
+following order:
+
+    "His Ma^{tie} this day taking into consideration the great
+    importance the Trade of his severall plantations is to his
+    Ma^{tie} & his Kingdome, and being informed that severall
+    Governments of the s^{d} Plantations have been wanting to
+    their duty in the following particulars, viz:
+
+    1. That Governors have not taken the oath enjoined by law,
+
+    2. That shipps have been permitted to trade to and from the
+    Plantations not qualified according to law,
+
+    3. That there has been omission in taking Bond and Security
+    and returning those Bonds according as directed by the severall
+    Acts of Parliament.
+
+    For redresse it is ordered, that the Farmers of the Customs do
+    and are hereby required (at their owne charge) to send over and
+    make choice of upon the place & from time to time commissionate
+    & maynteyne one or more persons in each Plantation (whom his
+    Ma^{tie} shall approve & authorize) to administer the usual oaths
+    to the severall Governors, that no vessels be admitted to trade
+    there till said officer has the perusal of the passes and
+    certificates and certifies that they may trade there, and that
+    no Bond or security be admitted without the allowance of said
+    officer,
+
+    That letters be written to all said Governors to take said
+    oaths before said officer and also to give them countenance and
+    assistance,
+
+    That Directions be given to the Commanders of his Ma^{ties} ships
+    and to any merchant shipps to arrest any ship trading to His
+    Ma^{ties} Plantations contrary to the law."[41]
+
+
+Under this order Edward Digges, former governor of Virginia and a London
+merchant well known to us, was appointed by the farmers of the customs
+as a fit person to execute for the colony of Virginia the articles and
+instructions contained in this order. No other appointments, however,
+appear to have been made at this time.[42]
+
+After 1670 activities of the Council of Trade, as far as they are
+recorded, are very few. It considered the trade of the Eastland Company,
+provided for a supply of coal for London at reasonable rates, and
+discussed a few minor petitions, but as compared with its contemporary,
+the Council for Foreign Plantations, it accomplished little.[43]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Footnote 1: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1514-1660, pp. 482, 483; P.C.R.,
+Charles II, Vol. II, p. 63; New York Colonial Docts., III, p. 30.]
+
+[Footnote 2: P.C.R., Charles II, Vol. II, p. 37; Bodleian, Rawlinson A.,
+117, No. 20.]
+
+[Footnote 3: Professor Osgood thinks that a part of Noell's fortune was
+made in the slave trade. Beyond the fact that he was a member of the
+Royal African Company, I cannot find any evidence whatever to prove this
+statement. Noell certainly was not a slave trader before 1660.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Bodleian, Clarendon Papers, _passim_, New York Hist.
+Soc. Collections, 1869; Brit. Museum, Add. MSS., 11410, ff. 18 et seq.
+Clarendon had an agent in Jamaica, Major Ivy, who was considering the
+setting up of plantations and planting cocoa walks in the interest of
+the King's revenue. Clarendon's policy toward the continental colonies
+overshadows somewhat his policy toward the West Indies and in
+consequence this phase of the subject has been neglected by those who
+have dealt with Clarendon's colonial relations.]
+
+[Footnote 5: P.C.R., Charles II, Vol. II, pp. 131-132; printed in part
+in Analytical Index to the Series of Records known as the Remembrancia,
+preserved among the Archives of the City of London, 1579-1664.
+(Privately printed, 1878); and in very much abbreviated form in
+Bannister, Writings of William Patterson, III, 251-252, from whom it has
+been copied by both Egerton and Cunningham. It seems somewhat strange
+that there should be no entry of the receipt of this letter in the
+journal of the court of Aldermen nor any draft of an answer among the
+Remembrancia or elsewhere. A careful search has failed to disclose any
+reference to action taken upon this letter among the papers in the Town
+Clerk's office at the Guildhall.]
+
+[Footnote 6: Bodleian, Clarendon Papers, 73, f. 232.]
+
+[Footnote 7: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1660-1661, p. 319.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Public Record Office, Chancery, Crown Dockets, 6, p. 50.
+On the docket for the commission of the council of trade the names of
+the members are inserted; but on that of the commission for the council
+for foreign plantations the place is left blank. A marginal note on the
+latter docket gives the explanation noted above.]
+
+[Footnote 9: There is a list of the members in 1661, containing but
+forty-seven names with some omissions and additions.]
+
+[Footnote 10: Egerton, 2395, ff. 268, 269; Cal. State Papers, Dom.,
+1660-1661, pp. 353-354; P.R.O. State Papers, Domestic, XXI, No. 27;
+Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and Commerce, 4 ed., Appendix.]
+
+[Footnote 11: The journal of the Council of Plantations is among the
+Colonial Papers in the Public Record Office, XIV, No. 59, ff. 1-57,
+December 1, 1660-August 4, 1664, entitled "Orders and Proceedings at his
+Ma^{ts} Counsell for Forraigne Plantacons." There is no journal of the
+Council of Trade known to exist, but minutes of one or two meetings,
+which have been preserved, show that a journal must have been kept. An
+entry-book for patents is mentioned, Cal. State Papers, Col., 1661-1668,
+§ 15, and an entry-book of petitions and reports, November 13,
+1660-March 12, 1662, is in Brit. Mus. Add. MSS., 25115.
+
+Regarding the history of the papers of the Council of Trade the
+following information may be of interest. The records probably remained
+in the possession of George Duke, secretary to the Council, and were
+called for by Dr. Worsley, secretary of the Council of 1672 in a letter
+dated November 28, 1672 (Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1672-1673, pp.
+213-214). No answer was received from Duke and evidently the papers were
+not handed over, for when in 1698 the Board of Trade applied for them to
+Col. Duke's son-in-law, Henry Crispe, it was informed by Mr. Crispe that
+he had never even seen any of the papers but had heard that some of them
+were burnt in the Temple when in Col. Duke's possession (Journal of the
+Board of Trade, XI, p. 55, May 10, 1698). In June and July, 1707, the
+Board of Trade attempted again to get hold of the papers and wrote to
+Crispe on June 30. Crispe's reply is worth printing:
+
+"If I am rightly informed there are divers original books and papers
+relating to the Royal Fishery and the establishing thereof from the
+year 1660 for divers successive years in which are contained several
+projections concerning the promoting the same. And there are also books
+and minutes of the proceedings of the Council of Trade from the year
+1660 to 1668, which also contain several material things in relation to
+Trade and the improvement thereof, which I understand are in the power
+of a friend of mine.
+
+"These books and papers will be disposed of as the Hon^{ble} Board the
+Council of Trade shall direct or order.
+
+"But it is humbly desired that consideration be allowed the party that
+shall produce these Books and Papers. And that it may be ascertained
+what that consideration shall be and by whom it shall be given.
+
+"I was desired to inform you of this to the end you may take such steps
+therein as you in your great prudence shall judge most proper.
+
+"If any orders or commands shall be given about this affair that I can
+be useful or serviceable therein & they be transmitted for me or be left
+at Johns Coffee House in Bedford St. near the Church in Convent Garden
+such orders will be faithfully observed by
+
+  "S^{rs} Your faithfull humble Servant
+    "H. CRISPE."
+
+
+Crispe sent a list of the books with his letter, but that list is
+missing. The Board answered that it would not buy the books without
+seeing them first, but as we find no further mention of the matter in
+the Journal and as the books and papers are not to be found to-day the
+probabilities are that the negotiations fell through. Journal, XIX,
+p. 296; Board of Trade Papers, Trade, H Nos. 74, 76.]
+
+[Footnote 12: This may be inferred from the following note attached to
+one of the reports: "The council conceiving themselves to be in noe
+capacitie of giving any judgment therein having heard but one side."
+Egerton, 2395, f. 299.]
+
+[Footnote 13: See Cal. State Papers, Col., 1675-1676, §§ 338, 339, where
+he is called "Secretary for Foreign Plantations."]
+
+[Footnote 14: Egerton, 2395, ff. 286, 291, 299, 335, 336.]
+
+[Footnote 15: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1661-1668, §§ 790, 833; Dom.,
+1664-1665, p. 4.]
+
+[Footnote 16: In December, 1665, he wrote of "an uncomfortable journey
+on unfrequented roads, with none to break the ice, in a hackney coach
+which receives the wind in all parts." Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1665,
+p. 105.]
+
+[Footnote 17: P.C.R., Charles II, Vol. VI, p. 231; Cal. State Papers,
+Col., 1661-1668, § 1685.]
+
+[Footnote 18: Egerton, 2395, ff. 449, 451, 452, 453; Cal. State Papers,
+Col., 1661-1668, §§ 1598-1600.]
+
+[Footnote 19: Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 25115, f. 156; Cal. State Papers,
+Dom., 1661-1662, pp. 411-412.]
+
+[Footnote 20: Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 25115; Cal. State Papers, Dom.,
+1660-1661, pp. 356, 359, 363, 372, 412; 1661-1662 pp. 28, 80.]
+
+[Footnote 21: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1660-1661, pp. 383, 532;
+1661-1662, pp. 111, 277, 529, 446; Bodleian, Rawlinson MSS., A. 478, f.
+81.]
+
+[Footnote 22: Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 25115, ff. 133-140; Cal. State
+Papers, Treasury Books, 1660-1667, pp. 245-247, containing the list of
+convoys, a duplicate of that in the British Museum volume; p. 250, the
+Treasurer's report.]
+
+[Footnote 23: Brit. Mus., Egerton, 2543, ff. 137-139.]
+
+[Footnote 24: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1663-1664, pp. 515, 549.
+The Fishing Commission, appointed in 1661, had proved a failure, but
+the council borrowed from the patent of that commission many of the
+suggestions which it recommended. Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1661-1662,
+p. 83.]
+
+[Footnote 25: Cf. Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1661-1662, p. 83.]
+
+[Footnote 26: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1665-1666, p. 330. Yet Crispe's
+letter (_ante_, p. 75, note) certainly speaks as if the Council had a
+continuous existence from 1660 to 1668, and the mention of Exeter House
+as its place of meeting after 1667 points in the same direction.]
+
+[Footnote 27: "Some considerations about the commission for trade,"
+P.R.O. Shaftesbury MSS., Div. X, 8(1).]
+
+[Footnote 28: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1663-1664, pp. 528, 531, 543,
+572, 573, 588.]
+
+[Footnote 29: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1661-1662, pp. 75, 135-136, 149.]
+
+[Footnote 30: 19 Charles II, c. 13.]
+
+[Footnote 31: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1667-1668, pp. 156, 158, 165,
+173, 180, 187, 191, 247, 321, 433, 444, 452, 511, 593, 594; 1668-1669,
+pp. 35, 40.]
+
+[Footnote 32: Brit. Mus., Egerton MSS., 2543, ff. 205-205^{b}. Endorsed
+"Regulation of Committees of the Councill. Read & Ordered in Councill
+the 31^{st} January, 1667^{b}." For reasons that cannot be explained
+this regulation is not entered in the Privy Council Register. It is
+referred to in a similar order of February 12, 1668, P.C.R., Charles II,
+Vol. VII, pp. 176-177, but otherwise omitted. For this reason the
+document is here printed in full. Cf. Cal. State Papers, Dom.,
+1667-1668, p. 261.]
+
+[Footnote 33: For instance, there are among the Colonial Papers memoranda
+of proceedings at various sittings of this committee held between
+April 7, 1668, and February 18, 1669, relative to domestic, colonial,
+and foreign trade, that are not recorded elsewhere.]
+
+[Footnote 34: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1661-1668, §§ 1685, 1712, 1759,
+1769, 1791, 1870, 1883; 1660-1674, §§ 30, 66, 150, 184-186, 751, 837,
+1226, I, II, III; 1320, 1353, 1390. Dom., 1668-1669, pp. 62, 201.]
+
+[Footnote 35: Roger North, Examen, p. 461, quoted by Prof. Ashley in
+Surveys, Historic and Economic, pp. 274-275.]
+
+[Footnote 36: New York Colonial Docts., III, p. 175.]
+
+[Footnote 37: P.R.O. Chancery, Crown Office, Docket Books, 7, pp. 335,
+344; Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1668-1669, pp. 6, 18, 224-225.]
+
+[Footnote 38: Bodleian, Rawlinson MSS. A, 478, f. 77; Cal. State Papers,
+Dom., 1668-1669, pp. 224-225, 651.]
+
+[Footnote 39: Ashley, Surveys, pp. 275-276.]
+
+[Footnote 40: New York Colonial Docts., III, pp. 175-178; Cal. State
+Papers, Col., 1661-1668, §§ 1874, 1875.]
+
+[Footnote 41: P.C.R., Charles II, Vol. VIII, p. 169; Cal. State Papers,
+Col., 1661-1668, § 1884, 1669-1674, §§ 6, 9.]
+
+[Footnote 42: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1669-1674, §§ 104, 696.]
+
+[Footnote 43: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1671, p. 210; 1671-1672,
+pp. 450-451.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+The Plantation Councils of 1670 and 1672.
+
+
+During the years 1668 and 1669 no member of the government was more
+active in promoting the development of the plantations than Anthony
+Ashley Cooper, Lord Ashley. As one of the proprietaries of Carolina,
+he had taken the lead in advancing that settlement, had called upon
+John Locke to frame a new constitution, and had himself organized the
+expedition of 1669 which gave to the new colony its most important
+impetus. He became a proprietary of the Bahamas in 1670 and later
+attempted to found a plantation on the Edisto River. He planned to
+organize these colonies at Charles Town, Albemarle, Edisto, and New
+Providence into a kind of cooperative trading group of settlements,
+under the same laws and instructions, and from them he hoped to obtain
+in time for himself and the other proprietaries ample returns on their
+investments. It is of no concern to us here that his scheme failed, the
+important fact remains that Ashley and Locke were at this juncture in
+the very heyday of their interest in colonial affairs and were eager to
+take advantage of every opportunity for encouraging colonial trade. The
+revival of the Select Council for Foreign Plantations was due in largest
+part to the influence and initiative of these two men, particularly of
+Ashley, who in 1670 was at the height of his political power and on
+terms of closest intimacy with the King.[1] That he was sincere in this
+movement seems to me beyond question, and the charge that has been made
+against him of recommending the creation of this Council as a means of
+obtaining sinecures for his friends, does not appear capable of the
+slightest proof.[2] If membership on the Council was deemed at the first
+a position of ease, it must soon have lost that character, for few
+committee men ever worked harder than those who looked after plantation
+affairs in the years from 1670 to 1674. This fact will appear as we
+examine the nature and extent of their activities.
+
+Experience with previous councils had shown that too numerous and
+fluctuating a membership was not conducive either to harmony or to
+despatch of business. Therefore, in reviving the Council for Plantations
+it was decided, as the most important change to be effected, that the
+number should be reduced to such terms as to enable the committee to
+apply itself as a whole to the business in hand. The commission was
+issued on July 30, 1670, to ten persons, of whom but three were members
+of the nobility. The commissioners were Edward, Earl of Sandwich;
+Richard, Lord Gorges, Baron of Dundalk in Ireland; William, Lord
+Allington, Baron of Killar in Ireland; Thomas Grey, son of Lord Grey,
+of Warke; Henry Brouncker, Sir Humphrey Winch, Sir John Finch, Edmund
+Waller, Henry Slingsby, master and worker of the mint and one of the
+gentlemen of the privy chamber, and Silas Titus, one of the grooms of
+the bed chamber. To this number was added in 1671 James, Duke of York;
+Prince Rupert, George, Duke of Buckingham, Master of the Horse; James,
+Duke of Ormond, Lord Steward of the Royal Household; John, Earl of
+Lauderdale, Secretary of State for Scotland; Thomas, Lord Culpeper; Sir
+George Carteret, Vice-Chamberlain; and John Evelyn, but of these only
+the last named stood on the same footing with those first appointed as
+a regular and salaried member, the others being appointed to give weight
+and dignity to the board and receiving no compensation. In August, 1671,
+Sir Richard Temple was added to the board, also to serve without pay.
+The only basis for the charge of self-seeking which has been brought
+against the members of this Council is the fact that for the first time,
+as far as we know, the working members received pay for their services.
+The allowances and salaries were as follows: the Earl of Sandwich, as
+president, received £700; Lord Gorges, Lord Allington, Thomas Grey,
+Henry Brouncker, Sir Humphrey Winch, Sir John Finch, Edmund Waller,
+Henry Slingsby, Silas Titus, and John Evelyn, each £500, paid quarterly.
+Dr. Benjamin Worsley, who held the position of advisor and assistant
+secretary under Slingsby, the secretary of the Council, was allowed
+£300, while for contingent expenses £1,000, the same amount that had
+been placed at the disposal of each of the secretaries, Sir Philip
+Frowde and Col. Duke, of the former councils, was appropriated.[3] Five
+members, always including the president or one of the officers of state
+authorized to attend, constituted a quorum of the Council, which was
+ordered to meet for the first time at Essex House, the residence of
+the Lord Keeper, Sir Orlando Bridgeman, near Temple Bar, at two in the
+afternoon. After the addition of the new members, May 16, 1671, it
+removed to the Earl of Bristol's house in Queen Street near Lincoln's
+Inn Fields;[4] and after February 12, 1672, to Lord Arlington's lodgings
+in Whitehall, in order, as Evelyn tells us, that the King might be
+present and hear the debates. It was authorized to employ clerks,
+messengers, solicitors, doorkeepers, and other inferior officers and
+attendants as it should think fit and necessary for its service.
+
+By their commission the members of the Council were empowered "to inform
+themselves by the best ways and meanes they can of the present State and
+condition of our Plantations, together with the Increase, or Decay of
+the Trade, and strength of each of them respectively, And the Causes and
+Reasons of such Encrease or Decay, And to use all Industry and Diligence
+for gaining the full knowledge of all things transacted within any part
+of those our Dominions, either by the respective Governours themselves
+or their respective Deputies or by them and the respective Councills, or
+Assemblies, belonging to any of our said respective Plantations, and
+thereof from time to time to give us a true faithfull and certaine
+Accompt togeather with their best advice and opinion thereupon." The
+range of colonial interest was a wide one, "all the affaires which doe
+or may touch or concerne any of our Forreigne Plantations, Colonies, or
+Dominions, situate, lying and being in any part of America or in the
+Ocean lying betweene this and the maine Land of America, or in any part
+of the Bay of Mexico, or upon the Coast of Guinea, or within any of that
+circuit of the Globe, that is generally known or called by the name of
+the West Indies, whether the said Plantations, Countries, and
+Territories, be immediately held by us, or held by any others of us, by
+vertue of any Charters, Graunts, or Letters Patents thereof already made
+or graunted, or hereafter to be made or graunted, and of all other and
+forreigne Plantations, Colonies, and Dominions (our Towne, Citty and
+Garrison of Tangier only excepted)." The Council had power to send for
+any person or persons whom it deemed able to furnish information or
+advice; to call for any books, papers, or records that it judged likely
+to be useful to it, and to require of every person called upon or
+colonial official addressed prompt and ready response.
+
+By its instructions and additional instructions the Council was
+ordered to make full inquiry into the state of the plantations and
+to take every means of acquiring full and accurate information as to
+the powers of the governors, the execution of the same, the number of
+parishes, planters, servants, and slaves there, and the best means for
+increasing the supply where needed. It was to instruct the governors
+to live at peace with the Indians and not to suffer them to be injured
+in their persons, goods, or possessions; and to keep on terms of amity
+with their neighbors, whether Dutch, French, or Spanish; to take such
+measures that all commodities of the growth or making of the Plantations
+be duly manufactured and improved, and to inquire whether it were
+possible to promote in any way the production of such tropical
+commodities as cotton, ginger, cocoa, etc. It was to find out what
+islands were best fitted for the breeding of cattle and to encourage
+the same; to investigate the opportunities of obtaining masts and to
+stimulate the production of hemp, flax, pitch, and tar in New England,
+and the setting up of saw mills. It was instructed to study the question
+of procuring servants and slaves, to settle all difficulties between the
+Royal African Company and the colonies, and to do all in its power to
+check "spiriting" or the enticing of children and young persons from
+England to the plantations. It was to deal with colonial trade, both
+oceanic and coastwise, to see that the acts of navigation were duly
+enforced; to inquire into the conduct of colonial governments, to
+examine colonial laws and to recommend for annulment such as were
+contrary to honor, justice, or the law of England. It was to become
+familiar with colonial geography, to procure maps and charts, and to
+have them available for examination. It was to aid the spread of the
+Gospel, the purification of morals, and the instruction of Indians and
+slaves. By the additional instructions, issued August 1, 1670, it was to
+consider the question of colonial defence, to recommend the production
+of saltpetre, to consider how spices, gums, drugs, dyeing stuffs, etc.,
+might be procured for the plantations from the East Indies, and to
+study the systems employed in other countries for the improvement of
+trade and the plantations.[5]
+
+It is noteworthy that the sessions of the Council were held in secret,
+no one being admitted except the members, and even those only after each
+had taken an oath not to betray the proceedings. "You shall swear," so
+runs this oath, "to be true and faithful to our Sovereign Lord the King,
+his heirs and successors; you shall according to the best of your skill,
+discretion, knowledge, and experience give unto his Maj^{tie} true and
+faithful councell, in all things that shall be demanded of you touching
+or concerning his Ma^{ties} forreigne Plantations. You shall keepe
+secret and conceale his Ma^{ties} said Councells, without disclosing the
+same to any person except he be of the same Councill, and if the matter
+touch any of the same Councill you shall not disclose the same to him.
+You shall not promote or further any matter in the said Councill, for
+any reward, favour, affection, or displeasure, And in case you shall
+perceive anything to be done contrary to his Ma^{ties} honour and
+service you shall to the utmost of your Power with stand and Lett
+the same."
+
+The Council had its first meeting on August 3, 1670, when the commission
+and instructions were read; and from that time until September 20, 1672,
+a period of nearly twenty-three months, it held one hundred meetings of
+which we have record, and probably many more of which no record has been
+found.[6] It is reasonable to infer that during the working months the
+Council met twice a week.
+
+The Council began by taking over much of the business left unfinished
+by the Committee of the Privy Council, but it soon increased its
+activity. It early inaugurated a policy and system of control that was
+more comprehensive than any which had been put into practice by the
+previous boards. Efficient though some of the former councils and
+committees had been, no one of them had endeavored to cover so wide a
+range of colonial business or to inquire so minutely into the details
+of colonial government as did this Council of 1670. It not only took
+into consideration all petitions, memorials, statements of claim, and
+subjects in dispute, but it also set up an elaborate system of inquiry
+on its own part, following out the instructions which had been given to
+it to require of every colonial governor frequent information regarding
+the condition of his government. It drafted long series of queries which
+were despatched to all the colonies, and to which elaborate replies
+were received, notably from Berkeley, of Virginia, Wheeler, of St.
+Christopher, and Lynch, of Jamaica. It supplemented the information
+thus received by demanding letters from the governors, and received
+in response long and frequent epistles, dealing with colonial affairs
+in the most minute detail. Wheeler, Stapleton, Lynch, Willoughby,
+Colleton, and others furnished the Council with all sorts of descriptive
+and statistical matter, and were always ready to offer suggestion and
+advice. Merchants, planters, agents, and others familiar with colonial
+trade were also called upon for statements, either in person or in
+writing, and at many a meeting outsiders were called in to make reports
+to the board. The evidence thus obtained was generally discussed
+in the Council itself, at which the King and officers of state were
+occasionally present, and it was also referred to committees of two or
+more, which made their report to the Council. Upon the information and
+opinions thus obtained, the Council based its orders and reports to the
+Privy Council.[7]
+
+In addition to these functions, the Council assumed an important and in
+some ways a new rôle when it took upon itself the business of preparing
+all the preliminary drafts of the various commissions and instructions
+of the governors, often spending many days in the consideration of
+these instruments, and often receiving from the appointees themselves
+suggestions as to the wording of certain clauses. As far as the more
+general powers and duties were concerned, these instructions were
+modelled somewhat after those which the Council itself had received,
+and lively debate arose not infrequently over the nature and extent of
+the authority that ought to be conferred on the appointees. The drafts
+of the commission and instructions, when completed, were sent to the
+Secretary of State, by whom corrections might be made, then conveyed to
+the Privy Council, where the documents were frequently referred to the
+attorney general for his advice on legal points, and sometimes to the
+Committee of the Council, which at this time, as well as afterward, felt
+itself fully empowered to make any alterations it pleased. Thus many
+hands may have had a share in shaping these important papers before they
+were finally engrossed, although it is probable that in the majority of
+instances the draft of the Council was accepted unchanged by the King.
+
+The Council was also beginning to exercise another important function
+in receiving from the Privy Council copies of laws passed in the
+colonies upon the character of which its opinion was desired, and in
+being called upon by the Privy Council or the Secretary of State to
+make recommendations as to fit persons to hold colonial offices. In
+this particular, the most responsible task of the Council lay in the
+selection and instruction of special commissioners, who in accordance
+with many earlier precedents were vested with authority to go to the
+colonies for the settlement of difficult questions there. Three such
+commissions were set on foot by the Council of Plantations: that
+appointed to bring to an end the dispute with the French at St.
+Christopher; that appointed to treat with the Dutch regarding the
+English subjects at Surinam; and that designed for New England, which
+was to be openly commissioned to settle boundary disputes, but to be
+secretly instructed to inform the Council of the condition of the New
+England colonies, "and whether they were of such power as to be able
+to resist his Majesty and declare for themselves as independent of the
+Crown." No commissioners were, however, sent until the time of Edward
+Randolph.[8]
+
+A large amount of time was consumed by the Council in considering the
+petitions and memorials of private persons, who had some grounds of
+complaint against one or other of the colonial governments. Among these
+the charges of Mason and Gorges against Massachusetts hold prominent
+place, but other complainants were none the less insistent; Capt.
+Archibald Henderson, of Antigua, who had been imprisoned by Governor
+Wheeler for alleged seditious practices; the owners of the ship _James_,
+of Belfast, which had been seized by Wheeler as a "stranger-built"
+trading contrary to the Navigation Acts; the owners of the logwood
+ship _William and Nicholas_, also seized by Wheeler on suspicion that
+it had obtained its lading in violation of the treaty of 1670 with
+Spain; owners of the _Peter_, of London, seized by the Spaniards in
+violation of the same treaty; Jamaica planters who claimed that Spain
+had broken the clause of the treaty relating to logwood cutting at
+Campeachy; one Mark Gabry, exporter of wool; merchants in Jamaica
+complaining of the number of Jews there and their engrossment of trade;
+inhabitants of Easthampton, Southampton, and Southold in Long Island in
+regard to their whale fishery and their relations with the Dutch at New
+Amsterdam; the government of Virginia against the Arlington and Culpeper
+grant. The Council also discussed many other matters, all more or less
+closely bound up with the welfare of the plantations and of plantation
+trade, such as the despatch of their letters and orders; the proper time
+for the sailing of merchant ships in order that advantage might be taken
+of companies or convoys; the sugar question in the West Indies, notably
+Barbadoes, that perennial cause of dispute from the point of view of
+customs and impositions; the enticing or spiriting away of young people
+from England to go as servants to the plantations, a grievance almost
+as old as the plantations themselves and one which Ashley had made a
+special subject of inquiry with the result that Parliament passed an
+Act, March 18, 1670, making "spiriting" a capital offence; the fisheries
+and the abuses in the Newfoundland trade; privateering, especially in
+relation to the act of Governor Modyford in commissioning Capt. Morgan
+to cruise against the Spaniards and to capture Panama; the slave trade
+and the relations of the plantations with the Royal African Company;
+and lastly, in obedience to the fourth article of its additional
+instructions, the proper supplying of the West India colonies with such
+commodities as silk, galls, spices, senna and other dyeing materials,
+in order to see whether or not such things could be obtained from
+the plantations, a subject upon which Dr. Worsley, who had already
+experimented with senna, was deemed an authority.
+
+The efficiency of the Council of Foreign Plantations and the
+inefficiency of the Council of Trade during the same period may
+well have led to the belief that the work would be better done if the
+functions of the latter were transferred to the former body. The death
+of the Earl of Sandwich, who lost his life in the naval engagement of
+Southwold Bay with De Ruyter, May 28, 1672, may have hastened this
+conclusion, and the need of economy, especially manifest in this year,
+1672, may have been a further influence. Whatever the causes, as early
+as the summer of 1672 the decision was reached, undoubtedly through the
+advice of Lord Ashley, now the Earl of Shaftesbury, to reconstitute
+the Council, and to issue a new patent which should cover trade as
+well as foreign plantations. Evelyn says that the old Council met at
+Shaftesbury's house on September 1, 1672, to consider the draft of the
+new commission. The form of the commission having been approved, the
+warrant was issued to the attorney general on September 16 to prepare
+the bill for the King's signature, and on the twenty-seventh the Council
+was duly commissioned by writ of privy seal. The membership remained the
+same as before, with the single exception that the Earl of Shaftesbury
+took the place of the Earl of Sandwich as the president of the board,
+with Lord Culpeper as vice-president. When in December of the same year
+Sir John Finch was appointed ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, in place
+of Sir Daniel Harvey, deceased, Sir William Hickman was constituted
+a member of the Council in his stead. As in the case of the former
+Council, the Duke of York, Prince Rupert, and the chief officers of
+state were authorized to attend and vote but without pay. To their
+number were now added the Duke of Ormond, George, Viscount Halifax; Sir
+Thomas Osborne, and Sir Robert Long, all of whom, except Long, had been
+members of the Council of Trade, while Halifax, who had just returned
+from an important mission to France and was rapidly rising to power,
+had been a member of the committee of the House of Lords, appointed
+in October, 1669, to consider the improvement of trade. Sandwich and
+Shaftesbury had both been on the same committee, and it is not unlikely
+that the latter was responsible for the remarkable report made by this
+committee to the Lords that "some relaxation in ecclesiastical matters
+will be a means of improving the trade of this kingdom."[9]
+
+According to its commission, the Council of Trade and Plantations was
+"to take care of the welfare of our said Colonies and Plantations and
+of the Trade and Navigation of these our Kingdomes and of our said
+colonies and plantations," and was to be a council of advice to the
+King "in and for all the affairs which do or may any way concern the
+navigation, commerce, or trade, as well domestic as foreign of these our
+kingdoms and our said foreign colonies and plantations." Five were to
+constitute a quorum of which the president or vice-president or one of
+the unsalaried members should always be one. The salary of the president
+was raised to £800, that of the vice-president was made £700, while that
+of the other salaried members remained as before, £500. No treasurer or
+secretary is named in the commission, but Dr. Worsley held these offices
+until in September, 1673, he was discharged and John Locke took his
+place. In all other respects the commission of 1672 reproduces that
+of 1670.
+
+The most noteworthy difference between the two councils is to be
+found in the instructions, which for the Council of 1672 form a very
+comprehensive and intelligent statement of the essentials of plantation
+control. The draft was undoubtedly written by Shaftesbury and Locke, for
+a preliminary sketch is to be found among the Shaftesbury Papers; the
+preliminary meeting for the consideration and approval of the articles
+was held at Shaftesbury's residence, Exeter House; and the essential
+portions of the document are all to be found embodied in one form or
+another in the instructions and suggestions sent to the planters in
+the Bahamas and Carolina, colonies which for two years had been a kind
+of experimental station for Shaftesbury's and Locke's ideas. All the
+later commissions and instructions were based in the main on the
+principles laid down in these documents, and neither the Lords of Trade
+from 1675 to 1696 nor the Board of Trade from 1696 to 1782 ever in any
+important particular passed the limits herein defined. Probably the
+instructions of 1672 became from this time forward the precedent and
+guide for those who in later years were called upon to shape the powers
+vested in the boards of trade and plantations. It frequently happened,
+of course, that orders in Council directed the attention of the boards
+to matters which needed special examination, but in the main it may be
+said that Povey first and Shaftesbury afterward mapped out the lines
+to be followed by future commissions in their control of plantation
+affairs. This fact gives to the work of these men a peculiar interest
+and value.
+
+By the terms of the instructions of 1672, the Council was to consider
+first of all the trade of the kingdom and of the plantations in the
+following particulars: the increase and improvement of raw commodities
+for use at home, the promotion of manufactures, the betterment of
+the fishing trade at home and abroad, the opening of rivers, ports,
+and harbors, the proper distribution of trade and manufactures, the
+obstacles that lay in the way of English trade as compared with those
+confronting the trade of other nations, and all abuses of trade and
+manufactures in the kingdom. It was to inquire into the best methods of
+increasing the sale and export of native commodities and manufactures,
+of encouraging the importation of foreign goods at the cheapest rates,
+of building ships for the carrying of such bulky articles as masts and
+timber, of extending correspondence with the great commercial centers
+abroad, and of opening free ports where foreign commodities might be
+landed and stored with small charge if designed for reëxportation. It
+was also to take into special consideration the advantages of a more
+open and free trade than that of companies and corporations, and to
+encourage inventions and improvements designed to improve any art,
+trade, or manufacture or to secure and promote trade and navigation.
+
+So far as the plantations were concerned, the Council was to inquire
+into the general state of the colonies, and to obtain full information
+regarding councils, assemblies, courts of judicature, courts of
+admiralty, legislative and executive powers, statutes, laws and
+ordinances, militia, fortifications, arms, and ammunition. It was to
+learn all it could about boundaries, lands, mines, staple products,
+and manufactures; to determine whether or not nutmegs, cinnamon,
+cloves, pepper, and other spices would grow if planted; to inform itself
+regarding rivers, harbors, and fishing banks; and to estimate how many
+planters and parishes there were, how many whites and blacks yearly
+arrived, and how many people died each year. It was to learn the number
+of ships trading to the plantations, to discover the obstacles to trade
+and how they could be removed, the advantages and how they could be
+increased; it was to concern itself with export and import dues, public
+revenues, measures taken for the instruction of the people and the
+maintenance of the ministry. It was especially instructed to keep in
+frequent correspondence with the governors, to urge upon them the
+necessity of maintaining peace with their neighbors, the Indians and
+others, of taking the Indians under their protection and of guarding
+their persons, goods, and possessions according to law. Furthermore,
+it was to procure copies of all necessary documents, to purchase maps,
+plats, and charts when needed, to study those portions of treaties
+made with other countries that related to peace and commerce, and to
+determine how far those articles had been upheld and performed. And
+lastly, it was to consider the practice of other countries in matters
+of trade, commerce, and the colonies, and to see how far such practices
+might be of value to England.
+
+The Council had its first meeting on October 13, at Essex House, and
+there the commission was read and the oaths were taken. Soon after, it
+took up its abode at Villier's House in King's Street near Whitehall,
+which it rented of the Duchess of Cleveland for £200 a year. There it
+had a council chamber, an office for the clerks, two messengers, a
+porter, a maid, and a chamber keeper, all of whom were paid out of the
+£1,000 allowed for contingent expenses. We have record of seventy-six
+meetings held between October 13, 1672, and December 22, 1674, a period
+of twenty-six months; but it is quite certain that more meetings than
+this were held, inasmuch as the session-days were every Wednesday and
+Friday at ten in the morning.[10] So far as the plantations were
+concerned the Council did little more than continue the work of its
+predecessor, the Council of 1670, but in addition it concerned itself
+with a large number of questions that had to do with domestic and
+foreign as well as with colonial trade. The most important of these
+related to the petition of the English consul at Venice that his
+consulage be levied on goods and not on ships, a matter that aroused
+prolonged debate; to the petition of the Gambia adventurers against
+the importation by the East India Company of the dyeing wood called
+"sanders" which, because cheaper, was taking the place of their redwood
+from Africa; to the ordinances issued in Sweden against the English
+"privileges" concerning naval stores; to the exportation of wool from
+England, a matter already dealt with in an Act of Parliament; and to
+the treatment of merchants at the hands of the Spaniards, regarding
+which a number of petitions had been received by the board. A few new
+petitions were taken into consideration from traders and others in the
+plantations, notably those of the Jew Rabba Couty, whose ship had been
+seized at Jamaica on the ground that he was a foreigner; of William
+Helyar, whose woodland in Jamaica had been seized by Governor Lynch;
+of John Rodney and his wife Frances, whose plantation in Nevis had
+been seized by Governor Russell, a case destined to drag on for nearly
+two years.
+
+In recommending the appointment of governors and other officials,
+passing upon colonial laws, scrutinizing nominations as of colonial
+councillors, corresponding with the governors, organizing an efficient
+system of communication and supervision in all matters touching trade
+and commerce, and in making reports to the King in Council,--in short,
+in the control and management of colonial affairs, the Council of 1672
+placed the British colonial policy on a broader and more comprehensive
+foundation than had hitherto been laid and inaugurated a more thorough
+system of colonial control than had been established by any of its
+predecessors. It is doubtful if even the Lords of Trade or the Board of
+Trade surpassed the Councils of 1670 and 1672 in enthusiasm, loyalty,
+or dispatch of business.
+
+On December 21, 1674, Charles II revoked the commission of the Council,
+and plantation affairs under their cognizance thus being "left loose and
+at large" were "restored to their accustomed channel of a Committee of
+the Privy Council," that is, to the Committee of the Board appointed for
+matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations.[11] The reasons for
+this step are of course to be found in the first instance in the fall
+of Shaftesbury from power the summer before, but that event is not in
+itself a sufficient explanation of the change. At least it is worthy of
+remark that the dissolution of the Council took place many months after
+Shaftesbury's dismissal. Probably a further cause is to be found in the
+widespread demand for economy and retrenchment. The Council of 1672
+cost the King nearly £8,000 a year; the Committee of the Privy Council
+cost the King nothing for the services of its members, although its
+contingent expenses ran higher than had those of any previous board,
+amounting to between £275 and £400 a quarter from 1676 to 1687 and £250
+and £300 from 1689 to 1696.[12]
+
+Probably a greater reason for the dissolution of the Council of 1672
+is to be found in the dissatisfaction which existed with the system of
+advisory and independent bodies. Povey expressed the matter well when
+he wrote:
+
+    "His Ma^{tie} since his happy Restoraton, rightly considering
+    of how great Consequence his foreign Plantations are to this
+    Crowne, hath at several times Commissionated certain select
+    persons to be Councells for the Plantations, every one of
+    which Councels were variously framed, instructed and encouraged,
+    w^{ch} have all expired without any considerable advantage, or
+    satisfaction to his Ma^{tie} or the Plantations. Among the other
+    Reasons w^{ch} may be given, why they proved fruitless, it seems,
+    That it is found by experience that whatsoever Council is not
+    enabled as well to execute as advise, must needs produce very
+    imperfect and weak effects. It being, by its subordination and
+    impotency obliged to have a continual recourse to superior
+    Ministers, and Councels filled with other business, w^{ch}
+    ofttimes gives great and prejudicial delays and usually begets
+    new  or slower deliberations and results, than the matter in
+    hand may stand in need of, by w^{ch} means the authority and
+    virtue of this little Council became faint and ineffectual.
+    Seeing therefore it hath been held at all times, that may
+    distant Colonies, and the manifold Concernments thereof do
+    require and deserve to be consider'd and provided for by some
+    select persons as a Councel for those affairs, And that the
+    wisdome of our Government admits not such a plenary Authority,
+    but solely in the highest Council, it remains only as the best
+    expedient, That Com^{rs} be appointed out of the Privy Council
+    under the Great Seal, who may sit on some appointed day in every
+    [blank] and sometimes an hour before the Councel shall sit, as
+    occasion may call for it, to take consideration of any of the
+    affairs of the Plantations, who may give direcions in ordinary
+    cases, and in cases extraordinary may report to the King and
+    Councel."[13]
+
+
+We do not know when this paper was written nor do we know whether
+it ever came to the attention of the King and his advisers. Its
+recommendation was certainly carried out, when the King, taking into
+his own hands again the full control of trade and the plantations,
+issued a commission in February, 1675, placing the entire charge of
+these matters in the hands of the committee of the Council, which
+through all the changes of fifteen years had never ceased to exercise
+its functions of supervision and control of colonial affairs. This
+committee, known as the Lords of Trade, acted as a board of trade and
+plantations for twenty years and conducted its business with eminent
+success. Its membership was occasionally changed, though as a rule the
+work fell upon a comparatively small number of men who were in frequent
+attendance. After the fall of the Stuarts, King William continued the
+same policy, appointing a new Council Committee and resisting all
+attempts of Parliament to interfere.
+
+Parliament, however, determined to obtain control of the management of
+colonial affairs, and as early as 1694 made an effort in that direction.
+Acting evidently under the influence of the merchants of London, who
+resented the fact that affairs of this character should be entrusted
+to "courtiers without experience," it took into consideration the
+appointment of a separate board, whose members should be chosen by
+itself. The first bill was thrown out by Parliament, but the matter was
+brought up at the next session in December, 1695. Strenuous efforts were
+made by a few of the leading out-ports, such as Bristol, to obtain,
+through their members in Parliament, a representation on the proposed
+board, in order to overcome "the growing greatness of London." During
+December and January the matter was debated with great heat in the
+House, and Bristol went so far as to send up a special delegation to
+lobby in its behalf. The proposal was defeated by the King's opposition
+to this attempt to encroach upon his prerogative, and a compromise was
+effected, in which the out-ports played no part. Influenced by the
+determination of the majority in Parliament, William issued a commission
+on May 15, 1696, to a separate Board of Trade and Plantations, the
+membership of which was, however, to be controlled by the Crown.
+
+Of the history of the Board of Trade, thus established in 1696, little
+need be said here. The board passed through many vicissitudes in its
+life of nearly eighty-seven years. It enjoyed its greatest repute during
+the first fifteen years of its existence, falling into the hands of
+inferior officials and placemen during the era of Walpole and the first
+years of the supremacy of Newcastle. Granted new powers in 1752, it rose
+again to a position of prominence which it held for fourteen years, and
+it reached a climax in 1765, when it was made a ministerial executive
+office of government, as were the Secretary's office and the boards of
+the Admiralty and the Treasury, possessing full authority and complete
+jurisdiction in all matters relative to its own department. This
+position of independence was, however, soon lost. On August 8, 1766,
+an order in Council declared that all measures relative to commerce and
+the colonies should originate either with the King in Council, the
+Committee of the Council, or one of the principal Secretaries of State.
+This order, which evidently originated with Shelburne, Secretary of the
+Southern Department, that he might increase thereby his control over
+all colonial affairs, reduced the board to the position of an advisory
+and consulting body upon such matters as the Council might refer to
+it. Henceforth all estimates for colonial services and the direction
+and application of money granted thereupon, which had hitherto been
+transacted by the board, were resumed by the higher authorities. From
+this time the importance and influence of the board steadily declined
+until it was finally abolished in 1782. The control of the colonies
+during the period from 1768 to 1782 was assumed by the new Secretary
+of State for the colonies and remained in his charge until his office
+also was abolished in the same year.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Footnote 1: See various papers among the Shaftesbury MSS., Division X,
+particularly 8, No. 4, "L^{d} Shaftesbury's Advice to his Majesty about
+Trade, etc."]
+
+[Footnote 2: Edward Long, governor and historian of Jamaica, viewed
+the appointment of the Council as a piece of jobbery and graft, an
+undertaking espoused not for the national good, but in order to obtain
+new and lucrative offices for Ashley and others "his Brethren in the
+ministry." Brit. Mus. Add. MSS., 12438, iii, f. 17.]
+
+[Footnote 3: Henry Slingsby is named secretary and treasurer in the
+commission and his signature or initials are appended to all orders from
+October 5, 1670, to July 23, 1672. During this time and until September
+13, 1673, Dr. Worsley acted as assistant and is called "secretary" until
+November 15, 1672, when he was made treasurer also. On October 15, 1673,
+after the discharge of Worsley, John Locke, secretary, friend, and ally
+of the Earl of Shaftesbury, president of the new Council of 1672, was
+sworn in as secretary and as treasurer on December 16, 1673. He remained
+in service until the abolition of the Council. Evelyn speaks of Worsley
+as dead on October 15, but this statement cannot be true as Worsley was
+still alive in March, 1675.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Evelyn in describing the room in which the Council sat
+mentions atlases, maps, charts, globes, etc., but Locke when called upon
+to hand over the papers in March, 1675, reported that he never had had
+any globes and maps.]
+
+[Footnote 5: The commission, instructions, and additional instructions
+of the Council for Foreign Plantations are to be found among the
+Shaftesbury Papers in the Public Record Office, fair written in an entry
+book bound in vellum. Div. X, 10. Another copy of the instructions is
+contained in X, 8 (11).]
+
+[Footnote 6: The sources for the history of the councils of 1670 and
+1672 are: The Calendar of State Papers, Colonial, 1669-1674, which
+contains abstracts of the papers of the Councils now among the Colonial
+Papers. Had it been possible to examine each original document before
+writing this paper there is no doubt that the list of the meetings given
+in the Appendix would have been considerably extended. The calendaring
+is often far from clear and the indexing, as far as all the boards are
+concerned from 1622 to 1675, is a muddle of confusion. Among the Board
+of Trade Papers is an Index to the entry books of the councils, which
+shows that the following books, "called in the stile of the office, the
+'rough books,'" were kept: "A Journal," "Orders of Council of Foreign
+Plantations," "Petitions, References, and Reports," "Addresses and
+Advices," "Letters and Answers," "Miscellanies," "Barbadoes," "Leeward
+Islands," "Jamaica," "Virginia," "Letters from the Council," "New
+England," "Fishery," "West India, Surinam," and "Letters to the
+Council." Most of these entry books have been found scattered among
+the Colonial Office volumes. Unfortunately the most important book,
+"A Journal," is missing and has been missing for two centuries. The
+"Index," however, contains a series of entries entitled, "Heads of
+Business," which is very incomplete as an index to the meetings, but
+upon which I have drawn in making up my list. The "Virginia" volume
+is also missing, but it apparently contained nothing except blank
+leaves. Part one of the volume entitled "Letters and Answers" and the
+whole of "Letters to the Council" are also missing. The "New England"
+volume contains only a copy of the Massachusetts charter; that entitled
+"Miscellaneous" three interesting papers "Concerning Spiriting,"
+"Consideration about Foreign Plantations," and "Other considerations
+concerning Plantations." The complete minutes of two meetings are among
+the Shaftesbury Papers and very interesting notes in Evelyn's Diary.]
+
+[Footnote 7: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1669-1674, §§ 327, I, 415, 565,
+663, 680, 697, 704, 737, 804, 805, 891, 896, 1044, 1101.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1669-1674, §§ 287, 365, 822, 834,
+917, 1003, 1011-1013, 1100, 1186, 1197, 1212, 1251-1252, 1255, 1295,
+1300, 1306, 1386.]
+
+[Footnote 9: Lord's Journal, XII, pp. 254, 257, 273-274, 284.]
+
+[Footnote 10: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1672-1673, pp. 213-214.]
+
+[Footnote 11: New York Col. Docts., III, pp. 228, 229-230; Cal. State
+Papers, Col., 1675-1676, §§ 648, 649.]
+
+[Footnote 12: Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 9767, 9768, containing an itemized
+expense account of the Lords of Trade from 1676 to 1696.]
+
+[Footnote 13: Brit. Mus., Egerton, 2395, f. 276.]
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX I.
+
+Instructions, Board of Trade, 1650.
+
+
+_First._--They are to take notice of all the Native commodities of this
+Land, or what Time and Industry may hereafter make Native and advise how
+they may not only be fully Manufactured, but well and truly wrought, to
+the Honor and Profit of the Commonwealth.
+
+_Secondly._--They are to consider how the Trades and Manufactures of
+this Nation may most fitly and equally be distributed to every part; to
+the end that one part may not abound with Trade, and another remain poor
+and desolate for the want of the same.
+
+_Thirdly._--They are to consult how the Trade may most conveniently be
+driven from one part of this Land to another. To which purpose they are
+to consider how the Rivers may be made more Navigable and the Ports more
+capable of Shipping.
+
+_Fourthly._--They are to consider how the Commodities of this Land may
+be vented, to the best advantage thereof, into Foraign Countreys, and
+not undervalued by the evil management of Trade, And that they advise
+how Obstructions of Trade into Foraign parts may be removed; and desire
+by all means, how new ways and places may be found out, for the better
+venting of the Native commodities of this Land.
+
+_Fifthly._--They are to advise how Free Ports or Landing-places
+for Foreign Commodities imported (without paying of Custom if again
+exported) may be appointed in several parts of this Land, and in what
+manner the same is to be effected.
+
+_Sixthly._--They are to consider of some way, that a most exact account
+be kept of all commodities imported and exported through the Land,
+to the end that a perfect Balance of Trade may be taken, whereby the
+Commonwealth may not be impoverished, by receiving of Commodities yearly
+from Foraign parts of a greater value than what was carried out.
+
+_Seventhly._--They are duly to consider the value of the _English_
+Coyns, and the Par thereof, in relation to the intrinsic value which it
+bears in weight and fineness with the Coyns of other Nations. Also to
+consider of the state of the Exchange, and of the gain or loss that
+comes to the Commonwealth by the Exchange now used by the Merchants.
+
+_Eighthly._--They are (in order to the Regulating and Benefit of Trade)
+seriously to consider what Customs, Impositions, and Excise is fit to be
+laid upon all Goods and Commodities, either Native or Imported, and how
+the said Customs, Impositions, and Excise may be best ordered and
+Regulated, and so equally laid and evenly managed, as neither Trade may
+be thereby hindered, nor the State made incapable to defray the Publique
+Charges of the Commonwealth.
+
+_Ninthly._--They are to take into their consideration whether it be
+necessary to give way to a more open or free Trade than that of
+Companies and Societies, and in what manner it is fittest to be done;
+wherein, notwithstanding, they are to take care that Government and
+Order in Trade may be preserved and Confusion avoided.
+
+_Tenthly._--They are to inform themselves of the particular Ordinances,
+Orders, Grants, Patents, and Constitutions of the several Companies of
+Merchants and Handicraftsmen, to the end that if any of them tend to
+the hurt of the Publique, they may be laid down in such manner as the
+Parliament shall think fit.
+
+_Eleventhly._--They are to consider the great Trade of Fishing, and
+that not only upon the coasts of _England_ and _Ireland_ but likewise of
+_Iceland_, _Greenland_, _Newfoundland_, and _New England_, or elsewhere,
+and to take care that the Fishermen may be encouraged to go on in their
+Labors, to the increase of Shipping and Mariners.
+
+_Twelfthly._--They are to take into their consideration the English
+Plantations in America or elsewhere, and to advise how those Plantations
+may be best managed, and made most useful for this Commonwealth, and how
+the Commodities thereof may be so multiplied and improved, as (if it
+be possible) those Plantations alone may supply the _Commonwealth_ of
+_England_ with whatsoever it necessarily wants. (Inderwick, _The
+Interregnum_, p. 74 note.)
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX II.
+
+Instructions for the Council for Foreign Plantations, 1670-1672.
+
+
+Given at our Court at Whitehall the 30th day of July, 1670.
+
+[Sidenote: Preamble.]
+
+Forasmuch as our severall Colonies, and Plantations abroad, have by the
+Prudence of our Predecessors, and not without the great hazard, Charge
+and Expence of these Nations been respectively setled, and being so
+setled are become the proper Right and Soveraigne Posessions of us: And
+forasmuch as the said Colonies having upon severall Occasions readily
+exprest their loyalty and faithfulnesse towards us, have thereby the
+more engaged us, out of our Princely care, not only to take notice of
+them, but by all Wayes and meanes to endeavour the promoting of their
+Welfare and Increase, togeather with their flourishing Estate and
+condition, and more especially their Protection and Defence.
+
+[Sidenote: To inquire of the State of the Plantations, of the Powers
+and Instructions of the Governours how Executed.]
+
+1. You are therefore strictly to inquire and informe your selves, by
+the best wayes and meanes you can of the State and condition of all and
+every of our said respective Colonies, and Plantations, what it is, by
+whome they are respectively governed, and what Commissions, Powers and
+Instructions, have been graunted by us, or any way derived from us to
+that End, how the same have been duly executed and observed.
+
+[Sidenote: Miscarriages to be represented.]
+
+And if upon Enquiry or Examination you shall find any neglect, or
+miscarriage, to have been committed by any of the said Governours
+respectively, or by any of their respective Deputies, or that any such
+neglect or miscarriage shall hereafter appeare to you, that shall tend
+to the abuse of our Authority, or to the prejudice of our Interest, Or
+to the dammage and discouragement of any of our said Plantations, you
+are forthwith and at all times from time to time carefully to represent
+the same to us, that we may give such direction therein as the affaire
+shall require and as to our Princely wisdome shall be thought fitt.
+
+[Sidenote: To send for Coppies of Commissions and Instructions,
+and consider of them.]
+
+[Sidenote: To give Directions accordingly.]
+
+2. And to this End you are to demaund of the said Governours respectively,
+or of their respective Deputies, the Coppies of all such Commissions and
+Instructions, as have mediatly, or immediatly been derived from us, or
+to procure and require the same from the Officers of Record, within this
+our Kingdome. Which having you shall cause them to be fairly transcribed
+and entred in a Booke provided for that purpose. That you may at all
+times be the better enabled to judge of the Duties of the said
+Governours respectively, and may Administer such directions to them,
+as may be suitable thereunto, and most agreeable to our service.
+
+[Sidenote: What Number of Parishes, Planters, Servants and Slaves
+are in the Severall Plantations.]
+
+3. And that you may the better provide for the Defence, Welfare, and
+Security of the said Plantations, you are diligently to informe your
+selves how all and every of the said Colonies and Plantations are
+inhabited (viz) What number of Parishes there are in each respective
+Goverment, and what number of Planters there be in each Parish and what
+number of Servants doe belong to the said Planters respectively, and
+whether the said Servants are Christians, or Slaves that are brought
+from other parts.
+
+[Sidenote: If thinly stockt to consider how they may be supplyed
+from other Plantations or from these Dominions.]
+
+And if you shall find any of the said Plantations to be so thinly and
+weakly inhabited as that it may endanger the losse of them, you are to
+consider how and which way they may most conveniently be supplyed either
+from some other of our Plantations, where they are overstored, or from
+any part of these our Dominions.
+
+[Sidenote: Not to give just Provocations to their Neighbours, Indians,
+or others.]
+
+[Sidenote: To preserve Amity with them.]
+
+4. And forasmuch as most of our said Colonies doe border upon the
+Indians of severall Countries, or doe lye neare the Plantations of
+our Neighbours the French, Spanish, or Dutch, and that peace is not
+to be expected either with the said Indians, or with such as are our
+Neighbours, without the due observance and præservation of Justice to
+each of them respecively. You are therefore strictly in our Name to
+charge and Command all and every the Governours of our said Colonies
+respectively, that they at no time give any just provocation to any of
+the said Indians, nor to any of our said Neighbours, that are at peace
+with us, or their Subjects, but that they doe by all just wayes and
+meanes endeavour to preserve the Amity that is respectively setled
+betweene them, and to begett also for the future a good and faire
+Correspondency with them.
+
+[Sidenote: Governours to receive all Indians under their Protections.]
+
+5. And inasmuch as some of the Natives of the said Indians may be of
+great use to give Intelligence to our Plantations, Or to discover the
+Trade of other Countries to them, or to be Guides to places more remote
+from them, or to informe our Governours of severall Advantages, and
+Commodities that may be within or neare to our severall Plantations,
+not otherwise capable to be known to them, And may be many other wayes
+serviceable, either to defend or to succour and assist our Plantations.
+It is therefore our pleasure, and we doe hereby require you, to give
+strict order to our severall and respective Governours, that if any of
+the said Indian Nations shall at any time desire to put themselves under
+the protection of our Goverment, that they doe receive them, And that
+they doe by all Wayes and Meanes seeke firmly to oblige them, And that
+they doe direct or employ some persons purposely to learne the languages
+respectively of them.
+
+And that they doe not only carefully protect and defend them from other
+Indians, and from any that are the Adversaries of them. But that they
+more especially take care that none of our owne Subjects, nor any of
+their respective Servants, doe at any time any way harme them.
+
+[Sidenote: Not to suffer them to be injured in their persons Goods
+or Possessions.]
+
+And that if any shall dare to offer any Violence to them in their
+respective persons, Goods or possessions, the said Governours doe
+severely punish the said Injuries agreeable to Justice and Right.
+
+6. And for the better Improovement of the Trade and Commerce of the said
+Plantations, you are as much as in you lyeth to take care, and to give
+such Rules and Directions therein, as you shall in your Judgement thinke
+best.
+
+[Sidenote: That all Commodities of their Growth or making be duly
+manufactured and Improoved.]
+
+That all the Commodities which are made and produce in every of our said
+Plantations, may be duly cured, Manufactured, Improoved, and made as
+Merchantable to the utmost as they may, to the end that they may not
+only be of the greater perfection, but of the greater value, worth and
+repute abroad among other Countries.
+
+[Sidenote: Whether other Commodities, then what grow at present,
+may not be planted and thrive, as Cotton, Ginger, Cocoa &c.]
+
+7. To which End you are to inquire and informe your selves aright.
+Whether there may not be some better Species even of those very
+Commodities which we now plant, Than what we yet have, as of Cotton,
+Ginger, Cocoa &c. Or whether there may not be some better and more
+perfect skill used, in some other places, for the husbanding, managing,
+and perfecting the said Commodities, than what we use at present.
+
+[Sidenote: To gaine the knowledge and skill of such, & impart them
+to the People.]
+
+And if you find the same to be so, you are to use all Endeavour possible
+to procure the said Species, or to gaine the Knowledge of the said
+skill, and to impart the same to the people of our said Plantations.
+
+[Sidenote: What Islands are fittest and most conveniently seated
+for breeding of Cattle.]
+
+8. And forasmuch as the Increase of Horses, and Cattle for Draught
+or for Victuall, are of very great use for the settling of new, and for
+the furnishing of old Plantations, And that there are severall Islands
+which as we are informed, are not so fitt for the inhabiting, or for the
+planting of any Commodity in, as for the breeding the said Cattle, and
+which may yet be the more easily setled, by how much they require the
+lesse people.
+
+You are therefore to informe your selves, what Islands are scituate
+most convenient for that purpose, and to conferre with such Seamen and
+Captaines of Shipps, as have viewed and coasted along the said places.
+
+[Sidenote: To give Encouragement towards the effecting of the same.]
+
+And to consider accordingly of such Conditions, and to publish such
+encouragements, as that the same may be most probable to be effected.
+
+9. And in regard whatever conduceth to the Increase of Shipping, must
+equally conduce to the Safety and strength of these Nations.
+
+[Sidenote: Whether Masts and other Materialls for Shipping may not
+be furnished from the Plantations.]
+
+And that not only Masts, but all other Materialls, as well for the
+building, as fitting out of Shipps of great burthen may as we are
+informed be plentifully furnished from some of our Plantations, if
+care hereunto were more especially used.
+
+[Sidenote: To encourage the producing of Hempe, Flax, Pitch and Tarre
+in New England: and setting up of Sawing Mills.]
+
+You are therefore more particularly to advise about this matter, with
+the severall Governours, and Colonies of New England, and to propound
+to them or receive their Opinion, what methods and course might be
+most fitt for the producing of Flax, Hempe, Pitch and Tarre in those
+Countries in most plenty. As also where Mills might be most conveniently
+placed and encreased for the sawing of Timber, and Planke, and how best
+we may ease the charge and promote the building there of great Shipping.
+
+[Sidenote: How the Plantations may be supplyed with Servants
+and Slaves.]
+
+10. You are to take into your Consideration, how all and every our said
+Colonies, and Plantations, may be best supplyed both with servants and
+Slaves.
+
+[Sidenote: To consider the differences betwixt the Guiny Company,
+and the Plantations, and to find out expedients of agreement.]
+
+[Sidenote: That none of his Ma^{ties} Subjects of these kingdomes be
+forced or Enticed away to the Plantations by any unlawfull Practises,
+but that they may be duly accomodated.]
+
+And what just Objections the said Plantations have against the standing
+and Priviledges of the Guiny Company, Or what complaints the Guiny
+Company doth justly make against any of the said Colonies. And to find
+out such Expedients if possible, that neither of them may lye under any
+Discouragements, or that at least neither of them may be permitted to
+injure or oppresse the other. You are also as farre as you may, to
+provide that none of our Subjects in these Kingdomes, be either forced
+or enticed away into any of our said Plantations, by any indirect and
+unlawfull practises, But that all such persons neverthelesse, as are
+willing, and that shall desire to be transported thither, to seeke a
+better condition there than what they have at present at home, may by
+all meanes be encouraged.
+
+And that some Course be duly considered by you also how far the future
+Vagrants, and all such persons as are Noxious, and infamous for their
+Lives here, may be Transported, as that the forreigne Plantations may
+be accomodated with them, and these Kingdomes disburthened.
+
+[Sidenote: Correspondency with the Governours the better to understand
+their Government, Plantations, Complaints, Trade and Shipping, and the
+Increase or Decrease thereof.]
+
+11. You are likewise to order and settle such a continuall
+correspondence with all and every our said Plentations, and with all and
+every the respective Governements of them. That you may be able as often
+as you are required thereunto to give us an Account, not only of the
+Governement of each Colony, and of the severall Commodities which they
+respectively plant, but of their severall Complaints and wants also,
+and how you find their Trade respectively to increase or decrease.
+
+To which purpose you are to require an Account to be sent you
+continually from time to time of all the Shipps that shall Trade into
+any of the said Plantations. And of the substance of what lading they
+import thither togeather with an account also what Shipps are freighted
+from thence and with what sort of Goods, and what quantity there is of
+each of the said sorts, and whether Consigned. That so the true state
+and condition of each Colony in reference to the Trade and Increase and
+Decrease of it, may be thoroughly and rightly understood.
+
+[Sidenote: To regulate the trade of the Plantations, so that they may
+be serviceable to one another, as well as to these our kingdomes.]
+
+12. And being thus informed you are further to apply your selves by
+all prudentiall wayes and Meanes so to Order, Governe, and Regulate the
+Trade of our whole Plantations, that they may be most serviceable one
+unto another, and as the whole unto these our Kingdomes so these our
+kingdomes unto them.
+
+[Sidenote: To take care of the due execution of the Acts for
+encouragement of Shipping and Navigation.]
+
+13. You are therefore to inquire into, and strictly to take care of the
+due Execution of the severall Acts for the encouragement of Shipping,
+and Navigation and that as much as in you lyeth, none of those good
+Ends and purposes, so much tending to the strength and benefitt of this
+Nation may be frustrated for which the said Acts were primarily intended
+and designed.
+
+[Sidenote: To require Coppies of all Charters and Graunts concerning
+any forreigne Plantations.]
+
+14. And to the End that nothing may be wanting to the said Regulation
+and that Justice may be equally distributed throughout all our said
+Plantations, You are likewise to take an Inspection into, and require
+a Coppy of all Charters, and Graunts that have been passed by us or by
+any of our Prædecessors, to any particular persons, or to any Societies,
+and Corporations of Men with reference to any of the said Plantations.
+
+And more particularly to informe your selves what Goverments are held
+by vertue of any of the said Charters at present, and by whome.
+
+[Sidenote: To examine how the Ends of them have been pursued or
+neglected.]
+
+[Sidenote: In case of any differences to endeavour the composing of
+them amicably.]
+
+You are likewise to examine what Causes, Covenants and Conditions, with
+relation to our selfe and to the Crowne are inserted in any of the said
+Charters or Graunts, and how the same have been performed, and how the
+Ends of the said Graunts themselves have been respectively pursued. Or
+how much on the contrary, you find they have been neglected, and our
+selfe præjudiced, and to report the same to us. And in case there shall
+any differences arise concerning the bounds, and Limits of any of the
+said respective Charters, or concerning the Priviledges, Rights, or
+Properties, which may be challenged by any by vertue of the said
+Charters.
+
+[Sidenote: Otherwise to state and report them to his Ma^{tie}.]
+
+You are to endeavour by the best and justest meanes you may, amicably to
+compose and determine the same. But if the difference arising about any
+of the said Charters, shall have so much difficulty, as that the same
+cannot be friendly and amicably ended as aforesaid. In that case you
+are after Examination of it to state it to us. That we may give such
+Resolution thereupon as may be agreeable to Justice.
+
+[Sidenote: To send for Coppies of the Lawes now in force that if upon
+examination any of them be found contrary to honour, Justice, or the
+Law of England, they may be nulled.]
+
+15. And as you are not to permitt any of our Loving Subjects to be
+oppressed by any of the Governours of our said Colonies contrary to the
+Lawes that are in force, within the said Colonies respectively, so you
+are as carefully to examine, send for and require a Coppy of all such
+Lawes, as have been at any time made, and doe stand yet unrepealed
+within any of our said Plantations. That if any of the said Lawes be
+found inconvenient or contrary to the Lawes of this Land, or to the
+honour and Justice of our Governement, all such Lawes may be immediately
+nulled.
+
+[Sidenote: To procure Mapps and Charts of the severall Plantations,
+and to Register and keep them.]
+
+16. You are also by all Wayes and meanes you may to procure exact Mapps,
+Platts or Charts of all and Every our said Plantations abroad, togeather
+with the Mapps and Descriptions of their respective Ports, Harbours,
+Forts, Bayes, Rivers with the Depth of their respective Channells
+comming in or going up, and the Soundings all along upon the said
+respective Coasts from place to place, and the same so had, you are
+carefully to Register and Keepe.
+
+[Sidenote: To take effectuall care for the Propagating the Gospell in
+the Plantations, and for the providing and maintaining of a pious and
+learned Ministry.]
+
+[Sidenote: To reforme the Debaucheries of Planters and Servants.]
+
+You are above all especially required to take an effectual care for the
+Propagation of the Gospell, in all our said Colonies and Plantations
+respectively, by providing that there be good Encouragem^{t} setled for
+the Invitation and maintenance of pious and learned Ministers, and by
+sending strict Orders and Instructions for the regulating and reforming
+the Debaucheries of Planters and Servants, whose evill Example doth
+bring Scandall upon the Profession of Christianity, and doth deterre
+such as are not yet admitted thereunto, from effecting and esteeming
+the same.
+
+[Sidenote: To invite and Instruct the Indians and Slaves in the
+Christian Religion.]
+
+And you are to consider how much of the Indians, or such as are
+purchased from other parts for Slaves, may be best Instructed and
+invited to the Christian Religion and Faith, it being both for the
+Honour of our Crowne, and of the Protestant Religion it selfe. That all
+persons within any of our Territories though never so remote should be
+taught the Knowledge of God, and be accquainted with the Mysteries of
+Salvation.
+
+[Sidenote: To write Letters to the severall Governours to informe them
+of his Ma^{ties} great care of the Plantations in erecting this Councill
+as also a generall Councill for trade.]
+
+18. You are therefore forthwith to write Letters and to send them
+to the severall Governours of our said respective Plantations, or to
+their respective Deputies in all parts, wherein you are to informe
+them of our great care and signall grace towards our said Colonies,
+and of our erecting not only a general Councill for Trade, that might
+take cognizance of such things as may be their concerne, But of our
+appointing this Councill in particular which is employed only for the
+better care and conduct of them.
+
+[Sidenote: To require of them an Account of the state of their present
+condition and of what they judge necessairie for their Securitie,
+Encouragem^{t}, and accomodation.]
+
+You are therefore to require them, by themselves, or by the Assistance
+of the respective Councills or Assemblies of the said Colonies to send
+you an exact account of the State of their Condition at present, and of
+such particulars within these your Instructions as you shall in the
+first place thinke most necessary for them to answer or informe you of.
+
+And that they doe further propound to you what they judge to be
+most immediately necessary either for their security, or for the
+encouragement, and accomodation of them.
+
+[Sidenote: To observe such other Instructions as shall be sent under
+his Ma^{ties} Signe Manuall, and if further Powers be found necessary,
+the Councill to adresse to his Ma^{tie} therein.]
+
+19. Lastly you are to follow such other Instructions concerning the
+Præmises, as shall be sent to you from time to time by us under our
+Signe Manuall.
+
+And in all cases wherein you shall judge that further Powers and
+Assistance shall be necessary for you, You are to addresse Your selves
+to us, for our further pleasure Resolution and Direction therein.
+
+    Given at our Court at Whitehall the 30^{th}. day of July 1670,
+    in the two and twentieth yeare of our Reigne.
+
+    By his Ma^{ties} Command
+
+    ARLINGTON.
+
+
+
+
+Additional Instructions for the Council for Foreign Plantations, 1670-1672.
+
+Given at Our Court at Whitehall the First Day of August, 1670.
+
+
+[Sidenote: To inquire concerning the Strength Fortifications and
+Military discipline of the Plantations.]
+
+1. You are also particularly to inquire and informe your selves of the
+strength of all and every of our Colonies, how they are respectively
+fortifyed, what the said Fortifications are, and how conveniently
+situated; as also to inquire how the Inhabitants of the said Colonies
+are respectively trained or disciplined.
+
+And in what Posture they are to make a resistance upon occasion, against
+any sudden attempt or Assault, if it should be offred them either by the
+Indians, or by the forces of any other Prince or State that are their
+Neighbours:
+
+[Sidenote: Concerning the Stores of their Ball, Powder, and other
+Ammunition and the securing and præserving of them.]
+
+And what Stores they have of Armes, Ball, Powder or any other Ammunition
+respectively, and what care is further necessary to be employed, for the
+better Securing and præserving each of them, and to give an account from
+time to time of the whole to us.
+
+[Sidenote: To recommend to the Governours, the breeding and producing
+of Salt Petre.]
+
+2. And forasmuch as we are informed, that there are among severall of
+our Plantations, Grounds very proper for the Breeding and producing of
+Salt Petre.
+
+And those so rich also that if they were improoved to the utmost, great
+quantities of that Commodity might be easily had from those parts,
+without sending into the Indies for it:
+
+You are therefore very specially to Recommend this affaire to the
+Governours of such Plantations, where you shall be informed the Grounds
+are fittest for this purpose. And not only to require their care for the
+Improovement of it; but to send your Advice to them, and to receive
+their respective answer and opinion, how and in what manner they judge
+the same, may be best, and most speedily put in Execution.
+
+[Sidenote: The Planting of such Commodities as are most for the benefit
+of the Plantacons and to redresse all præjudiciall Courses of Planting.]
+
+3. And forasmuch as the greatest benefitt that can arise to any of our
+said Colonies, must be when the Planters of any of the said Colonies
+shall be able to improove their Labour or Ground to the utmost Profitt
+respectively.
+
+Wherefore if the Sayle of any of the said Plantations shall be equally
+fitt for the producing as well of severall other Commodities, as for the
+producing of that which the said Colonie is accustomed unto.
+
+And that the said other Commodities are such also as are of more profitt
+to be planted by farre then that which is usuall, And that doe not only
+grow in the Countries adjacent to the said Plantations, but are found by
+Experience to thrive well even in the very said Plantations themselves.
+
+In this Case you are to take care that a Custome be not nourished to the
+præjudice of Trade, and of the said Plantations, But that you take order
+for the Planting, Husbanding and Improoving of that Commodity that is
+most profitable and most for the benefitt of the said Plantation. And to
+this End that you by Letters conferre with the Governour, or with the
+Assembly of the said respective Plantation, that some redresse may be
+made and some stopp put to such a præjudiciall Course, or Custome of
+planting as is aforesaid.
+
+[Sidenote: To consider how Spices, Gummes, Drugs, Dying Stuffes &c. may
+best be obtained from the East Indies, and other places, for the storing
+and enriching Plantations, and how to Reward the Undertakers thereof.]
+
+4. And forasmuch as the scituation of severall of our said Plantations
+is such, as that it seemeth very probable to us, they might be stored
+with many more Druggs, Gummes, and Dying Stuffes than what they now
+have. Yea with severall Spices, and other Merchandises as well from the
+East Indies, Turkie, and other places, as from severall of the Spanish
+and Portugeeze Plantations. You are therefor required to consider and
+advise what Commodities, in any of the Countries aforementioned or in
+any other that shall be considered by you, may be (as you Judge) best
+and fittest to transplant into any of our said Colonies (respect being
+had to their said severall and respective Climates). And how the said
+Commodities may easiest, best, and with least Observation, be obtained
+from the said Countries:
+
+What methods are meetest to be used, or what Rewards fittest to be
+given, to any that shall runne the hazards and Expence of it, to
+undertake them.
+
+And which may therefore the same, may be most probably soe effected, as
+that the Commerce mey be encreased, and the said Plantations enriched
+through it.
+
+[Sidenote: What Councills are established in other Kingdomes, and what
+Powers and instructions are given them for the improving of their Trade
+and Plantations and to consider the Advantages and Disadvantages
+thereof.]
+
+5. You are to informe your selves as farre as you may what Councills
+are Established in any other Kingdome for the good Governement, and
+Improoving of their respective Plantations. What Directions or
+Instructions, also, are particularly given to the said respective
+Councills, and what Policy, Method or Conduct is used by them with
+relation to the Strength, Trade and Increase of the said respective
+Colonies, or with relation to the people themselves that are sent
+thither.
+
+And if you shall discerne such Methods and Directions to be good, or to
+be well founded in Experience and Reason, You are to consider either how
+the same may be aplyed to the Advantage of our owne Plantations, or how
+any Inconveniences that may follow from them may be by you prudently
+avoided.
+
+    Given at our Court at Whitehall, the first day of August 1670,
+    in the two and twentieth yeare of our Reigne.
+
+    By his Ma^{ties} Command
+
+    ARLINGTON.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX III.
+
+Draft of Instructions for the Council of Trade and Foreign Plantations,
+1672-1674.
+
+The Commission and Instructions Were Issued on September 27, 1672.
+
+
+[Sidenote: To consider the Improvem^{t} of the Commodityes of these
+Kingdomes.]
+
+1. You are to consider how all Goods and Commodityes of the Production
+or Growth of these Our Kingdomes may be best Improoved. What other
+usefull Commodityes or Materialls for Manufactures there are which the
+Nature of Our Sayle with good Husbandry will beare, or that tyme and
+Industry can make Native.
+
+[Sidenote: To consider the Setting up of Manufactures.]
+
+2. You are likewise to consider the setting up and Improoving of
+Manufactures within Our said Kingdomes, especially of shipping. And such
+others as are most for the Employment of Our people of best use, and
+greatest Proffit to our Kingdomes. The Establishing of Such Manufactures
+in Townes and places most convenient for them. And to provide that all
+such Manufactures (especially our Old and new Draperyas) be truely made
+and fully manufactured at home.
+
+[Sidenote: The improoving of the Fishing Trade at home & abroad.]
+
+3. You are to consider how the Fishing Trade both at home and abroad may
+be encouraged and improoved to the best advantage.
+
+[Sidenote: The opening of Rivers, Ports and Harbours.]
+
+4. How Our Rivers may be made Navigable and Our Ports and Harbours more
+capable of receiving Shipping.
+
+[Sidenote: The Distributing of Trade and Manufactures.]
+
+5. And how Trade and Manufactures may be more fitly and equally
+distributed through Our Kingdomes.
+
+[Sidenote: To examine the Burthens of Trade.]
+
+6. You are strictly to Examine what Burthens the Trade of Our sayd
+Kingdomes doth at present Groane under both at home and abroad, more
+then the Trade of Neighbouring Princes and States.
+
+[Sidenote: To enquire into abuses in Trade and Manufactures.]
+
+7. You are to make due Search and Inquiry into the abuses practised
+among Merchants, Vintners, Wyne-Coopers, Brewers, Dyers, Apothecaryes,
+Goldsmyths, Refyners, Wyre-Drawers, Penterers, Hatters, Clothiers and
+other Trades and Manufactures within these Our Kingdomes, as also
+concerning Weights and Measures.
+
+[Sidenote: To consider of the better venting of Native Commodity's.]
+
+8. You are to consider how Our Native Commodityes, and Manufactures may
+be vented in greater Quantetyes, and with more Hono^{e} and profitt to
+Our said Kingdomes.
+
+[Sidenote: How forreigne Commodityes may be brought in at cheaper
+Rates.]
+
+9. And how forreigne Goods, and Commodityes may be brought from the
+severall places of their Growth or making in fitt and reasonable tymes,
+and at the Cheapest rates.
+
+[Sidenote: about building of Ships for the carriage of Bulky
+Commodityes.]
+
+10. You are to consider about the Building of Pinkes, Flutes, and other
+great Ships for the more convenient Carryage of Masts, Tymber and other
+Bulky Commodityes. And about setting them out (according as the place to
+which they are bound may allow) with fewer men and Gunns then usuall.
+
+[Sidenote: How Correspondencyes may be kept in places of great commerce
+abroad.]
+
+11. You are to consider how Correspondencyes may be settled and kept
+in all places of Great Commerce abroad for the better knowing with what
+proffit or Losse Our Native Commodityes and Manufactures are vented. And
+What Lawes are from tyme to tyme made or Trades new Erected in forreigne
+parts to the advantage, or Disadvantage of Our Trade or Commerce.
+
+[Sidenote: How free Ports may be opened.]
+
+12. You are to consider how Free Ports may conveniently be opened
+about Our Coasts for the Landing, and Storeing of Forreigne
+Commodityes. Giving leave to retransport them paying only some small
+acknowledgements. And of the severall Advantages that may arise unto
+these Our Kingdomes by Giving way (according to the Example of other
+Nations) to a more open, and free Trade then that of Companyes and
+Corporations.
+
+[Sidenote: To receive Propositions concerning Trade and Navigation.]
+
+13. And you are to receive and Consider all Propositions or Overtures
+concerning new Inventions or Improvements in any Art, Trade or
+Manufacture, or concerning the regulating or Securing of Trade, and
+Improoving of Navigation that shall be offered unto you by any person
+whatsoever.
+
+[Sidenote: To enquire into the State of his Ma^{ts} forreigne
+Plantacons.]
+
+14. You are strictly to enquire, and informe yourselves by the best
+wayes and Meanes you can of the State and Condition of Our said
+Forreigne Collonyes and Plantations. By whome they are Governed and what
+Commissions, Powers and Instruccons have been granted by Us, or by any
+of Our Royall Predecessors to that End, and how the same have been
+Executed and observed.
+
+[Sidenote: To enquire What Councills Assemblies and Courts of Indicature
+there are in them.]
+
+15. You are likewise to enquire and informe yourselves. What Councills,
+Assemblyes and Courts of Indicature for Civill and Criminall Causes
+there are within the said Collonyes and Plantations, and of what Nature
+and Kind.
+
+[Sidenote: What Courts of Admiralty.]
+
+16. What Courts of Indicature they have relating to the Admiralty.
+
+[Sidenote: What their Legislative and Executive Powers are.]
+
+17. Where the Legislative and Executive Powers of their Governments are
+seated.
+
+[Sidenote: What Statutes and Lawes they have.]
+
+18. What Statutes, Lawes, and Ordinances they have made, and are now in
+force.
+
+[Sidenote: What number of Horse and Foot.]
+
+19. What number of Horse and Foot they have and whether Trayned Bands,
+Bands, or Standing Forces.
+
+[Sidenote: What Castles and Forts and how provided.]
+
+20. What Castles or Forts they have, how situated and what Stores and
+Provisions they are furnished with.
+
+[Sidenote: What strength their Neighbours have.]
+
+21. What strength their Bordering Neighbours have by Sea and Land.
+
+[Sidenote: What Correspondency they keep with them.]
+
+22. What Correspondency they keep with their Neighbours.
+
+[Sidenote: What Armes Ammunition &c. have been sent unto them.]
+
+23. What Armes, Ammunition, and Stores have been sent unto the said
+Collonyes and Plantations upon our Accompt, when received, how Employed,
+and what part of them is there remayning and where.
+
+[Sidenote: What Moneys have been paid for Armes &c. and Fortifications.]
+
+24. What Moneys have been paid or appointed to be paid by Us, or Leavyed
+within the said severall Collonys, and Plantacons for and towards the
+buying of Armes, or making and Mayntaining of any Fortifications, or
+Castles, And how the said Moneys have been expended.
+
+[Sidenote: The Boundaryes and Contents of their Lands.]
+
+25. What the Boundaryes, and Contents of their Lands are.
+
+[Sidenote: What Mynes, Commodityes and Manufactures they have.]
+
+26. What Mynes they have of Gold, Silver, Copper, Tynne, Ledd, or Iron.
+What Commodityes there are of their production, growth, or Manufacture.
+What Materialls for Shipping and whether Salt-petre is or may be
+produced in any of the said Collonyes or Plantations. And if so, At what
+Rates it may be delivered in England.
+
+[Sidenote: Whether Spices, Gumms, Drugs if Planted will not thrive.]
+
+27. Whether Nutmegs, Cinnamon, Cloves, Pepper, and other Spices, and
+Gumms, Druggs and Dying Stuffs which now grow in the East Indyes, and
+are brought from thence may not be planted and come to perfection in
+some of Our Collonyes, and Plantations in the West Indyes.
+
+[Sidenote: What Rivers, Harbours &c. they have.]
+
+28. What Rivers, Harbours, and Roads they have, and of What Depths, and
+Soundings.
+
+[Sidenote: What Banks or Shoales for Fishing.]
+
+29. What Banks, or Shoales they have upon, or neare their Coasts for
+Fishing.
+
+[Sidenote: What number of Planters and Parishes.]
+
+30. What number of Planters, Servants, and Slaves, and how many Parishes
+they have.
+
+[Sidenote: What number of Whites and Blacks doe yearly come.]
+
+31. What Number of English, Scotch, or Irish doe yearely come, and what
+Blacks, or Slaves, are brought unto them.
+
+[Sidenote: What number of People dye yearely.]
+
+32. What Number of People doe yearely dye within the said Collonyes and
+Plantations both Whites, and Blacks.
+
+33. What Number of Shipps doe Yearely Trade to and from the said
+Collonyes and Plantations, and of what Burthen they are.
+
+[Sidenote: What number of Ships Trade yearely.]
+
+[Sidenote: What obstructions they have and Advantages may be gained to
+their Trade.]
+
+34. What Obstructions there are, and What advantages may be gained to
+the Improovement of their Trade and Navigation.
+
+[Sidenote: What Dutyes are Charged upon Goods imported, or exported.]
+
+35. What Rates and Dutyes are charged and payable upon any Goods or
+Commodityes exported out of the said Collonyes and Plantations, whether
+of their owne Growth and Manufacture or otherwyse. As also upon Goods
+imported.
+
+[Sidenote: What Publick Revenues doe arise among them.]
+
+36. What Revenues doe or may arise unto Us within the said Collynes and
+Plantations, and of what nature they are. By whome Collected, and how
+answered and Accompted unto Us.
+
+[Sidenote: How they instruct the People in Religion, and pay their
+Ministry.]
+
+37. And what Course they take about Instructing of their People in the
+Christian Religion. And what Provision is made for the Maintenance of
+their Ministers.
+
+[Sidenote: To consider which of the said Collonyes are not fully
+Planted.]
+
+38. You are to informe yourselves which of our said Collonyes and
+Plantations are not fully Planted or Inhabited, and to consider how such
+of them may most conveniently be supplyed from others that are
+overstored with people.
+
+[Sidenote: How the s^{d} Collonyes may be serviceable to one another and
+useful to these Kingdomes.]
+
+39. You are to consider how our said Collonyes, and Plantations may be
+serviceable unto one another in relation to their mutuall Sustenance and
+Defence, and how they may be Governed to be of use and advantage
+likewise to these Our Kingdomes.
+
+[Sidenote: To Correspond by Letters with forreigne Governours.]
+
+40. You are to take care in Keeping frequent Correspondency by Letters
+with the severall Governours of Our said Collonyes, and Plantations.
+
+[Sidenote: To Charge them to preserve peace with their Neighbo^{rs} and
+to protect y^{e} Indians.]
+
+41. You are hereby required in Our Name strictly to charge all and every
+the Governours of Our said Collonyes and Plantations respectively. That
+they doe not Give any just Provocation unto any of their Neighbours
+Indians or others that are at Peace & Amity with Us. But that they doe
+by all just wayes and Meanes endeavours to preserve such Peace and Amity
+and keep a good and fayre Correspondencye with them.
+
+And if any of the said Indians shall desire to putt themselves under
+the Protection of the Governours, or Governments of our said Collonyes
+or Plantations, That they doe receive them with respect and Kindnesse,
+and Give them due Protection, and Defence in their Persons, Goods, and
+Possessions according to Lawe. And in case any Persons shall contrary
+thereunto offer any Affronts or Injuryes unto them, That the said
+Governours doe severly punish such offenders according to Justice and
+Right.
+
+[Sidenote: To procure Coppyes of all Grants concerning the said
+Collonyes &c.]
+
+42. You are to endeavour the procuring Coppyes of all Letters Patents,
+Charters, or Grants of any of Our said Collonyes or Plantations, or of
+any Part of them, passed by Us or any of Our Predecessors under the
+Great Seale of England, to any Person, Socyety, or Corporation of Men
+Whatsoever. And to informe yourselves whether they have been duely putt
+in Execution according to the Severall Grants, Clauses and Conditions,
+conteyned in them respectively.
+
+[Sidenote: To procure Exact Mapps of the said Collonyes.]
+
+43. You are likewise to endeavour the procuring of Exact Mapps,
+Platts, or Charts of all Our said Collonyes and Plantations with the
+Descriptions of their respective Rivers, Forts, Harbours, Bayes, and
+Roads.
+
+[Sidenote: To consider of the improoving of their Trade and Commerce.]
+
+44. And when you shall have received due Information concerning the
+perticulars in the foregoing Instructions. You are to consider of the
+best wayes, and Meanes for the encourageing settling, and Improoving
+the Trade, and Commerce of Our sayd Collonyes, and Plantations. And
+accordingly to offer unto Us your Opinions, and Advice thereupon.
+
+[Sidenote: To Examine if the Articles of Peace and Commerce with
+forreigne Princes have been performed.]
+
+45. You are to consider the severall Articles of Peace and Commerce that
+have been heretofore made between Us or any of our Royal Predecessors,
+and all forreigne Princes, and States, and to Examine whether the
+Priviledges and Immunityes by them Granted or agreed for the Benefitt
+and advantage of Our Merchants, have from tyme to tyme been carefully
+upheld and performed, And in case you shall find any Manifest Breach of
+them, or any Injuryes done to Our Merchants, or any Obstructions to Our
+Trade thereby, You are to represent the same to Us for Our
+Consideration.
+
+[Sidenote: To enquire what Councills of Trade &c. are settled in
+forreigne Parts and w^{t} Commiss^{ns} Instructions and Allowances
+they have.]
+
+46. You are to informe yourselves the best that may be, What Councills,
+or Courts of Indicature are Established in any forreigne Kingdomes
+or States for the well Government of their Trade and Navigation,
+and for the Improovement Settlement, and Defence of their Collonyes
+and Plantations. As also What Commissions, Powers, Authorityes,
+Instructions, and allowances they have Given and Granted unto them
+for the better carrying on of those Services.
+
+[Sidenote: To observe such other Instructions &c as shall be sent
+und^{r} his Ma^{ts} Signe Manuall and to addresse to his Ma^{ty}
+for further Instructions &c. if need be.]
+
+47. And Lastly you are required and authorized to observe and putt in
+Execution all such other Powers, Authorityes and Instructions (relating
+unto Our said Collonyes or Plantations, or unto the Trade, Commerce or
+Navigation of them, or of these our Kingdomes) as shall from tyme to
+tyme be sent unto you by Us under Our Signe Manuall.
+
+And where you shall judge it necessary to have any further Powers,
+Authorityes, or Instructions for the better Carrying on of Our Service
+therein. You are to Addresse yourselves unto Us for Our further Pleasure
+and Direction.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX IV.
+
+Heads of Business of Councils, 1670-1674.
+
+
+COUNCIL FOR FOREIGN PLANTATIONS, 1670-1672.
+
+_August 3, 1670._
+
+Commission and instructions for a Council for Foreign Plantations read.
+(From the Index mentioned on p. 101, note 6, here cited as _Journal_.)
+
+_August 9._
+
+Letter to Trinity House. (_Journal._)
+
+_August 12._
+
+Oath of Secrecy to the Officers. (_Journal._)
+
+_August 16._
+
+Petition of St. Christopher read. (_Journal_; Cal. State Papers, Col.
+1669-1674, § 232, here cited as _Cal._)
+
+_August 19._
+
+Commissioners for St. Christopher agreed on. (_Journal_; _Cal._, § 232.)
+
+_August 22._
+
+Report on St. Christopher's case. (_Cal._, §§ 232, 850.)
+
+_September 22._
+
+Petition for a chief governor of the Leeward Is. (_Journal_; _Cal._,
+§ 268.)
+
+_September 24._
+
+Beginning of consideration of Surinam question. (_Journal_; _Cal._,
+§§ 60, 291, 486, 524, and _passim._)
+
+_September 26._
+
+Col. Lynch to be a committee at St. Christopher and afterwards to goe to
+Jamaica as his Maj. Lieutenant. (_Journal_; _Cal._, § 287.)
+
+_September 27._
+
+Leeward Is. petition again read. (_Cal._, § 269.)
+
+_September 29._
+
+Drafting of queries to Gov. Berkeley of Virginia. (_Cal._, § 565.)
+
+_September 30._
+
+Jamaica & the Isle of Providence. (_Journal_; _Cal._, § 276.)
+
+_October 5._
+
+Surinam, Jamaica, St. Christopher; Conveyance of Letters to Foreign
+Plantations. (_Journal_; _Cal._, _Dom._, 1672-1673, p. 295.)
+
+_October 10._
+
+Surinam agreement with the two ships, 20,000^{11} damage at St.
+Christopher. (_Journal_; _Cal._, §§ 274, 292, 295.)
+
+_October 18._
+
+St. Christopher order of summons to planters of Barbadoes and
+petitioners from St. Christopher to appear. (_Cal._, § 297.) There must
+have been a meeting on "Friday next."
+
+_October 25._
+
+Draft instructions for Commissioners for St. Christopher for bringing
+off from Surinam English subjects, their families, and estates.
+(_Cal._, § 304.)
+
+_October 27._
+
+Leeward Is. their Governor apart, Answer of Lord Willoughby read.
+(_Journal_; _Cal._, §§ 309, 327.)
+
+_November 1._
+
+Surinam, names of Commissioners. (_Journal_; _Cal._, §§ 319, 320, 324.)
+
+_November 5._
+
+Commission and instructions to Major Bannister for fetching off the
+English from Surinam. (_Cal._, § 850.)
+
+_November 8._
+
+Peace with Spain. (_Journal_; _Cal._, §§ 334, 334 I.)
+
+_November 12._
+
+Barbadoes imposition on Sugar. (_Journal_; _Cal._, §§ 332, 519, 520,
+p. 229, _passim._)
+
+_November 15._
+
+Order regarding 16th article of the treaty with Spain. (_Cal._, § 334.)
+
+_November 17._
+
+Report on petition of Leeward Is., favoring the petition, despite Lord
+Willoughby's objections. (_Cal._, §§ 339, 850.)
+
+_November 26._
+
+Sir Chas. Wheeler appointed governor of the Leeward Is. (_Journal_;
+_Cal._, §§ 327, 392-397.)
+
+_December 16._
+
+Commission and instructions to Sir Thomas Lynch, Lieut. Gov. of Jamaica.
+(_Cal._, § 850.)
+
+
+1671.
+
+_January 14._
+
+Newfoundland, petition regarding the fishery. (_Journal_; _Cal._,
+§§ 362, 368, 369, 385.)
+
+_January 21._
+
+Governors of Plantations to take the Oaths [of Allegiance?]. (_Journal._)
+
+_January 28._
+
+Continuation of Newfoundland Question. (_Journal._)
+
+_February 9._
+
+Consideration of proposals of Sir Charles Wheeler. (_Journal_; _Cal._,
+§§ 410, 412, 415, 420.)
+
+_February 14._
+
+Wheeler's proposals regarding defence of St. Christopher. (_Journal_;
+_Cal._, §§ 412, 850.)
+
+_February 18._
+
+Spiriting, kidnapping of young persons for transport to the plantations.
+(_Journal_; _Cal._, 1661-1668, Preface, p. xxvii _et seq._)
+
+_March 2._
+
+Continuation of Newfoundland question. Report on the petition. (_Cal._,
+§§ 362, 850.)
+
+_March 8._
+
+Estimate sent (and probably received on same day) by officers of
+ordnance regarding ammunition, etc. for Leeward Is. (_Cal._, § 445.)
+
+_March 10._
+
+Report on Newfoundland petition, made on March 2, read. (_Cal._, _Dom._,
+1671, under Mar. 10.)
+
+_April 27._
+
+Petition of Ferdinando Gorges read. (_Cal._, § 512; See _Cal._, _Dom._,
+1671, April 27, Slingsby to Williamson.)
+
+_May 22._
+
+Robert Mason's first petition to the Council; divers relations
+concerning New England, with observations of the commissioners lately
+employed there, read. (_Cal._, § 512.)
+
+_May 26._
+
+"The Earl of Bristol's house in Queen's Street (Lincoln's Inn Fields)
+was taken for the Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, and furnished
+with rich hangings of the King's. It consisted of seven rooms on a
+floor, with a long gallery, gardens, etc. This day we met the Duke of
+Buckingham, Earl of Lauderdale, Lord Culpeper, Sir George Carteret, Vice
+Chamberlain, and myself, had the oaths given us by the Earl of Sandwich,
+our President. It was to advise and counsel his Majesty, to the best of
+our abilities, for the well-governing of his Foreign Plantations, etc.,
+the form very little differing from that given to the Privy Council. We
+then took our places at the Board in the Council Chamber, a very large
+room furnished with atlases, maps, charts, globes, etc. Then came the
+Lord Keeper, Sir Orlando Bridgeman, Earl of Arlington, Secretary of
+State, Lord Ashley, Mr. Treasurer, Sir John Trevor, the other Secretary,
+Sir John Duncomb, Lord Allington, Mr. Grey, son to the Lord Grey, Mr.
+Henry Broncher, Sir Humphrey Winch, Sir John Finch, Mr. Waller and
+Colonel Titus of the Bed chamber, with Mr. Slingsby, Secretary to the
+Council, and two clerks of the Council, who had all been sworn some
+days before. Being all set, our Patent was read, and then the additional
+Patent, in which was recited this new establishment; then, was delivered
+to each a copy of the Patent, and of instructions; after which we
+proceeded to business.
+
+The first thing we did was to settle the form of a circular letter to
+the Governors of all his Majesty's Plantations and Territories in the
+West Indies and Islands thereof, to give them notice to whom they should
+apply themselves on all occasions, and to render us an account of their
+present state and government; but what we most insisted on was, to know
+the condition of New England, which appearing to be very independent as
+to their regard to Old England or his Majesty, rich and strong as they
+now were, there were great debates in what style to write to them; for
+the condition of that Colony was such that they were able to contest
+with all other Plantations about them, and there was fear of their
+breaking from all dependence on this nation; his Majesty, therefore
+commended this affair more expressly. We, therefore, thought fit, in the
+first place, to acquaint ourselves as well as we could of the state of
+that place, by some whom we heard of that were newly come from thence;
+and to be informed of their present posture and condition; some of our
+Council were for sending them a menacing letter, which those who better
+understood the peevish and touchy humour of that Colony, were utterly
+against.
+
+A letter was then read from Sir Thomas Modiford, Governor of Jamaica;
+and then the Council brake up." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, pp. 63-64.)
+
+_June 6._
+
+"I went to Council where was produced a most exact and ample information
+of the state of Jamaica and of the best expedients as to New England,
+on which there was a long debate; but at length it was concluded that if
+any it should be only a conciliating paper at first, or civil letter,
+till we had better information of the present face of things, since we
+understood they were a people almost on the very brink of renouncing any
+dependence on the Crown." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 65.)
+
+_June 16._
+
+Colonel Cartwright's papers concerning the New England Colonies read.
+(_Cal._, § 512.)
+
+_June 19._
+
+Patent of Massachusetts read. (_Cal._, § 572; The _Journal_ says,
+"Cartwright's report"; but this seems to be wrong as both Evelyn and the
+_Calendar_ place Cartwright's report on the 21st.)
+
+_June 20._
+
+"To carry Colonel Middleton [Capt. Thomas Middleton of the former
+Council for Foreign Plantations] to Whitehall, to Lord Sandwich, our
+President, for some information which he was able to give of the Colony
+in New England." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 65.) Probably no regular
+meeting was held on this day.
+
+_June 21._
+
+Commission and instructions of the New England Commissioners read;
+Col. Cartwright heard (_Cal._, §§ 512, 566). "To Council again, when one
+Colonel Cartwright a Nottinghamshire man (formerly in commission with
+Colonel Nicholls) gave us a considerable relation of that country; on
+which the Council concluded that in the first place a letter of amnesty
+should be despatched." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 65.)
+
+_June 26._
+
+Further consideration of the New England case. (_Cal._, §§ 512.)
+
+"To Council, where Lord Arlington acquainted us that it was his
+Majesty's proposal we should, every one of us, contribute £20 toward
+building a Council Chamber and conveniences somewhere in Whitehall, that
+his Majesty might come and sit amongst us, and hear our debates; the
+money we laid out to be reimbursed out of the contingent monies already
+set apart for us, viz. £1000 yearly. To this we unanimously consented."
+(Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 66.)
+
+_June 29._
+
+Sir Thomas Modyford, Panama. (_Journal_; _Cal._, §§ 209, 433, 504, 505,
+577, 578.)
+
+"To Council, where were letters from Sir Thomas Modiford, of the
+expedition and exploit of Colonel Morgan, and others of Jamaica, on the
+Spanish Continent at Panama." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 66.)
+
+_July 4._
+
+"To Council, where we agreed to and drew up a letter to be sent to New
+England, and made some proposal to Mr. Gorges, for his interest in a
+plantation there." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 66.)
+
+_July 12._
+
+Report on Gorges petition, recommending the sending of commissioners to
+New England. (_Cal._, § 439, I.)
+
+_July 17._
+
+New England, Massachusetts. (_Journal._)
+
+_July 24._
+
+Robert Mason's second petition to the Council read. (_Cal._, § 512.)
+
+"To Council. Mr. Surveyor brought us a plot for the building of our
+Council Chamber, to be erected at the end of the Privy-garden, in
+Whitehall." (Evelyn's _Diary_, p. 66.)
+
+_August 3._
+
+Agreement about Commissioners to New England. (_Cal._, § 512.)
+
+Address regarding sending two ships to Surinam. (_Cal._, §§ 596, 850.)
+
+"A full appearance at the Council. The matter in debate was whether we
+should send a deputy to New England, requiring them of the Massachusetts
+to restore such to their limits and respective possessions, as had
+petitioned the Council; this to be the open commission only; but in
+truth, with secret instructions to inform us of the condition of those
+Colonies, and whether they were of such power, as to be able to resist
+his Majesty and declare for themselves as independent of the Crown,
+which we were told and which of late years made them refractory. Colonel
+Middleton being called in, assured us they might be curbed by a few of
+his Majesty's first-rate frigates, to spoil their trade with the
+islands; but, though my Lord President was not satisfied, the rest were,
+and we did resolve to advise his Majesty to send Commissioners with a
+formal Commission for adjusting boundaries, etc., with some other
+instructions." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 66.)
+
+_August 12._
+
+Report concerning New England, a representation of the present state of
+New England and the sending over of Commissioners. (_Cal._, §§ 512, 598,
+850.)
+
+_August 19._
+
+"To Council. The letters of Sir Thomas Modiford were read, giving
+relation of the exploit at Panama, which was very brave." (Evelyn's
+_Diary_, II, pp. 66-67.)
+
+_September 9._
+
+Commissioners (names of) to be sent to New England. (_Journal._)
+
+_September 15._
+
+"In the afternoon at Council, where letters were read from Sir Charles
+Wheeler, concerning his resigning his government at St. Christopher's."
+(Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 67.)
+
+_September 19._
+
+Council informed that the king had agreed to the sending commissioners
+and desiring instructions to be prepared against spring. (_Cal._, § 512.)
+
+_November 13._
+
+Further information to Council regarding commissioners; Council to treat
+with Mason and Gorges regarding sale of their estates in New England,
+but not without the king's leave. (_Journal_; _Cal._, § 512.)
+
+St. Christopher and Leeward Is. (_Journal._)
+
+Negroes, Leeward Is. (_Journal_; _Cal._, § 700.)
+
+_November 14._
+
+"To Council, where Sir Charles Wheeler, late Governor of the Leeward
+Islands, having been complained of for many indiscreet managements,
+it was resolved, on scanning many of the particulars, to advise his
+Majesty to remove him; and consult what was to be done to prevent these
+inconveniences he had brought things to. This business stayed me in
+London almost a week, being in Council or Committee every morning till
+the 25th." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 72.)
+
+_November 16._
+
+Mr. Gorges, New England. (_Journal._)
+
+_November 20._
+
+St. Christopher; Publication by Sir Charles Wheeler and answer of the
+Council. (_Journal_; _Cal._, §§ 657, 658, 659.)
+
+_November 24._
+
+Report to the king on the same subject. (_Cal._, §§ 659, 850.)
+
+_November 26 (7)._
+
+St. Christopher: proclamation disowning Sir Charles Wheeler read.
+(_Journal_; _Cal._, § 661.)
+
+Mr. Brouncker's conference with the French ambassador read. (_Journal._)
+
+"We ordered that a proclamation should be presented to his Majesty to
+sign against what Sir Charles Wheeler had done in St. Christopher's
+since the war, on the articles of peace at Breda. He was shortly
+afterwards recalled." (Evelyn's _Diary_, p. 73.)
+
+_November 28._
+
+The Answer of the Planters of the Leeward Is. read. (_Journal._)
+
+Account of Jamaica, probably taken from Gov. Lynch's answers to queries.
+(_Journal_; _Cal._, § 663, p. 277.)
+
+Heads of king's proclamation regarding St. Christopher. (_Journal._)
+
+_December 7._
+
+Report of the Council on the proclamation and the framing of something
+fit to be offered to the French ambassador. (_Cal._, §§ 675, 677, 850.)
+
+_December 11._
+
+New England Case, Mr. Mason's account of the commodities of New
+Hampshire. (_Journal_; _Cal._, § 687.)
+
+_December 14._
+
+Mr. Mason, the answer of the Council. (_Journal._)
+
+_December 18._
+
+Instructions to Mr. Slingsby to speak to members of Privy Council
+regarding patents to Massachusetts. (_Cal._, § 652.)
+
+_December 19._
+
+Mr. Slingsby's report about a new governor for the Leeward Is.
+(_Journal._)
+
+_December 20._
+
+Draft of commission for governor of Leeward Is.; revocation of Wheeler's
+commission; report to king concerning Col. Stapleton, the new governor.
+(_Cal._, §§ 699, 707, 738, 740, 744, 804, 805, 850.)
+
+
+1672.
+
+_January 22._
+
+Commissioners for New England. (_Cal._, § 512.)
+
+_February 6._
+
+Report of Mr. Gorges, "Commissioner for the province of Maine" read.
+(_Cal._, § 753.)
+
+_February 12._
+
+"At the Council, we entered on enquiries about improving the Plantations
+by silks, galls, flax, senna, etc., and considered how nutmegs and
+cinnamon might be obtained and brought to Jamaica, that soil and climate
+promising success. Dr. Worsley being called in, spake many considerable
+things to encourage it. We took order to send to the Plantations,
+that none of their ships should venture homeward single, but stay for
+company and convoys. We also deliberated on some fit person to go as
+Commissioner to inspect their actions in New England, and, from time
+to time, report how that people stood affected.--In future to meet at
+Whitehall." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 74.)
+
+_February 13._
+
+Instructions from Secretary of State to prepare commission, etc., for
+New England Commissioners. (_Cal._, § 512.)
+
+_February 16._
+
+Account of the militia in the Province of Maine read. (_Cal._, § 762.)
+
+_February 20._
+
+Letter from Sir Thomas Lynch to the Council read. (_Cal._, § 640.)
+
+_March 1._
+
+"A full Council of Plantations, on the danger of the Leeward Islands,
+threatened by the French, who had taken some of our ships, and began
+to interrupt our trade. Also in debate, whether the new governor of
+St. Christopher's should be subordinate to the Governor of Barbadoes.
+The debate was serious and long." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 75.)
+
+_April 2._
+
+Report concerning the general state of the Leeward Is. and the
+differences depending between the English and French at St. Christopher.
+(_Cal._, § 850.)
+
+_April 9._
+
+About Logwood (_Journal_; _Cal._, §§ 709, 742, 777, 825), and the
+defence of Barbadoes and the Leeward Is. (_Cal._, § 799.)
+
+_April 15._
+
+Commission and instructions for Lord Willoughby and a report on his
+proposals. (_Cal._, § 850.)
+
+_April 16._
+
+Letter from Sir Charles Wheeler read. (_Cal._, § 748.)
+
+"Sat in Council, preparing Lord Willoughby's commission and instructions
+as governor of Barbadoes and the Caribbee Islands." (Evelyn's _Diary_,
+II, p. 78.)
+
+_April 19._
+
+"At Council, preparing instructions for Colonel Stapleton, now to go
+Governor of St. Christopher's; and heard the complaints of the Jamaica
+merchants against the Spaniards, for hindering them from cutting logwood
+on the main land, where they have no pretence." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II,
+pp. 78-79.)
+
+_April 26._
+
+Archibald Henderson's case. (_Journal_; _Cal._, §§ 775, p. 339, 806.)
+
+_April 30._
+
+Commissioners for New England named, etc. (_Journal_; _Cal._, § 512.)
+
+_May 7._
+
+Case of Mark Gabry, exporter of wool. (_Cal._, _Dom._, 1671-1672,
+pp. 155, 156, 481.)
+
+_May 10._
+
+Case of the _James_ of Belfast (_Journal_; _Cal._, § 813), and Wheeler
+letter (§ 775), containing a statement about Henderson.
+
+Draft commission for Willoughby (§ 822).
+
+Agreed that the commission for New England should be expedited (§ 512).
+
+Report to the king upon the case of the _William and Nicholas_ (§ 850).
+
+_May 14._
+
+Proposals about the Leeward Is. formerly delivered by Lord Willoughby.
+(_Journal_; _Cal._, § 828.)
+
+_May 17._
+
+Case of the _William and Nicholas_, Logwood ship. (_Journal_; _Cal._,
+§§ 823, 824.)
+
+_May 27._
+
+Letter from Sir Thomas Lynch read. (_Cal._, § 777.)
+
+_June 4._
+
+Consideration of the Logwood trade. (_Journal_; _Cal._, §§ 825, 837.)
+
+_June 11._
+
+Order regarding ship _William and Nicholas._ (_Cal._, § 823.)
+
+_June 13._
+
+Surinam and Curaçao. (_Journal_ has "Quarasao"; _Cal._, § 879.)
+
+_June 15._
+
+Continuation of the Logwood difficulty. (_Journal_; _Cal._, §§ 825, II,
+879, 880.)
+
+_June 21._
+
+Case of the _Peter_ of London (_Journal_; _Cal._, § 820; _Cal._, _Dom._,
+1673, pp. 198-199.)
+
+Petition from Montserrat. (_Journal_; _Cal._, §§ 859, 879.)
+
+_June 25._
+
+Jews in Jamaica. (_Journal_; _Cal._, §§ 848, 879.)
+
+Heads of a letter to Sir Thomas Lynch from the Council. (_Journal_;
+_Cal._, § 943.)
+
+Injuries from the French in the West Indies. (_Journal_; _Cal._, § 805.)
+
+About ship departure from Jamaica. (_Journal_; _Cal._, §§ 683, 910.)
+
+_July 2._
+
+Opinion and advice of the Council to the king upon a great variety of
+matters already discussed. Jews, logwood, Surinam, Jamaica defence,
+Curaçoa, Leeward Is. and Wheeler, and Stapleton, defense of Montserrat,
+etc. (_Cal._, § 879.) In addition the merchants seem to have made a
+report on the best time for ships to depart from Jamaica. (_Journal._)
+
+_July 3._
+
+Petition from the Long Islanders regarding the whale fishery and their
+relations with New Amsterdam read. (_Cal._, § 875.)
+
+_July 16._
+
+Concerning Virginia--probably the question of the Arlington and Culpeper
+grant. (_Journal._)
+
+_July 19._
+
+Regarding the whale fishery. (_Journal_; _Cal._, § 875.)
+
+_July 26._
+
+Petition of Sir Ernestus Biron, escheator in Barbadoes, read.
+(_Journal_; _Cal._, 1661-1668, § 1622.)
+
+_July 29._
+
+Report on the petition. (_Journal._)
+
+_September 1._
+
+"Our Council of Plantations met at Lord Shaftesbury's (Chancellor of the
+Exchequer) to read and reform the draught of our new Patent, joining the
+Council of Trade to our political capacities." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II,
+p. 83.)
+
+_September 20._
+
+Particulars of monies disbursed for the Council. (_Journal._)
+
+_October 1 (about)._
+
+Letters written by Sir Thomas Lynch on June 20 and July 5 read to the
+Council. (_Cal._, § 943.)
+
+
+COUNCIL FOR TRADE AND FOREIGN PLANTATIONS, 1672-1674.
+
+_October 13._
+
+Commission opened and read and oath administered. (_Journal._)
+
+Letters from Gov. Stapleton and his answer to inquiries read. (_Cal._,
+§§ 842, 896.)
+
+"Went to my Lord Keeper, (Sir Orlando Bridgeman) at Essex House, where
+our new patent was opened and read, constituting us that were of the
+Council of Plantations, to be now of the Council of Trade also, both
+united. After the patent was read, we all took our oaths, and departed."
+(Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 85.)
+
+_October 24._
+
+Oaths administered. (_Journal._)
+
+"Met in Council, the Earl of Shaftesbury, now our President, swearing
+our Secretary and his clerks, which was Mr. Locke, an excellent learned
+gentleman, and student of Christ Church, Mr. Lloyd, and Mr. Frowde [son
+of Philip Frowde, clerk of the former Council of 1660]. We dispatched a
+letter to Sir Thomas Linch Governor of Jamaica, giving him notice of a
+design of the Dutch on that island." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 86.)
+
+_October 27._
+
+Jamaica laws received and probably considered. (_Cal._, § 829.)
+
+_October 29._
+
+Meeting held at 9. a. m. No statement as to business. (_Cal._, _Dom._,
+1672-1673.)
+
+_November 3._
+
+Logwood case; depositions and letters presented. (_Cal._, § 954.)
+
+_November 8._
+
+New England case considered. (_Journal._)
+
+Letter from Sir Thomas Lynch read. (_Cal._, § 855.)
+
+Rodney petition received from the Privy Council and read.
+(_Cal._, § 958.)
+
+The petition from the consul of Venice, asking that consulage be levied
+on goods not on ships. (_Journal_; _Cal._, _Dom._, 1673, pp. 100, 303.)
+
+"At Council we debated the business of the consulate of Leghorn (?). I
+was of the Committee with Sir Humphrey Winch, the Chairman, to examine
+the laws of his Majesty's several plantations and colonies in the West
+Indies, etc." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 86.)
+
+_November 13._
+
+Letter from Dep. Gov. Coddrington of Barbadoes read. (_Cal._, §§ 872,
+901, 902.)
+
+_November 15._
+
+Petition of the consul at Venice considered further. (_Journal._)
+
+"Many merchants were summoned about the consulate of Venice; which
+caused great disputes; the most considerable thought it useless."
+(Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 86.)
+
+_November 20._
+
+Petition of Rabba Couty, whose ship was seized at Port Royal, Jamaica,
+on the ground that he was a foreigner. (_Cal._, § 968; _Cal._, _Dom._,
+1672-1673, p. 295.)
+
+_November 29._
+
+Order of Council appointing a committee to confer with Sir Charles
+Wheeler. (_Cal._, § 974.)
+
+_December 7._
+
+Report of the conferences. (_Cal._, § 977.)
+
+_December 10._
+
+Report of the conferences. (_Cal._, § 977.)
+
+_December 20._
+
+Report on the case of Rabba Couty, recommending the return of the
+vessel. (_Cal._, § 968, IV; _Cal._, _Dom._, 1672-1673, p. 295.)
+
+Order issued for a more speedy and orderly despatch of reports to
+the King and of letters and orders to the Governors of plantations.
+(_Cal._, _Dom._, 1672-1673, p. 295.)
+
+_December 21._
+
+"Settled the Consulate of Venice." (Evelyn's _Diary_. II, p. 86.)
+
+_December 29._
+
+Report on petition of the Gambia merchants regarding the use of a wood
+called "sanders" for dyeing purposes. (_Cal._, § 973, III; _Cal._,
+_Dom._, 1673, pp. 190, 217.)
+
+
+1673.
+
+_January 7._
+
+Letter of Sir Thomas Lynch; complaint of Gambia Company; Russell's
+answer to Rodney's petition; report on laws of Jamaica; articles
+relating to the Venetian trade; Ordinance in Sweden against "our
+privileges"; St. Christopher business; answer to Col. Stapleton; advice
+to the King about planting St. Christopher; regarding the books and
+papers of the former councils; Newfoundland trade; acts of Barbadoes.
+(_Cal._, _Dom._, 1672-1673, p. 403. This series of subjects is the only
+complete list of the heads of a single day's business that we find
+anywhere, except in the minutes of two meetings noted below.)
+
+_January 9._
+
+About Johnson "the Pyrat." (_Cal._, §§ 938, 1082, Index; _Journal_.)
+
+_January 11._
+
+Order of the Council to the secretary to report on losses and injuries
+lately sustained from the Spaniards. (_Cal._, § 1022.)
+
+_February 1._
+
+Similar order regarding the differences with the French at St.
+Christopher. (_Cal._, §§ 1028, 1033.)
+
+Heads of a letter to Gov. Stapleton of St. Christopher. (_Journal._)
+
+_February 6._
+
+Gambia Adventurers. (_Journal._)
+
+_February 18._
+
+Gambia Adventurers. (_Journal._)
+
+Secretary's report on St. Christopher. (_Cal._, § 1034.) Secretary
+ordered to prepare another report for the 25^{th} on same subject.
+
+_February 25._
+
+Secretary's report probably presented on this day.
+
+_March 6._
+
+Letter to Gov. Stapleton written. (_Journal._)
+
+Letter from Lord Willoughby read. (_Cal._, § 1000.)
+
+_March 17._
+
+Petition from Rodney asking that a certain Carpenter, "who has long
+lived in Nevis," may be heard. (_Cal._, § 1049.)
+
+Reply of Capt Rodney to the answer of Gov. Russell read. (_Cal._,
+§ 1050.)
+
+_April 10._
+
+Heads of an address about St. Christopher. (_Journal_; _Cal._, §§ 1038,
+1069.)
+
+New England. (_Journal._)
+
+_April 14._
+
+Representations on Gambia question drawn up. (_Cal._, _Dom._, 1773,
+p. 142.)
+
+_April 22._
+
+Rodney's petition. (_Journal_; _Cal._, §§ 958, 1049-1050, 1071, 1074,
+1110, 1194, 1225. See Index.)
+
+_June 9._
+
+Address of Council to the king regarding differences between the English
+and the French at St. Christopher. (_Cal._, §§ 903, 1105.)
+
+_June 23._
+
+Representation and advice of the Council regarding the Rodney case.
+(_Cal._, § 1110.)
+
+"To London, to accompany our Council, who went in a body to congratulate
+the new Lord Treasurer [Sir Thomas Osborne], no friend to it, because
+promoted by my Lord Arlington, whom he hated." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II,
+p. 90.)
+
+_July 21._
+
+About the exportation of wool (_Journal_); report on this question
+urging that present laws be put in execution and export of wool be
+strictly forbidden. (_Cal._, _Dom._, 1673, pp. 382, 541.)
+
+_September 13._
+
+Dr Worsley, his discharge. (_Journal_; _Cal._, § 1151.)
+
+_September 16._
+
+To Council about chosing a new Secretary. (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 94.)
+
+_October 15._
+
+Mr. Lock sworne. (_Journal_; _Cal._, §§ 1162, 1163.)
+
+"To Council, and swore in Mr. Locke, secretary, Dr. Worsley being dead."
+(Evelyn's _Diary_, II, 95. This statement regarding Dr. Worsley cannot
+be true.)
+
+_October 21_ (committee).
+
+Charter parties for transporting to Barbadoes stores and provisions
+read. (_Cal._, § 1058.)
+
+Letters from Sir Peter Colleton & others read. (_Cal._, §§ 1101, 1104,
+1131, 1133.)
+
+Regarding capture of New York. (_Cal._, §§ 1138, 1157.)
+
+_October 27_ (committee).
+
+About Sir J. Atkins, Barbadoes. (_Journal._)
+
+Regarding New York; Mr. Dyer's project for reducing that town.
+(_Journal_; _Cal._, § 1157.)
+
+"To Council about sending succours to recover New York; and then we read
+the commission and instructions to Sir Jonathan Atkins, the new Governor
+of Barbadoes." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, 95.)
+
+_November 3._
+
+About New York, Albany, etc.; consideration of the retaking of these
+places from the Dutch. (_Journal_; _Cal._, §§ 1160, 1165.)
+
+_November 7_ (committee).
+
+William Dervell's statement regarding the loss of New York.
+(_Cal._, § 1143.)
+
+_November 8._
+
+Barbadoes and Sir J. Atkins. (_Journal._) Probably the question
+of Atkins's commission as Governor of Barbadoes was here under
+consideration.
+
+_November 19_ (committee).
+
+Letters from Gov. Lynch read. (_Cal._, § 1115.)
+
+_November 24._
+
+Petitions of Steed, provost marshal of Barbadoes, read.
+(_Cal._, § 1167.)
+
+_December 1._
+
+Letter from Sir Jonathan Atkins received and (probably) read.
+(_Cal._, § 1173.)
+
+_December 5._
+
+Deposition of William Carpenter in favor of Steed. (_Cal._, § 1177.)
+
+_December 19._
+
+Report to the King, presenting draft of commission and instructions for
+Sir Jonathan Atkins, governor of Barbadoes. (_Cal._, §§ 1182, 1185.)
+
+
+1674.
+
+_January 7._
+
+Received order from Privy Council committee on grievances regarding the
+Rodney petition. (_Cal._, § 1194.)
+
+_January 10_ (committee).
+
+Petition of William Dyer of New York to the King read. (_Cal._, § 1108.)
+
+_January 16._
+
+Report of the Council on this petition. (_Cal._, § 1108.)
+
+_January 23._
+
+Order from the Privy Council instructing the Council to transmit a true
+state of the case between Rodney and others. (_Cal._, § 1207.)
+
+_February 10._
+
+"Ordered, That a Copy of M^{r}. Rodneys Peti[~c]on and his Ma^{ties}.
+Reference thereupon, and the Report of this Councill should bee
+delivered by M^{r}. Lock to M^{r}. Secret^{ry}. Coventry to bee by him
+p^{e}sented to his Ma^{ty}.
+
+The Earle of Arlingtons L[~re] to this Councill of the 23^{d}. of
+January last signifying his Ma^{ties}. pleasure, That this Councill
+should consider of a Com^{n}. & Instru[~cc]ons for the Earle of
+Carlisle, appointed to bee Governo^{r}. of Jamaica, and Col: Morgan
+appointed to bee Deputy Governo'{r}. was read.
+
+A Draught of Instru[~cc]ons for my Lord Carlisle was read and debated,
+and the further debate thereof adjourned till next meeting.
+
+My Lord Culpeper having acquainted this Councill, that my Lord Carlisle
+had something to offer to this Councill. The Councill desired my Lord
+Culpeper to acquaint his Lord[~sp], That if hee pleased to come to the
+Councill on Fryday next in the Afternoone, they shall bee ready to
+receive what [~ev] his Lord[~sp] shall bee pleas'd to offer to them.
+
+Ordered that M^{r}. Lock gett some Presses made wherein the papers
+belong to this Councill may bee conveniently layd up.
+
+Two Addiconall Instru[~cc]ons for S^{r}. Jonathan Atkins Ordered to bee
+drawne, one to p^{e}vent his making of Judges & Justices by Com^{ns}.
+limited in tyme, becaus some former Governo^{rs}. by co[~m]issionating
+these Officers only for a yeare, kept them at their devo[~c]on for
+feare they should bee left out of the next, thereby eluding their
+Instru[~cc]ons, which forbid the turning out of any of these Officers,
+but for good caus. Another to prevent the perpetuity of Laws in the
+Planta[~c]ons w^{th}out his Ma^{ties} confirma[~c]on. Ordered also
+that the Addres to his Ma^{ty} ab^{t}. Jonathan Atkins and others
+Governo^{rs}. taking the Oath's here, to be drawne w^{th}out Preamble."
+(_Shaftesbury Papers_, Div. X, 8 (8).)
+
+_February 17._
+
+"M^{r}. Locke Reported to the Councill, That attending M^{r}. Secretary
+Coventry w^{th} the papers concerning Rodney's Case ordered by this
+Council the 10^{th} of this Instant February, M^{r}. Secretary Coventry
+told him, That the Order of the Privy Councill being to transmitt the
+said papers, to his Ma^{ty} in Councill, that itt was not proper to do
+itt by his hands, Butt that they should bee sent to one of the Clerks of
+the Councill to bee by him delivered.
+
+Ordered thereupon, That the said papers bee delivered to one of the
+Clerks of the Councill, to bee by him p^{e}sented to his Ma^{ty} in
+Councill.
+
+Ordered That the Address of this Councill to his Ma^{ty} concerning
+S^{r}. Jonathan Atkins and other Governo^{rs}. and Deputy Governo^{rs}.
+takeing the Oathes &c: here, bee delivered to the Earle of Arlington to
+bee by him p^{e}sented to his Ma^{ty}.
+
+Two Addiconall Instru[~cc]ons for S^{r}. Jonathan Atkins, The one about
+the Com^{ns}. of Justices of the Peace, and the other about Marshall Law
+read & agreed.
+
+A Copy of an Order of the Presid^{ts}. & Councill of Barbados,
+concerning the Provost Marshall's place, was brought in by my Lord
+Culpeper, who assured the Councill hee had re[~c]ed itt in a Letter from
+the Clerk of the Councill there, which letter hee had not now about him.
+The considera[~c]on thereof adjourned till this Copy bee made appeare to
+this Councill to bee more authentique.
+
+Upon Reading the Addiconall Instru[~cc]on to Sir Jonathan Atkins
+concerning the reenacting of Laws. The Councill entred into a debate
+about the best way for his Ma^{ty} to confirme the Laws made by the
+Planta[~c]ons, which being often tymes ill worded by the Assembly there,
+and some tymes faulty in some part though the maine deserves to bee
+established. Which being found to bee a matter of great moment, The
+farther debate thereof was adjourned till another opportunity, when the
+Earle of Shaftesbury should bee present." (_Shaftesbury Papers_, Div. X,
+8 (9); _Cal._, § 1221. These minutes are the only complete record that
+we have of the proceedings at council meetings. They show how much has
+been lost in the disappearance of the original journal.)
+
+_March 6._
+
+Letter from Lord Willoughby read. (_Cal._, § 966.)
+
+Petition of William Helyar regarding woodland purchased by him in
+Jamaica. (_Cal._, § 1236.)
+
+_March 8._
+
+Report of the Council upon the petition of Edwin Steed. (_Cal._,
+§ 1238.)
+
+_March 17._
+
+Mr. Gorges paper regarding the sugar plantations. (_Cal._, § 1244.)
+
+_March 23._
+
+Sends Helyar's petition to Gov. Lynch and wishes reply. (_Cal._,
+§ 1250.)
+
+Draft Commission for the Earl of Carlisle, appointed governor of
+Jamaica. (_Cal._, §§ 1251, 1252. Cf. § 1253.)
+
+Similar draft for Col. Morgan, deputy governor of Jamaica. (_Cal._,
+§ 1254.)
+
+_April 3._
+
+Petition from Representatives of Leeward Is. for convoys, etc.
+(_Cal._, § 1257.)
+
+_April 13._
+
+New England: petition of Earl of Sterling, Gorges, and Mason read.
+(_Journal_; _Cal._, § 1247.)
+
+_May 8_ (committee).
+
+Letter from Gov. Stapleton read. (_Cal._, §§ 1201-1203, 1327.)
+
+_July 3._
+
+Petition of Edmund Cooke, merchant, regarding the barbarous treatment
+received from the Spaniards. (_Cal._, § 1320.)
+
+_July 17._
+
+Similar petition from other merchants. (_Cal._, § 1327.)
+
+_September 15._
+
+"To Council, about fetching away the English left at Surinam, etc.,
+since our reconciliation with Holland." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 99.)
+
+_September 22._
+
+Regarding Surinam question--fetching the English away, etc. (_Cal._,
+§ 1354.)
+
+_September 24._
+
+Report on this question to the King. (_Cal._, § 1355.)
+
+_October 6_ (Committee).
+
+Letter from Gov. Lynch in answer to Col. Helyar's petition read.
+(_Cal._, § 1301.)
+
+_October 13._
+
+Letter from Gov. Stapleton on the wrongs suffered from the French in the
+Leeward Is. (_Cal._, § 1333.)
+
+_October 15._
+
+Proposal read of F. Gorges, agent of Gov. Stapleton, regarding the
+action of the French. (_Cal._, § 1360.)
+
+_October 16._
+
+St. Christopher and Sir William Lockhart's letter. (_Cal._, § 1365, I.)
+Lockhart was "Resident with the French King."
+
+_October 27._
+
+Discussion of the Surinam situation. (_Journal._)
+
+_October 30._
+
+Continuation of the same. (_Journal._)
+
+_November 17._
+
+Continuation of the same. (_Journal._)
+
+"To Council, on the business of Surinam, where the Dutch had detained
+some English in prison, ever since the first war, 1665." (Evelyn's
+_Diary_, II, 100.)
+
+_November 20._
+
+About Negroes; probably regarding a clause in Lord Vaughan's commission.
+(_Journal_; _Cal._, §§ 1386, 1392.)
+
+_November 21._
+
+Jamaica and my Lord Vaughan. (_Journal._)
+
+_November 24._
+
+Heads of Lord Vaughan's commission and instructions. (_Cal._, § 1392).
+About Negroes. (_Journal._)
+
+_December 4._
+
+About Surinam. Address of the Council to the King (_Journal_; _Cal._,
+§ 1401.)
+
+_December 17._
+
+Address of the Council regarding Indians brought by force from Guinea to
+Barbadoes. (_Cal._, § 1409.)
+
+_December 18._
+
+About Surinam. (_Journal._) Instruction for a vessel sailing to that
+island. (_Cal._, §§ 1413, 1414, 1415.)
+
+_December 22._
+
+Address from the Council to the King regarding the Surinam question.
+(_Cal._, § 1416.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of British Committees, Commissions, and
+Councils of Trade and Plantations, 1622-1675, by Charles M. Andrews
+
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+    British Committees, Commissions, and Councils of Trade and Plantations, 1622-1675,
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of British Committees, Commissions, and
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+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
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+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
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+
+
+Title: British Committees, Commissions, and Councils of Trade and Plantations, 1622-1675
+
+Author: Charles M. Andrews
+
+Release Date: August 1, 2010 [EBook #33313]
+
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+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRITISH COMMITTEES ***
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+</pre>
+
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="pagei" name="pagei"></a>[i]</span></p>
+
+<p><!--[Blank Page]-->&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="pageii" name="pageii"></a>[ii]</span></p>
+
+<p><!--[Blank Page]-->&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="pageiii" name="pageiii"></a>[iii]</span></p>
+
+<table border="0" align="center" width="50%" summary="Series XVII, Nos. 1&ndash;2&ndash;3">
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="sc">Series XXVI</span></td><td align="right"><span class="sc">Nos. 1&ndash;2&ndash;3</span></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class="center">
+JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY STUDIES
+<br />
+<small>IN</small>
+<br />
+<span class="sc">Historical and Political Science</span>
+<br />
+<small>Under the Direction of the</small>
+<br />
+Departments of History, Political Economy, and
+Political Science
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<a name="h2H_4_0002" id="h2H_4_0002"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h2>
+BRITISH COMMITTEES, COMMISSIONS,
+<br />
+AND COUNCILS OF TRADE AND
+<br />
+PLANTATIONS, 1622&ndash;1675
+</h2>
+
+<h2>
+<small>BY</small>
+<br />
+CHARLES M. ANDREWS
+</h2>
+
+<p class="center">
+Professor of History
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<div style="height: 2em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<p class="center">
+BALTIMORE
+<br />
+THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS
+</p>
+<p class="center">
+<small><span style="font-family: sans-serif;">PUBLISHED MONTHLY</span></small>
+<br />
+January, February, March, 1908
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="pageiv" name="pageiv"></a>[iv]</span></p>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<p class="center">
+<span class="sc">Copyright 1908 by</span>
+<br />
+<small>THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS</small>
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="pagev" name="pagev"></a>[v]</span></p>
+
+<a name="h2H_TOC" id="h2H_TOC"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h2>
+    TABLE OF CONTENTS.
+</h2>
+
+<table border="0" align="center" summary="Table of Contents">
+
+<tr><td colspan="2"><p class="center"><a href="#h2HCH0005">CHAPTER I.</a></p></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2"><p class="center"><span class="sc">Control of Trade and Plantations under James I and Charles I.</span></p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>  Before 1622, Privy Council the sole authority             </td><td align="right"><a href="#page10">10</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Commission of Trade, 1622&ndash;1623                      </td><td align="right"><a href="#page11">11</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Commission of Trade, 1625&ndash;1626                      </td><td align="right"><a href="#page12">12</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Privy Council Committee of Trade, 1630&ndash;1640         </td><td align="right"><a href="#page13">13</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Temporary Plantation Commissions, 1630&ndash;1633         </td><td align="right"><a href="#page14">14</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Laud Commission for Plantations, 1634&ndash;1641          </td><td align="right"><a href="#page14">14</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Subcommittees for Plantations, 1632&ndash;1639            </td><td align="right"><a href="#page17">17</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Privy Council in control, 1640&ndash;1642                 </td><td align="right"><a href="#page21">21</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Parliamentary Commission for Plantations, 1643&ndash;1648 </td><td align="right"><a href="#page21">21</a> </td></tr>
+
+<tr><td colspan="2"><p class="center"><a href="#h2HCH0006">CHAPTER II.</a></p></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2"><p class="center"><span class="sc">Control of Trade and Plantations during the Interregnum.</span></p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>  The Council of Trade, 1650&ndash;1653                                                          </td><td align="right"><a href="#page24">24</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Plantation Affairs controlled by the Council of State, 1649&ndash;1651                         </td><td align="right"><a href="#page30">30</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Standing Committee of the Council for Plantations, 1651&ndash;April, 1653                      </td><td align="right"><a href="#page33">33</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Plantation Affairs controlled by the Council of State, April&ndash;Dec., 1653                  </td><td align="right"><a href="#page35">35</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Trade controlled by Council of State and Parliamentary Committees, Dec., 1653&ndash;June, 1655 </td><td align="right"><a href="#page36">36</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Importance of the years 1654&ndash;1655                                                        </td><td align="right"><a href="#page36">36</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  The great Trade Committee, 1655&ndash;1657                                                     </td><td align="right"><a href="#page38">38</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Parliamentary Committees of Trade, 1656&ndash;1658                                             </td><td align="right"><a href="#page43">43</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Plantation Affairs controlled by Protector's Council and Council of the State, 1653&ndash;1660 </td><td align="right"><a href="#page43">43</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Special Council Committees for Plantations, 1653&ndash;1659            </td><td align="right"><a href="#page44">44</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Council Committee for Jamaica and Foreign Plantations, 1655&ndash;1660 </td><td align="right"><a href="#page44">44</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Select Committee for Jamaica, known later as Committee for America, 1655&ndash;1660 </td><td align="right"><a href="#page45">45</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Inadequacy of Control during the Interregnum                                                   </td><td align="right"><a href="#page47">47</a> </td></tr>
+
+<tr><td colspan="2"><p class="center"><a href="#h2HCH0007">CHAPTER III.</a></p></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2"><p class="center"><span class="sc">The Proposals of the Merchants: Noell and Povey.</span></p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>  Career of Martin Noell                                   </td><td align="right"><a href="#page49">49</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="pagevi" name="pagevi"></a>[vi]</span>
+
+          Career of Thomas Povey                                   </td><td align="right"><a href="#page51">51</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Enterprises of the Merchants, 1657&ndash;1659            </td><td align="right"><a href="#page53">53</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Proposals of Noell and Povey                             </td><td align="right"><a href="#page55">55</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Overtures" of 1654              </td><td align="right"><a href="#page55">55</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Queries" of 1656                </td><td align="right"><a href="#page58">58</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Additional Proposals, 1656, 1657 </td><td align="right"><a href="#page58">58</a> </td></tr>
+
+<tr><td colspan="2"><p class="center"><a href="#h2HCH0008">CHAPTER IV.</a></p></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2"><p class="center"><span class="sc">Committees and Councils under the Restoration.</span></p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>  Plantation Committee of Privy Council, June 4, 1660           </td><td align="right"><a href="#page61">61</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Work of Privy Council Committee                               </td><td align="right"><a href="#page63">63</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Appointment of Select Councils of Trade and Plantations, 1660 </td><td align="right"><a href="#page64">64</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Membership of these Councils                                  </td><td align="right"><a href="#page67">67</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Comparison of Povey's "Overtures" with the Instructions for Council for Foreign Plantations </td><td align="right"><a href="#page68">68</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Comparison of Povey's "First Draft" with Instructions for Council of Trade </td><td align="right"><a href="#page71">71</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Work of Council for Foreign Plantations, 1660&ndash;1665      </td><td align="right"><a href="#page74">74</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Control of Plantation Affairs, 1665&ndash;1670                </td><td align="right"><a href="#page79">79</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Work of Council of Trade, 1660&ndash;1664                     </td><td align="right"><a href="#page80">80</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Parliamentary Committee of Trade, 1664                        </td><td align="right"><a href="#page85">85</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Commission for English-Scottish Trade, 1667&ndash;1668        </td><td align="right"><a href="#page86">86</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Reorganization of Committees of the Privy Council, 1668       </td><td align="right"><a href="#page87">87</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Work of Privy Council Committee for Foreign Plantations, 1668&ndash;1670 </td><td align="right"><a href="#page90">90</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  New Select Council of Trade, 1668&ndash;1672                  </td><td align="right"><a href="#page91">91</a> </td></tr>
+
+<tr><td colspan="2"><p class="center"><a href="#h2HCH0009">CHAPTER V.</a></p></td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2"><p class="center"><span class="sc">The Plantation Councils of 1670 and 1672.</span></p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>  Influence of Ashley and Locke                                      </td><td align="right"><a href="#page96">96</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Revival of Council for Foreign Plantations, 1670&ndash;1672        </td><td align="right"><a href="#page97">97</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Membership                                 </td><td align="right"><a href="#page97">97</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Commission and Instructions                </td><td align="right"><a href="#page99">99</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Meetings and Work                          </td><td align="right"><a href="#page101">101</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Select Council of Trade and Foreign Plantations, 1672&ndash;1674   </td><td align="right"><a href="#page106">106</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Membership                                 </td><td align="right"><a href="#page106">106</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Commission and Instructions                </td><td align="right"><a href="#page107">107</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Meetings and Work                          </td><td align="right"><a href="#page109">109</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Causes of the Revocation of the Commission of Select Council, 1674 </td><td align="right"><a href="#page111">111</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Later History of Plantation Control, 1675&ndash;1782               </td><td align="right"><a href="#page112">112</a> </td></tr>
+
+<tr><td colspan="2"><p class="center">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="pagevii" name="pagevii"></a>[vii]</span>
+
+     <a href="#h2H_APPE">APPENDICES.</a></p></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>  I.   <span class="sc">Instructions, Board of Trade</span>, 1650          </td><td align="right"><a href="#page115">115</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  II.  <span class="sc">Instructions, Council for Foreign Plantations</span>, 1670&ndash;1672 </td><td align="right"><a href="#page117">117</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>       &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="sc">Additional Instructions for the Same</span> </td><td align="right"><a href="#page124">124</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  III. <span class="sc">Draft of Instructions, Council of Trade and Foreign Plantations</span>, 1672&ndash;1674 </td><td align="right"><a href="#page127">127</a> </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  IV. <span class="sc">Heads of Business; Councils of 1670 and 1672</span> </td><td align="right"><a href="#page133">133</a> </td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="pageviii" name="pageviii"></a>[viii]</span></p>
+
+<p><!--[Blank Page]-->&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page9" name="page9"></a>[9]</span></p>
+
+<a name="h2H_4_0009" id="h2H_4_0009"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h1>
+    BRITISH COMMITTEES, COMMISSIONS, AND COUNCILS OF TRADE AND PLANTATIONS,
+    1622&ndash;1675.
+</h1>
+
+<a name="h2HCH0005" id="h2HCH0005"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER I.
+</h2>
+<h3>
+    <span class="sc">Control of Trade and Plantations Under James I and Charles I.</span>
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+In considering the subject which forms the chief topic of this paper, we
+are not primarily concerned with the question of settlement, intimately
+related though it be to the larger problem of colonial control. We are
+interested rather in the early history of the various commissions,
+councils, committees, and boards appointed at one time or another in the
+middle of the seventeenth century for the supervision and management of
+trade, domestic, foreign, and colonial, and for the general oversight of
+the colonies whose increase was furthered, particularly after 1650, in
+largest part for commercial purposes. The coupling of the terms "trade"
+and "foreign plantations" was due to the prevailing economic theory
+which viewed the colonies not so much as markets for British exports
+or as territories for the receipt of a surplus British population&mdash;for
+Great Britain had at that time no surplus population and manufactured
+but few commodities for export&mdash;but rather as sources of such raw
+materials as could not be produced at home, and of such tropical
+products as could not be obtained otherwise than from the East and West
+Indies. The two interests were not, however, finally consolidated in
+the hands of a single board until 1672, after which date they were not
+separated until the final abolition of the old Board of Trade in 1782.
+It is, therefore, to the period before 1675 that we shall
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page10" name="page10"></a>[10]</span>
+
+                                                          chiefly direct
+our attention, in the hope of throwing some light upon a phase of
+British colonial control that has hitherto remained somewhat obscure.
+Familiar as are many of the facts connected with the early history of
+Great Britain's management of trade and the colonies, it is nevertheless
+true that no attempt has been made to trace in detail the various
+experiments undertaken by the authorities in England in the interest
+of trade and the plantations during the years before 1675. Many of
+the details are, and will always remain, unknown, nevertheless it is
+possible to make some additions to our knowledge of a subject which
+is more or less intimately related to our early colonial history.
+</p>
+<p>
+At the beginning of colonization the control of all matters relating
+to trade and the plantations lay in the hands of the king and his
+council, forming the executive branch of the government. Parliament
+had not yet begun to legislate for the colonies, and in matters
+of trade and commerce the parliaments of James I accomplished much
+less than had those of Elizabeth. "In the time of James I," says Dr.
+Prothero, "it was more essential to assert constitutional principles
+and to maintain parliamentary rights than to pass new laws or to create
+new institutions." Thus the Privy Council became the controlling factor
+in all matters that concerned the colonies and it acted in the main
+without reference or delegation to others, since the practice of
+appointing advisory boards or deliberative committees, though not
+unknown, was at first employed only as an occasional expedient. The
+councils of James I were called upon to deal with a wide variety of
+colonial business&mdash;letters, petitions, complaints and reports from
+private individuals, such as merchants, captains of ships voyaging
+to the colonies, seamen, prisoners, and the like, from officials
+in England, merchant companies, church organizations, and colonial
+governments, notably the governor and council and assembly of Virginia.
+To all these communications the Council replied either by issuing orders
+which were always mandatory, or by sending letters which often contained
+information and advice as well as
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page11" name="page11"></a>[11]</span>
+
+                                  instructions. It dealt with the
+Virginia Company in London and sent letters, both before and after the
+dissolution of the company, to the governor and council in Virginia,
+and in all these letters trade played an important part. For example,
+the order of October 24, 1621, which forbade the colony to export
+tobacco and other commodities to foreign countries, declared that such
+a privilege as an open trade on the part of the colony was desirable
+"neither in policy nor for the honor of the state (that being but a
+colony derived from hence)," and that it could not be suffered "for that
+it may be a loss unto his Majesty in his customs, if not the hazarding
+of the trade which in future times is well hoped may be of much profit,
+use, and importance to the Commonalty."<a href="#note-1-1" name="noteref-1-1"><small>1</small></a> Similarly the Council issued
+a license to Lord Baltimore to export provisions for the relief of his
+colony at Avalon,<a href="#note-2-1" name="noteref-2-1"><small>2</small></a> ordered that the <i>Ark</i> and the <i>Dove</i>, containing
+Calvert and the settlers of Maryland, be held back at Tilbury until the
+oaths of allegiance had been taken,<a href="#note-3-1" name="noteref-3-1"><small>3</small></a> and instructed the governor and
+company of Virginia to give friendly assistance to Baltimore's
+undertaking.<a href="#note-4-1" name="noteref-4-1"><small>4</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+Of the employment of committees or special commissions to inquire
+into questions either commercial or colonial there is no evidence
+before the year 1622. A few months after the dissolution of the third
+Stuart parliament, James I issued a proclamation for the encouragement
+of trade, and directed a special commission not composed of privy
+councillors to inquire into the decay of the clothing trade and to
+report to the Privy Council such remedial measures as seemed best
+adapted to increase the wealth and prosperity of the realm.<a href="#note-5-1" name="noteref-5-1"><small>5</small></a> At the
+same time he caused a commission to be issued to the Lord Keeper, the
+Lord Treasurer, the Lord President of the Council and others "to collect
+and cause a true survey to be taken in writing of the names, qualities,
+professions, and places of habitation of such strangers as do
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page12" name="page12"></a>[12]</span>
+
+                                                               reside
+within the realm of England and use any retailing trade or handicraft
+trade and do reform the abuses therein according to the statutes now in
+force."<a href="#note-6-1" name="noteref-6-1"><small>6</small></a> The commissioners of trade duly met, during the years 1622
+and 1623, summoned persons to appear before them, and reported to the
+Council. Their report was afterward presented to the King sitting with
+the Council at Wansted, "was allowed and approved of, and commandment
+was given to enter it in the Register of Counsell causes and to remain
+as an act of Counsell by order of the Lord President."<a href="#note-7-1" name="noteref-7-1"><small>7</small></a> There is
+evidence also to show that the commission issued orders on its own
+account, for in June, 1623, the Mayor and Aldermen of the city of London
+wrote two letters to the commission expressing their approval of its
+orders and sending petitions presented to them by citizens of London.<a href="#note-8-1" name="noteref-8-1"><small>8</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+On April 15, 1625, less than three weeks after the death of James I,
+a warrant was issued by his successor for a commission of trade, the
+duties of which were of broader and more general character than were
+those of the previous body.<a href="#note-9-1" name="noteref-9-1"><small>9</small></a> The first record of its meeting is dated
+January 18, 1626, but it is probable that then the commission had been
+for some time in existence, though the exact date when its commission
+was issued is not known. The text of both commission and instructions
+are among the Domestic Papers.<a href="#note-10-1" name="noteref-10-1"><small>10</small></a> The board was to advance the
+exportations of home manufactures and to repress the "ungainful
+importation of foreign commodities." Looked upon as a subcommittee of
+the Privy Council, but having none of the privy councillors among its
+members, it was required to sit every week and to consider all questions
+that might be referred to it for examination and report. The fact that a
+complaint against the patent of Sir Ferdinando Gorges was referred to it
+shows
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page13" name="page13"></a>[13]</span>
+
+      that it was qualified to deal not only with questions of trade but
+also with plantation affairs.<a href="#note-11-1" name="noteref-11-1"><small>11</small></a> At about the same time a committee of
+the Council was appointed to take into consideration a special question
+of trade and to make report to the Council. Neither of these bodies
+appears to have had more than a temporary existence, although the
+commission sat for some time and accomplished no inconsiderable amount
+of work.
+</p>
+<p>
+The first Privy Council committee of trade that had any claim to
+permanency was that appointed in March, 1630, consisting at first of
+thirteen members, the Lord Keeper, the Lord Treasurer, the Lord
+President, the Lord Privy Seal, Earl Marshall, the Lord Steward, Earl
+of Dorset, Earl of Holland, Earl of Carlisle, Lord Dorchester, the
+Vice-Chamberlain, Sir Henry Cottington and Mr. Secretary Coke. This
+committee was to meet on Friday mornings. The same committee, with the
+omission of one member, was appointed the next year to meet on Tuesdays
+in the afternoon. In 1634 the membership was reduced to nine, but in
+1636, 1638 and 1639, by the addition of the Lord Treasurer, the number
+was raised to ten, as follows: the Lord President, the Lord Treasurer,
+the Lord Keeper, the Lord Privy Seal, Earl Marshall, Earl of Dorset,
+Lord Cottington, Mr. Comptroller, Mr. Secretary Coke and Mr. Secretary
+Windebank. The meetings were again held on Fridays, though on special
+occasions the committee was warned to meet on other days by order of the
+Council, and on one occasion at least assembled at Hampton Court.<a href="#note-12-1" name="noteref-12-1"><small>12</small></a>
+To this committee were referred all matters of trade which came to the
+attention of the Council during the ten years, from 1630 to 1640. Notes
+of its meetings between 1631 and 1637 were kept by Secretaries Coke and
+Windebank and show the extent and variety of its activities. Except for
+the garbling of tobacco it does not appear to have concerned itself with
+plantation
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page14" name="page14"></a>[14]</span>
+
+           affairs.<a href="#note-13-1" name="noteref-13-1"><small>13</small></a> As the King was generally present at its
+meetings, it possessed executive as well as advisory powers, not only
+making reports to the Council, but also drafting regulations and issuing
+orders on its own account. Occasionally it appointed special committees
+to examine into certain trade difficulties, and on September 21, 1638,
+and again on February 3, 1639, we find notice of a separate board of
+commissioners for trade constituted under the great seal to inquire into
+the decay of the clothing industry. This board sat for two years and
+made an elaborate report to the Privy Council on June 9, 1640.<a href="#note-14-1" name="noteref-14-1"><small>14</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+Though committees for trade, ordnance, foreign affairs, and Ireland
+had a more or less continuous existence during the period after 1630,
+no similar committee for plantations was created during this decade.
+Temporary commissions and committees of the Council had been, however,
+frequently appointed. In 1623 and 1624 several sets of commissioners for
+Virginia were named "to inquire into the true state of Virginia and the
+Somers Islands plantations," "to resolve upon the well settling of the
+colony of Virginia," "and to advise on a fit patent for the Virginia
+Company." In 1631 a commission of twenty-three persons, of whom four
+constituted a quorum, was created, partly from within and partly from
+without the Privy Council, "to advise upon some course for establishing
+the advancement of the plantations of Virginia."<a href="#note-15-1" name="noteref-15-1"><small>15</small></a> Similar commissions
+were appointed to meet special exigencies in the careers of other
+plantations, Somers Islands, Caribbee Islands, etc. In 1632, we meet
+with a committee forming the first committee of the Council appointed
+for the plantations, quite distinct in functions and
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page15" name="page15"></a>[15]</span>
+
+                                                     membership from
+the committee for trade and somewhat broader in scope than the
+commissions mentioned above. The circumstances of its appointment were
+these: In the year 1632 complaints began to come in to the Privy Council
+regarding the conduct of the colony of Massachusetts Bay. Thomas Morton
+and Philip Ratcliffe had been banished from that colony and sent back
+to England. Sir Christopher Gardiner, also, after a period of troubled
+relations with the authorities there, had taken ship for England. These
+men, acting in conjunction with Gorges and Mason, whose claims had
+already been before the Council, presented petitions embodying their
+grievances. On December 19, 1632, the Council listened to the reading
+of these petitions and to the presentation of a "relation" drawn up by
+Gardiner. After long debate "upon the whole carriage of the plantation
+of that country," it appointed a committee of twelve members, called the
+Committee on the New England Plantations, with the Archbishop of York at
+its head, "to examine how the patents for the said plantations have been
+granted." This committee had power to call "to their assistance such
+other persons as they shall think fit," "to examine the truth of the
+aforesaid information or any other information as shall be presented to
+them and shall make report thereof to this board and of the true state
+of the said plantations." The committee deliberated on the "New England
+Case," summoned many of the "principal adventurers in that plantation"
+before it, listened to the complainants, and reported favorably to the
+colony. The essential features of its report were embodied in an order
+in council, dated January 19, 1633.<a href="#note-16-1" name="noteref-16-1"><small>16</small></a> This committee, still called the
+Committee for New England, was reappointed in December, 1633, with a
+slight change of membership, Laud, who had been made primate the August
+before, taking the place of the Archbishop of York as chairman. But this
+committee was soon overshadowed by the greater commission to come.<a href="#note-17-1" name="noteref-17-1"><small>17</small></a>
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page16" name="page16"></a>[16]</span></p>
+
+<p>
+The first separate commission, though, in reality, a committee of the
+Privy Council, appointed to concern itself with all the plantations,
+was created by Charles I, April 28, 1634. It was officially styled
+the Commission for Foreign Plantations; one petitioner called it
+"the Lords Commissioners for Plantations in General," and another
+"the learned Commissioners appointed by the King to examine and rectify
+all complaints from the plantations." It is probable that the term
+"Committee of Foreign Plantations" was occasionally applied to it,
+as there is nothing to show that the committee of 1633 remained in
+existence after April, 1634.<a href="#note-18-1" name="noteref-18-1"><small>18</small></a> Recommissioned, April 10, 1636, it
+continued to sit as an active body certainly as late as August, 1641,
+and possibly longer,<a href="#note-19-1" name="noteref-19-1"><small>19</small></a> though there is no formal record of its
+discontinuance. Its original membership was as follows: William Laud,
+Archbishop of Canterbury; Richard Neile, Archbishop of York; Sir Thomas
+Coventry, the Lord Keeper; Earl of Portland, the Lord Treasurer, Earl
+of Manchester, the Lord Privy Seal, Earl of Arundel, the Earl Marshall,
+Earl of Dorset, Lord Cottington, Sir Thomas Edmondes, the Master
+Treasurer, Sir Henry Vane, the Master Comptroller, and the secretaries,
+Coke and Windebank. Later the Earl of Sterling was added.<a href="#note-20-1" name="noteref-20-1"><small>20</small></a> Five
+constituted a quorum. The powers granted to the commission were
+extensive and almost royal in character: to make laws and orders for the
+government of the English colonies in foreign parts; to impose penalties
+and imprisonment for offenses in ecclesiastical matters; to remove
+governors and require an account of their government;
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page17" name="page17"></a>[17]</span>
+
+                                                      to appoint judges
+and magistrates, and to establish courts, both civil and ecclesiastical;
+to hear and determine all manner of complaints from the colonies;
+to have power over all charters and patents, and to revoke those
+surreptitiously or unduly obtained. Such powers clearly show that the
+commission was designed as an instrument for enforcing the royal will
+in the colonies, and furnishes no precedent for the later councils and
+boards of trade and foreign plantations. Called into being probably
+because of the continued emigration of Puritans to New England, the
+complaints against the Massachusetts charter, and the growth of
+Independency in that colony, it was in origin a coercive, not an
+inquisitory, body, in the same class with the courts of Star Chamber and
+High Commission, and the Councils of Wales and the North. Unlike these
+bodies, it proved practically impotent, and there is nothing to show
+that it took any active part in the attempt to repeal the Massachusetts
+charter or in any important particular exercised the powers granted
+to it. It did not remove or appoint a governor, establish a court, or
+grant or revoke a charter. It received petitions either directly or
+from the Privy Council and made recommendations, but it never attempted
+to establish uniformity in New England or to bring the New England
+colonies more directly under the authority of the Crown. Whether it was
+the failure of the attempt to vacate the Massachusetts charter, or the
+poverty of the King, or the approach of civil war that prevented the
+enforcement of the royal policy, we cannot say, but the fact remains
+that the Laud commission played a comparatively inconspicuous part
+during the seven years of its existence and has gained a prominence in
+the history of our subject out of all proportion to its importance.
+</p>
+<p>
+More directly connected with the commercial and colonial interests of
+the realm were the subcommittees which the Privy Council used during
+these years and earlier as advisory and inquisitory bodies. In addition
+to committees of its own, the Privy Council called on various outside
+persons
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page18" name="page18"></a>[18]</span>
+
+        known to be familiar with the circumstances of a particular
+case or experts in the general subject involved, and entrusted to
+them the consideration of important matters that had been called to its
+attention. As we have already seen, such a subcommittee on trade had
+been appointed in 1625, and after 1630 we meet with many references to
+individuals or groups of experts. The attorney general was called upon
+to examine complaints regarding New England and Maryland in 1632 and
+1635; the Chancellor of London was requested to examine the parties in
+a controversy over a living in St. Christopher in 1637; many commercial
+questions were referred to special bodies of merchants or others holding
+official positions. In 1631 a complaint regarding interlopers in Canada
+was referred to a committee of three, Sir William Becher, clerk of the
+Council; Serj. (Wm.) Berkeley, afterward governor of Virginia, and
+Edward Nicholas, afterward clerk of the Council, and a new committee
+in which Sir William Alexander and Robert Charlton took the place of
+Becher and Nicholas was appointed in 1632.<a href="#note-21-1" name="noteref-21-1"><small>21</small></a> Berkeley, Alexander,
+and Charlton were known as the Commissioners for the Gulf and River of
+Canada and parts adjacent, and were all directly interested in Canadian
+trade.<a href="#note-22-1" name="noteref-22-1"><small>22</small></a> These committees received references from the Council,
+summoned witnesses and examined them, and made reports to the Council.
+Similarly, the dispute between Vassall and Kingswell was referred on
+March 10, 1635, to Edward Nicholas and Sir Abraham Dawes for examination
+and report, and because it was an intricate matter, consumed
+considerable time and required a second report.<a href="#note-23-1" name="noteref-23-1"><small>23</small></a> Again a case
+regarding the Virginia tobacco trade was referred to the body known
+as the "Commissioners of Tobacco to the Lords of the Privy Council,"
+appointed as early as 1634 and itself a subcommittee having to do with
+tobacco licenses, customs, and trade. The members were Lord Goring,
+Sir Abraham Dawes, John Jacob, and Edmund
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page19" name="page19"></a>[19]</span>
+
+                                          Peisley. The first specific
+references to "subcommittees," <i>eo nomine</i>, are of date May 23, May 25,
+and June 27, 1638. The last named reference mentions the receipt by the
+Privy Council of a "certificate" or report from Sir John Wolstenholme
+and Sir Abraham Dawes "unto whom their lordships had formerly referred
+the hearing and examining of complaints by John Michael in the Laconia
+case."<a href="#note-24-1" name="noteref-24-1"><small>24</small></a> As the earlier reference of May 23 had to do with the estate
+of Sir Thomas Gates and that of May 25 to a Virginia matter, it is
+evident that this particular subcommittee had been appointed some time
+before May 23, 1638, and that the only thing new about it was the
+term "subcommittee" as applied to such a body. This conjecture seems
+reasonable when we note that Wolstenholme and Dawes had already served
+on the commission for Virginia and were thoroughly conversant with
+plantation affairs, while Dawes was also a member of the tobacco
+commission and had served on the committee in the Kingswell-Vassall
+case. An examination of later "subcommittees" shows that many of the
+same men continued to be utilized by the Council in their capacity as
+experts. Lord Goring, John Jacob, Sir Abraham Dawes, with Sir William
+Becher and Edward Nicholas, clerks of the Council, and Edward Sandys,
+brother of Sir Edwin Sandys, and a councillor of Virginia under Governor
+Wyatt, formed the subcommittee to whom, on July 15, was referred the
+complaint of Samuel Mathews against Governor Harvey. When the same
+matter was referred again to a subcommittee on October 24, Sir Dudley
+Carleton, formerly one of the commissioners for Virginia, and Thomas
+Meautys, clerk of the Council, were substituted for Dawes and
+Nicholas.<a href="#note-25-1" name="noteref-25-1"><small>25</small></a> These committees were instructed "to call the parties
+before them, to examine the matter, and find out the truth, and then
+to make certificate to their lordships of the true state of things and
+their opinion thereof."<a href="#note-26-1" name="noteref-26-1"><small>26</small></a> Similar references continued to be made
+during the year 1639, on
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page20" name="page20"></a>[20]</span>
+
+                         January 4, February 22, March 8,<a href="#note-27-1" name="noteref-27-1"><small>27</small></a> June 12,
+16, July 17, 26, 28, August 28, and the evidence seems to show that the
+committee, though frequently changing its membership, was considered
+a body sitting regularly and continuously. The certificate of July 9,
+1638, in answer to the reference of June 16, was signed by Sir William
+Becher, Thomas Meautys, Sir Francis Wyatt, and Abraham Williams; that
+of July 23 by Becher, Dawes, Jacob, and Williams. After August 28 we
+hear no more of the subcommittee. Whether this is due to a failure of
+the Register to enter further references and certificates or to the
+actual cessation of its labors, we cannot say. The committee was always
+appointed by the Council, and always reported to that body. Frequently
+its certificates are entered at length in the Register.<a href="#note-28-1" name="noteref-28-1"><small>28</small></a> The petition
+upon which it acted was sometimes sent directly to itself, frequently
+to the Privy Council, which referred it to the subcommittee, and but
+rarely to the Commissioners for Foreign Plantations.<a href="#note-29-1" name="noteref-29-1"><small>29</small></a> The committee
+was limited in its scope to no one colony. It reported on matters in
+England, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Somers Islands, and Virginia.
+It dealt with secular business and ecclesiastical questions, and on one
+occasion at least was required to examine and approve the instructions
+issued to a colonial governor.<a href="#note-30-1" name="noteref-30-1"><small>30</small></a> It does not appear ever to have acted
+except by order of the Privy Council, and was never in any sense of
+the word a subcommittee of the Commissioners of Foreign Plantations,
+although in reporting to the Council it was reporting to those who
+composed that commission.<a href="#note-31-1" name="noteref-31-1"><small>31</small></a>
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page21" name="page21"></a>[21]</span></p>
+
+<p>
+From 1640 to 1642 plantation business was managed by the Privy Council
+with the aid of occasional committees of its own appointed to consider
+special questions. The term "subcommittee," as we have seen, does not
+appear to have been used after 1639,<a href="#note-32-1" name="noteref-32-1"><small>32</small></a> but commissions authorizing
+experts to make inquiry and report are referred to, and committees
+of the Council took into consideration questions of trade and the
+plantations. During the year from July 5, 1642, to June, 1643, no
+measures relating to the colonies appear to have been taken, for
+civil war was in full swing. In 1643, Parliament assumed to itself
+the functions of King and Council and became the executive head of the
+kingdom. Among the earliest acts was the appointment of a parliamentary
+commission of eighteen members, November 24, 1643, authorized to control
+plantation affairs. At its head was Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick,
+and among its members were Philip, Earl of Pembroke, Edward, Earl of
+Manchester, William, Viscount Say and Seale, Philip, Lord Wharton, and
+such well known Puritan commoners as Sir Arthur Haslerigg, John Pym, Sir
+Harry Vane, Junior, Oliver Cromwell, Samuel Vassall, and others. Four
+members constituted a quorum. The powers granted to this commission were
+extensive, though as far as phraseology goes, less complete than those
+granted to the commission of 1634. The commissioners were to have "power
+and authority to provide for, order, and dispose all things which they
+shall from time to time find most fit and advantageous to the well
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page22" name="page22"></a>[22]</span>
+
+ governing, securing, and strengthening, and preserving" of "all those
+islands and other plantations, inhabited, planted, or belonging to any
+of his Majesty's the King of England's subjects." They were authorized
+to call to their assistance any inhabitants of the plantations or owners
+of land in America who might be within twenty miles of their place of
+meeting; to make use of all records, books, and papers which concerned
+any of the colonies; to appoint governors and officers for governing
+the plantations; to remove any of the officials so appointed and to put
+others in their places; and, when they deemed fit, to assign as much of
+their authority and power to such persons as they should deem suitable
+for better governing and preserving of the plantations from open
+violence and private disturbance and destruction.
+</p>
+<p>
+In the exercise of these powers the commissioners never embraced the
+full opportunity offered to them by their charter. They did appoint
+one governor, Sir Thomas Warner, governor of the Caribbee Islands.
+They granted to the inhabitants of Providence, Portsmouth, and Newport
+a patent of incorporation and conferred upon the patentees authority
+"to rule themselves by such form of civil government as by voluntary
+consent of all or the greater part of them they should find most
+suitable to their estate or condition.<a href="#note-33-1" name="noteref-33-1"><small>33</small></a> They also endeavored to make
+a grant of the Narragansett country to Massachusetts, at the special
+request of Massachusetts' agents in 1643, but failed, partly because
+they had no certain authority to grant land and partly because the
+only clause of their commission which seemed to give such authority
+required the consent of a majority, and the agents could obtain but nine
+signatures to the grant. Even these activities on the part of the board
+lasted but little over a year, and after 1644 the commissioners played a
+more or less passive role. They continued to sit but their only recorded
+interest in colonial affairs concerned New England. From 1645 to 1648
+they became involved in the controversy
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page23" name="page23"></a>[23]</span>
+
+                                        over the Narragansett country,
+and in the attempt of Massachusetts to thwart her enemies, the
+Gortonists and the Presbyterians.<a href="#note-34-1" name="noteref-34-1"><small>34</small></a> Whether the commission continued
+to sit after the execution of the King is uncertain; there are no
+further references to its existence. That many of its members remained
+influential in colonial affairs is evident from the fact that at least
+seven of the commissioners became members of the Council of State,
+appointed February 13, 1649: Philip, Earl of Pembroke (died 1650); Sir
+Arthur Haslerigg, Sir Harry Vane, the younger; Oliver Cromwell, Dennis
+Bond, Miles Corbet, and Cornelius Holland. Haslerigg was a conspicuous
+leader in colonial as well as other matters during the entire period of
+the Commonwealth and the Protectorate; Vane became president of the new
+board of trade created in August, 1650, was at the head of the Committee
+of the Admiralty, which often had colonial matters referred to it, and
+served frequently on plantation committees from 1649 to 1659; while
+Bond, Corbet, and Holland, though never very active, were members of
+one general and a few special committees that concerned themselves with
+trade and plantations. Thus the spirit of the Independent wing of the
+old commission continued to influence the policy of the government
+in the early years of the Commonwealth period. The Council of State,
+appointed by act of the Rump Parliament, was given full authority to
+provide for England's trade at home and abroad and to regulate the
+affairs of the plantations. Though its membership underwent yearly
+changes and its composition and members were altered many times before
+1660, its policy and machinery of control remained constant except as
+far as they were affected by the greater power which the Council gained
+in the face of the growing weakness of Parliament.
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<a name="note-1-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-1-1">1</a>)
+Privy Council Register, James I, Vol. V, p. 173; repeated
+p. 618.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-2-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-2-1">2</a>)
+P.C.R., Charles I. Vol. V, p. 106.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-3-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-3-1">3</a>)
+P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. IX, p. 291.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-4-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-4-1">4</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Colonial, 1574&ndash;1660, p. 170, § 78.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-5-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-5-1">5</a>)
+Rymer, F&oelig;dera XVII. pp. 410&ndash;414.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-6-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-6-1">6</a>)
+Public Record Office, Chancery, Crown Dockets, 4, p. 280,
+June 26, 1622.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-7-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-7-1">7</a>)
+P.C.R., James I, Vol. VI, pp. 333, 365&ndash;368, July, 1624.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-8-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-8-1">8</a>)
+Analytical Index to the Series of Records known as
+Remembrancia preserved among the Archives of the City of London,
+1579&ndash;1644, p. 526.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-9-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-9-1">9</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Domestic, 1625&ndash;1649, pp. 4, 84.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-10-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-10-1">10</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1625&ndash;1649, pp. 225, 522, §§ 19,
+20, p. 495.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-11-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-11-1">11</a>)
+P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. II, Pt. I, p. 68.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-12-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-12-1">12</a>)
+P.C.R., Charles I, Vols. V, p. 10; VI, p. 7; X., p. 3;
+XII, p. 1; XV, p. 1.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-13-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-13-1">13</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1629&ndash;1631, p. 526; 1634&ndash;1635,
+pp. 453, 472, 513, 584; 1635, pp. 30, 515, 548, 598; 1635&ndash;1636,
+pp. 44, 231; 1636&ndash;1637, p. 402; 1637, pp. 47; 1637&ndash;1638, p. 410.
+The secretaries' notes will be found as follows: Coke, 1629&ndash;1631, pp.
+526, 535; Windebank, 1634&ndash;1635, pp. 500, 513; 1635, pp. 11&ndash;12, 29, 502,
+536; 1635&ndash;1636, pp. 291&ndash;292, 428&ndash;429, 551&ndash;552; 1636&ndash;1637, pp. 402; 1637,
+p. 47.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-14-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-14-1">14</a>)
+Historical MSS. Commission, Report XV. Manuscripts of the
+Duke of Portland, VIII, pp. 2&ndash;3.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-15-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-15-1">15</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574&ndash;1660, pp. 44, 62, 63, 64,
+130; Virginia Magazine, VIII, pp. 29, 33&ndash;46, 149.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-16-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-16-1">16</a>)
+Bradford, pp. 352&ndash;355; P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. VIII, pp.
+346&ndash;347; Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574&ndash;1660, p. 158.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-17-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-17-1">17</a>)
+P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. IX, p. 1. The order in Council
+of July 3, 1633, regarding Virginia and Lord Baltimore, is headed "Lords
+Commissioners for Foreign Plantations." It is evident, however, that
+this body is not a separate board of commissioners but the Privy Council
+sitting as a committee of the whole for plantations. The membership does
+not agree with that of the committee of 1632, that committee did not sit
+in the Star Chamber, and such a committee could not issue an order which
+the Privy Council alone could send out. There was no separate commission
+of this kind in July, 1633, as Tyler, England in America, pp. 122&ndash;123
+(Amer. Nation Series, IV) seems to think.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-18-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-18-1">18</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574&ndash;1660, pp. 184, 200, 251,
+259.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-19-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-19-1">19</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Col., 1675&ndash;1676, § 193.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-20-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-20-1">20</a>)
+P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. X, p. 1; XII, p. 1; XV, p. 1; Cal.
+State Papers, Col., 1574&ndash;1660, pp. 177, 232.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-21-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-21-1">21</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574&ndash;1660, pp. 9, 140, 151, 158,
+211, 258.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-22-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-22-1">22</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574&ndash;1600, p. 129.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-23-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-23-1">23</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Col., pp. 197&ndash;198, 207.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-24-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-24-1">24</a>)
+P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. XV, p. 300.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-25-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-25-1">25</a>)
+Virginia Magazine, X, p. 428; XI, p. 46.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-26-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-26-1">26</a>)
+P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. XV, p. 508.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-27-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-27-1">27</a>)
+"Att Whitehall, 8th of March, 1638(9)
+</p>
+<p class="foot2">
+Their Lordships do pray and require the subcommittee for foreign
+plantations to consider of this petition at their next meeting and to
+make report to their Lordships of their opinion concerning the same.
+</p>
+<p class="foot2">
+Will. Becher."
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-28-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-28-1">28</a>)
+P.C.R., Charles I, Vols. XV, p. 343; XVI, pp. 542&ndash;543.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-29-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-29-1">29</a>)
+P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. XVI, p. 558; Cal. State Papers,
+Col., 1574&ndash;1660, p. 301.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-30-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-30-1">30</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Col., 1675&ndash;1676, § 190.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-31-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-31-1">31</a>)
+The commissioners frequently formed a majority of those
+present at a Privy Council meeting. For example, in 1638, the Council
+wrote a letter to the governor of Virgina. This letter was signed by
+eleven councillors, of whom eight were members of the Commission.
+It is sometimes difficult to distinguish the different capacities in
+which Archbishop Laud acted. A series of minutes drawn up by him in 1638
+of the subjects upon which he had prepared reports to the King notes
+the following: concerning the six plantations, grants of offices in
+reversion, new patent offices and monopolies, the execution of the
+King's former directions, and trade and commerce. In making these
+reports Archbishop Laud acted as president of the Council, president
+of the Commission for Foreign Plantations, president of the committee
+for Foreign Affairs, High Commission Court, etc.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-32-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-32-1">32</a>)
+The term "subcommittee" is used by petitioners as late
+as August, 1640 (Cal. Col., 1574&ndash;1660, p. 314), but no references and
+reports of so late a date are to be found in the Calendar or the
+Register.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-33-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-33-1">33</a>)
+This is, of course, the well-known Williams patent of
+1644. Rhode Island, Colonial Records, I, pp. 143&ndash;146.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-34-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-34-1">34</a>)
+Osgood, The Colonies in the Seventeenth Century, III,
+pp. 110&ndash;112.
+</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page24" name="page24"></a>[24]</span></p>
+
+<a name="h2HCH0006" id="h2HCH0006"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER II.
+</h2>
+<h3>
+    <span class="sc">Control of Trade and Plantations During the Interregnum.</span>
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+The earliest separate council to be established during the period from
+1650 to 1660 was that appointed by act of Parliament, August, 1650,
+known as the Commission or Council of Trade, of which Sir Harry Vane
+was president and Benjamin Worsley, a London merchant and "doctor of
+physic," already becoming known as an expert on plantation affairs,
+was secretary. This body was specially instructed by Parliament to
+consider, not only domestic and foreign trade, the trading companies,
+manufactures, free ports, customs, excise, statistics, coinage and
+exchange, and fisheries, but also the plantations and the best means
+of promoting their welfare and rendering them useful to England.
+"They are to take into their consideration," so runs article 12 of the
+instructions, "the English plantations in America or elsewhere, and
+to advise how these plantations may best be managed and made most
+useful for the Commonwealth, and how the commodities thereof may be so
+multiplied and improved as (if it be possible) those plantations alone
+may supply the Commonwealth of England with whatsoever it necessarily
+wants." These statesmanlike and comprehensive instructions are notable
+in the history of the development of England's commercial and colonial
+program. Free from the limitations which characterize the instructions
+given to the earlier commissions, they stand with the Parliamentary
+ordinance of October, 1650, and the Navigation Act of 1651, as forming
+the first definite expression of England's commercial policy. Inadequate
+though the immediate results were to be, we cannot call that policy
+"drifting" which could shape with so much intelligence the functions
+of a board of trade and plantations. There is no trace
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page25" name="page25"></a>[25]</span>
+
+                                                        here of the
+coercive and politico-ecclesiastical purpose of the Laud Commission, or
+of the partisan policy in the interests of the Puritans that the Warwick
+Commission was instructed to carry out. Here we have the first attempt
+to establish a legitimate control of commercial and colonial affairs,
+and to these instructions may be traced the beginnings of a policy which
+had the prosperity and wealth of England exclusively at heart.
+</p>
+<p>
+Of the history of this board but little has been hitherto known and
+its importance has been singularly neglected. It was more than a merely
+advisory body, like the later councils and boards of trade, for it had
+the power to issue orders of its own. It sat in Whitehall, received
+information, papers,<a href="#note-1-2" name="noteref-1-2"><small>1</small></a> and orders from the Council of State, and
+reported to that higher authority, which approved or disapproved of
+its recommendations. To it the Council instructed traders and others
+to refer their petitions, and itself referred numbers of similar papers
+that came into its hands.<a href="#note-2-2" name="noteref-2-2"><small>2</small></a> This board took into consideration the
+various questions touched upon in its instructions, especially those
+concerning fisheries (Greenland), manufactures, navigation, commerce,
+trade (with Guinea, Spain, Canary Islands, etc.), the poor, the trading
+companies (especially the East India and Guinea companies), the merchant
+companies (chiefly of London), and freedom of trade. During the first
+year of its existence it was an active body and could say on November
+20, 1651, that it had made seven reports to the Council of State and
+seven to Parliament, that it had its opinions on six subjects ready to
+be reported, and eight other questions
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page26" name="page26"></a>[26]</span>
+
+                                       under debate.<a href="#note-3-2" name="noteref-3-2"><small>3</small></a> In two
+particulars a fuller consideration of its work is desirable.
+</p>
+<p>
+The Council of Trade devoted a considerable amount of time to regulating
+the buying and selling of wool, and to settling the difficulties that
+had arisen among the curriers, fellmongers, staplers, and clothiers
+of London and elsewhere regarding their trade privileges. Late in the
+spring of 1651 petitions and statements of grievance had been sent
+both to the Council of Trade and to the Common Council of London by
+the "freemen of the city trading in wool," for redress of grievances
+practiced by the Society of Staplers. Shortly afterward, May 13,
+apparently in answer to the complaint of the freemen of London, the
+fellmongers of Coventry petitioned the Council of Trade, begging that
+body not to interfere with its ancient privileges. Taking the matter
+into consideration, the Council, on May 14, issued an order requiring
+the companies to present their expedients and grievances, and appointed
+a committee of two expert wool staplers, members of the Staplers
+Company, to meet with the other companies and draft a certificate of
+their proper and ancient rights. The Common Council, on the same day,
+ordered its committee of trade, or any five of them, to attend the
+Council of Trade and assist the "Company of Upholders," the committee
+presenting the original complaint, in its attempt to obtain a redress
+of grievances according to the plan already placed before the Common
+Council. These efforts were not very successful, for the wool growers
+refused to meet the committee of staplers appointed by the Council of
+Trade, and the fellmongers and clothiers could not reach an agreement
+with the staplers as to the latter's ancient privileges. Consequently,
+the Council of Trade, on June 11, issued a second order requiring the
+committee of trade of the Common Council to report on "the foundation
+and nature of the Staple and the privileges pretended to by that
+Society." This committee "heard
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page27" name="page27"></a>[27]</span>
+
+                                certain of the principal staplers and
+perused the acts and records produced by them in defence of the same,"
+and reported to the Council of Trade on June 26 that, in its opinion,
+the Company of Staplers had become an unnecessary and useless Society,
+and were the principal cause for the dearness of wool, the badness of
+cloth, and the general decay of the woolen trade.<a href="#note-4-2" name="noteref-4-2"><small>4</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+The trouble seems to have been that the fellmongers and staplers
+were deemed useless middlemen between the growers and the clothiers,
+and injurious to the clothing industry because of their abuses. The
+controversy was carried before the Council of State and its committees,
+and both fellmongers and staplers argued long and forcibly in defence
+of their trade.<a href="#note-5-2" name="noteref-5-2"><small>5</small></a> On November 3, 1652, the two societies presented an
+answer to the particular order of the Council of Trade which declared
+them unnecessary and disadvantageous, denied the charges, and prayed
+that they might enjoy their trade as before. Even as late as April 16,
+1653, the fellmongers petitioned for leave to produce wool-growers and
+clothiers to certify the necessity of their trade.<a href="#note-6-2" name="noteref-6-2"><small>6</small></a> But fellmongers
+and staplers as factors in English trade and industry were beginning
+to pass away by the middle of the seventeenth century.
+</p>
+<p>
+The second important question that came before the Council was no less
+significant in its relation to the growth of British trade than was the
+decay of the Societies of Fellmongers and Staplers. It concerned the
+breaking down of the privileges of the merchant companies in general,
+and the establishment of free ports and free trade in England&mdash;that is,
+free trade controlled and ordered by the state. To this end, the Council
+appointed a committee of eleven merchants to whom it gave elaborate
+directions to report on the feasibility of setting apart four free ports
+to which foreign commodities might be imported without paying customs
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page28" name="page28"></a>[28]</span>
+
+ dues if again exported. These merchants met and drew up a report dated
+April 26, 1651, and again on May 26 of the same year expressed further
+opinions on the advisability of the "opening of free ports for trade."
+"Trade being the basis and well-being of a Commonwealth, the way to
+obtain it is to make it a free trade and not to bind up ingenious
+spirits by exemptions and privileges which are granted to some
+particular companies." In addition to the home merchants, the Council
+of Trade presented its queries to the merchant strangers and to the
+Committee for the Affairs of Trinity House, all of whom returned
+answers. It also made public its desire to consider the appointment of
+"convenient ports for the free trade in the Commonwealth," and as early
+as May 22 a number of the out-ports, Dover, Plymouth, the Isle of Wight,
+Barnstaple, Bideford, Appledore, and Southampton petitioned that they be
+recognized as free landing places. The period was one of rivalry between
+London and the out-ports, and the latter believed that the various acts
+of 1650 and 1651 were in the interest of the London merchants only.
+"Yet thus much that act seems to have on it only a London stamp and
+a contentment to subject the whole nation to them, for most of the
+out-ports are not capable of the foreign trade to Indies and Turkey. The
+Londoners having the sole trade do set what price they please upon their
+commodities, knowing the country cannot have them nowhere but by them,
+whereby not only the out-ports are undone but the country brought to the
+devotion of the city. But a great abuse is here, for the city are not
+contented with this act but only so far as it serves their own turns,
+for they procure (upon some pretexts or other) particular licenses for
+many prohibited commodities contrary to that act, as namely for the
+importation of French wines and free both of custom and excise tax,
+and for the importation of whale oil and skins so as either directly or
+indirectly they will have the whole trade themselves."<a href="#note-7-2" name="noteref-7-2"><small>7</small></a> Evidently the
+Council of Trade favored the establishment
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page29" name="page29"></a>[29]</span>
+
+                                           of a freer trade as against
+the monopoly of the merchant companies, believing, it may be, that
+London did monopolize trade and that it was "no good state of a body
+to have a fat head and lean members." The city authorities, apparently
+alarmed at the favorable action of the Council, took immediate action.
+On June 19, 1651, the Court of Aldermen instructed Alderman Fowke, one
+of its most influential members, in case the Council of Trade came to
+an agreement favorable to free trade, to move for a reconsideration in
+order that London might have a hearing before the matter was finally
+settled.<a href="#note-8-2" name="noteref-8-2"><small>8</small></a> But the hearing, if had, could not have been successful in
+altering the determination of the Council, for a few months later, on
+December 5, 1651, the Common Council of London, probably convinced that
+the Council of Trade was in earnest in its policy and alarmed at the
+prospect of losing its trading privileges, ordered its committee of
+trade to prepare a petition to Parliament, the Council of State, or the
+Council of Trade, asking that London be made a free port. The petition
+was duly drawn up and approved by the Common Council, which ordered its
+committee "to maintain" it before the Council of Trade.<a href="#note-9-2" name="noteref-9-2"><small>9</small></a> Evidently the
+matter went no further. The Council of Trade continued its sittings and
+debated and reported on a number of petitions "complaining of abuses and
+deceits" in trade, but after 1652 it plays but an inconspicuous part.
+Even before that date many questions before it were taken over by the
+Council of State and referred to its own committees. Fellmongers and
+staplers defended their cause before the higher body and the free trade
+difficulty continued to be agitated, at least as far as concerned the
+Turkey trade and the Greenland fishing, by the Council committee after
+it had passed out of the hands of the lesser body.<a href="#note-10-2" name="noteref-10-2"><small>10</small></a> The period was
+one of transition from a monopolized
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page30" name="page30"></a>[30]</span>
+
+                                     to an open trade, and consequently
+to many trade everywhere appeared to be in decay. Remedies were sought
+through the intervention of the state and the passing of laws, but the
+early period of the Commonwealth was not favorable to a successful
+carrying out of so promising an experiment. On October 3, 1653, trade
+was reported from Holland as "somewhat dead" and the Council of Trade,
+which the Dutch at first feared might be "very prejudicial" to their
+state, was declared "only nominal," so that the Dutch hoped that in time
+those of London would "forget that they ever were merchants." In fact,
+however, the Council of Trade had come to an end more than four months
+before this report was made.
+</p>
+<p>
+That the Council of Trade, notwithstanding its carefully worded
+instructions, had no part in looking after the affairs of the colonies
+is probably due to the activity of the Council of State, which itself
+exercised the functions of a board of trade and plantations. According
+to article 5 of the Act of February 13, 1649, appointing a Council
+of State, it was to use all good ways and means for the securing,
+advancement, and encouragement of the trade of England and Ireland
+and the dominions to them belonging, and to promote the good of all
+foreign plantations and factories belonging to the Commonwealth.
+It was also empowered "to appoint committees of any person or persons
+for examinations, receiving of informations, and preparing of business
+for [its] debates or resolutions." The members chosen February 14, 1649,
+were forty-one in number and were to hold office for one year.<a href="#note-11-2" name="noteref-11-2"><small>11</small></a>
+February 12, 1650, a second council was elected, of which twenty were
+new members and the remaining twenty-one taken over from the former
+body.<a href="#note-12-2" name="noteref-12-2"><small>12</small></a> On November 24, 1651, a third council was chosen under the
+same
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page31" name="page31"></a>[31]</span>
+
+     conditions.<a href="#note-13-2" name="noteref-13-2"><small>13</small></a> The same was true of the fourth council of
+November 24, 1652.<a href="#note-14-2" name="noteref-14-2"><small>14</small></a> Many of the "new" members were generally old
+members dropped for a year or more. On July 9 and 14, 1653, the number
+of members was reduced to thirty-one, and this council was designed to
+last only until the following November.<a href="#note-15-2" name="noteref-15-2"><small>15</small></a> Two councils, the fifth
+and sixth were, therefore, elected in the same year, each composed of
+fifteen old and fifteen new members. The sixth council, elected November
+1, 1653, was chosen for six months, but after six weeks was supplanted
+by the body known as the Protector's Council, elected December 16,
+1653, under the provisions of the <i>Instrument of Government</i>.<a href="#note-16-2" name="noteref-16-2"><small>16</small></a>
+This council was to consist of not more than twenty-one nor less than
+thirteen members, and according to the method of election provided for
+in that instrument, was practically controlled by Cromwell himself. The
+membership varied from time to time, rarely numbering more than sixteen,
+with an average attendance of about ten. Cromwell was frequently absent
+from its meetings, but the council, though designed constitutionally to
+be a check upon his powers, was in reality his ally and answerable to
+him alone, particularly after the dissolution of Parliament in January,
+1655. The council provided for in <i>The Humble Petition and Advice</i> was
+but a continuation of the Protector's Council, so that from December,
+1653, until May, 1659, the Protector's Council, representing Cromwell
+policy and interest, continued to exist. After the abdication of Richard
+Cromwell and the restoration of the Rump Parliament, the Protector's
+Council came to an end, and a new council, the eighth, was chosen on May
+13, 14, 15, 1659.<a href="#note-17-2" name="noteref-17-2"><small>17</small></a> This body contained ten members not of Parliament
+and lasted until December 31, when a new Council of State was
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page32" name="page32"></a>[32]</span>
+
+                                                              chosen
+for three months; but on February 21 the council was suspended, and two
+days afterward the tenth and last council was chosen.<a href="#note-18-2" name="noteref-18-2"><small>18</small></a> On May 21,
+1660, this council was declared "not in being," and formally came to
+an end on May 27, when Charles II, who had had his Privy Council more
+or less continuously since 1649, named at Canterbury Monck, Southampton,
+Morrice, and Ashley as privy councillors. The first meeting at Whitehall
+was held May 31.<a href="#note-19-2" name="noteref-19-2"><small>19</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+The Council of State itself acted as a board of trade and plantations
+and directly transacted a large amount of business in the interest of
+manufactures, trade, commerce, and the colonies. It initiated important
+measures, received petitions, remonstrances, and complaints, either at
+first hand or through Parliament, from which it also received special
+orders, entered into debate upon all questions arising therefrom,
+summoned before it any one who might be able to furnish information
+or to offer advice, and then drew up its reply, embodied in an order
+despatched to government officials, private individuals, adventurers,
+merchant and trading companies, colonial governments in particular
+or in general. For example, it ordered letters to be written to the
+plantations, giving them notice of the change of government in 1649,
+sending them papers necessary for their information, and requiring them
+to be obedient if they expected the protection which the Republic was
+prepared to extend to them. Until March 2, 1650, it does not appear to
+have organized itself especially for this purpose, but on that date it
+authorized the whole council, or any five members, to sit as a special
+committee for trade and plantations, and on February 18 and December 2,
+1651, repeated the same order.<a href="#note-20-2" name="noteref-20-2"><small>20</small></a> During the early part of this period
+it depended to a considerable extent on committees, either of merchants
+and
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page33" name="page33"></a>[33]</span>
+
+    others outside the council, men already engaged in trade with the
+plantations, such as Worsley, Maurice Thompson (afterward governor of
+the East India Company), Lenoyre, Allen, Martin Noell, and others,
+or of councillors forming committees of trade (sitting in the Horse
+Chamber in Whitehall), of plantations, of the admiralty, of the navy,
+of examinations, of Scottish and Irish affairs, and of prisoners, to
+whom many questions were referred and upon whose reports the Council
+acted. It also appointed special committees to take into consideration
+particular questions relating to individual plantations, Barbadoes,
+Somers Islands, Bermudas, New England, Newfoundland, Virginia. Of all
+these committees none appears to have been more active, as far as the
+plantations were concerned, than the Committee of the Admiralty, before
+whom came a large amount of colonial business, which was transacted
+with the coöperation of Dr. Walker, of Doctors Commons, advocate for
+the Republic, and David Budd, the proctor of the Court of Admiralty.
+</p>
+<p>
+An important departure was introduced on December 17, 1651, when a
+standing committee of the Council was created, consisting of fifteen
+members, to concern itself with trade and foreign affairs. This
+committee took the place of that which had formerly sat in the Horse
+Chamber in Whitehall, and renewed consideration of all questions which
+had been referred to that body. It was organized, as were all the
+Council committees, with its own clerk, doorkeeper, and messenger, and
+as recommissioned on May 4, 1652, and again on December 2, 1652, when
+the membership was raised to twenty-one and the plantations were brought
+within the scope of its business, became a very independent and active
+body until its demise in April, 1653. Its members were Cromwell, Lords
+Whitelocke, Bradshaw, and Lisle, Sir Arthur Haslerigg, Sir Harry Vane,
+Sir William Masham, Sir Gilbert Pickering, Colonels Walton, Purefoy,
+Morley, Sidney, and Thomson, Major Lister, Messrs. Bond, Scott,
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page34" name="page34"></a>[34]</span>
+
+ Love,
+Challoner, Strickland, Gurdon, and Alleyn.<a href="#note-21-2" name="noteref-21-2"><small>21</small></a> This committee, to which
+new members were frequently added, sat in the Horse Chamber at Whitehall
+and took cognizance of a great variety of commercial and colonial
+business. It considered the question of free trade versus monopolies
+and during the summer of 1652, after the Council of Trade had fallen
+into disfavor, debated at length the desirability of opening the Turkey
+trade as freely to adventurers as was that of Portugal and Spain. It
+listened to a number of forcible papers presented in the interest of
+free trade in opposition to trade in the hands of companies; it dealt
+with the operation of the Navigation Act of 1651 and rendered decisions
+regarding penalties, exemptions, licenses, and the disposal of prizes
+and prize goods; it devoted a large amount of time to plantation
+business; and, for the time being, probably supplanted consideration
+of these matters by the Council of State, and rendered unnecessary the
+appointment of any other committee on colonial affairs. Except for the
+Admiralty Committee and one or two other committees to which special
+matters were referred, as concerning Newfoundland, there appears to
+have been no other subordinate body actually in charge of affairs in
+America between December 17, 1651, and April 15, 1653. The period was
+an important and critical one, and the committee must have had before
+it business connected with nearly every one of the colonies in America.
+The Council of State referred to it petitions, etc., from and relating
+to Massachusetts, Plymouth, New Haven, Rhode Island, Newfoundland,
+Maryland and Virginia, Barbadoes, Nevis, Providence Island, and the
+Caribbee Islands in general. It dealt with the proposed attack on
+the Dutch at New Amsterdam, losses of merchant ships, privateer's
+commissions and letters of marque; the Greenland and Newfoundland
+fisheries, naval stores, and land disputes. It drafted bills and
+governors' commissions, considered vacancies in the colonies, and
+received applications for office, and, in one case, promoted the
+founding of a
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page35" name="page35"></a>[35]</span>
+
+              plantation in South America.<a href="#note-22-2" name="noteref-22-2"><small>22</small></a> This business was
+performed to a considerable extent through subcommittees, many of
+which met in the little Horse Chamber and acted in all particulars as
+regular committees. On one occasion, the entire committee was appointed
+a subcommittee, and very frequently the committee met for no other
+purpose than to hear the report of a subcommittee. These subcommittees,
+which were generally composed of councillors, referred matters to
+outside persons, merchants, judges, and doctors of civil law, while
+the committee itself called before it merchants, officials, members
+of other committees, and indeed any one from whom information might
+be extracted. The main work was performed by the subcommittees, their
+reports were reviewed by the committee itself, and, if approved, were
+sent to the Council of State, which based upon them recommendations to
+Parliament.<a href="#note-23-2" name="noteref-23-2"><small>23</small></a> After April 15, 1653, we hear no more of this committee.
+There is some reason to think that the duties entrusted to it were
+deemed too extensive and a division between trade, plantations, and
+foreign affairs was planned, but no definite record of such a separation
+of functions is to be found. A Council Committee of Foreign Affairs was
+appointed, probably before June, 1653, reappointed on July 27, and again
+reappointed August 16, but no committees of trade and of plantations
+appear. Very likely the Council of State, with the assistance of the
+committees on Scottish and Irish affairs, admiralty, navy, and customs,
+and a few special committees and commissioners, assumed control of
+plantation affairs. The interests of industry and trade may have been
+looked after by the Committee on Trade and Corporations appointed by the
+Barebones Parliament, July 20, 1653, "to meet at Whitehall in the place
+where the Council of Trade did sit."<a href="#note-24-2" name="noteref-24-2"><small>24</small></a>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page36" name="page36"></a>[36]</span>
+
+                                         Several times during the year
+this committee proposed the establishment of a separate council of trade
+to take the place of the former Council, to which proposition Parliament
+agreed, but nothing was done, and the Parliamentary Committee of Trade
+and Corporations seems to have been the only official body that existed
+during the year 1653 for the advancement of trade and industry.<a href="#note-25-2" name="noteref-25-2"><small>25</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+On December 29, 1653, the Protector's Council made known its purpose
+of taking "all care to protect and encourage navigation and trade,"
+and in March, 1654, we meet with a reference to a committee of the
+Council appointed for trade and corporations. As this body was organized
+for continuous sitting, with a clerk, doorkeeper, and messenger, and
+as a second reference to it appears under date August 21, 1654, the
+probabilities are in favor of its existence as a regular committee
+during the year 1654.<a href="#note-26-2" name="noteref-26-2"><small>26</small></a> That it was an important committee is
+doubtful, for we meet with practically no references to its work, and
+when in January, 1655, the project of a select trade committee was
+brought forward it was referred for consideration and report, not to
+this committee, but to Desborough of the Council and the Admiralty
+Committee.
+</p>
+<p>
+The events of the years 1654 and 1655 mark something of an era in the
+history of trade and commerce, not because the capture of Jamaica had
+any very conspicuous effect upon Cromwell's own policy or upon the
+commercial activities of the higher authorities, but because it opened
+a larger world and larger opportunities to the merchants and traders of
+London who were at this time seeking openings for trading ventures in
+all parts of the world. To better their fortunes many men accompanied
+the expedition under Penn and Venables, and the merchants at home were
+seized with something of the spirit of the Elizabethans in planning,
+not only to increase commerce and swell their own fortunes, but also
+to drive the Spaniard from the southwestern waters of the Atlantic and
+extend British control and British trade
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page37" name="page37"></a>[37]</span>
+
+                                          into regions heretofore
+wholly in the hands of Spain. Barbadoes, Jamaica, Florida, Virginia,
+New England, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland became a world of great
+opportunities, and with plans for the expansion of trade went plans for
+naval and military activity. If the merchants of the period had had
+their way, a systematic and orderly policy of colonial control in the
+interest of British power and profit would have been inaugurated during
+the second period of the Interregnum, but circumstances do not appear
+to have been propitious, and the disturbed political order during the
+years 1658 and 1659 led not only to a cessation of activity as far
+as the government was concerned but also to decay of trade, shrinking
+of profits, decrease of fortunes, and widespread discouragement.
+Furthermore, there is nothing to show that Cromwell himself ever rose
+to a statesmanlike conception of colonial control and administration.
+He was thoroughly interested in those matters, was personally influenced
+by the London merchants, frequently called on the most conspicuous of
+them for advice, placed them on committees and councils established for
+purposes of trade, and was always open to their suggestions. But while
+he was willing to act upon their opinions and recommendations in many
+respects, he never seems to have grasped the essentials of a large
+and comprehensive plan of colonial control, and it is not possible
+to discover in what he actually accomplished any broadminded idea of
+uniting the colonies under an efficient management for the purpose of
+laying the foundations of an empire. His expedients, interesting and
+practical as many of them were, do not seem to be a part of any large or
+well-formed plan. Whether he would ever have risen to a higher level of
+statesmanship in these respects we cannot say, but he never found time
+to give proper attention to the suggestions of the merchants or to the
+demands of trade and commerce.
+</p>
+<p>
+That he took a great interest in the industrial and commercial
+development of England is evident from one of his earliest efforts to
+provide for its proper control. Even
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page38" name="page38"></a>[38]</span>
+
+                                     while the fleet was on its way
+to the West Indies, the Council of State instructed Desborough and
+the Admiralty Committee, January 29, 1655, to consider "of some fit
+merchants to be a trade committee." There is some reason to think
+that this instruction was in response to a paper drawn up by certain
+merchants of London in 1654, entitled, "An Essaie or Overture for the
+regulating the Affairs of his Highness in the West Indies," drafted
+after the expedition had sailed and with the confident expectation of
+conquest in mind.<a href="#note-27-2" name="noteref-27-2"><small>27</small></a> If the original suggestion did not come from the
+merchants, we may not doubt that in the promotion of the plan they
+exercised considerable influence. In 1655, Martin Noell and Thomas Povey
+sent a petition to the Protector regarding trade, and suggested that
+there be appointed "some able persons to consider what more may be done
+in order to those affairs and a general satisfaction for the fixing the
+whole trade of England." They wished that a competent number of persons,
+of good reputation, prudent and well skilled in their professions and
+qualifications should be "selected and set apart" for the "care of his
+Highness Affairs in the West Indies." The number was to be not less than
+seven, and these not to be "of the same but of a mixt qualification,"
+constituting a select council subordinate only to the Protector and the
+Council. After careful attention to the fitness of a large number of
+prominent individuals, a committee of twenty was named on July 12, 1655.
+If the "Overture" was responsible for the decision to name a select
+council, its influence went no further, for except that merchants were
+placed as members, there is no likeness between the plan as finally
+worked out and that formulated by the merchants. Indeed, Povey himself
+later expressed his dissatisfaction in saying that "that committee which
+[we] so earnestly prest should be settled will not tend in any degree
+to what we proposed, the constitution of it being not proportionable
+to what was desired."<a href="#note-28-2" name="noteref-28-2"><small>28</small></a> The
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page39" name="page39"></a>[39]</span>
+
+                             committee of twenty was soon expanded into
+a much larger and more imposing body, possibly due to the receipt of the
+news of the capture of Jamaica and the decision announced in Cromwell's
+proclamation of August to hold the island. On November 11, 1655,<a href="#note-29-2" name="noteref-29-2"><small>29</small></a>
+a board, made up of officers of state, gentlemen, and merchants, was
+commissioned a "Committee and Standing Council for the advancing and
+regulating the Trade and Navigation of the Commonwealth," generally
+shortened to "Trade and Navigation Committee," or simply "Trade
+Committee." Its membership, instead of being seven, was over seventy,
+and it was thus a dignified though unwieldy body. At its head was
+Richard Cromwell and its members were as follows: Montague, Sydenham,
+Wolseley, Pickering, and Jones of the Protector's Council; Lord Chief
+Justice St. John and Justices Glynn, Steele, and Hale; Sir Henry Blount,
+Sir John Hobart, Sir Gilbert Gerard, gentlemen of distinction; Sir
+Bulstrode Whitelocke and Sir Thomas Widdrington, sergeants-at-law; Col.
+John Fiennes and John Lisle, commissioners of the Great Seal; the four
+Treasury Commissioners; Col. Richard Norton, governor of Portsmouth;
+Capt. Hatsell, navy commissioner of Plymouth; Stone and Foxcroft, excise
+commissioners; Martin Noell, London merchant and farmer of the customs;
+Upton, customs commissioner; Bond, Wright, Thompson, Ashurst, Peirpont,
+Crew, and Berry, London merchants; and Tichborne, Grove, Pack (Lord
+Mayor), and Riccards, aldermen of London; Bonner, of Newcastle; Dunne,
+of Yarmouth; Cullen, of Dover; Jackson, of Bristol; Toll, of Lyme;
+Legay, of Southampton; Snow, of Exeter; and Drake, of Sussex. At various
+times, and probably for various purposes, the following members were
+added between December 12, 1655, and June 19,1656: Secretary Thurloe,
+William
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page40" name="page40"></a>[40]</span>
+
+        Wheeler, Edmund Waller, Francis Dincke, of Hull; George Downing,
+at that time major general and scoutmaster; Alderman Ireton, of London;
+Col. William Purefoy; Godfrey Boseville; Edward Laurence; John St.
+Barbe, of Hampshire, [Lord] John Claypoole, Master of the Horse, and
+Cromwell's son-in-law; John Barnard; Sir John Reynolds; Col. Arthur
+Hill; George Berkeley; Capt. Thomas Whitegreane; Thomas Ford, of Exeter;
+Francis St. John; Henry Wright; Col. John Jones, Alderman Frederick,
+sheriff of London; Richard Ford, the well-known merchant of London;
+Mayor Nehemiah Bourne; Charles Howard; Robert Berwick; John Blaxton,
+town clerk of Newcastle; Col. Richard Ingoldsby; Edmund Thomas;
+Thomas Banks, and Christopher Lister. Thus the Trade Committee, composed
+of members from all parts of England, represented a wide range of
+interests. Furthermore, any member of the Protector's Council could come
+to the meetings of the committee and vote.<a href="#note-30-2" name="noteref-30-2"><small>30</small></a> Such a body would have
+been very unmanageable but for the fact that seven constituted a quorum
+and business was generally transacted by a small number of the members.
+The instructions were prepared by Thurloe after a scrutiny of those
+of the former Council of Trade, and bore little resemblance to the
+recommendations of the "Overture," because they were designed to cover
+a far wider range of interests than were considered by the merchants.
+The "Overture" was planned only for a plantation council. The Trade
+Committee was invested with power and authority to consider by what
+means the traffic and navigation of the Republic might best be promoted
+and
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page41" name="page41"></a>[41]</span>
+
+    regulated, to receive propositions for the benefit of these
+interests, to send for the officers of the excise, the customs, and the
+mint, or such other persons of experience as they should deem capable of
+giving advice on these subjects, to examine the books and papers of the
+Council of Trade of 1650, and all other public papers as might afford
+the members information. When finally its reports were ready for the
+Council of State, that body reserved to itself all power to reject or
+accept such orders as it deemed proper and fitting.
+</p>
+<p>
+The Trade Committee met for the first time on December 27, 1655, in the
+Painted Chamber at Westminster. Authorized to appoint officers, it chose
+William Seaman secretary, two clerks, an usher, and two messengers at
+a yearly salary of £280, with £50 for contingent expenses;<a href="#note-31-2" name="noteref-31-2"><small>31</small></a> and from
+the entries of the payments ordered to be made to these men for their
+services, we infer that the board sat from December 27, 1655, until
+May 27, 1657, exactly a year and a half. During this time it probably
+accumulated a considerable number of books and papers, though such are
+not now known to exist. Proposals, petitions, complaints, and pamphlets,
+such, for example, as that entitled <i>Trading Governed by the State</i>, a
+protest against the commercial dominance of London, were laid before it,
+and it took into its own hands many of the problems that had agitated
+the former board. It discussed foreign trade, particularly with Holland,
+and the questions of Swedish copper,<a href="#note-32-2" name="noteref-32-2"><small>32</small></a> Spanish wines, and Irish linen;
+home manufactures, among which are mentioned swords and rapier blades,
+madder-dyed silk, needle making, and knitting with frameworks; and
+domestic concerns, such as the preservation of timber. It made a number
+of recommendations regarding "the exportation of several commodities of
+the breed, growth, and manufacture of the Commonwealth," "the limiting
+and settling the prices of wines," "vagrants and wandering, idle,
+dissolute
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page42" name="page42"></a>[42]</span>
+
+          persons," and the "giving license for transporting fish in
+foreign bottoms." These recommendations were drafted by the Trade
+Committee, or by one of its subcommittees, and after adoption were
+reported to the Council of State and by it referred to its own committee
+appointed to receive reports from the Trade Committee. When approved by
+the Council of State, the recommendations were sent to Parliament and
+there referred to the large Parliamentary committee of trade of fifty
+members, appointed October 20, 1656. That committee drafted bills which
+were based on these recommendations and which later were passed as acts
+of Parliament and received the consent of the Protector. For example,
+the recommendation regarding exports, noted above, became a law November
+27, 1656.<a href="#note-33-2" name="noteref-33-2"><small>33</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+Under the head of "navigation and trade" came the commercial interests
+of the plantations, and though there existed during this year, 1656,
+other machinery for regulating plantation affairs, a number of questions
+were referred from the Council to the Trade Committee that were strictly
+in the line of plantation development. These questions concerned customs
+duties on goods exported to Barbadoes, the political quarrels in
+Antigua which threatened to bring ruin on that plantation and the
+remedies therefor, the pilchard fishery off Newfoundland, and finally
+the controversy between Maryland and Virginia which had already been
+referred to a special committee of the Council. Upon all these questions
+the Trade Committee reported to the Council; its recommendations and
+findings were debated in that body or further referred to one of its own
+committees or to the outside committee for America, and finally embodied
+in an order regulating the matter in question.<a href="#note-34-2" name="noteref-34-2"><small>34</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+Of the activity of the Trade Committee during the few months of the year
+1657, when it continued its sessions, scarcely any evidence appears.
+There is a very slight reason to believe that it took up the question of
+free ports, but
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page43" name="page43"></a>[43]</span>
+
+                there is nothing to show that it accomplished anything
+in that direction. That it came to an end in May seems to be borne out
+by the fact that the officers of the board were paid only to May 27, but
+this statement is rendered uncertain by the further fact that on June 26
+Portsmouth petitioned the committee to be made a free port and that the
+petition was brought in by one of the members of the committee for
+America, Capt. Limbrey.<a href="#note-35-2" name="noteref-35-2"><small>35</small></a> The question cannot be exactly settled.
+Though the committee was by no means a nominal body, it accomplished
+little, and certainly did not meet the situation that confronted the
+trade and navigation of the kingdom.
+</p>
+<p>
+After the appointment of this select Trade Committee, no standing
+committee of the Council was created. Questions of trade were looked
+after either by the Council itself, that of May, 1659, being especially
+instructed to "advance trade and promote the good of our foreign
+plantations and to encourage fishing,"<a href="#note-36-2" name="noteref-36-2"><small>36</small></a> by an occasional special
+committee, by the Trade Committee until the summer of 1657, or by the
+committees of Parliament. Of Parliamentary committees there were two:
+one a select committee of fifty members, appointed October 20, 1656, to
+which were added all the merchants of the House and all members that
+served for the port towns;<a href="#note-37-2" name="noteref-37-2"><small>37</small></a> and a grand committee of the whole House
+for trade, appointed February 2, 1658, which sat weekly and was invested
+with the same powers as the committee of 1656 had had.<a href="#note-38-2" name="noteref-38-2"><small>38</small></a> But except
+that the first committee adopted some of the recommendations of the
+Trade Committee, there is nothing to show that these committees took any
+prominent part in the advancement of the interest in behalf of which
+they had been created.
+</p>
+<p>
+From 1654 to 1660 the welfare of the plantations lay chiefly in the
+hands of the Protector's Council and the Council of State, and their
+system of control was in many respects
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page44" name="page44"></a>[44]</span>
+
+                                       similar to that which had been
+adopted during the earlier period of the Interregnum. At first all
+plantation questions were referred to committees of the Council
+appointed temporarily to consider some particular matter. From December
+29, 1653, to the close of the year 1659 some fifty cases were referred
+to about thirty committees, of which twenty were appointed for the
+special purpose in hand. Many matters were referred to such standing
+committees as the Admiralty Committee, Customs Committee, etc.; others
+to the judges of admiralty, commissioners of customs, and the like,
+while petitions and communications regarding affairs in Jamaica, New
+England, Virginia, Antigua, Somers Islands, Newfoundland, and Nevis,
+regarding the transporting of horses, mining of saltpeter, payments of
+salaries, indemnities, and trade, and regarding personal claims, such as
+those of Lord Baltimore, William Franklin, De La Tour, and others, were
+referred to committees composed of from two to eight members of the
+Council, whose services in this particular ended with the presentation
+of their report. Sometimes a question would be referred to the whole
+Council or to a "committee," with the names unspecified, or to "any
+three of the Council." The burden of serving upon these occasional
+committees fell upon a comparatively small number of councillors:
+Ashley, Montague, Strickland, Wolseley, Fiennes, Jones, Sydenham, Lisle,
+and Mulgrave. One or more of these names appear on the list of every
+special committee appointed except that to which Lord Baltimore's case
+was referred, consisting of the sergeants-at-law, Lords Whitelocke and
+Widdrington. During 1654 the committees for Virginia and Barbadoes, to
+which were referred other colonial matters, came to be known as the
+"committee for plantations," but it is doubtful if this was deemed in
+any sense a standing committee.
+</p>
+<p>
+When the affairs of Jamaica became exigent after the summer of 1655
+a committee of the Council was appointed to carry out the terms of
+Cromwell's proclamation and to report the needs of the colony. Though
+the membership
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page45" name="page45"></a>[45]</span>
+
+               was generally changed this committee continued to be
+reappointed as one question after another arose which demanded the
+attention of the Council. It reported on the equipment of tools,
+clothing, medicaments and other necessaries, on the transporting of
+persons from Ireland and colonies in America, on the distribution of
+lands in the island, and on various matters presented to the Council
+in letters and petitions from officers and others there or in England.
+After 1656 this committee, which continued to exist certainly until
+the middle of April, 1660, played a more or less secondary part, doing
+little more than consider the various colonial matters, whether relating
+to Jamaica or to other colonies, that were taken up by the select or
+outside committee appointed by Cromwell in 1656.
+</p>
+<p>
+The employment of expert advisers in the Jamaica business was rendered
+necessary by the financial questions involved, and in December Robert
+Bowes, Francis Hodges and Richard Creed were called upon to assist a
+committee of Council appointed May 10, 1655, in determining the amounts
+due the wives and assignees of the officers and soldiers in Jamaica.
+Creed was dropped and Sydenham and Fillingham were added in 1656.<a href="#note-39-2" name="noteref-39-2"><small>39</small></a>
+But a more important step was soon taken. On July 15,1656, Cromwell
+appointed a standing committee of officers and London merchants to
+take general cognizance of all matters that concerned "his Highness
+in Jamaica and the West Indies." The following were the members: Col.
+Edward Salmon, an admiralty commissioner and intimately interested in
+the Jamaica expedition; Col. Tobias Bridges, one of Cromwell's major
+generals, afterwards serving in Flanders, who was to play an important
+part in proclaiming Richard Cromwell Protector; Lieutenant Colonel
+Miller, of Col. Barkstead's regiment, and Lieutenant Colonel Mills;
+Capt. Limbrey, London merchant and Jamaican planter, who had lived in
+Jamaica and made a map of the island, and as commander of merchant
+vessels had made many trips across the Atlantic;
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page46" name="page46"></a>[46]</span>
+
+                                                 Capt. Thomas Aldherne,
+also a London merchant and sea captain, the chief victualler of the
+navy, and an enterprising adventurer in trade; Capt. John Thompson, sea
+captain and London merchant; Capt. Stephen Winthrop, sea captain and
+London merchant; Richard Sydenham, and Robert Bowes, already mentioned
+as commissioners for Jamaica,<a href="#note-40-2" name="noteref-40-2"><small>40</small></a> and lastly Martin Noell, London
+merchant, and Thomas Povey, regarding whom a fuller account is given
+below. Povey, who was not appointed a member until October, 1657,
+apparently became chairman and secretary, while Francis Hodges was
+clerical secretary. Except for Tobias Bridges, the military members had
+little share in the business of the committee, the most prominent part
+being taken by Noell, Bridges, Winthrop, Bowes, Sydenham, and Povey.
+As far as the records show, Salmon, Miller, Aldherne, Thompson, and
+White never signed a report, while Mills and Limbrey signed but one.
+The committee seems to have sat at first in Grocer's Hall, afterward
+in Treasury Chambers, where its members discussed and investigated
+all questions that came before them with care and thoroughness. Their
+instructions authorized them to maintain a correspondence with the
+colonies, obtaining such information and advice as seemed
+essential; to receive all addresses relating thereunto, whether from
+persons in America or elsewhere; to consider and consult thereof and
+prepare such advices and answers thereupon as should be judged meet
+for the advantage of the community. Their earliest business concerned
+itself with Jamaica, its revenues, finances, expenses of expeditions
+thither, arrears due the officers and soldiers, their wives and
+assignees, individual claims, want of ministers, and other similar
+questions. But as addresses came in from other colonies the scope of
+their activity was broadened until it included at one time or another
+nearly all the American colonies. The committee reported on the
+constitution, governing powers, fortifications, militia of Somers
+Islands (Bermudas) and on the
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page47" name="page47"></a>[47]</span>
+
+                              fitness of Sayle to be governor there;
+on the controversy between Virginia and Maryland and on the organization
+and government of the former colony; on the petition of the Long
+Islanders and others in New England, and on complaints against
+Massachusetts Bay; on the revenue, government, and admiralty system
+of Barbadoes; on questions of governor and arrears of salary in
+Nevis and Tortugas; on the desirability of continuing the plantation
+in Newfoundland; and lastly on the important subject of ship insurance,
+upon which Capt. Limbrey presented a very remarkable paper.<a href="#note-41-2" name="noteref-41-2"><small>41</small></a> These
+reports were sent sometimes to the Protector, sometimes to the Council
+of State, and sometimes to the committee of the Council on the affairs
+of America. While the latter committee, under the name of "Committee for
+Foreign Plantations" continued until the return of the King, the select
+committee for America does not appear to have lasted as a whole after
+the final dissolution of the Rump Parliament, March 16, 1660. Thomas
+Povey alone seems to have been the committee from March to May, and on
+April 9 and May 11 made two reports on matters referred to him by the
+Council committee regarding Jamaica and Newfoundland. As Charles II had
+been recalled to his own in England before the last report was sent in,
+the machinery created under Cromwell for the plantations remained in
+existence after the government set up by him had passed away.<a href="#note-42-2" name="noteref-42-2"><small>42</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+Any account of the system appointed for the control of trade and
+plantations during the Interregnum is bound to be something of a tangle,
+not because the system itself was a complicated one, but because its
+simplicity is clouded by
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page48" name="page48"></a>[48]</span>
+
+                         a bewildering mass of details. Occasional
+committees of Parliament, the Council as a board of trade and
+plantations, committees of the Council, and select councils and
+committees do not form a very confusing body of material out of which
+to fashion a system of colonial control. Yet, despite this fact, the
+management of the colonies during the Interregnum was without unity or
+simplicity. Control was exercised by no single or continuous organ and
+according to no clearly defined or consistent plan. Colonial questions
+seemed to lie in many different hands and to be met in as many different
+ways. Delays were frequent and there can be little doubt that many
+important matters were laid aside and pigeon-holed. When an important
+colonial difficulty had to pass from subcommittee to committee, from
+committee to Council, and sometimes from Council to Parliamentary
+committee and thence to Parliament, we can easily believe that in the
+excess of machinery there would be entailed a decrease of despatch and
+efficiency. Indeed, during the Interregnum colonial business was not
+well managed and there were many to whom colonial trade was of great
+importance, who realized this fact. Merchants of London after 1655
+became dissatisfied with the way the plantations were managed and
+desired a reorganization which should bring about order, improve
+administration, economize expenditure, elevate justice, and effect
+speedily and fairly a settlement of colonial disputes. They doubted
+whether a Council, "busyed and filled with a multitude of affairs,"
+was able to accomplish these results and they refused to believe that
+affairs of such a nature should be transacted "in diverse pieces and
+by diverse councils." The remedy of these men was carefully thought
+out and carefully expressed and though it was undoubtedly listened
+to by Cromwell, it never received more than an imperfect application.
+To these men and their proposals we must pay careful attention for
+therein we shall find the connecting link between the Protectorate
+and the Restoration as far as matters of trade and the plantations
+are concerned.
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<a name="note-1-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-1-2">1</a>)
+Among others, The Advancement of Merchandize or certain
+propositions for the improvement of the trade of this Commonwealth,
+humbly presented to the Right Honorable the Council of State by Thomas
+Viollet, of London, Goldsmith, 1651. This rare pamphlet was drawn up
+by Viollet when connected with the Mint in the Tower and sent to the
+Council of State, evidently in manuscript form. Most of the papers
+composing this pamphlet were transmitted by the Council of State to
+the Council of Trade. For Viollet see Cal. State Papers, Domestic,
+1650&ndash;1651, 1659&ndash;1660.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-2-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-2-2">2</a>)
+The Council of Trade accumulated in this and other ways a
+considerable mass of books and papers, but this material for its history
+has entirely disappeared.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-3-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-3-2">3</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1650, p. 399; 1651, pp. 16, 29,
+38, 107, 230; 1651&ndash;1652, pp. 87. The first suggestion of this committee
+was as early as January 1650, Commons' Journal, VI, p. 347.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-4-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-4-2">4</a>)
+Guildhall, Journal of the Proceedings of the Common
+Council, Vol. 41, ff. 45, 55; Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1651, pp. 198,
+247&ndash;249, 270&ndash;271; Inderwick, The Interregnum, ch. II.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-5-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-5-2">5</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1651&ndash;1652, pp. 470&ndash;472, 479&ndash;481.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-6-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-6-2">6</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1652&ndash;1653, p. 282.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-7-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-7-2">7</a>)
+British Museum, Add. MSS., 5138, f. 145.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-8-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-8-2">8</a>)
+Guildhall, Repertories of the Court of Aldermen, 61, p.
+152<sup>b</sup>.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-9-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-9-2">9</a>)
+Guildhall, Journal of the Proceedings of the Common
+Council, Vol. 41, pp. 67<sup>b</sup>, 68.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-10-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-10-2">10</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1651&ndash;1652, pp. 232, 235. The
+question was as to whether or not the Turkey trade could best be carried
+on by a company "as now," or by free trade, as in the case of Portugal
+and Spain. Able arguments in favor of free trade were brought forward,
+and when later the question of a monopoly of the Greenland whale fishing
+came up, the Council of State admitted free adventurers to a share in
+the business. Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1653&ndash;1654, p. 379; 1654, p. 16.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-11-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-11-2">11</a>)
+Commons' Journal, VI, p. 140.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-12-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-12-2">12</a>)
+Commons' Journal, VI, p. 361.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-13-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-13-2">13</a>)
+Commons' Journal, VII, p. 41.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-14-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-14-2">14</a>)
+Commons' Journal, VII, p. 220.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-15-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-15-2">15</a>)
+Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 283, 284, 285.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-16-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-16-2">16</a>)
+Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 343&ndash;344; Cal. State Papers,
+Dom., 1653&ndash;1654, pp. 297&ndash;298.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-17-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-17-2">17</a>)
+Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 652, 654, 655; Cal. State
+Papers, Dom., 1658&ndash;1659, p. 349.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-18-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-18-2">18</a>)
+Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 800, 849.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-19-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-19-2">19</a>)
+P.C.R., Charles II, Vol. I, May 3/13, 1649&mdash;September
+28, 1660. Meetings of Privy Councils during the Interregnum were held at
+Castle Elizabeth, St. Hillary, Breda (1649&ndash;1650), Bruges (1656, 1658),
+Brussels (1659), Breda (1660), Canterbury (May 27, 1660), Whitehall (May
+31, 1660).
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-20-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-20-2">20</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574&ndash;1660, pp. 335, 352, 366;
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1651&ndash;1652, p. 43.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-21-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-21-2">21</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574&ndash;1660, p. 394; Cal. State
+Papers, Dom., 1651&ndash;1652, pp. 67, 232, 235, 426; 1652&ndash;1653, pp. 18&ndash;27.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-22-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-22-2">22</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574&ndash;1660, pp. 373&ndash;402,
+<i>passim</i>.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-23-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-23-2">23</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1651&ndash;1652, pp. 266, 350, 396,
+472; 1652&ndash;1653, pp. 18, 27, 160, 171.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-24-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-24-2">24</a>)
+Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 19, 287. On May 6, 1653,
+a new commission of trade was proposed by the Council of State but
+no appointments are given. Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1653&ndash;1654,
+pp. 310, 344.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-25-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-25-2">25</a>)
+Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 308, 319, 341, 375.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-26-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-26-2">26</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1654, pp. 61, 285, 316.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-27-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-27-2">27</a>)
+Brit. Mus. Add. MSS., 11411, ff. 11<sup>b</sup>&ndash;12<sup>b</sup>.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-28-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-28-2">28</a>)
+That such an outcome was anticipated is evident from the
+concluding words of the "Overture." "If his Highness shall think fit
+to constitute a council for the general Trade of these Nations and the
+several Interests relating thereunto, these seaven may properly be of
+that number, the employment being of the same nature and therefore
+will rather informe then divert them who ought indeed to be busyed or
+conversant in no other Affaires than the matters of Trade."
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-29-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-29-2">29</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1655, pp. 27, 133, 240.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-30-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-30-2">30</a>)
+Thurloe, State Papers, IV, p. 177; British Museum, Add.
+MSS., 12438, iii; Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1655, p. 240, 1655&ndash;1656, pp.
+1, 2, 54, 73, 100, 114, 115, 141, 156, 162, 188, 252, 275, 297, 327,
+382. "We might speak also of the famed 'Committee of Trade' which has
+now begun its sessions 'in the old House of Lords.' An Assembly of
+Dignitaries, Chief Merchants, Political Economists, convened by summons
+of his Highness; consulting zealously how the Trade of this country
+may be improved. A great concernment of this commonwealth 'which his
+Highness is eagerly set upon.' They consulted of 'Swedish copperas' and
+such like; doing faithfully what they could." Cromwell's Letters and
+Speeches, II, p. 202.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-31-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-31-2">31</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1655&ndash;1656, p. 113; 1656&ndash;1657,
+p. 556; 1657&ndash;1658, pp. 308, 589; 1657&ndash;1658, p. 69.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-32-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-32-2">32</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1655&ndash;1656, p. 318.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-33-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-33-2">33</a>)
+Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 442, 452, 460.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-34-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-34-2">34</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574&ndash;1660, pp. 436, 439, 440 (2),
+441, 443, 447, 453.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-35-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-35-2">35</a>)
+Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 12438, iii.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-36-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-36-2">36</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1658&ndash;1659, p. 349.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-37-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-37-2">37</a>)
+Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 442, 452.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-38-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-38-2">38</a>)
+Commons' Journal, VII, p. 596.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-39-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-39-2">39</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1655&ndash;1656, pp. 46, 65, 318, 351.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-40-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-40-2">40</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1657&ndash;1658, pp. 51, 66.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-41-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-41-2">41</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574, 1660, pp. 445, 447, 448,
+449, 450, 452, 453, 455, 456, 458, 459, 460, 461, 464, 465, 468, 470,
+477; Brit. Mus. Egerton, 2395, ff. 123, 136, 142, 148&ndash;151, 157; Add.
+MSS., 18986, f. 258.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-42-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-42-2">42</a>)
+Note to the report of May 11, 1660, is as follows: "By
+order of the Councill of State sitting and taking care of the government
+in the interval between the suppression of the Rump of the Parliament
+and the return of his Majesty which was not many days before the date of
+this report." Egerton MSS., 2395, f. 263. Probably the recall not the
+actual landing at Dover is meant.
+</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page49" name="page49"></a>[49]</span></p>
+
+<a name="h2HCH0007" id="h2HCH0007"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER III.
+</h2>
+<h3>
+    <span class="sc">The Proposals of the Merchants: Noell and Povey.</span>
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Between the colonial and commercial activities of the later years of
+the Interregnum and the corresponding activities during the early years
+of the Restoration no hard and fast line can be drawn. The policy of
+control adopted by Charles II can be traced to the agitation of men,
+chiefly merchants of London and others familiar with the colonies, who
+since 1655 had become impressed with the possibilities of the New World
+as a field for profitable ventures in trade and commerce, and desired,
+whether under a republic or a monarchy, the coöperation and aid of the
+government. Among the leaders of this movement were Martin Noell and
+Thomas Povey.
+</p>
+<p>
+Martin Noell was probably the most conspicuous London merchant of his
+time. Of his early life nothing seems to be known. He first appears as
+a merchant in 1650 trading with Nevis and Montserrat, and in the next
+few years he extended his operations to New England, Virginia, the other
+West India islands, and the Mediterranean. His ships trafficked in a
+great variety of commodities&mdash;iron, hemp, pitch, tar, flax, potashes,
+cables, fish, cocoa, tobacco, etc., and he became a power in London,
+his place of business in Old Jewry being the resort of merchants,
+ship captains, and persons desiring to coöperate in his ventures.
+He was an alderman as early as 1651, was placed a little later on the
+commission for securing the peace of the city, and held other offices
+by appointment of the city or of the Commonwealth. He was also
+a member of the East India Company and influential in its councils.
+In addition to his mercantile interests he became a farmer, first of
+the inland and foreign post-office,&mdash;one writer speaking of him as
+"the postmaster,"&mdash;and later, on a large scale, of customs and
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page50" name="page50"></a>[50]</span>
+
+ excise.
+At one time or another he held the farm of the customs in general and
+of the excise of salt, linen, silk mercery, and wines in particular. In
+these capacities he acted as a banker of the government, paying salaries
+and expenses of official appointees, advancing loans, and issuing bills
+of exchange and letters of credit. His vessels carried letters of marque
+during the Dutch war and the war with Spain, and he himself traded in
+prizes and became one of the commissioners of prize goods. The Jamaican
+expeditions of 1654 and afterward gave him an opportunity to become a
+contractor and he organized a committee in London for the purpose of
+financiering the expedition, himself advancing £16,000, and in company
+with Capts. Alderne, Watts, and others contracted for the supplies of
+the ships and soldiers, furnishing utensils, clothing, bedding, and
+provisions for this and other expeditions, notably that to Flanders.
+He was Gen. Venables' personal agent in London and agent for the army
+in general in Jamaica. He also became a contractor for transporting
+vagrants, prisoners, and others to various American plantations. These
+accumulating ventures increased his interest in the colonies, and after
+the capture of Jamaica in 1655 he obtained a grant of 20,000 acres in
+that island, from which he created several plantations. In his new
+capacity as planter he was constantly engaged in shipping servants,
+supplies, and horses. The firm of Martin Noell &amp; Company became
+exceedingly prosperous, and Noell himself one of the mainstays of the
+government. He became a member of the Trade Committee in 1655, of the
+committee for Jamaica in 1656, and was frequently called in by the
+Council of State to offer advice or to give information. He was on terms
+of intimacy with Cromwell, and because of the Protector's friendship
+for him and confidence in his judgment, his recommendations for office,
+both in England and the colonies had great weight. Povey speaks of the
+"extraordinary favor allowed him (Noell) by his Highness." He had a
+brother, Thomas Noell, who was prominent in Barbadoes and Surinam and
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page51" name="page51"></a>[51]</span>
+
+ in charge of his interests there. He was also represented in other
+islands by agents and factors, of whom Edward Bradbourne was the most
+conspicuous, while Major Richard Povey in Jamaica, and William Povey
+in Barbadoes, brothers of Thomas Povey, had for a time charge of his
+plantations in those islands. Noell indirectly played no small part in
+politics, particularly of Barbadoes, where Governor Searle held office
+largely through his influence. Besides his Jamaica holdings he had
+estates at Wexford in Ireland, and in April, 1658, wrote to Henry
+Cromwell that he had "transplanted much of his interest and affairs
+and relations" to that country, seeming to indicate thereby that his
+colonial ventures were not prospering satisfactorily. Noell was a
+politic man, shrewd and diplomatic, asserting his loyalty to the house
+of Cromwell, yet becoming a trusty subject of King Charles, from whom
+he afterward received knighthood.<a href="#note-1-3" name="noteref-1-3"><small>1</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+Thomas Povey was born probably about 1615, son of Justinian Povey,
+auditor of the exchequer and one of the commissioners of the Caribbee
+Islands in 1637. He was one of a large family of children, nine at
+least, Justinian, John, Francis, William, Richard, Thomas, Mrs.
+Blathwayt (afterward Mrs. Thomas Vivian), Mrs. Barrow, and Sarah Povey,
+and he spent his early years at the family home in Hounslow. In 1633 he
+entered Gray's Inn and in 1647 became a member of the Long Parliament.
+"Purged" with the other Presbyterian members in 1648, he did not return
+to Parliament until the restoration of those members in 1659. He was
+evidently inclined at first to go into law and politics, but for reasons
+unnamed, possibly the slenderness of his fortune, which he says was
+hardly sufficient to support him, he turned, about 1654, to trade,
+and was thus brought into close relations with Martin Noell. Of his
+activities until 1657 we hear very little, though it is evident that
+from 1654 to 1657 he lived in Gray's Inn, engaging in
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page52" name="page52"></a>[52]</span>
+
+                                                      many trading
+ventures in the West Indies and elsewhere, was on terms of intimacy
+with Noell and frequently at his house, and showed himself fertile of
+suggestions, as always, regarding the improvement of trade and the
+care and supply of men, provisions, and intelligence. In 1657 he lost
+by death his brothers John and Francis, and his mother, who died at
+Hounslow. As two of his brothers had gone to the West Indies with the
+expedition of 1654 and the remainer of the family was scattered, he
+decided to marry, and settled down in a house in Lincoln's Inn Fields
+next the Earl of Northampton, with a widow without children, but
+possessed "of a fortune capable of giving a reasonable assistance to
+mine." In October of that year, possibly through Noell's influence, he
+became a member of the committee for America, and from that time was
+a conspicuous leader among those interested in plantation affairs.
+As chairman and secretary of the committee, he took a prominent part
+in all correspondence, and was familiar with the chief men in all the
+colonies. He exchanged letters with Searle, of Barbadoes, D'Oyley,
+of Jamaica, Temple, of Nova Scotia, Digges, at one time governor of
+Virginia, Russell, of Nevis, Major Byam, of Surinam, Col. Osborn, of
+Montserrat, General Brayne, in command of one of the expeditions to
+Jamaica, and particularly with Lord Willoughby of Parham, with whom he
+stood on terms of intimate friendship and over whose policy he exercised
+considerable control. He was proposed at this time as agent in London
+for Virginia, but the suggestion does not appear to have been acted on.
+His brother Richard was commissary of musters and major of militia in
+Jamaica, and his brother William, the black sheep of the family, who
+had married a wife far too good for him, as Povey once wrote her, was
+provost marshal in Barbadoes and in charge of Noell's interests there,
+bringing that merchant nothing but "discontent and damage," and causing
+Thomas Povey a great deal of trouble and expense. The colonial
+appointments of these brothers were obtained entirely through the
+influence of Noell and
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page53" name="page53"></a>[53]</span>
+
+                       Povey in England. The disordered and uncertain
+political situation in England in 1659 and the unsettled state of
+affairs in both Jamaica and Barbadoes at the same time cost Povey great
+anxiety and a part of his own and his wife's fortune, and he echoed
+the complaint, widespread at the time, of the decay of trade and the
+insecurity of all commercial ventures. We may not doubt that Povey,
+as well as Noell, was ready to welcome the return of the King.<a href="#note-2-3" name="noteref-2-3"><small>2</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+Though Noell and Povey were intimate friends and had been engaged in
+common trading enterprises for a number of years, we have no definite
+knowledge of their earlier undertakings, beyond the fact that with Capt.
+Watts and Capt. Aldherne, whom Povey met by accident at Noell's house,
+they were particularly concerned in developing the Barbadoes and Jamaica
+trade. In the years 1657 and 1658, when Noell was "swol'n into a much
+greater person by being a farmer of the customs and excise," we meet
+with two enterprises, one for a West India Company, promoted by Lord
+Willoughby, Noell, Povey, and Watts, as partners and principals, with
+Watts as sea captain in charge of the vessel; the other for a Nova
+Scotia Company, composed of Lord William Fiennes, Sir Charles Wolseley,
+Noell, Povey, and others, with Watts and Collier as managers and Capt.
+Middleton as sailing master. The latter company was organized for
+settling a trade in furs and skins in Nova Scotia, and to that end
+engaged the coöperation of Wolseley's cousin, Col. Thomas Temple,
+lieutenant general of Nova Scotia since 1655, and of Capt. Breedon,
+a prominent merchant of New England. It sent out a ship freighted with
+goods under Capt. Middleton, but despite an auspicious beginning,
+does not appear to have prospered. The title to Nova Scotia was disputed
+not only by the French, but also by the Kirkes, whom Cromwell had
+dispossessed in 1655, when he appointed Temple as governor; hostilities
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page54" name="page54"></a>[54]</span>
+
+ broke out in Nova Scotia, and the company was called upon for a larger
+stock and incorporation at a time when its promoters seemed unwilling to
+risk more money. Though Povey was encouraged by the specimens of copper
+which Temple sent over, the enterprise made no progress until after the
+Restoration. It is probable that both Noell and Povey lost money by the
+venture.
+</p>
+<p>
+The project for a West India Company was more ambitious and must have
+been formulated some time in 1656 or 1657. Various propositions were
+drawn up with care, probably by Povey or by Noell and Povey together,
+for the better serving the interests of the Commonwealth by the erection
+of a company which had as its object the advancing of trade and the
+prosecution of the war with Spain. The two ideas seem, however, to have
+been kept separate. Trade was to be promoted by despatching a vessel to
+"Florida" under Capt. Watts which, in case it was unable to open trade
+there, was to take on a lading of pipe staves in New England, sail to
+the West Indies, and return thence with a cargo of sugar and other West
+Indian commodities. For the purpose of attacking Spanish towns, of
+"interrupting the Spanish fleet in their going from Spain to the Indies
+and in their return thence for Spain, and of ousting the Spaniards from
+their control in the West Indies and South America"&mdash;a subject regarding
+which Capt. Limbrey had drawn up a paper of information,&mdash;the company
+proposed that the state should furnish and equip twenty frigates which
+were to be fully provisioned, manned and officered by itself. The
+company desired to be incorporated by act of Parliament,<a href="#note-3-3" name="noteref-3-3"><small>3</small></a> rather
+than by a patent under the great seal, because the former would confer
+"diverse privileges and assistances, and an immunity and sole trade
+in any place they shall conquer or beget a trade with the Spaniard's
+dominion," all of which a patent could not convey. The proposals were
+presented to the Council of State in 1659 and were referred to a special
+committee. They
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page55" name="page55"></a>[55]</span>
+
+                were debated in Council on August 7, and on October 20
+Povey wrote to Governor Searle that they had received encouragement
+and hoped to have a charter from Parliament, and because "they have so
+much favor from the state they will have an influence upon most of the
+English plantations."<a href="#note-4-3" name="noteref-4-3"><small>4</small></a> Either Parliament refused to incorporate the
+company or in the distractions of the winter of 1659&ndash;1660 the proposals
+were lost sight of.
+</p>
+<p>
+The group of merchants, among whom Noell and Povey were so conspicuous,
+seemed to desire, as far as possible, a monopoly of the trade in America
+and the West Indies, and to that end controlled to no inconsiderable
+extent political appointments there. Governor Searle, of Barbadoes,
+was their appointee, and Governors Russell, of Nevis, and Osborn,
+of Montserrat, were in close touch with them and looked to them for
+support. In 1657, acting through the committee for America, they
+recommended that Edward Digges be made governor of Virginia, and about
+the same time Martin Noell and eighteen others petitioned that Capt.
+Watts be made governor of Jamaica. Lord Willoughby was practically
+one of them, and Gen. Brayne and Lieut. Gen. D'Oyley were on intimate
+terms with them. It is not surprising, in view of the importance of the
+colonial trade and the disturbed condition of the plantations, that such
+a man as Povey, who was always ready with plans and proposals, should
+have endeavored to solve the problem of colonial control. He was in
+frequent consultation with Noell concerning matters relating to the West
+Indies, and in consequence, many schemes were discussed and carefully
+worked out by them. The various drafts touching the West India Company
+are elaborated in minute detail, and Povey showed clearly that he
+possessed admirable qualities as a committee-man and an organizer.
+</p>
+<p>
+The first "overture" or plan seems to have been written in 1654 at the
+time when the expedition of Penn and Venables
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page56" name="page56"></a>[56]</span>
+
+                                              was on its way to the
+West Indies, and does not refer specifically to Jamaica. Its authors
+recommended that a competent number of persons, not less than seven, of
+good repute and well skilled in their professions and qualifications,
+be selected to form a council. A greater number would be undesirable,
+they said, because "in such an affair where there are many, the chief
+things are done and ofttimes huddled up by a few; and there is neither
+that secrecy, steadiness, nor particular care, nor so good an account
+given of the trust, where more are employed than are necessary and
+proportionable to the business."<a href="#note-5-3" name="noteref-5-3"><small>5</small></a> The qualifications of the seven are
+interesting: "(1) One to be a Merchant that hath been in those Indias
+and trading that waie. (2) One also to bee a Merchant but not related
+to that trade, and who rather retires from than pursues in profession.
+(3) One well experienced Seaman, not or but little trading att present.
+(4) One Gentleman that hath travailed; that hath language and something
+of the civill Lawe. (5) One Citizen of a general capacitie and
+conversation. (6) One that understands well our municipall Lawes and
+the general Constitutions of England. (7) One to be a Secretarie to his
+Highness in all Affaires in the West Indias, and relating thereunto, who
+is solely to give himself up to this Employm<sup>t</sup>." This council was to be
+subordinated only to Cromwell and the Council and its powers were to be
+fairly extensive. It was
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    "to have power to advise w<sup>th</sup> all other Committees or Persons,
+    Officers, or others as occasion shall require;
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    "to consider (by what they shall observe here and what shalbee
+    represented from the Commission<sup>rs</sup> now in the expedition) how
+    and what forreigne Plantations may be improved, transplanted,
+    and ordered;
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    "to reduce all Colonies and Plantations to a more certaine,
+    civill, and uniforme way of government and distribution of
+    publick justice;
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    "to keep a constant correspondence with the Commission<sup>rs</sup> now
+    in the expedition, and w<sup>th</sup> all the Chiefe Ports both at home
+    and abroad;
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page57" name="page57"></a>[57]</span></p>
+
+<p class="quote">
+    "to be able to give up once in a year unto his Highness a perfect
+    Intelligence and Account of the Government of every place, of their
+    complaints, their wants, their abundance of every ship trading
+    thither and its lading and whither consigned, and to know what the
+    proceeds of the place have been that yeare, whereby the intrinsick
+    value and the certaine condition of each port will be thoroughly
+    understood. And by this conduct and method those many rich places
+    and severall Governments and Adventures will have all due and
+    continuall care and Inspection taken of them, w<sup>th</sup>out divertion
+    to the nearest Affairs of this Nation, w<sup>ch</sup> being of so much of a
+    greater and a closer consequence, the Superior Council can seldome
+    bee at leisure to descend any further than to breife and imperfect
+    considerations and provisions, w<sup>ch</sup> is the sad Estate of fforeigne
+    Dominions, and distant Colonies and Expeditions from whence usually
+    the most strict, or servile duty and obedience is exacted, but very
+    seldome any Indulgencie or paternall care is allowed to them.
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    "These therefore are to indeavour and contrive all possible
+    Encouragem<sup>ts</sup> and Advantages for the Adventurer, Planter, and
+    English Merchants, in order also to the shutting out all Straingers
+    from that Trade, by making them not necessary to it, and by drawing
+    it wholly and with satisfaction to all parties into our Ports here,
+    that it may bee afterward instead of Bullion to trade with other
+    Nations, it being the Traffick of our own proper and native
+    Commodities. That our Shipping may be increased, our poore here
+    employed, and our Manufactures encouraged: And by the generall
+    consequencies hereof, a considerable Revenue may be raised to
+    his Highness.
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    "to debate among themselves, and satisfy themselves from others;
+    and to present their Results to his Highness in all matters
+    reserved and proper for his Highness Judgment and last
+    Impressions.
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    "to bee a readie and perfect Register both to his Highness and
+    all other persons, as far as they may be concerned, of all
+    particulars relating to those Affaires.
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    "The Secretarie may be the person to represent things from time
+    to time between his Highness and this Councill. To make and receive
+    dispatches. To make readie papers for his Highness signature.
+    And generally his Office wilbee to render the Supreame Management
+    &amp; comp<sup>r</sup>hension of this Affaire less cumbersome and difficult to
+    his Highness, hee being allwaies ready to give his Highness a full
+    and a digested consideration, if any particular relating to those
+    Affaires and w<sup>th</sup>in the cognizance of that Council."<a href="#note-6-3" name="noteref-6-3"><small>6</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+That these recommendations had any influence in determining the
+character of the Trade Committee of 1655 is
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page58" name="page58"></a>[58]</span>
+
+                                            doubtful, but the next
+effort of the merchants was probably more successful. Some time in 1656
+Povey drew up a series of queries "concerning his Highness Interest in
+the West Indias" in which occur the following suggesive paragraphs:
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    "Whether a Councell busyed and filled with a multitude of
+    Affaires, w<sup>ch</sup> concerne the imediat Safety and preservation
+    of the State at home, can bee thought capable of giving a proper
+    conduct to such various and distant Interests.
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    "Whether an Affaire of such a nature and consequence may be
+    transacted in diverse peices and by diverse Councells, and how
+    a proper Result cann be instantly arise out of such a kind of
+    management.
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    "Whether a Councill constituted of fitt Persons Solely sett apart
+    to the busyness of America be not the likeliest means of advancing
+    his Highness Interest there and of bringing them continually to
+    a certain account and readiness whensoever his Highness or his
+    Privie Councill shall have occasion to looke into any particular
+    thereof.
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    "Whether it be not a prudentiall thing to draw all the Islands,
+    Colonies, and Dominions of America under one and the same
+    management here."<a href="#note-7-3" name="noteref-7-3"><small>7</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+That the men who drafted these queries were mainly responsible for the
+creation of the select council of 1656, at first known as the Committee
+for Jamaica and afterwards as the Committee for his Highness Affairs
+in America, we can hardly doubt, for the constitution and work of that
+committee represents very nearly the ideas that Povey and Noell had
+expressed up to this time. It is not to be wondered at that Povey should
+have been the chairman, secretary, and most active member of this
+committee after his appointment in 1657.
+</p>
+<p>
+Two other propositions or overtures appear among Povey's papers that
+belong to the period of the Protectorate, and were written probably
+the one in 1656, known as the "Propositions concerning the West India
+Councill," and the other, known as "Overtures touching the West Indies,"
+before August, 1657.<a href="#note-8-3" name="noteref-8-3"><small>8</small></a> In the first of these the number of the
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page59" name="page59"></a>[59]</span>
+
+                                                                council
+was to be ten, in the second it was not to exceed six. The "Propositions"
+repeat in the main the points already quoted, including the
+recommendation that it should be the business of the council "to
+consider of the reducing all Colonies and Plantations to a more
+certaine, civill, and uniform waie of Governm<sup>t</sup> and distribution
+of publick justice." The "Overtures" are much more elaborate, though
+frequently containing the identical phrases of the first "Overture,"
+with many new paragraphs which seem to show the same spirit of hostility
+for Spain that is exhibited in the formation of the West India Company.
+Indeed this document is an outcome of the same movement which led to the
+formation of that company. Some of the more important sections are as
+follows:
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    "To render what we already possess, and all that depends upon it,
+    to be a foundation and Inducem<sup>t</sup> for future undertakings; by
+    gathering reasonable assistances from thence, and by mingling and
+    interweaving of Interest, and letting it appear that such Persons
+    and Collonies shall have the more of the Indulgencie of the State
+    as shall merit most in what they shall in any way be readier to do,
+    or contribut to the service of the whole; for hereafter they may
+    be considered as one embodied Commonwealth whose head and centre
+    is here.
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    "That every Governour shall have his Commission reviewed, and
+    that all be reviewed in one form, w<sup>th</sup> such clauses and provisions
+    as shalbee held necessary for the promotion of his Highness other
+    public affairs, and that as soone as order can be conveniently taken
+    therein the several Governours to be paid their allowances from
+    hence (though upon their own accounts), that their dependencie bee
+    immediately and altogether from his Highness....
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    "That all prudentiall means be applyed to for the rendering these
+    Dominions useful to England, and England helpful to them; and that
+    the severall Peices and Colonies bee drawn and disposed into a more
+    certaine, civill, and uniforme waie of Government and distribution
+    of Publick Justice. And that such Collonies as are the Proprietie
+    of particular Persons or of Corporations may be reduced as neare as
+    cann bee to the same method and proportion w<sup>th</sup> the
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page60" name="page60"></a>[60]</span>
+
+                                                          rest w<sup>th</sup>
+    as little dissatisfaction or injurie to the persons concerned as
+    may bee.
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    "That a continual correspondence bee so settled and ordered ...
+    that so each place w<sup>th</sup>in itself and all of them being as it were
+    made up into one Commonwealth may be regulated accordingly upon
+    comon and equal Principles."
+</p>
+<p>
+These proposals are followed by a series of propositions designed to
+further the enterprise of the merchants and to aid in the defeat of
+the Spaniards, whereby "those oppressed People (who are w<sup>th</sup>held
+from Trade though to their extreme suffering and disadvantage)" may
+be released "from the Tyranny [of Spain] now upon them."
+</p>
+<p>
+Taken as a whole, these documents form a remarkable series of unofficial
+papers which formulate foundation principles of colonial empire that
+England never applied. That these principles met the approval of those
+who were to shape the colonial policy of the Restoration a further
+examination will show.
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<a name="note-1-3"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-1-3">1</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574&ndash;1660; Dom., vols. for years
+1650&ndash;1660, Indexes; Brit. Mus. Egerton, 2395, Add. MSS., 11410, 11411,
+15858, f. 97, 22920, f. 22; Lansdowne, 822, f. 164, 823, f. 33.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-2-3"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-2-3">2</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Col. and Dom. Indexes; Egerton, 2395,
+which contains Povey's collection of papers; Add. MSS., 11411, which
+contains his correspondence. See also Dictionary of National Biography.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-3-3"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-3-3">3</a>)
+A draft of such an act is to be found in Egerton, 2395, f.
+202.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-4-3"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-4-3">4</a>)
+Brit. Mus. Egerton, 2395, pp. 87&ndash;113, 176 (there is a
+duplicate of Povey's letter in Add. MSS., 11410); Cal. State Papers,
+Col., 1574&ndash;1660, pp. 475, 477.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-5-3"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-5-3">5</a>)
+That all these proposals were drafted by Povey is evident
+from similar terms and phrases used in his letters.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-6-3"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-6-3">6</a>)
+Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 11411, ff. 11<sup>b</sup>&ndash;12<sup>b</sup>.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-7-3"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-7-3">7</a>)
+Brit. Mus., Egerton, 2395, f. 86.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-8-3"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-8-3">8</a>)
+Brit. Mus., Egerton, 2395, f. 99; Add. MSS., 11411, ff.
+3&ndash;3<sup>b</sup>. In a letter of August, 1657, Povey refers to these "Overtures,"
+which he says were designed "for the better setting and carrying on of
+the general affairs of the West Indies, enforcing the authority and
+powers of the several governors there, and the establishment of a
+certain course," etc.
+</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page61" name="page61"></a>[61]</span></p>
+
+<a name="h2HCH0008" id="h2HCH0008"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER IV.
+</h2>
+<h3>
+    <span class="sc">Committees and Councils Under the Restoration.</span>
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Charles II landed at Dover on May 25, 1660 and on the twenty-seventh
+named at Canterbury four men, General Monck, the Earl of Southampton,
+William Morrice, and Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, who took oath as privy
+councillors. Others who had been members of the Council on foreign soil
+or were added during the month following the return of the King swelled
+the number to more than twenty. The first meeting of the Privy Council
+was held on May 31, and it was inevitable that during the ensuing weeks
+many petitions concerning the various claims and controversies which
+had been agitating merchants and planters during the previous years
+and had been reported on by the Committee for America should have been
+brought to the attention of the Council. Such matters as appointments to
+governorships and other offices, the political disturbances in Antigua,
+Barbadoes, and Jamaica, the titles to Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and
+Barbadoes, became at once living issues. Many of the petitions were from
+the London merchants, and we may not doubt that the personal influence
+of those whose names have been already mentioned was brought to bear
+upon the members of the Council. It became necessary, therefore,
+for the King and his advisers to make early provision for the proper
+consideration of colonial business in order that the colonies might
+be placed in a position of greater security and in order that the
+West Indian and American trade, from which the King and his Chancellor
+expected important additions to the royal revenue, might be encouraged
+and extended. Among the petitions received in June, 1660, were two from
+rival groups of merchants interested in the governorship and trade of
+the island of Nevis. One of these petitions desired the confirmation of
+the
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page62" name="page62"></a>[62]</span>
+
+    appointment of Col. Philip Ward as governor of Nevis; the other
+the reappointment of the former governor, Russell. This was the first
+difficult question that had yet arisen, for Berkeley's return to
+Virginia was a foregone conclusion, while the condition and settlement
+of Nova Scotia, Barbadoes and Jamaica were to be of importance later.
+Acting on these petitions regarding Nevis, only the second of which is
+entered in the Privy Council Register, the King in Council appointed
+on July 4, 1660, a committee, known as "The Right Honorable the Lords
+appointed a Committee of this Board for Trade and Plantations." The
+members were Edward Montague, Earl of Manchester, the Lord Chamberlain;
+Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, the Lord Treasurer; Robert
+Sydney, Earl of Leicester; William Fiennes, Lord Say and Seale; John
+Lord Robartes; Denzil Holles, Arthur Annesley, Sir Anthony Ashley
+Cooper, and the Secretaries of State, Sir Edward Nicholas and Sir
+William Morrice. The committee was instructed to meet on every Monday
+and Thursday at three o'clock in the afternoon, "to review, heare,
+examine, and deliberate upon any petitions, propositions, memorials, or
+other addresses, which shall be presented or brought in by any person or
+persons concerning the plantations, as well in the Continent as Islands
+of America, and from time to time make their report to this board of
+their proceedings."<a href="#note-1-4" name="noteref-1-4"><small>1</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+It is evident from the wording of these instructions that the committee
+was designed to be a continuous one and to carry on the work of the
+former committee for foreign plantations of the Council of State. There
+is no essential difference between these committees, except that one
+represented a commonwealth and the other a monarchy. We pass from the
+one arrangement to the other with very little jar, and with much less
+sense of a break in the continuity than when we pass from the system
+under the Republic to that under the Protectorate. The Privy Council
+committee had all the essential features of a standing committee and,
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page63" name="page63"></a>[63]</span>
+
+ after the experiment with separate and select councils had proved
+unsatisfactory, it assumed entire control of trade and plantation
+affairs in 1675, a control which it exercised until 1696. Though an
+occasional change was made in its membership and some reorganization was
+effected in 1668, the Lords of Trade of July 4, 1660, commissioned with
+plenary powers by patent under the great seal, became the Lords of Trade
+of February 9, 1675.
+</p>
+<p>
+From 1660 to 1675 this committee of the Privy Council played no
+insignificant part although, after the creation of the councils, it was
+bound to be limited in the actual work that it performed. During the
+four months after its appointment it was the only body that had to do
+with trade and plantations except the Privy Council, which occasionally
+sat as a committee of the whole for plantation affairs. During the
+summer the committee considered with care and a due regard for all
+aspects of the case the claims of various persons to the government of
+Barbadoes. Despite the opposition of Modyford, who had been commissioned
+governor by the Council of State the April before, and John Colleton,
+one of the Council of Barbadoes, and despite the efforts of Alderman
+Riccard and other merchants of London, Francis Lord Willoughby was
+restored to the government under the claims of the Earl of Carlisle.
+At the same time the claims of the Kirks, Elliott, and Sterling to Nova
+Scotia were examined and eventually decided in favor of Col. Temple, the
+governor there. Willoughby immediately appointed Capt. Watts governor of
+the Caribbee Islands, himself, through his deputy, took the governorship
+of Barbadoes, Modyford became governor of Jamaica, Berkeley of Virginia,
+and Russell of Nevis. It is at least worthy of recall that Willoughby,
+Watts, Temple, and Russell were all within the circle of Povey's
+friends, that Povey and Noell both petitioned the King for Russell's
+reappointment, and that Temple wrote Povey begging him to exert his
+influence in his (Temple's) behalf, lest he lose the governorship. Povey
+was certainly in high favor with the
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page64" name="page64"></a>[64]</span>
+
+                                      monarchy; in 1660 he was appointed
+treasurer to the Duke of York and Master of Requests to his Majesty
+in Extraordinary June 22, 1660,<a href="#note-2-4" name="noteref-2-4"><small>2</small></a> and during the years that followed
+he held office after office and with all the skill of a politician
+continued to find offices for his kinsmen. William Blathwayt, of later
+fame, was his nephew. Noell was no less honored; he became a member of
+the Royal Company of Merchants, the Royal African Company, the Society
+for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England, and was finally
+knighted in 1663 and died in 1665.<a href="#note-3-4" name="noteref-3-4"><small>3</small></a> As we shall see, both men became
+very active in the affairs of the plantations, and it is more than
+likely that the opinions of the King in Council were not infrequently
+shaped by their suggestions and advice.
+</p>
+<p>
+How early the decision was reached to create separate councils of trade
+and foreign plantations it is impossible to say. Some time between May
+and August, 1660, Povey must have planned to recast his "Overtures"
+and to present them for the consideration of the King. At first he
+endeavored to adapt those of 1657 to the new situation by substituting
+"Foreign Plantations" for the "West Indies," "Ma<sup>tie</sup>" for "Highness,"
+and "his Ma<sup>ties</sup> Privie Councill" for "the great Councill"; but
+he finally decided to present a new draft, in which, however, he
+retained many of the essential clauses of the former paper. Whether the
+recommendations of Povey as presented in the "Overtures" influenced Lord
+Clarendon to recommend such councils to the King we cannot say; it is
+more likely that the practice adopted under the Protectorate had already
+commended itself to the Chancellor, who was beginning to show that
+interest in the plantations which characterizes the early years of his
+administration. That he should have consulted
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page65" name="page65"></a>[65]</span>
+
+                                              Noell and Povey and other
+London merchants is to be expected of the man who for at least five
+years kept up a close correspondence with Maverick of New England,
+Ludwell of Virginia, and D'Oyley, Littleton, and Modyford in the
+West Indies,<a href="#note-4-4" name="noteref-4-4"><small>4</small></a> and who was constantly urging upon the King the
+importance of the plantations as sources of revenue and the great
+financial possibilities that lay in the improvement of trade. On August
+17, 1660, the King in Council drafted a letter to "Our very good Lord
+the Lord Maior of the Citty of London &amp; to the Court of Aldermen of the
+said City," reading as follows:
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    "After our hearty commendations these are to acquaint you, That
+    his Majesty having this day taken into his princely consideration
+    how necessary it is for the good of this kingdom, that Trade and
+    Commerce with foreign parts, be with all due care, incouraged
+    and maintayned, And for the better settling thereof declared his
+    gracious intention to appoint a Committee of understanding able
+    persons, to take into their particular consideration all things
+    conducible thereunto; We do by his Ma<sup>ts</sup> special command and
+    in order to the better carrying on of this truly royal, profitable,
+    and advantageous designe, desire you to give notice hereof
+    unto the Turkey Merchants, the Merchant Adventurers, the East
+    India, Greenland, and Eastland Companys, and likewise to the
+    unincorporated Traders, for Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, and
+    the West India Plantations; Willing them out of their respective
+    societies to present unto his Majesty the names of fower of their
+    most knowing active men (of whom, when his Majesty shall have
+    chosen two and unto this number of merchants added some other
+    able and well experienced persons, dignified also with the
+    presence and assistance of some of his Majesty's Privy Council)
+    All those to be by his Ma<sup>tie</sup> appointed constituted and authoried
+    by commission under the Great Seal as a Standing Committee, to
+    enquire into and rectify all things tending to the Advancement
+    of Trade and Commerce; That so by their prudent and faithful
+    council and advice, his Ma<sup>tie</sup> may (now in this conjuncture,
+    whilst most Foraigne Princes and Potentates doe,
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page66" name="page66"></a>[66]</span>
+
+                                                     upon his Ma<sup>ties</sup>
+    most happy establishment upon his throne, seek to renew their
+    former Allyances with this Crowne), insert into the several
+    Treatyes, such Articles &amp; Clauses as may render this Nation more
+    prosperous and flourishing in Trade and Commerce. Thus by prudence,
+    care, &amp; industry improving those great advantages to the highest
+    point of felicity, which by its admirable situation Nature seems
+    to have indulged to this his Majesty's kingdom. So we bid you
+    heartily farewell."<a href="#note-5-4" name="noteref-5-4"><small>5</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+This letter was signed by Chancellor Hyde, Earl of Southampton, George
+Monck, Earl of Albemarle, Lord Say and Seale, Earl of Manchester, Lord
+Robartes, Arthur Annesley, and Secretary Morrice, who probably formed a
+special committee appointed to draft it. Some time within the month the
+answer of the Aldermen must have been received, for on September 19 the
+Council ordered the attorney general "to make a draught of a commission
+for establishing a Councell of Trade according to the grounds layed"
+in the letter of the seventeenth of August, "upon the perusal whereof
+at the Board his Ma<sup>tie</sup> will insert the names of the said Counsell."
+It is more than likely that the project for the second council, that of
+plantations, went forward <i>pari passu</i> with the Council for Trade and
+that the letter to the Mayor and Aldermen served a double purpose. At
+any rate that must have been the understanding among those interested at
+the time, for on September 26, one Norwich, Captain of the Guards, who
+had been in Clarendon's employ, sent in a memorial to the Chancellor
+begging that the King employ him "in his customs and committees of trade
+and forraign plantations."<a href="#note-6-4" name="noteref-6-4"><small>6</small></a> The matter of drafting the commissions
+must have taken some time, for they are not mentioned as
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page67" name="page67"></a>[67]</span>
+
+                                                         ready for the
+addition of names before the last week in October. The business of
+making up the lists of members must have been a difficult and tedious
+matter. Many lists exist among the Domestic Papers which contain
+changes, erasures and additions, drafts and corrected drafts, which show
+how much pains Clarendon and the others took to make the membership of
+the Council of Trade satisfactory. A suggested list was first drawn up
+containing the names of privy councillors, country gentlemen, customers,
+merchants, traders, the navy officers, gentlemen versed in affairs, and
+doctors of civil law. With this list was considered another containing
+the names of the persons nominated by the different merchant companies.
+Other lists seem also to have been presented.<a href="#note-7-4" name="noteref-7-4"><small>7</small></a> Probably in much the
+same way the list of the members of the Council for Foreign Plantations
+was made up, but more slowly.
+</p>
+<p>
+The commissions were both ready by October 25 and on November 7 had
+reached the Crown Office (Chancery), ready to pass the great seal. The
+commission for the Council of Trade passed the great seal on that day
+and is dated November 7, 1660; but the commission for the Council for
+Foreign Plantations was held back that the names of other members might
+be added and it became necessary to have a new bill passed and duly
+engrossed three weeks later.<a href="#note-8-4" name="noteref-8-4"><small>8</small></a> Therefore the commission for the Council
+for Foreign Plantations is dated December 1, 1660.
+</p>
+<p>
+An analysis of the membership of these two councils and of the
+membership of the Royal African Company, created soon after, shows many
+points of interest. The Council of Trade consisted of sixty-two members,
+that of Foreign Plantations of forty-eight,<a href="#note-9-4" name="noteref-9-4"><small>9</small></a> and that of the African
+Company of sixty-six. Twenty-eight members are common to
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page68" name="page68"></a>[68]</span>
+
+                                                         the first two
+bodies, eleven are common to the Council of Trade and the Royal African
+Company, and eight are common to all three groups. These eight are John
+Lord Berkeley of Stratton; Sir George Carteret, Sir Nicholas Crispe,
+Sir Andrew Riccard, Sir John Shaw, Thomas Povey, Martin Noell, and
+John Colleton. The other members common to the two councils are
+Lord Clarendon, the Earl of Southampton, Earl of Manchester, Earl of
+Marlborough, Earl of Portland, Lord Robartes, Francis Lord Willoughby,
+Denzil Holles, Sir Edward Nicholas, Sir William Morrice, Arthur
+Annesley, Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, William Coventry, Daniel O'Neale,
+Sir James Draxe, Edward Waller, Edward Digges, William Williams, Thomas
+Kendall, and John Lewis; while among the other members of the Council
+for Foreign Plantations are such well-known men as Sir William Berkeley,
+Capt. John Limbrey, Col. Edward Waldrond, Capt. Thomas Middleton,
+Capt. William Watts, and Capt. Alexander Howe. Thus the merchants,
+sea-captains, and planters, men thoroughly familiar with the questions
+of trade and plantations and intimately connected with the plantations
+themselves are members of the Council of Plantations and sometimes
+of that of Trade also. It is significant that among the four London
+merchants common to all three groups should be found the names of Noell
+and Povey. Their associates, Crispe and Riccard, were persons well
+known in the history of London trade, and probably the four names
+represent the four most influential men among the merchants of London
+who supported the King. When we turn to the work of these councils we
+shall see that Povey and Noell were active members also.
+</p>
+<p>
+However uncertain we may be regarding the influence of Povey and Noell
+in shaping the policy of Clarendon and the King, that uncertainty
+disappears as soon as we examine the instructions which were drafted
+to accompany the commission for a Council for Foreign Plantations.
+The instructions are little more than a verbal reproduction of the
+"Overtures" which Povey drafted some time during the
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page69" name="page69"></a>[69]</span>
+
+                                                     summer of 1660
+for presentation to the King. They are based on the earlier overtures
+and proposals and certain passages can be traced back unchanged to the
+first "Overture" of 1654. Seven of the eleven clauses are taken from the
+Povey papers as follows:
+</p>
+
+<table class="parallel" border="0" align="center" summary="Parallel comparison of documents">
+
+<tr><td width="49%" align="center"><i>Overtures.</i></td><td width="49%" align="center"><i>Instructions.</i></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td valign="top">
+<p>
+They may forthwith write letters
+to everie Governour ... requiring
+an exact and perticular
+Account of the State of their
+affairs; of the nature and constitution
+of their Lawes and Government,
+and in what modell
+they move; what numbers of
+them, what Fortifications, and
+other Strengths, and Defences
+are upon the Places.
+</p>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">
+<p>
+2. You shall forthwith write
+letters to evrie of our Governo<sup>rs</sup> ... to
+send unto
+</p>
+<p>
+3. you ... perticular and exact
+accompt of the state of their
+affaires; of the nature and constitution
+of their lawes and governm<sup>t</sup>
+and in what modell and
+frame they move and are disposed;
+what numbers of men;
+what fortifications and other
+strengths and defences are upon
+the place.
+</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td valign="top">
+<p>
+To apply to all prudentiall
+meanes for the rendering these
+Dominions usefull to England,
+and England helpfull to them;
+and that the Severall Pieces, and
+Collonies bee drawn and disposed
+into a more certaine, civill,
+and uniform waie of Government;
+and distribution of publick
+justice.
+</p>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">
+<p>
+5. To applie your selves to all
+prudentiall means for the rendering
+those dominions usefull
+to England, and England helpful
+to them, and for the bringing
+the severall Colonies and
+Plantacons, within themselves,
+into a more certaine civill and
+uniforme [waie] of government
+and for the better ordering and
+distributeing of publicque justice
+among them.
+</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td valign="top">
+<p>
+To settle such a continuall
+correspondencie, that it may be
+able to give upp an account once
+a yeare to his Ma<sup>tie</sup> of the Goverment
+of each Place; of their
+Complaints, their Wants, their
+Aboundance, of everie Shipp
+trading there, and its lading;
+and whither consign'd; and to
+know what the proceeds of that
+Place have been that yeare;
+whereby the instrinsick value,
+and the true condition of each
+part and of the whole may be
+thoroughly understood; and
+whereby a Ballance may be
+erected for the better ordering
+and disposing of Trade, and of
+the growth of the Plantations,
+that soe, each Place within itself
+and all of them being as it were
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page70" name="page70"></a>[70]</span>
+
+made up into one Comonwealth,
+may by his Ma<sup>tie</sup> bee heere governd,
+and regulated accordingly,
+upon common and equal principles.
+</p>
+
+</td>
+<td valign="top">
+<p>
+4. To order and settle such a
+continuall correspondencie that
+you may be able, as often as you
+are required thereunto, to give
+up to us an accompt of the Governm<sup>t</sup>
+of each Colonie; of their
+complaints, their wants, their
+abundance; of their severall
+growths and comodities of every
+Shipp Tradeing there and its
+ladeing and whither consigned
+and what the proceeds of that
+place have beene in the late years;
+that thereby the intrinsick value
+and the true condicon of each
+part of the whole may be thoroughly
+understood; whereby a
+more steady judgem<sup>t</sup> and ballance
+may be made for the better
+ordering and disposing of trade
+&amp; of the proceede and
+improvem<sup>ts</sup> of the Plantacons;
+that soe each place within it
+selfe, and all of them being collected
+into one viewe and managem<sup>t</sup>
+here, may be regulated
+and ordered upon common and
+equall ground &amp; principles.
+</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td valign="top">
+<p>
+To enquire diligently into the
+Severall Governments and Councells
+of Plantations belonging to
+forreigne Princes, or States;
+and examine by what Conduct
+and Pollicies they govern, or
+benefitt their own Collonies, and
+upon what Grounds. And is to
+consult and provide soe, that if
+such Councells be good, wholesome,
+and practicable, they may
+be applyed to our use; or if they
+tend, or were designed to our
+prejudice or Disadvantage, they
+may bee ballanced, or turned-back
+upon them.
+</p>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">
+<p>
+6. To enquire diligently into
+the severall governm<sup>ts</sup> and
+Councells of Colonies Plantacons
+and distant Dominions, belonging
+to other Princes or States,
+and to examine by what conduct
+and pollicies they govern or
+benefit them; and you are to
+consult and provide that if such
+councells be good wholesome
+and practicable, they may be applied
+to the case of our Plantacons;
+or if they tend or were
+designed to the prejudice or disadvantage
+thereof or of any of
+our subjects or of trade or comerce,
+how then they may be ballanced
+or turned back upon
+them.
+</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td valign="top">
+<p>
+To receive, debate, and favour
+all such Propositions as shall be
+tendered to them, for the improvement
+of any of the forreigne
+Plantations, or in order
+to any other laudable and advantageous
+enterprize.
+</p>
+<p>
+To call to its Advice and Consultation
+from time to time, as
+often as the matter in debate
+and under consideration shall require,
+any well experienced Persons,
+whether Mechants, or Seamen,
+or Artificers.
+</p>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">
+<p>
+11. To advise, order, settle,
+and dispose of all matters relating
+to the good governm<sup>t</sup> improvement
+and management of
+our Forraine Plantacons or any
+of them, with your utmost skill
+direccon and prudence.
+</p>
+<p>
+7. To call to your assistance
+from time to time as often as
+the matter in consideration shall
+require any well experienced
+persons, whether merchants,
+planters, seamen, artificers, etc.
+</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+
+</table>
+
+<p>
+In the "Overtures" there are no clauses corresponding to those in the
+Instructions relating to the enforcement of the Navigation Act or to the
+spread of the Christian religion; these may well be deemed Restoration
+additions, inserted at Clarendon's request. But the clause concerning
+the transportation of servants, poor men, and vagrants may well have
+been Povey's own, for both Povey and Noell were interested in the
+question and Noell had been in the business since 1654. In the "Queries"
+is the following paragraph:
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page71" name="page71"></a>[71]</span></p>
+
+<p class="quote">
+    "Whither the weeding of this Comon Wealth of Vagabonds, condemned
+    Persons and such as are heere useless and hurtful in wars and
+    peace, and a settled course taken for the transporting them to
+    the Indias and thereby principally supplying Jamaica is not
+    necessary to be consulted."
+</p>
+<p>
+Among the Povey papers is one entitled "Certain propositions for the
+better accommodating the Forreigne Plantacons with Servants," which
+Povey may have drawn up. Hence, there is no good reason to doubt but
+that Povey wrote the entire draft of these instructions himself. Even
+those portions that are not to be found in the "Overtures" are written
+in Povey's peculiar and rather stilted style.
+</p>
+<p>
+That Povey and Noell were the authors of the instructions given to the
+Council of Trade it is not so easy to demonstrate. A preliminary sketch
+of "Instructions for a Councill of Trade" as well as a copy of the final
+instructions are to be found among the Povey papers and both Povey and
+Noell were sufficiently familiar with the requirements of trade at that
+period to have drafted such a document. The fact that the second paper
+is but an elaboration of the first leads to the conclusion that they
+bear to each other much the same relation that the "Overtures" bear
+to the Instructions for the Council of Plantations:
+</p>
+
+
+<table class="parallel" border="0" align="center" summary="Parallel comparison of documents">
+
+<tr><td width="49%" align="center"><span class="sc">First Draft.</span></td><td width="49%" align="center"><span class="sc">Final Instructions.</span></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td valign="top">
+<p>
+1. You shall in the first place
+consider, and propound how to
+remedy inconveniencys of the
+the English trade, in all the respective
+dominions of those Princes
+and States with whom his Mat<sup>ie</sup>
+may renew Alliance, and to that
+end make due enquiry into such
+former treaties as relate to
+Trade.
+</p>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">
+<p>
+1. You shall take into your
+consideration the inconveniences
+w<sup>ch</sup> the English Trade hath suffered
+in any Partes beyond the
+Seas, And are to inquire into
+such Articles of former Treaties
+as have been made with any
+Princes or States in relation to
+Trade, And to draw out such
+Observations or Resolutions
+from thence, as may be necessary
+for us to advise or insist
+upon in any forreigne Leagues
+or Allyances. That such evills
+as have befallen these our Kingdomes
+through the want of good
+information in these great and
+publique concernm<sup>ts</sup> may be
+provided against in tyme to
+come.
+</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td valign="top">
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page72" name="page72"></a>[72]</span>
+
+<p>
+What Articles have bin provided
+in favour of the Trade of
+his Ma<sup>ties</sup> Subjects, How they
+have been neglected &amp; Violated,
+What new Capitulations may be
+necessary pro Ratione Rerum,
+et temporum.
+</p>
+<p>
+And those, either in Relation:
+</p>
+<p>
+1. To the freedome of Sale of
+your Commodities of all sorts,
+as to price &amp; payment.
+</p>
+<p>
+2. To the best expedition of
+Justice for recovery of your
+debts.
+</p>
+<p>
+3. To the security of the Estates
+of all factors, and their
+Principalls in case of the factor's
+death.
+</p>
+<p>
+4. To the Prevention of the
+Interruption of the Trade &amp;
+Navigation, by Embargos of forraigne
+Princes &amp; States, or imprestinge
+your Shipps to their
+Service.
+</p>
+<p>
+5. To the Interest of all
+Trades that are or shall be incorporated
+by his Mat<sup>ies</sup> Charters,
+what jurisdictyon is necessary
+to be obtained from our
+Allies, for the more regular government
+of the Trade &amp; members
+of those Corporations in
+forraigne factoryes.
+</p>
+<p>
+2<sup>ly</sup>. And next you shall consider,
+how the reputation of all
+the manufactures of his Mat<sup>ies</sup>
+Kingdome may be recovered by
+a just regulation and standard
+of weight, length, and breadth,
+that soe the more profitable and
+ample Vent of them may be procured.
+</p>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">
+<p>
+2. You are to consider how
+&amp; by whome any former Articles
+or Treatyes have been neglected
+or violated, what new Capitulations
+are necessary either to the
+freedome of Sale of your Commodities
+of all sorts, as to price
+&amp; payment, Or to the best expedition
+of Justice to the recovery
+of Debts, or to the Security of
+Estates of all factors &amp; their
+Principalls in case of the factor's
+Death, Or to the prevention of
+those interruptions w<sup>ch</sup> the Trade
+&amp; Navigations of our Kingdomes
+have suffered by Imbargoes
+of forreigne Princes or
+States, Or Imprestinge the
+Shipps of any of our Subjects,
+for their Service.
+</p>
+<p>
+3. You are to consider well
+the Interest of all such trades as
+are or shall be Incorporated by
+our Royall Charters, &amp; what
+Jurisdictions are necessary to be
+obteyned from such as are, or
+shall be in Allyance with us,
+for the more regular managem<sup>t</sup>
+&amp; governm<sup>t</sup> of the Trade, &amp; of
+the members of those our Corporations
+&amp; forreigne factories.
+</p>
+<p>
+4. You are to consider of the
+several Manufactures of these
+our Kingdomes how &amp; by what
+occasions they are corrupted, debased
+&amp; disparaged, And by
+what probable meanes they may
+be restored &amp; maintained in their
+auncyent goodness &amp; reputation,
+And how they may be farther
+improved to there utmost advantage
+by a just Regulation &amp;
+Standard of weight Length &amp;
+Breadth, that soe the private
+profitt of the Tradesmen or
+Merchants may not destroy the
+Creditt of the Commodity, &amp;
+thereby render it neglected &amp;
+unvended abroad, to the great
+loss &amp; scandall of these our
+Kingdomes.
+</p>
+<p>
+5. You are also to take into
+your Consideration all the native
+Commodities of the growth &amp;
+production of these our Kingdomes,
+and how they may be
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page73" name="page73"></a>[73]</span>
+ordered, nourished, increased &amp;
+manifactured to the ymployment
+of our People and to the best
+advantage of the Publique.
+</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td valign="top">
+<p>
+4<sup>ly</sup>. How the fishinge Trades
+of Newfound Land, the Coasts
+of England, Irland, &amp; New England
+may be most improoved,
+and regulated to the greatest advantage
+of the Stocke and navigation
+of the nation, by excludinge
+the intrusion of our neighbors
+into it.
+</p>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">
+<p>
+6. You are especially to consider
+of the whole business of
+fishings of these our Kingdomes
+or any other of our distant
+Dominions or Plantations &amp; to
+consult of some effectuall
+meanes for the reinforceing encouraging
+&amp; encreasinge, and
+for the regulating &amp; carryinge
+on of the Trade in all the Parts
+thereof. To the end That the
+People and Stock, and Navigation
+of these our Kingdomes
+may be ymployed therein and
+our Neighbors may not be enricht
+with that which soe properly
+&amp; advantagiously may be
+undertooke &amp; carryed on by our
+own Subjects.
+</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td valign="top">
+<p>
+3<sup>ly</sup>. How the Trade of the
+Kingdome to forraigne parts
+may be soe menaged and proportioned,
+that we may in every
+part be more Sellers than buyers,
+that thereby the Coyne and
+present Stocke of money may be
+preserved and increased.
+</p>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">
+<p>
+7. You are seriously to consider
+&amp; enquire whether the Importation
+of forreigne Commodityes
+doe not over-ballance
+the Exportations of such as are
+Native, And how it may be soe
+Ordered remedied, &amp; proportioned
+that we may have more
+Sellers than Buyers in every
+parte abroad, And that the
+Coyne &amp; present Stock of these
+our Kingdomes, may be preserved
+&amp; increased, We judging,
+that such a Scale &amp; Rule of proportion
+is one of the highest and
+most prudentiall points of Trade
+by w<sup>ch</sup> the riches &amp; strength of
+these our Kingdomes, are best
+to be understood &amp; maintained.
+</p>
+<p>
+8. You are to consider &amp; examine
+by what wayes &amp; means
+other Nations doe preferr their
+owne growths &amp; Manifactures,
+&amp; Importations, &amp; doe discourage
+&amp; suppress those of these
+our Kingdomes, &amp; how the best
+contrivances and managem<sup>t</sup> of
+Trade, exercysed by other Nations
+may be rendred applicable
+&amp; practicable by these our Kingdomes.
+</p>
+<p>
+9. You are well to consider
+all matters relatinge to Navigation,
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page74" name="page74"></a>[74]</span>
+&amp; to the increase, &amp; the
+Security thereof.
+</p>
+<p>
+10. You are thoroughly to consider
+the severall matters relatinge
+to Money, how Bullonge
+may be best drawne in hither,
+&amp; how any Obstructions upon
+our Mynt may be best removed.
+</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td valign="top">
+<p>
+5<sup>ly</sup>. How the forraigne Plantations
+may be made most useful
+to the Trade &amp; Navigation of
+these Kingdomes.
+</p>
+</td>
+<td valign="top">
+<p>
+11. You are to consider the
+general State &amp; Condition of our
+forreigne Plantations &amp; of the
+Navigation Trade &amp; severall
+Commodityes ariseinge thereupon,
+&amp; how farr theire future
+Improvem<sup>t</sup> &amp; Prosperitie may
+bee advanced by any discouragement
+Imposition or Restraint,
+upon the Importation of all
+goods or Commodityes w<sup>th</sup>
+which those Plantations doe
+abound, and may supply these
+our Kingdomes, And you are
+alsoe in all matters wherein our
+forreigne Plantations are concerned
+to take advise or information
+(as occasion shall require)
+from the Councell appointed
+&amp; sett apart by us to the
+more perticuler Inspection Regulation
+and Care of our forreigne
+plantations.
+</p>
+<p>
+12. You are to consider how
+the transportation of such things
+may be best restreined and prevented,
+as are either forbidden
+by the Lawe, or may be inconvenient,
+or of disadvantage by
+being transported out of these
+our Kingdomes and dominions.<a href="#note-10-4" name="noteref-10-4"><small>10</small></a>
+</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+
+</table>
+
+<p>
+The councils thus commissioned and instructed soon met for organization
+and business, the Council for Plantations holding its preliminary
+session December 10, 1660, in the Star Chamber, and all remaining
+meetings in the Inner Court of Wards; the Council for Trade meeting,
+first, in Mercer's Hall, near Old Jewry, afterwards in certain rooms in
+Whitehall, still later in a rented house which was consumed
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page75" name="page75"></a>[75]</span>
+
+                                                            in the great
+fire, and, after 1667, in Exeter House, Strand. Philip Frowde became the
+clerical secretary of the Plantation Council and George Duke secretary
+of the Council of Trade, a position that he seems to have lost in 1663
+but to have resumed again before 1667. The meetings were attended
+chiefly by the non-conciliar members, for it was usually the rule that
+privy councillors were to be present only when some special business
+required their coöperation. Both councils were organized in much the
+same manner, with a number, at least seven, of inferior officers,
+clerks, messengers, and servants, and in both cases journals of
+proceedings and entry books containing copies of documents, patents,
+charters, petitions, and reports were kept.<a href="#note-11-4" name="noteref-11-4"><small>11</small></a> Whether
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page76" name="page76"></a>[76]</span>
+
+                                                        minutes were
+taken of the meetings of the subcommittees is doubtful; no such papers
+have anywhere been found.
+</p>
+<p>
+The Council for Plantations had a continuous existence from December 10,
+1660, when the preliminary meeting was held, probably until the spring
+of 1665, though August 24, 1664, is the date of its last recorded
+sitting. During that time it shared in the extraordinary activity which
+characterized the early years of the Restoration and represents, as far
+as such activity can represent any one person, the enthusiasm of the
+Earl of Clarendon. There was not an important phase of colonial life and
+government, not a colonial claim or dispute, that was not considered
+carefully, thoroughly, and, in the main, impartially by the Council.<a href="#note-12-4" name="noteref-12-4"><small>12</small></a>
+The business was nearly always handled, in the first instance, by
+experts, for with few exceptions the working committees were made up
+of men who had had intimate experience with colonial affairs or were
+financially interested in their prosperity. The first committee, that of
+January 7, 1661, for example, was composed of Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper,
+who had been on plantation committees during the Interregnum; Robert
+Boyle, president of the Corporation for the Propagation of the Gospel
+in New England and one of the founders of the Royal Society; Sir Peter
+Leere and Sir
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page77" name="page77"></a>[77]</span>
+
+              James Draxe, old Barbadian planters; Edmund Waller,
+poet and parliamentarian, who had been interested in colonial affairs
+for some years; General Venables, who knew Jamaica well; Thomas Povey,
+Edward Digges, John Colleton (soon to be Sir John), Martin Noell (soon
+to be Sir Martin), and Thomas Kendall, all merchants and experts on
+colonial trade, and Middleton, Jefferies, Watts, and Howe, sea-captains
+and merchants in frequent touch with the colonies. Other committees
+were made up in much the same way, although the number of members was
+usually smaller. When letters were to be written or reports drafted that
+required skill in composition and embodiment in literary form, we find
+the task entrusted to Povey alone or to Povey assisted by the poets
+Waller and Sir John Denham. Povey was, indeed, the most active member
+of the Council, serving as its secretary in much the same capacity
+as on the Committee for America from 1657 to 1660.<a href="#note-13-4" name="noteref-13-4"><small>13</small></a> On both these
+boards he exemplified his own recommendation that there should be on
+the Council "a Person who is to be more imediately concern'd and active
+than the rest ... allwaies readie to give a full and digested account
+and consideracon of any particular relating to those Affaires." Among
+the Povey papers are many drafts of letters and reports in process of
+construction, bearing erasures and additions which point to Povey as
+their author.<a href="#note-14-4" name="noteref-14-4"><small>14</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+The Council for Plantations and its committees sat and deliberated
+apart, the latter in Grocer's Hall; but the subjects under examination
+were considered by both bodies. The subcommittees were frequently
+instructed to call in persons interested, to write to others from whom
+information could be obtained, and to pursue their investigations with
+due regard for both sides of the case. Sometimes questions would be
+submitted to the attorney general, to Dr. Walter Walker and others
+from Doctors Commons, to special members of the Council who were more
+familiar than the rest with the facts
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page78" name="page78"></a>[78]</span>
+
+                                      in the case. On at least one
+occasion all the members of the Council were requested to bring in what
+information they could obtain regarding a particular matter. Question
+after question was postponed from one meeting to another, because the
+Council had not obtained all the details that it felt should be in
+hand before the report was sent to the King in Council. On a few
+occasions members of the Council accompanied the report to the Privy
+Council apparently with the intention of explaining or emphasizing
+their recommendations. The subjects under debate concerned the internal
+or external affairs of all the colonies. They related to Jamaica,
+Barbadoes, Maryland, Virginia, and New England, including Nova Scotia,
+Massachusetts, Maine, and Long Island; they dealt with Quakers, Jews,
+vagrants, and servants, supplies, provisions, naval stores, emigrant
+registration, and abuses in colonial trade; they included that burning
+question of the period, the Dutch at New Amsterdam and the complaints
+that arose regarding Holland as an obstruction to English trade. The
+amount of time taken and pains expended on controversial points can be
+inferred from an examination of the New England case, which was taken
+up at the first regular meeting in January and was under examination
+from that time until April 30, when the Council sent in its report.
+Even then it was taken up by the Privy Council, referred to its own
+committee, called the Committee for New England, and in one or two
+particulars was sent back to the Council for further consideration.
+In the performance of its duties the Council for Plantations can never
+be charged with indolence or neglect. In the year 1661 alone it held
+forty meetings, or an average of one every nine days.
+</p>
+<p>
+After August, 1664, the records of the Council come to an end, but there
+is reason to believe that the Council continued its sessions at least
+until the spring of 1665. That the last meeting was not held on August
+24 is certain, not only from the wording of the minute, which reads:
+"ordered, being a matter of great moment and the day far
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page79" name="page79"></a>[79]</span>
+
+                                                         spent, that the
+further consideration be deferred for a week," but also from two further
+references to the existence of the Council, of later date,&mdash;one dated
+September 7, when the Council sent in a report regarding the proposed
+establishment of a registry office, and the other in the form of an
+endorsement upon a letter from Lord Willoughby which says: "Ref<sup>d</sup> to
+the Council, Feb. 24," that is February 24, 1665. It seems probable,
+therefore, that the Council was sitting as late as February-March
+of that year.<a href="#note-15-4" name="noteref-15-4"><small>15</small></a> Probably its meetings were broken up by the plague
+which started in London about that time, in the westernmost parish,
+St. Giles-in-the-Fields, and lasted until the end of October. Whether
+the Council resumed its sessions after the plague had subsided it is
+almost impossible to say. No definite record exists of its meetings or
+work. Some of its members had died, Sir Martin Noell in October, 1665,
+and Sir Nicholas Crispe the next year; others had left England, Lord
+Willoughby, Capts. Watts and Kendall, and possibly Sir James Draxe;
+while others had accepted posts that took them away from London, as in
+the case of Capt. Middleton, who became commissioner of the navy at
+Portsmouth. Certainly Povey could have had very little to do with the
+affairs of a council in London in 1664&ndash;1666, when as surveyor-general of
+the victualling department he was required to be frequently at Plymouth
+and to spend a considerable amount of time travelling about England.<a href="#note-16-4" name="noteref-16-4"><small>16</small></a>
+Yet there is nothing to show that its commission was revoked, and
+an order of the Privy Council, September 23, 1667, to which further
+reference will be made below, reads as if the Council were in existence
+at that time. If so, it must have been merely a nominal body.
+</p>
+<p>
+After 1665, and until 1670, plantation affairs seem to have been
+controlled entirely by the Privy Council and its
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page80" name="page80"></a>[80]</span>
+
+                                                 committees, which
+proved themselves capable and vigorous bodies. Before 1666, besides
+the Committee for Foreign Plantations, which has already been noticed,
+other committees were appointed as occasion arose,&mdash;committees for
+Jamaica, for Jamaica and Algiers, for the Guinea trade, for the Royal
+Company, for fishing in Newfoundland, for Jersey and Guernsey, and
+for New England. Committees for Trade and for hearing appeals from
+the Plantations also existed. On December 7, 1666, after the plague
+had subsided and the great fire had spent itself, the Privy Council
+reappointed its plantation committee, which now entered upon a career of
+greatly increased activity.<a href="#note-17-4" name="noteref-17-4"><small>17</small></a> At the same time the Council made use of
+its other committees, particularly the "Committee for the Affaires of
+New England and for the bounding of Acadia," October 2, 4, 1667, which
+took into consideration the question of the restitution of Acadia to the
+French;<a href="#note-18-4" name="noteref-18-4"><small>18</small></a> and it referred important matters of business to committees
+of selected experts. Under these conditions the affairs of the colonies
+were managed until the appointment of a new Plantation Council in
+August, 1670.
+</p>
+<p>
+The Council for Trade met in Mercer's Hall some time before November
+13, 1660, and at its preliminary session considered that part of its
+instructions which related to bullion and coin. On December 13, 1660, it
+passed a resolution urging and inviting people and merchants to send in
+petitions, and it requested the King to issue a proclamation defining
+its powers in all matters relating to trade and manufactures and calling
+on "any person, concerned in the matters therein to be debated or who
+have any petition or invention to offer, to apply to them for redress
+of evils brought on by the late times or for the improvement of trade
+regulations."<a href="#note-19-4" name="noteref-19-4"><small>19</small></a> In response to, this appeal a large number of
+petitions, sent either to the Privy Council or directly to
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page81" name="page81"></a>[81]</span>
+
+                                                           the Select
+Council itself, were received, and the discussion of these petitions
+and the preparing of reports upon them occupied the attention of the
+Council during the first two years. These reports show that the Council
+took its duties seriously and was thoroughly in earnest to improve,
+if possible, the trade of the kingdom, and to carry out to the full
+the commands which the King had laid upon it. There is not a clause
+of the instructions to which it did not pay some attention, and upon
+many matters it debated long and ardently, making reports that are as
+valuable for the student of the trade policy of the seventeenth century
+as are the familiar writings of well-known mercantilists. The Council
+took up and discussed the export of bullion and coin, expressing its
+opinion that the penalties should be withdrawn as injurious to trade,
+because they prevented the English merchants from bringing their money
+into the kingdom where it would be detained, and saying that money most
+abounded in countries which enjoyed freedom from restraints on exports.
+The trade in the Baltic, the East Indies, and the Levant to which trade
+freedom to export bullion was preeminently important; the Merchant
+Adventurers, regarding whose history and position the Council made
+a valuable report, viewing the subject from the beginning; the East
+India Company, whose petition,&mdash;largely reproduced in the report of the
+Council,&mdash;contained a bitter arraignment of the Dutch, calling to mind
+the "impudent affronts to the honor of this nation and the horrid
+injuries done to the stock and commerce thereof," and demanding damages
+and a definite regulation of trade in the forthcoming treaty with
+Holland then under debate; treaties with foreign powers, clauses in
+which concerning trade were taken up at the early meetings of the
+Council; prohibition of imposts on foreign cloths and stuffs, regarding
+which sundry shopkeepers, tradesmen, and artificers of London had
+petitioned the Privy Council in November, 1660,<a href="#note-20-4" name="noteref-20-4"><small>20</small></a>&mdash;all these matters
+the Council took under consideration. It dealt with the granting of
+patents, with
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page82" name="page82"></a>[82]</span>
+
+              the encouragement of home industries, particularly the
+business of the framework knitters, silk-dyeing, and the manufacture of
+tapestry, and with the establishment of an insurance company.<a href="#note-21-4" name="noteref-21-4"><small>21</small></a> As far
+as the plantations were concerned, its recommendations were few, and
+were made chiefly in connection with reports on the ninth and eleventh
+articles of its instructions, which touched upon convoys, imports,
+and composition-ports. It drafted a carefully drawn list of necessary
+convoys in which, of all the American plantations, only Newfoundland
+is mentioned. It considered the importation of logwood and tobacco,
+and upon the latter point made the suggestion "that all tobacco
+of English Plantations do pay at importation 1/2d. a pound and at
+exportation nothing." This recommendation was accompanied by a valuable
+essay on trade in general. It dealt with the question of making Dover
+a free port for composition trade and took the ground that the Acts
+of Navigation should be inviolably kept. On this question the Earl of
+Southampton, the Treasurer, and Lord Ashley (Cooper), Chancellor of the
+Exchequer, took the opposite ground, favoring the freedom of the port,
+"Dover having formerly been a port for free trade," and adding that
+"a free trade thus settled we conceive might conduce to the advantage
+of your Majesty's customs," trade being injured by the "tyes and
+observances which the Act of Navigation places upon it." They reported
+further that the farmers of the customs wished the Act to be dispensed
+with in some cases.<a href="#note-22-4" name="noteref-22-4"><small>22</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+Regarding the attitude of the Council toward the sixth article
+of its instructions, the promotion of the fisheries, we have fuller
+information. At the session of December 17, 1663, there were present the
+Earl of Sandwich, William Coventry, Sir Nicholas Crispe, Henry Slingsby,
+Christopher Boone, John Lord Berkeley, Sir Sackville Crowe, Thomas
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page83" name="page83"></a>[83]</span>
+
+ Povey, John Jolliffe, and George Toriano. Acting on a special order
+from the King, they debated how best the fishing trade might be
+gained and promoted, and how encouraged and advanced when gained.
+They considered the respective merits of a commission and a corporation,
+and whether, if a corporation should be agreed upon, it ought to be
+universal or exclusive, perpetual or limited, a joint stock or a divided
+stock, and what immunities and powers should be granted, the character
+of the persons to be admitted and the number. Taking up each point in
+turn, the members of the Council first considered "How to gain the Trade
+of Fishery" and laid down seven methods: 1, 2, by raising money either
+through voluntary contributions or through lotteries; 3, 4, by restraint
+of foreign importation or by impositions upon all foreign importation;
+5, by letters to all countries urging them to contribute such especial
+commodities as cordage, lumber, boards, and the like, in exchange for
+fish; 6, by declaring a war against the Dutch, and at the same time,
+7, by naturalizing or indenizing all Hollanders who would come into
+the English fishery. For the support of the trade when gained the
+Council proposed: 1, to impose a proportion of fish upon every vintner,
+innkeeper, alehouse-keeper, victualler, and coffee house in England;
+2, to refuse all licenses for fish, which were to be paid for to the
+corporation; 3, to take the stock of the poor of every parish and
+provide for the impotent and aged only out of the product, and employ
+such as were able to work in the fishery&mdash;the impotent in the making
+of nets, etc.; 4, to require the gentlemen of all maritime counties
+to raise a stock of money in their counties to be employed toward the
+advance of the fishery; 5, to raise busses, <i>i. e.</i>, Dutch herring
+boats, and to set them forth to their own use and to receive the profits
+in fish or in the product of it; 6, to employ the imposition laid upon
+fish by the last Parliament for the purpose of advancing the trade; to
+accept the offer of fishmongers to raise busses and money; 8, to require
+the master and wardens of the company, and, 9, to encourage
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page84" name="page84"></a>[84]</span>
+
+ private
+persons to do the same; 10, to bring over Dutchmen to teach the English
+the art of curing, salting, and marking fish, and of making casks.
+It was then decided, "after a long and solemne debate of the whole
+matter," <i>nemine contradicente</i>, "that there being no disadvantage in a
+corporation But many great Advantages, powers and Immunities that cannot
+be had by Commission That the best way of advancing &amp; encouraging the
+Fishing Trade is by way of [a] Corporation." To this corporation were to
+be granted "the sole power of Lycensing the Eating and killing of flesh
+in Lent," the power to make by-laws, to dispose of "guifts that are or
+shalbee given for carrying on of this Trade," to administer oaths, to
+constitute officers, to exercise coercion in case of contempt against
+orders, to fine and in some cases to imprison, to send for papers,
+persons, books, etc. The corporation was to be universal, perpetual, and
+a joint stock company.<a href="#note-23-4" name="noteref-23-4"><small>23</small></a> As a result of the report of the Council a
+charter of incorporation was issued to the Duke of York and thirty-six
+others, forming the Governor and Company of the Royal Fishery of Great
+Britain and Ireland, and George Duke, "late Secretary to the Committee
+of Trade," was recommended by the King as its secretary.<a href="#note-24-4" name="noteref-24-4"><small>24</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+This account of the debate in the Council upon the fishery question
+is important not only because it gives an interesting glimpse of the
+Council at work, and the only glimpse that we have at any length of
+its procedure, but because it illustrates a phase of mercantilism in
+the making. It shows, also, the intensity of the rivalry that existed
+between England and Holland, and furnishes an admirable example of one
+of the causes of that rivalry, the Dutch predominance in the fishing
+business.<a href="#note-25-4" name="noteref-25-4"><small>25</small></a> The Council frequently appealed to
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page85" name="page85"></a>[85]</span>
+
+                                                 the methods employed
+by the Dutch as a sufficient argument to support its contention, and
+when objections were raised against the universal corporation it
+answered, "You destroy the essence of a Corporation by lymitting it,
+And if you lymitt it, no man will venture their Stocke, and the mayne
+reason why the Dutch employ not only their Stocke but their whole
+families in the fisheries, is because their corporation is perpetual."
+</p>
+<p>
+How much longer the Council of Trade continued its sessions it is
+impossible to say. Its last recorded action is a report, dated July,
+1664, which contained its opinion upon the question of trade with
+Scotland, a matter soon to be taken up by the higher authorities.
+It is probable that, as in the case of the Council of Plantations, its
+sessions were suspended because of the plague and the fire and were not
+resumed. Its commission was not revoked and it certainly had a nominal
+existence until 1667. That it had no actual existence in April, 1665,
+seems likely from a letter sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury at that
+time, begging that the King appoint a council of trade to find out the
+cause of the decay in the coal trade.<a href="#note-26-4" name="noteref-26-4"><small>26</small></a> By the summer of 1665 trade
+was reported dead and money scarce and to the plague was ascribed "an
+infinite interruption to the whole trade of the Nation." The fire and
+the Dutch war completed the demoralization of commerce and in 1666 the
+plantations were deemed in great want of necessaries on account of the
+obstructions of trade by the war. Though in that year many questions
+arose that might naturally have been referred to such a council had
+it been in session, no such references appear among the records. The
+advancement of trade was looked after by the Privy Council and its trade
+committee, and particularly by the Committee of Trade appointed by
+Parliament. The latter body had been named as early as March, 1664,
+to investigate the export of wool, wool-fells,
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page86" name="page86"></a>[86]</span>
+
+                                               and fullers' earth.
+A few weeks later it was entrusted with the duty of inquiring into the
+reasons for the general decay of trade. As this function was conferred
+on the Parliamentary Committee at a time when the Select Council was
+still holding its sessions, it is reasonable to suppose that the work
+of the latter body had not proved satisfactory. There is some slight
+evidence to show that the meetings of the Council were at this time but
+little attended and that its members were not working in harmony.<a href="#note-27-4" name="noteref-27-4"><small>27</small></a>
+The Parliamentary Committee, acting as a Council of Trade, ordered
+representatives from all the merchant companies to prepare an account
+of the causes of obstruction in their different branches, and when the
+latter, among other obstacles, named the Dutch as the chief enemies of
+English trade, resolved that the wrongs inflicted by the Dutch were the
+greatest obstructions to foreign trade, and recommended that the King
+should seek redress. Other causes were considered and debated.<a href="#note-28-4" name="noteref-28-4"><small>28</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+An excellent idea of procedure can be obtained from studying the history
+of trade relations with Scotland during this decade. Immediately after
+the passage of the Navigation Act of 1660, the Scots petitioned that the
+Act might be dispensed with for Scotland, and special deputies were sent
+from the Scottish to the English Parliament to prevent, if possible, the
+extension of the Act to their country. The matter was referred to the
+Customs Commissioners and to the Privy Council, and the latter appointed
+a special committee to investigate it. Both of these bodies reported
+that the grant of such liberties to the Scots would frustrate the object
+of the Act, and gave elaborate reasons for this opinion.<a href="#note-29-4" name="noteref-29-4"><small>29</small></a> As an act
+of retaliation the Scottish Parliament laid heavy impositions upon
+English goods, and English merchants in 1664 petitioned Parliament for
+relief. Parliament recommended the appointment of referees on both sides
+and
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page87" name="page87"></a>[87]</span>
+
+    in July, 1664, the Privy Council placed the matter in the hands
+of Southampton, Ashley, and Secretary Bennet. This committee laid the
+question before the Council of Trade, which suggested a compromise,
+whereby duties on both sides should be reduced to 5 per cent., the Scots
+should have the benefits of the Act of Navigation but no intercourse
+with foreign plantations, and should not buy any more foreign built
+ships. As a result of these and further negotiations Parliament passed
+an act in 1667,<a href="#note-30-4" name="noteref-30-4"><small>30</small></a> "for settling freedom and intercourse of trade
+between England and Scotland," and under the terms of that act
+commissioners were appointed to meet with commissioners for Scotland
+in the Inner Star Chamber to negotiate a freedom of trade between the
+two countries. The commissioners duly met on January 13, 1668, and the
+papers recording their negotiations are full and explicit. The whole
+question of the relations between England and Scotland since the union,
+both political and economic, was investigated with great care; papers
+were searched for, records examined, memorials and petitions received,
+and various conditions of trade inquired into. The commissioners
+frequently disagreed and harmony was by no means always attained,
+resulting in delays in drafting the treaty and the eventual failure
+of the negotiations. In October the Scottish commissioners returned
+to Edinburgh, and the conditions remained as before.<a href="#note-31-4" name="noteref-31-4"><small>31</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+The fall of Clarendon, at the end of the year 1667, led to important
+changes in the organization of the government, and the widespread
+demoralization in trade demanded an improvement of the system of trade
+and plantation control. The year 1668 is significant as the starting
+point for a number of attempted remedies in matters of finance and
+trade supervision. We have no opportunity here to examine the political
+aspects of these changes or to determine how far they were effected in
+the interest of mere political control. Suffice it to say that too many
+conditions of the reign of
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page88" name="page88"></a>[88]</span>
+
+                           Charles II have been attributed to
+extravagance and political intrigue, and too few to an honest desire
+on the part of those concerned to restore the realm to a condition of
+solvency and prosperity. Heavily burdened with debt at the outset of the
+reign, distracted by plague, fire, and foreign war during the years from
+1665 to 1668, the kingdom needed the services of all its statesmen,
+and even the most selfish politician must have realized the need of
+reorganization. Acting upon a suggestion which Clarendon himself had
+made to the King, the Privy Council in 1667 began by strengthening
+its own committee system, and on January 31, 1668, established four
+standing committees&mdash;for foreign affairs, military affairs, trade and
+plantations, and petitions and grievances. These committees had almost
+the character of state departments, though they had no final authority
+of their own, all orders emanating from the Privy Council only. They
+became, however, more independent than had been previous committees by
+virtue of the fact that no order was to be issued by the Council until
+it had been "first perused by the Reporter of each Committee
+respectively," The following is a copy of the regulations:
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    His Ma<sup>tie</sup> among other the important parts of his Affairs
+    having taken into his princely consideration the way &amp; method
+    of managing matters at the Council Board, And reflecting that
+    his Councills would have more reputation if they were put into
+    a more settled &amp; established course, Hath thought it fit to
+    appoint certaine Standing Comitties of the Council for several
+    Businesses together with regular days &amp; places for their
+    assembling in such sort as followeth:
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    1. The Committee of <span class="sc">Forraine Affaires</span> is already settled to
+    consist of these Persons following (besides his Royall Highness,
+    who is understood to be of all comittees, where he pleases to be)
+    vizt. Prince Rupert, L<sup>d</sup> Keeper [Sir Orlando Bridgeman], Lord
+    Privy Scale [Lord Robartes], Duke of Buckingham, Lord General
+    [Duke of Albemarle], L<sup>d</sup> Arlington, &amp; M<sup>r</sup> Sec<sup>ry</sup> Morice,
+    To which Committee His Ma<sup>tie</sup> doth also hereby referr the
+    corresponding w<sup>th</sup> Justices of peace &amp; other officers &amp; ministers
+    in the Severall Countys of the Kingdome, concerning the Temper of
+    the Kingdome &amp;c. The constant day for this Committee to meete to be
+    every Monday besides such other dayes wherein any extraordinary
+    Action shall oblige them to assemble, And the place for their
+    meeting to be at the Lord Arlington's Lodgings in Whitehall.
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page89" name="page89"></a>[89]</span></p>
+
+<p class="quote">
+    2. Such matters as concerne the Admiralty &amp; Navy as also all
+    Military matters, Fortifications &amp;c, so far as they are fit to
+    be brought to the Councill Board, without intermedling in what
+    concernes the proper officers (unlesse it shall by them be
+    desired). If his Ma<sup>tie</sup> is pleased to appoint that they be
+    und<sup>r</sup> the consideracon of this following Committee, vizt,
+    Prince Rupert, L<sup>d</sup> General [Duke of Albemarle], E. of Anglesy,
+    Ea. of Carlisle, Ea. of Craven, Lord Arlington, Lord Berkeley,
+    M<sup>r</sup> Comptroller [Sir Thomas Clifford], M<sup>r</sup> Sec<sup>ry</sup> Morice,
+    S<sup>r</sup> W<sup>m</sup> Coventry &amp; S<sup>r</sup> John Duncombe. The usuall day of
+    meeting to be Wensdays, &amp; oftner, as he that presides shall
+    direct, &amp; the place to be the Councill Chamber, and hereof
+    Three or more of them to be a Quorum.
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    3. Another Committee his Ma<sup>tie</sup> is pleased to constitute for
+    the Business of Trade under whose consideration is to come
+    whatsoever concernes his Ma<sup>ts</sup>: <span class="sc">Forraine Plantations</span>, as also
+    what relates to his Kingdomes of Ireland or Scotland, the Isles
+    of Jersey &amp; Guernsey, which is to consist of the Lord Privy
+    Scale [Lord Robartes], Duke of Buckingham, Earle of Ossory,
+    Ea. of Bridgewater, Ea: of Lauderdail, L<sup>d</sup>: Arlington,
+    L<sup>d</sup>: Holles, L<sup>d</sup>: Ashley, M<sup>r</sup>. Comptroller [Sir Thomas
+    Clifford], M<sup>r</sup> Vice Chamberlain [Sir George Carteret],
+    M<sup>r</sup> Sec<sup>ry</sup>. Morice, &amp; S<sup>r</sup> W<sup>m</sup> Coventry. The usuall day
+    of meeting to be every Thursday in the Councill Chamber, or
+    oftner as he that presides shall direct, and hereof 3 or more
+    of them to be a Quorum.
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    4. His Ma<sup>tie</sup> is pleased to appoint one other Committee to
+    whom all <span class="sc">Petitions</span> of <span class="sc">Complaint &amp; Greivance</span> are to be referred in
+    which His Ma<sup>tie</sup> hath thought fit hereby particularly to
+    prescribe not to meddle w<sup>th</sup> Property or what relates to
+    Meum &amp; Tuum. And to this Committee his Ma<sup>tie</sup> is pleased
+    that all matters which concerne Acts of State or of the
+    Councill be referred. The persons to be the Arch. B<sup>p</sup>: of
+    Canterbury, Lord Keeper [Sir Orlando Bridgeman], L<sup>d</sup>: Privy
+    Seale [Lord Robartes], L<sup>d</sup>: Great Chamberlain [?], L<sup>d</sup>
+    Chamberlain [Edward, Earl of Manchester], Ea: of Bridgewater,
+    Ea: of Anglesey, Ea: of Bathe, Ea: of Carbery, Viscount
+    Fitzharding, L<sup>d</sup>: Arlington, L<sup>d</sup>: Holles, L<sup>d</sup>: Ashley,
+    M<sup>r</sup> Sec<sup>ry</sup>: Morice, M<sup>r</sup>: Chancellor of the Dutchy
+    [of Lancaster, Sir Thomas Ingram], and S<sup>r</sup>: John Duncombe.
+    The constant day of meeting to be Friday in the Councill
+    Chamber. And his Ma<sup>ts</sup> further meaning is, that to these
+    two last committees, any of the Councill may have Liberty to
+    come &amp; vote and that his two principall Sec<sup>ries</sup>: of State
+    [at this time Lord Arlington and Sir William Morrice] be ever
+    understood to be of all Com<sup>tees</sup>:, And hereof 3 or more of
+    them to be a Quorum.
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    And for the better carrying on of Business at those severall
+    Comittees, his Ma<sup>tie</sup>: thinks fit, and accordingly is pleased
+    to appoint,
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page90" name="page90"></a>[90]</span>
+
+                That each of these Committees be assigned to the
+    particular care of some one person, who is constantly to attend
+    it. In that of the Navy &amp; Military matters his Royal Highness
+    may p<sup>r</sup>side, if he so please, or else the Lord Generall [Duke
+    of Albemarle]. In Forraine matters the L<sup>d</sup> Arlington. In Trade
+    &amp; Plantations the L<sup>d</sup>: Privy Seale [Lord Robartes]. In matters
+    of State &amp; Greivances, the Lord Keeper [Sir Orlando Bridgeman].
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    Besides which fixt &amp; established Committees, if there shall
+    happen anything extraordinary that requires Advice, whether in
+    matters relating to the Treasury, or of any other mixt nature
+    other than what is afore determined His Ma<sup>ties</sup> meaning and
+    intention is, that particular Committees be in such Cases
+    appointed for them, as hath been accustomed. And that such
+    Committees do make their Report in Writing, to be offered to
+    his Ma<sup>tie</sup>: the next Councill day following, in which, if any
+    Debate arise, the old Rule is ever strictly to be observed, that
+    the youngest Councell<sup>r</sup>: do begin, and not to speake a second
+    time without Leave first obteyned. And that as on the one side
+    nothing is hereafter to be resolved in Councill, till the matter
+    hath been first examined, And have received the Opinion of
+    some Committee or other, So on the other hand, that nothing be
+    referred to any Committee, untill it have been first read at
+    the Board, except in Forraine Affaires. And his Ma<sup>ts</sup> express
+    pleasure is, That no Order of Councill be henceforth any time
+    issued out by the Clerks of the Councill till the same have been
+    first perused by the Reporter of each Committee respectively.<a href="#note-32-4" name="noteref-32-4"><small>32</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+There is very little evidence to show that the Committee of the Council
+for Trade and Plantations played any very conspicuous part in regulating
+either trade or plantations during the years from 1668 to 1675, though
+a number of petitions were referred to it. Its most important report
+was that recommending the restoration of the province of Maine to the
+grandson of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, but even that matter was taken out
+of its hands by the further reference of the Gorges' petition to the
+Committee for Foreign Affairs. In 1668, it dealt with the restitution
+of Surinam to the Dutch and the settlement of Lord Willoughby's
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page91" name="page91"></a>[91]</span>
+
+ claims;
+with relief for Barbadoes after the disastrous fire which destroyed
+St. Michaels in April of that year; with the equipment of Sir Tobias
+Bridges' regiment in the same island; and with the liberty granted to
+certain Dutch ships of trading to New York despite the Navigation Act.
+In 1669, it considered a few petitions and reported on Gorges' memorial.
+After 1670 it did little, as far as actual evidence of its activity is
+concerned, but it is entirely clear that it had to transact a great deal
+more business than is recorded either in the Register or in the Colonial
+Papers.<a href="#note-33-4" name="noteref-33-4"><small>33</small></a> Many of the questions that were referred to the Select
+Council of Trade and the Select Council of Trade and Plantations were
+first passed upon by this committee or were referred to it after the
+report from the separate body had come in. Furthermore, we know that
+in the case of this committee, as of similar committees of the Privy
+Council after 1696, many questions were never allowed to pass out of its
+hands, except as they were reported to the Council itself. Though not
+conspicuous, it was potentially active and quite ready in 1675 to take
+up the burden of colonial control that the King placed upon it.<a href="#note-34-4" name="noteref-34-4"><small>34</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+Even before it had begun the reorganization of its committee system, the
+Privy Council made known its decision to revive the system of separate
+and select councils which had probably been in abeyance since 1665.
+On September 23, 1667, it ordered its Committee for Trade and Foreign
+Plantations to take into consideration the advisability of revoking
+the commissions of the two councils of 1660,&mdash;which councils must,
+therefore, have been deemed still legally in existence&mdash;and of uniting
+these bodies so as to form a single select council for trade and
+plantations. To this end it instructed the secretaries of those
+councils, Philip Frowde
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page92" name="page92"></a>[92]</span>
+
+                        and George Duke, to appear before it. For
+reasons that are nowhere found among the official papers this plan was
+given up and the decision reached to revoke only the commission of the
+Council of Trade and to issue a patent for a new body. Roger North, in
+his <i>Examen</i>, published in 1740, a work little to be depended on as far
+as historical accuracy is concerned, declares that this move was merely
+a piece of political man&oelig;uvering and never was designed to accomplish
+anything of importance for the trade or revenue of the kingdom. He says:
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    "The courtiers, for his Majesty's Ease, moved that there might
+    be a commission to several of the greatest Traders in <i>London</i>
+    to examine all matters of that kind, and to report their Opinion
+    to the Council; upon which his Majesty might determine. This
+    plausible project was put in Execution and the Leaders of the
+    Fanatic party in the city [especially Alderman Love and Josiah
+    Child] were the Commissioners; for so it was plotted. The great
+    House in Queen Street was taken for the use of this Commission.
+    Mr. Henry Slingsby, sometime Master of the Mint was the Secretary;
+    and they had a formal Board with Green Cloth and Standishes,
+    Clerks good store, a tall Porter and Staff, and fitting Attendance
+    below, and a huge Luminary at the Door. And in Winter Time, when
+    the Board met, as was two or three Times a Week, or oftener, all
+    the Rooms were lighted, Coaches at the Door, and great passing in
+    and out, as if a Council of State in good Earnest had been sitting.
+    All Cases, Complaints, and Deliberations of Trade were referred
+    to this Commission, and they reported their opinion."<a href="#note-35-4" name="noteref-35-4"><small>35</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+North's implication that the Council was a contrivance of the enemies
+of the King to effect a prohibition of trade with France which the
+government wished to keep open seems deserving of little credence.
+In the past, facts regarding this Council and its work have not been
+complete, and even a full list of its members has been wanting. Even now
+the commission and instructions, which, after considerable delay, were
+issued on October 20, 1668, have eluded discovery, and we can present
+little more than the terms of the docket as entered in the books of
+the Crown Office. The docket
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page93" name="page93"></a>[93]</span>
+
+                             reads: "A Commission with instructions
+annexed establishing a Counsell of Trade, for Keeping a control and
+super-inspection of his Majesty's Trade and Commerce." From another
+source we learn that the Council was to take into consideration "the
+Conditions of your Maj<sup>tyes</sup> Plantations abroad, in order to the
+improvement of Trade and increase of Navigation, and for the further
+encouragement of yo<sup>r</sup> Maj<sup>tyes</sup> Subjects in their Trade and Commerce
+both at home and abroad."<a href="#note-36-4" name="noteref-36-4"><small>36</small></a> A second commission was issued on April
+13, 1669, "directed to the same persons in the same form &amp; with the
+same powers and instructions ... with a confirmation of all Acts done
+in pursuance of the said late commission in election of officers and
+otherwise."<a href="#note-37-4" name="noteref-37-4"><small>37</small></a> The clerical secretary was Peter du Moulin, though Dr.
+Benjamin Worsley seems to have had some official position on the board.
+The members of the Council were as follows: Duke of York, Prince Rupert,
+Lord Keeper, Lord Privy Seal, Duke of Buckingham, Duke of Albemarle,
+Duke of Ormond, Earl of Bridgewater, Earl of Ossory, Earl of Anglesey,
+Earl of Carlisle, Earl of Craven, Earl of Lauderdale, Lord Arlington,
+Lord Berkeley of Stratton, Lord Holles, Lord Ashley, Sir Thomas
+Clifford, Sir George Carteret, Sir John Trevor, Sir William Morrice, Sir
+William Coventry, Sir Thomas Osborne, Sir Thomas Littleton, Sir Henry
+Blount, Sir George Downing, Sir Andrew Riccard, Sir William Thompson,
+Silas Titus, William Garroway, Henry Slingsby, Thomas Grey, John Birch,
+William Love, Esq., Benjamin Worsley, Doctor of Physic; John Buckworth,
+Thomas Papillion, John Page, Josiah Child, Thomas Tyte, Benjamin Albyn,
+and John Shorter. In 1669 were added the Earl of Devonshire, Earl of
+Sandwich, Viscount Halifax, and George, Lord Berkeley, making forty-six
+members in all.<a href="#note-38-4" name="noteref-38-4"><small>38</small></a> This is an extraordinary body of men to be engaged
+in pulling the
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page94" name="page94"></a>[94]</span>
+
+               wool over the eyes of the King, and though Professor
+Ashley is inclined to view North's account with approval, we doubt if
+it will stand the test of examination. Professor Ashley's further belief
+that from this Council emanated the document called "A Scheme of Trade,"
+is capable of satisfactory disproof, since but few of the signers of
+that document were members of the Council and the date when it was
+issued, November 29, 1674, was after the Council as a separate body had
+been abolished.<a href="#note-39-4" name="noteref-39-4"><small>39</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+The Council lasted from 1668 to 1672 and during that time it did
+nothing, so far as we can discover, either for or against the trade
+with France. It considered the granting of patents, foreign trade with
+Piedmont and elsewhere, the export of wool, disputes among the merchant
+companies, dispensations from the operation of the Navigation Act, and
+a few matters relating to home industry, particularly as regards abuses
+in the baize trade. It took into consideration the order in Council
+of October 23, 1667, permitting the Dutch to send three or more ships
+yearly for seven years to trade from Holland to New York, and reported
+so strongly against it that the Privy Council revoked the order.<a href="#note-40-4" name="noteref-40-4"><small>40</small></a>
+More important still, it took up the whole question of the operation of
+the navigation acts in the colonies, called upon the merchants and the
+farmers of the customs for information, and made a careful report to the
+Privy Council, which the latter, on January 20,1669, embodied in the
+following order:
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    "His Ma<sup>tie</sup> this day taking into consideration the great
+    importance the Trade of his severall plantations is to his
+    Ma<sup>tie</sup> &amp; his Kingdome, and being informed that severall
+    Governments of the s<sup>d</sup> Plantations have been wanting to
+    their duty in the following particulars, viz:
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    1. That Governors have not taken the oath enjoined by law,
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    2. That shipps have been permitted to trade to and from the
+    Plantations not qualified according to law,
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    3. That there has been omission in taking Bond and Security
+    and returning those Bonds according as directed by the severall
+    Acts of Parliament.
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page95" name="page95"></a>[95]</span></p>
+
+<p class="quote">
+    For redresse it is ordered, that the Farmers of the Customs do
+    and are hereby required (at their owne charge) to send over and
+    make choice of upon the place &amp; from time to time commissionate
+    &amp; maynteyne one or more persons in each Plantation (whom his
+    Ma<sup>tie</sup> shall approve &amp; authorize) to administer the usual oaths
+    to the severall Governors, that no vessels be admitted to trade
+    there till said officer has the perusal of the passes and
+    certificates and certifies that they may trade there, and that
+    no Bond or security be admitted without the allowance of said
+    officer,
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    That letters be written to all said Governors to take said
+    oaths before said officer and also to give them countenance and
+    assistance,
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    That Directions be given to the Commanders of his Ma<sup>ties</sup> ships
+    and to any merchant shipps to arrest any ship trading to His
+    Ma<sup>ties</sup> Plantations contrary to the law."<a href="#note-41-4" name="noteref-41-4"><small>41</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+Under this order Edward Digges, former governor of Virginia and a London
+merchant well known to us, was appointed by the farmers of the customs
+as a fit person to execute for the colony of Virginia the articles and
+instructions contained in this order. No other appointments, however,
+appear to have been made at this time.<a href="#note-42-4" name="noteref-42-4"><small>42</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+After 1670 activities of the Council of Trade, as far as they are
+recorded, are very few. It considered the trade of the Eastland Company,
+provided for a supply of coal for London at reasonable rates, and
+discussed a few minor petitions, but as compared with its contemporary,
+the Council for Foreign Plantations, it accomplished little.<a href="#note-43-4" name="noteref-43-4"><small>43</small></a>
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<a name="note-1-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-1-4">1</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Col., 1514&ndash;1660, pp. 482, 483; P.C.R.,
+Charles II, Vol. II, p. 63; New York Colonial Docts., III, p. 30.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-2-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-2-4">2</a>)
+P.C.R., Charles II, Vol. II, p. 37; Bodleian, Rawlinson A.,
+117, No. 20.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-3-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-3-4">3</a>)
+Professor Osgood thinks that a part of Noell's fortune was
+made in the slave trade. Beyond the fact that he was a member of the
+Royal African Company, I cannot find any evidence whatever to prove this
+statement. Noell certainly was not a slave trader before 1660.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-4-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-4-4">4</a>)
+Bodleian, Clarendon Papers, <i>passim</i>, New York Hist.
+Soc. Collections, 1869; Brit. Museum, Add. MSS., 11410, ff. 18 et seq.
+Clarendon had an agent in Jamaica, Major Ivy, who was considering the
+setting up of plantations and planting cocoa walks in the interest of
+the King's revenue. Clarendon's policy toward the continental colonies
+overshadows somewhat his policy toward the West Indies and in
+consequence this phase of the subject has been neglected by those who
+have dealt with Clarendon's colonial relations.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-5-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-5-4">5</a>)
+P.C.R., Charles II, Vol. II, pp. 131&ndash;132; printed in part
+in Analytical Index to the Series of Records known as the Remembrancia,
+preserved among the Archives of the City of London, 1579&ndash;1664.
+(Privately printed, 1878); and in very much abbreviated form in
+Bannister, Writings of William Patterson, III, 251&ndash;252, from whom it has
+been copied by both Egerton and Cunningham. It seems somewhat strange
+that there should be no entry of the receipt of this letter in the
+journal of the court of Aldermen nor any draft of an answer among the
+Remembrancia or elsewhere. A careful search has failed to disclose any
+reference to action taken upon this letter among the papers in the Town
+Clerk's office at the Guildhall.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-6-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-6-4">6</a>)
+Bodleian, Clarendon Papers, 73, f. 232.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-7-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-7-4">7</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1660&ndash;1661, p. 319.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-8-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-8-4">8</a>)
+Public Record Office, Chancery, Crown Dockets, 6, p. 50.
+On the docket for the commission of the council of trade the names of
+the members are inserted; but on that of the commission for the council
+for foreign plantations the place is left blank. A marginal note on the
+latter docket gives the explanation noted above.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-9-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-9-4">9</a>)
+There is a list of the members in 1661, containing but
+forty-seven names with some omissions and additions.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-10-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-10-4">10</a>)
+Egerton, 2395, ff. 268, 269; Cal. State Papers, Dom.,
+1660&ndash;1661, pp. 353&ndash;354; P.R.O. State Papers, Domestic, XXI, No. 27;
+Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and Commerce, 4 ed., Appendix.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-11-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-11-4">11</a>)
+The journal of the Council of Plantations is among the
+Colonial Papers in the Public Record Office, XIV, No. 59, ff. 1&ndash;57,
+December 1, 1660&ndash;August 4, 1664, entitled "Orders and Proceedings at his
+Ma<sup>ts</sup> Counsell for Forraigne Plantacons." There is no journal of the
+Council of Trade known to exist, but minutes of one or two meetings,
+which have been preserved, show that a journal must have been kept. An
+entry-book for patents is mentioned, Cal. State Papers, Col., 1661&ndash;1668,
+§ 15, and an entry-book of petitions and reports, November 13,
+1660&ndash;March 12, 1662, is in Brit. Mus. Add. MSS., 25115.
+</p>
+<p class="foot2">
+Regarding the history of the papers of the Council of Trade the
+following information may be of interest. The records probably remained
+in the possession of George Duke, secretary to the Council, and were
+called for by Dr. Worsley, secretary of the Council of 1672 in a letter
+dated November 28, 1672 (Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1672&ndash;1673, pp.
+213&ndash;214). No answer was received from Duke and evidently the papers were
+not handed over, for when in 1698 the Board of Trade applied for them to
+Col. Duke's son-in-law, Henry Crispe, it was informed by Mr. Crispe that
+he had never even seen any of the papers but had heard that some of them
+were burnt in the Temple when in Col. Duke's possession (Journal of the
+Board of Trade, XI, p. 55, May 10, 1698). In June and July, 1707, the
+Board of Trade attempted again to get hold of the papers and wrote to
+Crispe on June 30. Crispe's reply is worth printing:
+</p>
+<p class="foot2">
+"If I am rightly informed there are divers original books and papers
+relating to the Royal Fishery and the establishing thereof from the
+year 1660 for divers successive years in which are contained several
+projections concerning the promoting the same. And there are also books
+and minutes of the proceedings of the Council of Trade from the year
+1660 to 1668, which also contain several material things in relation to
+Trade and the improvement thereof, which I understand are in the power
+of a friend of mine.
+</p>
+<p class="foot2">
+"These books and papers will be disposed of as the Hon<sup>ble</sup> Board the
+Council of Trade shall direct or order.
+</p>
+<p class="foot2">
+"But it is humbly desired that consideration be allowed the party that
+shall produce these Books and Papers. And that it may be ascertained
+what that consideration shall be and by whom it shall be given.
+</p>
+<p class="foot2">
+"I was desired to inform you of this to the end you may take such steps
+therein as you in your great prudence shall judge most proper.
+</p>
+<p class="foot2">
+"If any orders or commands shall be given about this affair that I can
+be useful or serviceable therein &amp; they be transmitted for me or be left
+at Johns Coffee House in Bedford St. near the Church in Convent Garden
+such orders will be faithfully observed by
+</p>
+<p class="foot2">
+  "S<sup>rs</sup> Your faithfull humble Servant<br />
+  &nbsp;&nbsp;"<span class="sc">H. Crispe.</span>"
+</p>
+<p class="foot2">
+Crispe sent a list of the books with his letter, but that list is
+missing. The Board answered that it would not buy the books without
+seeing them first, but as we find no further mention of the matter in
+the Journal and as the books and papers are not to be found to-day the
+probabilities are that the negotiations fell through. Journal, XIX,
+p. 296; Board of Trade Papers, Trade, H Nos. 74, 76.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-12-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-12-4">12</a>)
+This may be inferred from the following note attached to
+one of the reports: "The council conceiving themselves to be in noe
+capacitie of giving any judgment therein having heard but one side."
+Egerton, 2395, f. 299.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-13-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-13-4">13</a>)
+See Cal. State Papers, Col., 1675&ndash;1676, §§ 338, 339, where
+he is called "Secretary for Foreign Plantations."
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-14-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-14-4">14</a>)
+Egerton, 2395, ff. 286, 291, 299, 335, 336.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-15-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-15-4">15</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Col., 1661&ndash;1668, §§ 790, 833; Dom.,
+1664&ndash;1665, p. 4.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-16-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-16-4">16</a>)
+In December, 1665, he wrote of "an uncomfortable journey
+on unfrequented roads, with none to break the ice, in a hackney coach
+which receives the wind in all parts." Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1665,
+p. 105.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-17-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-17-4">17</a>)
+P.C.R., Charles II, Vol. VI, p. 231; Cal. State Papers,
+Col., 1661&ndash;1668, § 1685.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-18-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-18-4">18</a>)
+Egerton, 2395, ff. 449, 451, 452, 453; Cal. State Papers,
+Col., 1661&ndash;1668, §§ 1598&ndash;1600.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-19-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-19-4">19</a>)
+Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 25115, f. 156; Cal. State Papers,
+Dom., 1661&ndash;1662, pp. 411&ndash;412.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-20-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-20-4">20</a>)
+Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 25115; Cal. State Papers, Dom.,
+1660&ndash;1661, pp. 356, 359, 363, 372, 412; 1661&ndash;1662 pp. 28, 80.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-21-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-21-4">21</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1660&ndash;1661, pp. 383, 532;
+1661&ndash;1662, pp. 111, 277, 529, 446; Bodleian, Rawlinson MSS., A. 478, f.
+81.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-22-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-22-4">22</a>)
+Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 25115, ff. 133&ndash;140; Cal. State
+Papers, Treasury Books, 1660&ndash;1667, pp. 245&ndash;247, containing the list of
+convoys, a duplicate of that in the British Museum volume; p. 250, the
+Treasurer's report.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-23-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-23-4">23</a>)
+Brit. Mus., Egerton, 2543, ff. 137&ndash;139.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-24-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-24-4">24</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1663&ndash;1664, pp. 515, 549.
+The Fishing Commission, appointed in 1661, had proved a failure, but
+the council borrowed from the patent of that commission many of the
+suggestions which it recommended. Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1661&ndash;1662,
+p. 83.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-25-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-25-4">25</a>)
+Cf. Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1661&ndash;1662, p. 83.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-26-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-26-4">26</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1665&ndash;1666, p. 330. Yet Crispe's
+letter (<i>ante</i>, p. 75, note) certainly speaks as if the Council had a
+continuous existence from 1660 to 1668, and the mention of Exeter House
+as its place of meeting after 1667 points in the same direction.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-27-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-27-4">27</a>)
+"Some considerations about the commission for trade,"
+P.R.O. Shaftesbury MSS., Div. X, 8(1).
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-28-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-28-4">28</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1663&ndash;1664, pp. 528, 531, 543,
+572, 573, 588.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-29-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-29-4">29</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1661&ndash;1662, pp. 75, 135&ndash;136, 149.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-30-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-30-4">30</a>)
+19 Charles II, c. 13.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-31-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-31-4">31</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1667&ndash;1668, pp. 156, 158, 165,
+173, 180, 187, 191, 247, 321, 433, 444, 452, 511, 593, 594; 1668&ndash;1669,
+pp. 35, 40.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-32-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-32-4">32</a>)
+Brit. Mus., Egerton MSS., 2543, ff. 205&ndash;205<sup>b</sup>. Endorsed
+"Regulation of Committees of the Councill. Read &amp; Ordered in Councill
+the 31<sup>st</sup> January, 1667<sup>b</sup>." For reasons that cannot be explained
+this regulation is not entered in the Privy Council Register. It is
+a similar order of February 12, 1668, P.C.R., Charles II,
+Vol. VII, pp. 176&ndash;177, but otherwise omitted. For this reason the
+document is here printed in full. Cf. Cal. State Papers, Dom.,
+1667&ndash;1668, p. 261.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-33-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-33-4">33</a>)
+For instance, there are among the Colonial Papers memoranda
+of proceedings at various sittings of this committee held between
+April 7, 1668, and February 18, 1669, relative to domestic, colonial,
+and foreign trade, that are not recorded elsewhere.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-34-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-34-4">34</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Col., 1661&ndash;1668, §§ 1685, 1712, 1759,
+1769, 1791, 1870, 1883; 1660&ndash;1674, §§ 30, 66, 150, 184&ndash;186, 751, 837,
+1226, I, II, III; 1320, 1353, 1390. Dom., 1668&ndash;1669, pp. 62, 201.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-35-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-35-4">35</a>)
+Roger North, Examen, p. 461, quoted by Prof. Ashley in
+Surveys, Historic and Economic, pp. 274&ndash;275.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-36-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-36-4">36</a>)
+New York Colonial Docts., III, p. 175.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-37-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-37-4">37</a>)
+P.R.O. Chancery, Crown Office, Docket Books, 7, pp. 335,
+344; Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1668&ndash;1669, pp. 6, 18, 224&ndash;225.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-38-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-38-4">38</a>)
+Bodleian, Rawlinson MSS. A, 478, f. 77; Cal. State Papers,
+Dom., 1668&ndash;1669, pp. 224&ndash;225, 651.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-39-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-39-4">39</a>)
+Ashley, Surveys, pp. 275&ndash;276.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-40-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-40-4">40</a>)
+New York Colonial Docts., III, pp. 175&ndash;178; Cal. State
+Papers, Col., 1661&ndash;1668, §§ 1874, 1875.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-41-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-41-4">41</a>)
+P.C.R., Charles II, Vol. VIII, p. 169; Cal. State Papers,
+Col., 1661&ndash;1668, § 1884, 1669&ndash;1674, §§ 6, 9.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-42-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-42-4">42</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Col., 1669&ndash;1674, §§ 104, 696.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-43-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-43-4">43</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1671, p. 210; 1671&ndash;1672,
+pp. 450&ndash;451.
+</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page96" name="page96"></a>[96]</span></p>
+
+<a name="h2HCH0009" id="h2HCH0009"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER V.
+</h2>
+<h3>
+    <span class="sc">The Plantation Councils of 1670 and 1672.</span>
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+During the years 1668 and 1669 no member of the government was more
+active in promoting the development of the plantations than Anthony
+Ashley Cooper, Lord Ashley. As one of the proprietaries of Carolina,
+he had taken the lead in advancing that settlement, had called upon
+John Locke to frame a new constitution, and had himself organized the
+expedition of 1669 which gave to the new colony its most important
+impetus. He became a proprietary of the Bahamas in 1670 and later
+attempted to found a plantation on the Edisto River. He planned to
+organize these colonies at Charles Town, Albemarle, Edisto, and New
+Providence into a kind of cooperative trading group of settlements,
+under the same laws and instructions, and from them he hoped to obtain
+in time for himself and the other proprietaries ample returns on their
+investments. It is of no concern to us here that his scheme failed, the
+important fact remains that Ashley and Locke were at this juncture in
+the very heyday of their interest in colonial affairs and were eager to
+take advantage of every opportunity for encouraging colonial trade. The
+revival of the Select Council for Foreign Plantations was due in largest
+part to the influence and initiative of these two men, particularly of
+Ashley, who in 1670 was at the height of his political power and on
+terms of closest intimacy with the King.<a href="#note-1-5" name="noteref-1-5"><small>1</small></a> That he was sincere in this
+movement seems to me beyond question, and the charge that has been made
+against him of recommending the creation of this Council as a means of
+obtaining sinecures for his friends, does not appear capable of the
+slightest
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page97" name="page97"></a>[97]</span>
+
+          proof.<a href="#note-2-5" name="noteref-2-5"><small>2</small></a> If membership on the Council was deemed at the first
+a position of ease, it must soon have lost that character, for few
+committee men ever worked harder than those who looked after plantation
+affairs in the years from 1670 to 1674. This fact will appear as we
+examine the nature and extent of their activities.
+</p>
+<p>
+Experience with previous councils had shown that too numerous and
+fluctuating a membership was not conducive either to harmony or to
+despatch of business. Therefore, in reviving the Council for Plantations
+it was decided, as the most important change to be effected, that the
+number should be reduced to such terms as to enable the committee to
+apply itself as a whole to the business in hand. The commission was
+issued on July 30, 1670, to ten persons, of whom but three were members
+of the nobility. The commissioners were Edward, Earl of Sandwich;
+Richard, Lord Gorges, Baron of Dundalk in Ireland; William, Lord
+Allington, Baron of Killar in Ireland; Thomas Grey, son of Lord Grey,
+of Warke; Henry Brouncker, Sir Humphrey Winch, Sir John Finch, Edmund
+Waller, Henry Slingsby, master and worker of the mint and one of the
+gentlemen of the privy chamber, and Silas Titus, one of the grooms of
+the bed chamber. To this number was added in 1671 James, Duke of York;
+Prince Rupert, George, Duke of Buckingham, Master of the Horse; James,
+Duke of Ormond, Lord Steward of the Royal Household; John, Earl of
+Lauderdale, Secretary of State for Scotland; Thomas, Lord Culpeper; Sir
+George Carteret, Vice-Chamberlain; and John Evelyn, but of these only
+the last named stood on the same footing with those first appointed as
+a regular and salaried member, the others being appointed to give weight
+and dignity to the board and receiving no compensation. In August, 1671,
+Sir Richard Temple was added to the board, also to
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page98" name="page98"></a>[98]</span>
+
+                                                   serve without pay.
+The only basis for the charge of self-seeking which has been brought
+against the members of this Council is the fact that for the first time,
+as far as we know, the working members received pay for their services.
+The allowances and salaries were as follows: the Earl of Sandwich, as
+president, received £700; Lord Gorges, Lord Allington, Thomas Grey,
+Henry Brouncker, Sir Humphrey Winch, Sir John Finch, Edmund Waller,
+Henry Slingsby, Silas Titus, and John Evelyn, each £500, paid quarterly.
+Dr. Benjamin Worsley, who held the position of advisor and assistant
+secretary under Slingsby, the secretary of the Council, was allowed
+£300, while for contingent expenses £1,000, the same amount that had
+been placed at the disposal of each of the secretaries, Sir Philip
+Frowde and Col. Duke, of the former councils, was appropriated.<a href="#note-3-5" name="noteref-3-5"><small>3</small></a> Five
+members, always including the president or one of the officers of state
+authorized to attend, constituted a quorum of the Council, which was
+ordered to meet for the first time at Essex House, the residence of
+the Lord Keeper, Sir Orlando Bridgeman, near Temple Bar, at two in the
+afternoon. After the addition of the new members, May 16, 1671, it
+removed to the Earl of Bristol's house in Queen Street near Lincoln's
+Inn Fields;<a href="#note-4-5" name="noteref-4-5"><small>4</small></a> and after February 12, 1672, to Lord Arlington's lodgings
+in Whitehall, in order, as Evelyn tells us, that the King might be
+present and hear the debates. It was authorized to employ clerks,
+messengers,
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page99" name="page99"></a>[99]</span>
+
+            solicitors, doorkeepers, and other inferior officers and
+attendants as it should think fit and necessary for its service.
+</p>
+<p>
+By their commission the members of the Council were empowered "to inform
+themselves by the best ways and meanes they can of the present State and
+condition of our Plantations, together with the Increase, or Decay of
+the Trade, and strength of each of them respectively, And the Causes and
+Reasons of such Encrease or Decay, And to use all Industry and Diligence
+for gaining the full knowledge of all things transacted within any part
+of those our Dominions, either by the respective Governours themselves
+or their respective Deputies or by them and the respective Councills, or
+Assemblies, belonging to any of our said respective Plantations, and
+thereof from time to time to give us a true faithfull and certaine
+Accompt togeather with their best advice and opinion thereupon." The
+range of colonial interest was a wide one, "all the affaires which doe
+or may touch or concerne any of our Forreigne Plantations, Colonies, or
+Dominions, situate, lying and being in any part of America or in the
+Ocean lying betweene this and the maine Land of America, or in any part
+of the Bay of Mexico, or upon the Coast of Guinea, or within any of that
+circuit of the Globe, that is generally known or called by the name of
+the West Indies, whether the said Plantations, Countries, and
+Territories, be immediately held by us, or held by any others of us, by
+vertue of any Charters, Graunts, or Letters Patents thereof already made
+or graunted, or hereafter to be made or graunted, and of all other and
+forreigne Plantations, Colonies, and Dominions (our Towne, Citty and
+Garrison of Tangier only excepted)." The Council had power to send for
+any person or persons whom it deemed able to furnish information or
+advice; to call for any books, papers, or records that it judged likely
+to be useful to it, and to require of every person called upon or
+colonial official addressed prompt and ready response.
+</p>
+<p>
+By its instructions and additional instructions the Council
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page100" name="page100"></a>[100]</span>
+
+ was
+ordered to make full inquiry into the state of the plantations and
+to take every means of acquiring full and accurate information as to
+the powers of the governors, the execution of the same, the number of
+parishes, planters, servants, and slaves there, and the best means for
+increasing the supply where needed. It was to instruct the governors
+to live at peace with the Indians and not to suffer them to be injured
+in their persons, goods, or possessions; and to keep on terms of amity
+with their neighbors, whether Dutch, French, or Spanish; to take such
+measures that all commodities of the growth or making of the Plantations
+be duly manufactured and improved, and to inquire whether it were
+possible to promote in any way the production of such tropical
+commodities as cotton, ginger, cocoa, etc. It was to find out what
+islands were best fitted for the breeding of cattle and to encourage
+the same; to investigate the opportunities of obtaining masts and to
+stimulate the production of hemp, flax, pitch, and tar in New England,
+and the setting up of saw mills. It was instructed to study the question
+of procuring servants and slaves, to settle all difficulties between the
+Royal African Company and the colonies, and to do all in its power to
+check "spiriting" or the enticing of children and young persons from
+England to the plantations. It was to deal with colonial trade, both
+oceanic and coastwise, to see that the acts of navigation were duly
+enforced; to inquire into the conduct of colonial governments, to
+examine colonial laws and to recommend for annulment such as were
+contrary to honor, justice, or the law of England. It was to become
+familiar with colonial geography, to procure maps and charts, and to
+have them available for examination. It was to aid the spread of the
+Gospel, the purification of morals, and the instruction of Indians and
+slaves. By the additional instructions, issued August 1, 1670, it was to
+consider the question of colonial defence, to recommend the production
+of saltpetre, to consider how spices, gums, drugs, dyeing stuffs, etc.,
+might be procured for the plantations from the East Indies, and to
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page101" name="page101"></a>[101]</span>
+
+ study the systems employed in other countries for the improvement of
+trade and the plantations.<a href="#note-5-5" name="noteref-5-5"><small>5</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+It is noteworthy that the sessions of the Council were held in secret,
+no one being admitted except the members, and even those only after each
+had taken an oath not to betray the proceedings. "You shall swear," so
+runs this oath, "to be true and faithful to our Sovereign Lord the King,
+his heirs and successors; you shall according to the best of your skill,
+discretion, knowledge, and experience give unto his Maj<sup>tie</sup> true and
+faithful councell, in all things that shall be demanded of you touching
+or concerning his Ma<sup>ties</sup> forreigne Plantations. You shall keepe
+secret and conceale his Ma<sup>ties</sup> said Councells, without disclosing the
+same to any person except he be of the same Councill, and if the matter
+touch any of the same Councill you shall not disclose the same to him.
+You shall not promote or further any matter in the said Councill, for
+any reward, favour, affection, or displeasure, And in case you shall
+perceive anything to be done contrary to his Ma<sup>ties</sup> honour and
+service you shall to the utmost of your Power with stand and Lett
+the same."
+</p>
+<p>
+The Council had its first meeting on August 3, 1670, when the commission
+and instructions were read; and from that time until September 20, 1672,
+a period of nearly twenty-three months, it held one hundred meetings of
+which we have record, and probably many more of which no record has been
+found.<a href="#note-6-5" name="noteref-6-5"><small>6</small></a> It is reasonable to infer that during the working months the
+Council met twice a week.
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page102" name="page102"></a>[102]</span></p>
+
+<p>
+The Council began by taking over much of the business left unfinished
+by the Committee of the Privy Council, but it soon increased its
+activity. It early inaugurated a policy and system of control that was
+more comprehensive than any which had been put into practice by the
+previous boards. Efficient though some of the former councils and
+committees had been, no one of them had endeavored to cover so wide a
+range of colonial business or to inquire so minutely into the details
+of colonial government as did this Council of 1670. It not only took
+into consideration all petitions, memorials, statements of claim, and
+subjects in dispute, but it also set up an elaborate system of inquiry
+on its own part, following out the instructions which had been given to
+it to require of every colonial governor frequent information regarding
+the condition of his government. It drafted long series of queries which
+were despatched to all the colonies, and to which elaborate replies
+were received, notably from Berkeley, of Virginia, Wheeler, of St.
+Christopher, and Lynch, of Jamaica. It supplemented the information
+thus received by demanding letters from the governors, and received
+in response long and frequent epistles, dealing with
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page103" name="page103"></a>[103]</span>
+
+                                                     colonial affairs
+in the most minute detail. Wheeler, Stapleton, Lynch, Willoughby,
+Colleton, and others furnished the Council with all sorts of descriptive
+and statistical matter, and were always ready to offer suggestion and
+advice. Merchants, planters, agents, and others familiar with colonial
+trade were also called upon for statements, either in person or in
+writing, and at many a meeting outsiders were called in to make reports
+to the board. The evidence thus obtained was generally discussed
+in the Council itself, at which the King and officers of state were
+occasionally present, and it was also referred to committees of two or
+more, which made their report to the Council. Upon the information and
+opinions thus obtained, the Council based its orders and reports to the
+Privy Council.<a href="#note-7-5" name="noteref-7-5"><small>7</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+In addition to these functions, the Council assumed an important and in
+some ways a new rôle when it took upon itself the business of preparing
+all the preliminary drafts of the various commissions and instructions
+of the governors, often spending many days in the consideration of
+these instruments, and often receiving from the appointees themselves
+suggestions as to the wording of certain clauses. As far as the more
+general powers and duties were concerned, these instructions were
+modelled somewhat after those which the Council itself had received,
+and lively debate arose not infrequently over the nature and extent of
+the authority that ought to be conferred on the appointees. The drafts
+of the commission and instructions, when completed, were sent to the
+Secretary of State, by whom corrections might be made, then conveyed to
+the Privy Council, where the documents were frequently referred to the
+attorney general for his advice on legal points, and sometimes to the
+Committee of the Council, which at this time, as well as afterward, felt
+itself fully empowered to make any alterations it pleased. Thus many
+hands may have had a share in shaping these important papers before they
+were finally engrossed,
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page104" name="page104"></a>[104]</span>
+
+                        although it is probable that in the majority of
+instances the draft of the Council was accepted unchanged by the King.
+</p>
+<p>
+The Council was also beginning to exercise another important function
+in receiving from the Privy Council copies of laws passed in the
+colonies upon the character of which its opinion was desired, and in
+being called upon by the Privy Council or the Secretary of State to
+make recommendations as to fit persons to hold colonial offices. In
+this particular, the most responsible task of the Council lay in the
+selection and instruction of special commissioners, who in accordance
+with many earlier precedents were vested with authority to go to the
+colonies for the settlement of difficult questions there. Three such
+commissions were set on foot by the Council of Plantations: that
+appointed to bring to an end the dispute with the French at St.
+Christopher; that appointed to treat with the Dutch regarding the
+English subjects at Surinam; and that designed for New England, which
+was to be openly commissioned to settle boundary disputes, but to be
+secretly instructed to inform the Council of the condition of the New
+England colonies, "and whether they were of such power as to be able
+to resist his Majesty and declare for themselves as independent of the
+Crown." No commissioners were, however, sent until the time of Edward
+Randolph.<a href="#note-8-5" name="noteref-8-5"><small>8</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+A large amount of time was consumed by the Council in considering the
+petitions and memorials of private persons, who had some grounds of
+complaint against one or other of the colonial governments. Among these
+the charges of Mason and Gorges against Massachusetts hold prominent
+place, but other complainants were none the less insistent; Capt.
+Archibald Henderson, of Antigua, who had been imprisoned by Governor
+Wheeler for alleged seditious practices; the owners of the ship <i>James</i>,
+of Belfast, which had been seized by Wheeler as a "stranger-built"
+trading contrary to the Navigation Acts; the owners of the logwood
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page105" name="page105"></a>[105]</span>
+
+  ship <i>William and Nicholas</i>, also seized by Wheeler on suspicion that
+it had obtained its lading in violation of the treaty of 1670 with
+Spain; owners of the <i>Peter</i>, of London, seized by the Spaniards in
+violation of the same treaty; Jamaica planters who claimed that Spain
+had broken the clause of the treaty relating to logwood cutting at
+Campeachy; one Mark Gabry, exporter of wool; merchants in Jamaica
+complaining of the number of Jews there and their engrossment of trade;
+inhabitants of Easthampton, Southampton, and Southold in Long Island in
+regard to their whale fishery and their relations with the Dutch at New
+Amsterdam; the government of Virginia against the Arlington and Culpeper
+grant. The Council also discussed many other matters, all more or less
+closely bound up with the welfare of the plantations and of plantation
+trade, such as the despatch of their letters and orders; the proper time
+for the sailing of merchant ships in order that advantage might be taken
+of companies or convoys; the sugar question in the West Indies, notably
+Barbadoes, that perennial cause of dispute from the point of view of
+customs and impositions; the enticing or spiriting away of young people
+from England to go as servants to the plantations, a grievance almost
+as old as the plantations themselves and one which Ashley had made a
+special subject of inquiry with the result that Parliament passed an
+Act, March 18, 1670, making "spiriting" a capital offence; the fisheries
+and the abuses in the Newfoundland trade; privateering, especially in
+relation to the act of Governor Modyford in commissioning Capt. Morgan
+to cruise against the Spaniards and to capture Panama; the slave trade
+and the relations of the plantations with the Royal African Company;
+and lastly, in obedience to the fourth article of its additional
+instructions, the proper supplying of the West India colonies with such
+commodities as silk, galls, spices, senna and other dyeing materials,
+in order to see whether or not such things could be obtained from the
+plantations, a subject upon which Dr. Worsley, who had already
+experimented with senna, was deemed an authority.
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page106" name="page106"></a>[106]</span></p>
+
+<p>
+The efficiency of the Council of Foreign Plantations and the
+inefficiency of the Council of Trade during the same period may
+well have led to the belief that the work would be better done if the
+functions of the latter were transferred to the former body. The death
+of the Earl of Sandwich, who lost his life in the naval engagement of
+Southwold Bay with De Ruyter, May 28, 1672, may have hastened this
+conclusion, and the need of economy, especially manifest in this year,
+1672, may have been a further influence. Whatever the causes, as early
+as the summer of 1672 the decision was reached, undoubtedly through the
+advice of Lord Ashley, now the Earl of Shaftesbury, to reconstitute
+the Council, and to issue a new patent which should cover trade as
+well as foreign plantations. Evelyn says that the old Council met at
+Shaftesbury's house on September 1, 1672, to consider the draft of the
+new commission. The form of the commission having been approved, the
+warrant was issued to the attorney general on September 16 to prepare
+the bill for the King's signature, and on the twenty-seventh the Council
+was duly commissioned by writ of privy seal. The membership remained the
+same as before, with the single exception that the Earl of Shaftesbury
+took the place of the Earl of Sandwich as the president of the board,
+with Lord Culpeper as vice-president. When in December of the same year
+Sir John Finch was appointed ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, in place
+of Sir Daniel Harvey, deceased, Sir William Hickman was constituted
+a member of the Council in his stead. As in the case of the former
+Council, the Duke of York, Prince Rupert, and the chief officers of
+state were authorized to attend and vote but without pay. To their
+number were now added the Duke of Ormond, George, Viscount Halifax; Sir
+Thomas Osborne, and Sir Robert Long, all of whom, except Long, had been
+members of the Council of Trade, while Halifax, who had just returned
+from an important mission to France and was rapidly rising to power,
+had been a member of the committee of the House of Lords, appointed
+in October, 1669, to
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page107" name="page107"></a>[107]</span>
+
+                     consider the improvement of trade. Sandwich and
+Shaftesbury had both been on the same committee, and it is not unlikely
+that the latter was responsible for the remarkable report made by this
+committee to the Lords that "some relaxation in ecclesiastical matters
+will be a means of improving the trade of this kingdom."<a href="#note-9-5" name="noteref-9-5"><small>9</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+According to its commission, the Council of Trade and Plantations was
+"to take care of the welfare of our said Colonies and Plantations and
+of the Trade and Navigation of these our Kingdomes and of our said
+colonies and plantations," and was to be a council of advice to the
+King "in and for all the affairs which do or may any way concern the
+navigation, commerce, or trade, as well domestic as foreign of these our
+kingdoms and our said foreign colonies and plantations." Five were to
+constitute a quorum of which the president or vice-president or one of
+the unsalaried members should always be one. The salary of the president
+was raised to £800, that of the vice-president was made £700, while that
+of the other salaried members remained as before, £500. No treasurer or
+secretary is named in the commission, but Dr. Worsley held these offices
+until in September, 1673, he was discharged and John Locke took his
+place. In all other respects the commission of 1672 reproduces that
+of 1670.
+</p>
+<p>
+The most noteworthy difference between the two councils is to be
+found in the instructions, which for the Council of 1672 form a very
+comprehensive and intelligent statement of the essentials of plantation
+control. The draft was undoubtedly written by Shaftesbury and Locke, for
+a preliminary sketch is to be found among the Shaftesbury Papers; the
+preliminary meeting for the consideration and approval of the articles
+was held at Shaftesbury's residence, Exeter House; and the essential
+portions of the document are all to be found embodied in one form or
+another in the instructions and suggestions sent to the planters in
+the Bahamas and Carolina, colonies which for two years had been a
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page108" name="page108"></a>[108]</span>
+
+                                                                  kind
+of experimental station for Shaftesbury's and Locke's ideas. All the
+later commissions and instructions were based in the main on the
+principles laid down in these documents, and neither the Lords of Trade
+from 1675 to 1696 nor the Board of Trade from 1696 to 1782 ever in any
+important particular passed the limits herein defined. Probably the
+instructions of 1672 became from this time forward the precedent and
+guide for those who in later years were called upon to shape the powers
+vested in the boards of trade and plantations. It frequently happened,
+of course, that orders in Council directed the attention of the boards
+to matters which needed special examination, but in the main it may be
+said that Povey first and Shaftesbury afterward mapped out the lines
+to be followed by future commissions in their control of plantation
+affairs. This fact gives to the work of these men a peculiar interest
+and value.
+</p>
+<p>
+By the terms of the instructions of 1672, the Council was to consider
+first of all the trade of the kingdom and of the plantations in the
+following particulars: the increase and improvement of raw commodities
+for use at home, the promotion of manufactures, the betterment of
+the fishing trade at home and abroad, the opening of rivers, ports,
+and harbors, the proper distribution of trade and manufactures, the
+obstacles that lay in the way of English trade as compared with those
+confronting the trade of other nations, and all abuses of trade and
+manufactures in the kingdom. It was to inquire into the best methods of
+increasing the sale and export of native commodities and manufactures,
+of encouraging the importation of foreign goods at the cheapest rates,
+of building ships for the carrying of such bulky articles as masts and
+timber, of extending correspondence with the great commercial centers
+abroad, and of opening free ports where foreign commodities might be
+landed and stored with small charge if designed for reëxportation. It
+was also to take into special consideration the advantages of a more
+open and free trade than that of companies and corporations, and to
+encourage inventions and improvements designed to
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page109" name="page109"></a>[109]</span>
+
+                                                  improve any art,
+trade, or manufacture or to secure and promote trade and navigation.
+</p>
+<p>
+So far as the plantations were concerned, the Council was to inquire
+into the general state of the colonies, and to obtain full information
+regarding councils, assemblies, courts of judicature, courts of
+admiralty, legislative and executive powers, statutes, laws and
+ordinances, militia, fortifications, arms, and ammunition. It was to
+learn all it could about boundaries, lands, mines, staple products,
+and manufactures; to determine whether or not nutmegs, cinnamon,
+cloves, pepper, and other spices would grow if planted; to inform itself
+regarding rivers, harbors, and fishing banks; and to estimate how many
+planters and parishes there were, how many whites and blacks yearly
+arrived, and how many people died each year. It was to learn the number
+of ships trading to the plantations, to discover the obstacles to trade
+and how they could be removed, the advantages and how they could be
+increased; it was to concern itself with export and import dues, public
+revenues, measures taken for the instruction of the people and the
+maintenance of the ministry. It was especially instructed to keep in
+frequent correspondence with the governors, to urge upon them the
+necessity of maintaining peace with their neighbors, the Indians and
+others, of taking the Indians under their protection and of guarding
+their persons, goods, and possessions according to law. Furthermore,
+it was to procure copies of all necessary documents, to purchase maps,
+plats, and charts when needed, to study those portions of treaties
+made with other countries that related to peace and commerce, and to
+determine how far those articles had been upheld and performed. And
+lastly, it was to consider the practice of other countries in matters
+of trade, commerce, and the colonies, and to see how far such practices
+might be of value to England.
+</p>
+<p>
+The Council had its first meeting on October 13, at Essex House, and
+there the commission was read and the oaths were taken. Soon after, it
+took up its abode at Villier's House in King's Street near Whitehall,
+which it rented of
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page110" name="page110"></a>[110]</span>
+
+                   the Duchess of Cleveland for £200 a year. There it
+had a council chamber, an office for the clerks, two messengers, a
+porter, a maid, and a chamber keeper, all of whom were paid out of the
+£1,000 allowed for contingent expenses. We have record of seventy-six
+meetings held between October 13, 1672, and December 22, 1674, a period
+of twenty-six months; but it is quite certain that more meetings than
+this were held, inasmuch as the session-days were every Wednesday and
+Friday at ten in the morning.<a href="#note-10-5" name="noteref-10-5"><small>10</small></a> So far as the plantations were
+concerned the Council did little more than continue the work of its
+predecessor, the Council of 1670, but in addition it concerned itself
+with a large number of questions that had to do with domestic and
+foreign as well as with colonial trade. The most important of these
+related to the petition of the English consul at Venice that his
+consulage be levied on goods and not on ships, a matter that aroused
+prolonged debate; to the petition of the Gambia adventurers against
+the importation by the East India Company of the dyeing wood called
+"sanders" which, because cheaper, was taking the place of their redwood
+from Africa; to the ordinances issued in Sweden against the English
+"privileges" concerning naval stores; to the exportation of wool from
+England, a matter already dealt with in an Act of Parliament; and to
+the treatment of merchants at the hands of the Spaniards, regarding
+which a number of petitions had been received by the board. A few new
+petitions were taken into consideration from traders and others in the
+plantations, notably those of the Jew Rabba Couty, whose ship had been
+seized at Jamaica on the ground that he was a foreigner; of William
+Helyar, whose woodland in Jamaica had been seized by Governor Lynch;
+of John Rodney and his wife Frances, whose plantation in Nevis had
+been seized by Governor Russell, a case destined to drag on for nearly
+two years.
+</p>
+<p>
+In recommending the appointment of governors and other officials,
+passing upon colonial laws, scrutinizing nominations
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page111" name="page111"></a>[111]</span>
+
+                                                     as of colonial
+councillors, corresponding with the governors, organizing an efficient
+system of communication and supervision in all matters touching trade
+and commerce, and in making reports to the King in Council,&mdash;in short,
+in the control and management of colonial affairs, the Council of 1672
+placed the British colonial policy on a broader and more comprehensive
+foundation than had hitherto been laid and inaugurated a more thorough
+system of colonial control than had been established by any of its
+predecessors. It is doubtful if even the Lords of Trade or the Board of
+Trade surpassed the Councils of 1670 and 1672 in enthusiasm, loyalty,
+or dispatch of business.
+</p>
+<p>
+On December 21, 1674, Charles II revoked the commission of the Council,
+and plantation affairs under their cognizance thus being "left loose and
+at large" were "restored to their accustomed channel of a Committee of
+the Privy Council," that is, to the Committee of the Board appointed for
+matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations.<a href="#note-11-5" name="noteref-11-5"><small>11</small></a> The reasons for
+this step are of course to be found in the first instance in the fall
+of Shaftesbury from power the summer before, but that event is not in
+itself a sufficient explanation of the change. At least it is worthy of
+remark that the dissolution of the Council took place many months after
+Shaftesbury's dismissal. Probably a further cause is to be found in the
+widespread demand for economy and retrenchment. The Council of 1672
+cost the King nearly £8,000 a year; the Committee of the Privy Council
+cost the King nothing for the services of its members, although its
+contingent expenses ran higher than had those of any previous board,
+amounting to between £275 and £400 a quarter from 1676 to 1687 and £250
+and £300 from 1689 to 1696.<a href="#note-12-5" name="noteref-12-5"><small>12</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+Probably a greater reason for the dissolution of the Council of 1672 is
+to be found in the dissatisfaction which existed
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page112" name="page112"></a>[112]</span>
+
+                                                 with the system of
+advisory and independent bodies. Povey expressed the matter well when
+he wrote:
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+    "His Ma<sup>tie</sup> since his happy Restoraton, rightly considering
+    of how great Consequence his foreign Plantations are to this
+    Crowne, hath at several times Commissionated certain select
+    persons to be Councells for the Plantations, every one of
+    which Councels were variously framed, instructed and encouraged,
+    w<sup>ch</sup> have all expired without any considerable advantage, or
+    satisfaction to his Ma<sup>tie</sup> or the Plantations. Among the other
+    Reasons w<sup>ch</sup> may be given, why they proved fruitless, it seems,
+    That it is found by experience that whatsoever Council is not
+    enabled as well to execute as advise, must needs produce very
+    imperfect and weak effects. It being, by its subordination and
+    impotency obliged to have a continual recourse to superior
+    Ministers, and Councels filled with other business, w<sup>ch</sup>
+    ofttimes gives great and prejudicial delays and usually begets
+    new  or slower deliberations and results, than the matter in
+    hand may stand in need of, by w<sup>ch</sup> means the authority and
+    virtue of this little Council became faint and ineffectual.
+    Seeing therefore it hath been held at all times, that may
+    distant Colonies, and the manifold Concernments thereof do
+    require and deserve to be consider'd and provided for by some
+    select persons as a Councel for those affairs, And that the
+    wisdome of our Government admits not such a plenary Authority,
+    but solely in the highest Council, it remains only as the best
+    expedient, That Com<sup>rs</sup> be appointed out of the Privy Council
+    under the Great Seal, who may sit on some appointed day in every
+    [blank] and sometimes an hour before the Councel shall sit, as
+    occasion may call for it, to take consideration of any of the
+    affairs of the Plantations, who may give direcions in ordinary
+    cases, and in cases extraordinary may report to the King and
+    Councel."<a href="#note-13-5" name="noteref-13-5"><small>13</small></a>
+</p>
+<p>
+We do not know when this paper was written nor do we know whether
+it ever came to the attention of the King and his advisers. Its
+recommendation was certainly carried out, when the King, taking into
+his own hands again the full control of trade and the plantations,
+issued a commission in February, 1675, placing the entire charge of
+these matters in the hands of the committee of the Council, which
+through all the changes of fifteen years had never ceased to exercise
+its functions of supervision and control of colonial affairs. This
+committee, known as the Lords of Trade, acted as a board of trade and
+plantations for twenty years and conducted
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page113" name="page113"></a>[113]</span>
+
+                                           its business with eminent
+success. Its membership was occasionally changed, though as a rule the
+work fell upon a comparatively small number of men who were in frequent
+attendance. After the fall of the Stuarts, King William continued the
+same policy, appointing a new Council Committee and resisting all
+attempts of Parliament to interfere.
+</p>
+<p>
+Parliament, however, determined to obtain control of the management of
+colonial affairs, and as early as 1694 made an effort in that direction.
+Acting evidently under the influence of the merchants of London, who
+resented the fact that affairs of this character should be entrusted
+to "courtiers without experience," it took into consideration the
+appointment of a separate board, whose members should be chosen by
+itself. The first bill was thrown out by Parliament, but the matter was
+brought up at the next session in December, 1695. Strenuous efforts were
+made by a few of the leading out-ports, such as Bristol, to obtain,
+through their members in Parliament, a representation on the proposed
+board, in order to overcome "the growing greatness of London." During
+December and January the matter was debated with great heat in the
+House, and Bristol went so far as to send up a special delegation to
+lobby in its behalf. The proposal was defeated by the King's opposition
+to this attempt to encroach upon his prerogative, and a compromise was
+effected, in which the out-ports played no part. Influenced by the
+determination of the majority in Parliament, William issued a commission
+on May 15, 1696, to a separate Board of Trade and Plantations, the
+membership of which was, however, to be controlled by the Crown.
+</p>
+<p>
+Of the history of the Board of Trade, thus established in 1696, little
+need be said here. The board passed through many vicissitudes in its
+life of nearly eighty-seven years. It enjoyed its greatest repute during
+the first fifteen years of its existence, falling into the hands of
+inferior officials and placemen during the era of Walpole and the first
+years of the supremacy of Newcastle. Granted new powers in
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page114" name="page114"></a>[114]</span>
+
+                                                           1752, it rose
+again to a position of prominence which it held for fourteen years, and
+it reached a climax in 1765, when it was made a ministerial executive
+office of government, as were the Secretary's office and the boards of
+the Admiralty and the Treasury, possessing full authority and complete
+jurisdiction in all matters relative to its own department. This
+position of independence was, however, soon lost. On August 8, 1766,
+an order in Council declared that all measures relative to commerce and
+the colonies should originate either with the King in Council, the
+Committee of the Council, or one of the principal Secretaries of State.
+This order, which evidently originated with Shelburne, Secretary of the
+Southern Department, that he might increase thereby his control over
+all colonial affairs, reduced the board to the position of an advisory
+and consulting body upon such matters as the Council might refer to
+it. Henceforth all estimates for colonial services and the direction
+and application of money granted thereupon, which had hitherto been
+transacted by the board, were resumed by the higher authorities. From
+this time the importance and influence of the board steadily declined
+until it was finally abolished in 1782. The control of the colonies
+during the period from 1768 to 1782 was assumed by the new Secretary
+of State for the colonies and remained in his charge until his office
+also was abolished in the same year.
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<a name="note-1-5"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-1-5">1</a>)
+See various papers among the Shaftesbury MSS., Division X,
+particularly 8, No. 4, "L<sup>d</sup> Shaftesbury's Advice to his Majesty about
+Trade, etc."
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-2-5"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-2-5">2</a>)
+Edward Long, governor and historian of Jamaica, viewed
+the appointment of the Council as a piece of jobbery and graft, an
+undertaking espoused not for the national good, but in order to obtain
+new and lucrative offices for Ashley and others "his Brethren in the
+ministry." Brit. Mus. Add. MSS., 12438, iii, f. 17.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-3-5"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-3-5">3</a>)
+Henry Slingsby is named secretary and treasurer in the
+commission and his signature or initials are appended to all orders from
+October 5, 1670, to July 23, 1672. During this time and until September
+13, 1673, Dr. Worsley acted as assistant and is called "secretary" until
+November 15, 1672, when he was made treasurer also. On October 15, 1673,
+after the discharge of Worsley, John Locke, secretary, friend, and ally
+of the Earl of Shaftesbury, president of the new Council of 1672, was
+sworn in as secretary and as treasurer on December 16, 1673. He remained
+in service until the abolition of the Council. Evelyn speaks of Worsley
+as dead on October 15, but this statement cannot be true as Worsley was
+still alive in March, 1675.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-4-5"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-4-5">4</a>)
+Evelyn in describing the room in which the Council sat
+mentions atlases, maps, charts, globes, etc., but Locke when called upon
+to hand over the papers in March, 1675, reported that he never had had
+any globes and maps.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-5-5"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-5-5">5</a>)
+The commission, instructions, and additional instructions
+of the Council for Foreign Plantations are to be found among the
+Shaftesbury Papers in the Public Record Office, fair written in an entry
+book bound in vellum. Div. X, 10. Another copy of the instructions is
+contained in X, 8 (11).
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-6-5"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-6-5">6</a>)
+The sources for the history of the councils of 1670 and
+1672 are: The Calendar of State Papers, Colonial, 1669&ndash;1674, which
+contains abstracts of the papers of the Councils now among the Colonial
+Papers. Had it been possible to examine each original document before
+writing this paper there is no doubt that the list of the meetings given
+in the Appendix would have been considerably extended. The calendaring
+is often far from clear and the indexing, as far as all the boards are
+concerned from 1622 to 1675, is a muddle of confusion. Among the Board
+of Trade Papers is an Index to the entry books of the councils, which
+shows that the following books, "called in the stile of the office, the
+'rough books,'" were kept: "A Journal," "Orders of Council of Foreign
+Plantations," "Petitions, References, and Reports," "Addresses and
+Advices," "Letters and Answers," "Miscellanies," "Barbadoes," "Leeward
+Islands," "Jamaica," "Virginia," "Letters from the Council," "New
+England," "Fishery," "West India, Surinam," and "Letters to the
+Council." Most of these entry books have been found scattered among
+the Colonial Office volumes. Unfortunately the most important book,
+"A Journal," is missing and has been missing for two centuries. The
+"Index," however, contains a series of entries entitled, "Heads of
+Business," which is very incomplete as an index to the meetings, but
+upon which I have drawn in making up my list. The "Virginia" volume
+is also missing, but it apparently contained nothing except blank
+leaves. Part one of the volume entitled "Letters and Answers" and the
+whole of "Letters to the Council" are also missing. The "New England"
+volume contains only a copy of the Massachusetts charter; that entitled
+"Miscellaneous" three interesting papers "Concerning Spiriting,"
+"Consideration about Foreign Plantations," and "Other considerations
+concerning Plantations." The complete minutes of two meetings are among
+the Shaftesbury Papers and very interesting notes in Evelyn's Diary.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-7-5"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-7-5">7</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Col., 1669&ndash;1674, §§ 327, I, 415, 565,
+663, 680, 697, 704, 737, 804, 805, 891, 896, 1044, 1101.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-8-5"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-8-5">8</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Col., 1669&ndash;1674, §§ 287, 365, 822, 834,
+917, 1003, 1011&ndash;1013, 1100, 1186, 1197, 1212, 1251&ndash;1252, 1255, 1295,
+1300, 1306, 1386.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-9-5"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-9-5">9</a>)
+Lord's Journal, XII, pp. 254, 257, 273&ndash;274, 284.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-10-5"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-10-5">10</a>)
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1672&ndash;1673, pp. 213&ndash;214.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-11-5"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-11-5">11</a>)
+New York Col. Docts., III, pp. 228, 229&ndash;230; Cal. State
+Papers, Col., 1675&ndash;1676, §§ 648, 649.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-12-5"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-12-5">12</a>)
+Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 9767, 9768, containing an itemized
+expense account of the Lords of Trade from 1676 to 1696.
+</p>
+
+<a name="note-13-5"><!--Note--></a>
+<p class="foot">
+(<a href="#noteref-13-5">13</a>)
+Brit. Mus., Egerton, 2395, f. 276.
+</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page115" name="page115"></a>[115]</span></p>
+
+<a name="h2H_APPE" id="h2H_APPE"><!-- H2 anchor --></a>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h2>
+    APPENDIX I.
+</h2>
+<h3>
+    <span class="sc">Instructions, Board of Trade, 1650.</span>
+</h3>
+<p>
+<i>First.</i>&mdash;They are to take notice of all the Native commodities of this
+Land, or what Time and Industry may hereafter make Native and advise how
+they may not only be fully Manufactured, but well and truly wrought, to
+the Honor and Profit of the Commonwealth.
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>Secondly.</i>&mdash;They are to consider how the Trades and Manufactures of
+this Nation may most fitly and equally be distributed to every part; to
+the end that one part may not abound with Trade, and another remain poor
+and desolate for the want of the same.
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>Thirdly.</i>&mdash;They are to consult how the Trade may most conveniently be
+driven from one part of this Land to another. To which purpose they are
+to consider how the Rivers may be made more Navigable and the Ports more
+capable of Shipping.
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>Fourthly.</i>&mdash;They are to consider how the Commodities of this Land may
+be vented, to the best advantage thereof, into Foraign Countreys, and
+not undervalued by the evil management of Trade, And that they advise
+how Obstructions of Trade into Foraign parts may be removed; and desire
+by all means, how new ways and places may be found out, for the better
+venting of the Native commodities of this Land.
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>Fifthly.</i>&mdash;They are to advise how Free Ports or Landing-places
+for Foreign Commodities imported (without paying of Custom if again
+exported) may be appointed in several parts of this Land, and in what
+manner the same is to be effected.
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>Sixthly.</i>&mdash;They are to consider of some way, that a most exact account
+be kept of all commodities imported and exported through the Land,
+to the end that a perfect Balance of Trade may be taken, whereby the
+Commonwealth may not be impoverished, by receiving of Commodities yearly
+from Foraign parts of a greater value than what was carried out.
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>Seventhly.</i>&mdash;They are duly to consider the value of the <i>English</i>
+Coyns, and the Par thereof, in relation to the intrinsic value which it
+bears in weight and fineness with the Coyns of other Nations. Also to
+consider of the state of the Exchange, and of the gain or loss that
+comes to the Commonwealth by the Exchange now used by the Merchants.
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>Eighthly.</i>&mdash;They are (in order to the Regulating and Benefit of
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page116" name="page116"></a>[116]</span>
+
+                                                                 Trade)
+seriously to consider what Customs, Impositions, and Excise is fit to be
+laid upon all Goods and Commodities, either Native or Imported, and how
+the said Customs, Impositions, and Excise may be best ordered and
+Regulated, and so equally laid and evenly managed, as neither Trade may
+be thereby hindered, nor the State made incapable to defray the Publique
+Charges of the Commonwealth.
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>Ninthly.</i>&mdash;They are to take into their consideration whether it be
+necessary to give way to a more open or free Trade than that of
+Companies and Societies, and in what manner it is fittest to be done;
+wherein, notwithstanding, they are to take care that Government and
+Order in Trade may be preserved and Confusion avoided.
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>Tenthly.</i>&mdash;They are to inform themselves of the particular Ordinances,
+Orders, Grants, Patents, and Constitutions of the several Companies of
+Merchants and Handicraftsmen, to the end that if any of them tend to
+the hurt of the Publique, they may be laid down in such manner as the
+Parliament shall think fit.
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>Eleventhly.</i>&mdash;They are to consider the great Trade of Fishing, and
+that not only upon the coasts of <i>England</i> and <i>Ireland</i> but likewise of
+<i>Iceland</i>, <i>Greenland</i>, <i>Newfoundland</i>, and <i>New England</i>, or elsewhere,
+and to take care that the Fishermen may be encouraged to go on in their
+Labors, to the increase of Shipping and Mariners.
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>Twelfthly.</i>&mdash;They are to take into their consideration the English
+Plantations in America or elsewhere, and to advise how those Plantations
+may be best managed, and made most useful for this Commonwealth, and how
+the Commodities thereof may be so multiplied and improved, as (if it
+be possible) those Plantations alone may supply the <i>Commonwealth</i> of
+<i>England</i> with whatsoever it necessarily wants. (Inderwick, <i>The
+Interregnum</i>, p. 74 note.)
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page117" name="page117"></a>[117]</span></p>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h2>
+    APPENDIX II.
+</h2>
+<h3>
+    <span class="sc">Instructions for the Council for Foreign Plantations, 1670&ndash;1672.</span>
+</h3>
+
+<h4>
+<span class="sc">Given at our Court at Whitehall the 30th day of July, 1670.</span>
+</h4>
+<p class="side">
+Preamble.
+</p>
+<p>
+Forasmuch as our severall Colonies, and Plantations abroad, have by the
+Prudence of our Predecessors, and not without the great hazard, Charge
+and Expence of these Nations been respectively setled, and being so
+setled are become the proper Right and Soveraigne Posessions of us: And
+forasmuch as the said Colonies having upon severall Occasions readily
+exprest their loyalty and faithfulnesse towards us, have thereby the
+more engaged us, out of our Princely care, not only to take notice of
+them, but by all Wayes and meanes to endeavour the promoting of their
+Welfare and Increase, togeather with their flourishing Estate and
+condition, and more especially their Protection and Defence.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To inquire of the State of the Plantations, of the Powers
+and Instructions of the Governours how Executed.
+</p>
+<p>
+1. You are therefore strictly to inquire and informe your selves, by
+the best wayes and meanes you can of the State and condition of all and
+every of our said respective Colonies, and Plantations, what it is, by
+whome they are respectively governed, and what Commissions, Powers and
+Instructions, have been graunted by us, or any way derived from us to
+that End, how the same have been duly executed and observed.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+Miscarriages to be represented.
+</p>
+<p>
+And if upon Enquiry or Examination you shall find any neglect, or
+miscarriage, to have been committed by any of the said Governours
+respectively, or by any of their respective Deputies, or that any such
+neglect or miscarriage shall hereafter appeare to you, that shall tend
+to the abuse of our Authority, or to the prejudice of our Interest, Or
+to the dammage and discouragement of any of our said Plantations, you
+are forthwith and at all times from time to time carefully to represent
+the same to us, that we may give such direction therein as the affaire
+shall require and as to our Princely wisdome shall be thought fitt.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To send for Coppies of Commissions and Instructions,
+and consider of them.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To give Directions accordingly.
+</p>
+<p>
+2. And to this End you are to demaund of the said Governours respectively,
+or of their respective Deputies, the
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page118" name="page118"></a>[118]</span>
+
+                                     Coppies of all such Commissions and
+Instructions, as have mediatly, or immediatly been derived from us, or
+to procure and require the same from the Officers of Record, within this
+our Kingdome. Which having you shall cause them to be fairly transcribed
+and entred in a Booke provided for that purpose. That you may at all
+times be the better enabled to judge of the Duties of the said
+Governours respectively, and may Administer such directions to them,
+as may be suitable thereunto, and most agreeable to our service.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+What Number of Parishes, Planters, Servants and Slaves
+are in the Severall Plantations.
+</p>
+<p>
+3. And that you may the better provide for the Defence, Welfare, and
+Security of the said Plantations, you are diligently to informe your
+selves how all and every of the said Colonies and Plantations are
+inhabited (viz) What number of Parishes there are in each respective
+Goverment, and what number of Planters there be in each Parish and what
+number of Servants doe belong to the said Planters respectively, and
+whether the said Servants are Christians, or Slaves that are brought
+from other parts.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+If thinly stockt to consider how they may be supplyed
+from other Plantations or from these Dominions.
+</p>
+<p>
+And if you shall find any of the said Plantations to be so thinly and
+weakly inhabited as that it may endanger the losse of them, you are to
+consider how and which way they may most conveniently be supplyed either
+from some other of our Plantations, where they are overstored, or from
+any part of these our Dominions.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+Not to give just Provocations to their Neighbours, Indians,
+or others.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To preserve Amity with them.
+</p>
+<p>
+4. And forasmuch as most of our said Colonies doe border upon the
+Indians of severall Countries, or doe lye neare the Plantations of
+our Neighbours the French, Spanish, or Dutch, and that peace is not
+to be expected either with the said Indians, or with such as are our
+Neighbours, without the due observance and præservation of Justice to
+each of them respecively. You are therefore strictly in our Name to
+charge and Command all and every the Governours of our said Colonies
+respectively, that they at no time give any just provocation to any of
+the said Indians, nor to any of our said Neighbours, that are at peace
+with us, or their Subjects, but that they doe by all just wayes and
+meanes endeavour to preserve the Amity that is respectively setled
+betweene them, and to begett also for the future a good and faire
+Correspondency with them.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+Governours to receive all Indians under their Protections.
+</p>
+<p>
+5. And inasmuch as some of the Natives of the said Indians may be of
+great use to give Intelligence to our Plantations, Or to discover the
+Trade of other Countries to them, or to be Guides to places more remote
+from them,
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page119" name="page119"></a>[119]</span>
+
+           or to informe our Governours of severall Advantages, and
+Commodities that may be within or neare to our severall Plantations,
+not otherwise capable to be known to them, And may be many other wayes
+serviceable, either to defend or to succour and assist our Plantations.
+It is therefore our pleasure, and we doe hereby require you, to give
+strict order to our severall and respective Governours, that if any of
+the said Indian Nations shall at any time desire to put themselves under
+the protection of our Goverment, that they doe receive them, And that
+they doe by all Wayes and Meanes seeke firmly to oblige them, And that
+they doe direct or employ some persons purposely to learne the languages
+respectively of them.
+</p>
+<p>
+And that they doe not only carefully protect and defend them from other
+Indians, and from any that are the Adversaries of them. But that they
+more especially take care that none of our owne Subjects, nor any of
+their respective Servants, doe at any time any way harme them.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+Not to suffer them to be injured in their persons Goods
+or Possessions.
+</p>
+<p>
+And that if any shall dare to offer any Violence to them in their
+respective persons, Goods or possessions, the said Governours doe
+severely punish the said Injuries agreeable to Justice and Right.
+</p>
+<p>
+6. And for the better Improovement of the Trade and Commerce of the said
+Plantations, you are as much as in you lyeth to take care, and to give
+such Rules and Directions therein, as you shall in your Judgement thinke
+best.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+That all Commodities of their Growth or making be duly
+manufactured and Improoved.
+</p>
+<p>
+That all the Commodities which are made and produce in every of our said
+Plantations, may be duly cured, Manufactured, Improoved, and made as
+Merchantable to the utmost as they may, to the end that they may not
+only be of the greater perfection, but of the greater value, worth and
+repute abroad among other Countries.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+Whether other Commodities, then what grow at present,
+may not be planted and thrive, as Cotton, Ginger, Cocoa &amp;c.
+</p>
+<p>
+7. To which End you are to inquire and informe your selves aright.
+Whether there may not be some better Species even of those very
+Commodities which we now plant, Than what we yet have, as of Cotton,
+Ginger, Cocoa &amp;c. Or whether there may not be some better and more
+perfect skill used, in some other places, for the husbanding, managing,
+and perfecting the said Commodities, than what we use at present.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To gaine the knowledge and skill of such, &amp; impart them
+to the People.
+</p>
+<p>
+And if you find the same to be so, you are to use all Endeavour possible
+to procure the said Species, or to gaine the Knowledge of the said
+skill, and to impart the same to the people of our said Plantations.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+What Islands are fittest and most conveniently seated
+for breeding of Cattle.
+</p>
+<p>
+8. And forasmuch as the Increase of Horses, and Cattle
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page120" name="page120"></a>[120]</span>
+
+                                                        for Draught
+or for Victuall, are of very great use for the settling of new, and for
+the furnishing of old Plantations, And that there are severall Islands
+which as we are informed, are not so fitt for the inhabiting, or for the
+planting of any Commodity in, as for the breeding the said Cattle, and
+which may yet be the more easily setled, by how much they require the
+lesse people.
+</p>
+<p>
+You are therefore to informe your selves, what Islands are scituate
+most convenient for that purpose, and to conferre with such Seamen and
+Captaines of Shipps, as have viewed and coasted along the said places.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To give Encouragement towards the effecting of the same.
+</p>
+<p>
+And to consider accordingly of such Conditions, and to publish such
+encouragements, as that the same may be most probable to be effected.
+</p>
+<p>
+9. And in regard whatever conduceth to the Increase of Shipping, must
+equally conduce to the Safety and strength of these Nations.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+Whether Masts and other Materialls for Shipping may not
+be furnished from the Plantations.
+</p>
+<p>
+And that not only Masts, but all other Materialls, as well for the
+building, as fitting out of Shipps of great burthen may as we are
+informed be plentifully furnished from some of our Plantations, if
+care hereunto were more especially used.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To encourage the producing of Hempe, Flax, Pitch and Tarre
+in New England: and setting up of Sawing Mills.
+</p>
+<p>
+You are therefore more particularly to advise about this matter, with
+the severall Governours, and Colonies of New England, and to propound
+to them or receive their Opinion, what methods and course might be
+most fitt for the producing of Flax, Hempe, Pitch and Tarre in those
+Countries in most plenty. As also where Mills might be most conveniently
+placed and encreased for the sawing of Timber, and Planke, and how best
+we may ease the charge and promote the building there of great Shipping.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+How the Plantations may be supplyed with Servants
+and Slaves.
+</p>
+<p>
+10. You are to take into your Consideration, how all and every our said
+Colonies, and Plantations, may be best supplyed both with servants and
+Slaves.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To consider the differences betwixt the Guiny Company,
+and the Plantations, and to find out expedients of agreement.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+That none of his Ma<sup>ties</sup> Subjects of these kingdomes be
+forced or Enticed away to the Plantations by any unlawfull Practises,
+but that they may be duly accomodated.
+</p>
+<p>
+And what just Objections the said Plantations have against the standing
+and Priviledges of the Guiny Company, Or what complaints the Guiny
+Company doth justly make against any of the said Colonies. And to find
+out such Expedients if possible, that neither of them may lye under any
+Discouragements, or that at least neither of them may be permitted to
+injure or oppresse the other. You are also as farre as you may, to
+provide that none of our Subjects in these Kingdomes, be either forced
+or enticed away into any of our said Plantations, by any indirect and
+unlawfull practises, But that all such persons neverthelesse,
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page121" name="page121"></a>[121]</span>
+
+ as are
+willing, and that shall desire to be transported thither, to seeke a
+better condition there than what they have at present at home, may by
+all meanes be encouraged.
+</p>
+<p>
+And that some Course be duly considered by you also how far the future
+Vagrants, and all such persons as are Noxious, and infamous for their
+Lives here, may be Transported, as that the forreigne Plantations may
+be accomodated with them, and these Kingdomes disburthened.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+Correspondency with the Governours the better to understand
+their Government, Plantations, Complaints, Trade and Shipping, and the
+Increase or Decrease thereof.
+</p>
+<p>
+11. You are likewise to order and settle such a continuall
+correspondence with all and every our said Plentations, and with all and
+every the respective Governements of them. That you may be able as often
+as you are required thereunto to give us an Account, not only of the
+Governement of each Colony, and of the severall Commodities which they
+respectively plant, but of their severall Complaints and wants also,
+and how you find their Trade respectively to increase or decrease.
+</p>
+<p>
+To which purpose you are to require an Account to be sent you
+continually from time to time of all the Shipps that shall Trade into
+any of the said Plantations. And of the substance of what lading they
+import thither togeather with an account also what Shipps are freighted
+from thence and with what sort of Goods, and what quantity there is of
+each of the said sorts, and whether Consigned. That so the true state
+and condition of each Colony in reference to the Trade and Increase and
+Decrease of it, may be thoroughly and rightly understood.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To regulate the trade of the Plantations, so that they may
+be serviceable to one another, as well as to these our kingdomes.
+</p>
+<p>
+12. And being thus informed you are further to apply your selves by
+all prudentiall wayes and Meanes so to Order, Governe, and Regulate the
+Trade of our whole Plantations, that they may be most serviceable one
+unto another, and as the whole unto these our Kingdomes so these our
+kingdomes unto them.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To take care of the due execution of the Acts for
+encouragement of Shipping and Navigation.
+</p>
+<p>
+13. You are therefore to inquire into, and strictly to take care of the
+due Execution of the severall Acts for the encouragement of Shipping,
+and Navigation and that as much as in you lyeth, none of those good
+Ends and purposes, so much tending to the strength and benefitt of this
+Nation may be frustrated for which the said Acts were primarily intended
+and designed.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To require Coppies of all Charters and Graunts concerning
+any forreigne Plantations.
+</p>
+<p>
+14. And to the End that nothing may be wanting to the said Regulation
+and that Justice may be equally distributed throughout all our said
+Plantations, You are likewise to take an Inspection into, and require
+a Coppy of all Charters,
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page122" name="page122"></a>[122]</span>
+
+                         and Graunts that have been passed by us or by
+any of our Prædecessors, to any particular persons, or to any Societies,
+and Corporations of Men with reference to any of the said Plantations.
+</p>
+<p>
+And more particularly to informe your selves what Goverments are held by
+vertue of any of the said Charters at present, and by whome.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To examine how the Ends of them have been pursued or
+neglected.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+In case of any differences to endeavour the composing of
+them amicably.
+</p>
+<p>
+You are likewise to examine what Causes, Covenants and Conditions, with
+relation to our selfe and to the Crowne are inserted in any of the said
+Charters or Graunts, and how the same have been performed, and how the
+Ends of the said Graunts themselves have been respectively pursued. Or
+how much on the contrary, you find they have been neglected, and our
+selfe præjudiced, and to report the same to us. And in case there shall
+any differences arise concerning the bounds, and Limits of any of the
+said respective Charters, or concerning the Priviledges, Rights, or
+Properties, which may be challenged by any by vertue of the said
+Charters.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+Otherwise to state and report them to his Ma<sup>tie</sup>.
+</p>
+<p>
+You are to endeavour by the best and justest meanes you may, amicably to
+compose and determine the same. But if the difference arising about any
+of the said Charters, shall have so much difficulty, as that the same
+cannot be friendly and amicably ended as aforesaid. In that case you
+are after Examination of it to state it to us. That we may give such
+Resolution thereupon as may be agreeable to Justice.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To send for Coppies of the Lawes now in force that if upon
+examination any of them be found contrary to honour, Justice, or the
+Law of England, they may be nulled.
+</p>
+<p>
+15. And as you are not to permitt any of our Loving Subjects to be
+oppressed by any of the Governours of our said Colonies contrary to the
+Lawes that are in force, within the said Colonies respectively, so you
+are as carefully to examine, send for and require a Coppy of all such
+Lawes, as have been at any time made, and doe stand yet unrepealed
+within any of our said Plantations. That if any of the said Lawes be
+found inconvenient or contrary to the Lawes of this Land, or to the
+honour and Justice of our Governement, all such Lawes may be immediately
+nulled.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To procure Mapps and Charts of the severall Plantations,
+and to Register and keep them.
+</p>
+<p>
+16. You are also by all Wayes and meanes you may to procure exact Mapps,
+Platts or Charts of all and Every our said Plantations abroad, togeather
+with the Mapps and Descriptions of their respective Ports, Harbours,
+Forts, Bayes, Rivers with the Depth of their respective Channells
+comming in or going up, and the Soundings all along upon the said
+respective Coasts from place to place, and the same so had, you are
+carefully to Register and Keepe.
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page123" name="page123"></a>[123]</span></p>
+
+<p class="side">
+To take effectuall care for the Propagating the Gospell in
+the Plantations, and for the providing and maintaining of a pious and
+learned Ministry.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To reforme the Debaucheries of Planters and Servants.
+</p>
+<p>
+You are above all especially required to take an effectual care for the
+Propagation of the Gospell, in all our said Colonies and Plantations
+respectively, by providing that there be good Encouragem<sup>t</sup> setled for
+the Invitation and maintenance of pious and learned Ministers, and by
+sending strict Orders and Instructions for the regulating and reforming
+the Debaucheries of Planters and Servants, whose evill Example doth
+bring Scandall upon the Profession of Christianity, and doth deterre
+such as are not yet admitted thereunto, from effecting and esteeming
+the same.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To invite and Instruct the Indians and Slaves in the
+Christian Religion.
+</p>
+<p>
+And you are to consider how much of the Indians, or such as are
+purchased from other parts for Slaves, may be best Instructed and
+invited to the Christian Religion and Faith, it being both for the
+Honour of our Crowne, and of the Protestant Religion it selfe. That all
+persons within any of our Territories though never so remote should be
+taught the Knowledge of God, and be accquainted with the Mysteries of
+Salvation.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To write Letters to the severall Governours to informe them
+of his Ma<sup>ties</sup> great care of the Plantations in erecting this Councill
+as also a generall Councill for trade.
+</p>
+<p>
+18. You are therefore forthwith to write Letters and to send them
+to the severall Governours of our said respective Plantations, or to
+their respective Deputies in all parts, wherein you are to informe
+them of our great care and signall grace towards our said Colonies,
+and of our erecting not only a general Councill for Trade, that might
+take cognizance of such things as may be their concerne, But of our
+appointing this Councill in particular which is employed only for the
+better care and conduct of them.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To require of them an Account of the state of their present
+condition and of what they judge necessairie for their Securitie,
+Encouragem<sup>t</sup>, and accomodation.
+</p>
+<p>
+You are therefore to require them, by themselves, or by the Assistance
+of the respective Councills or Assemblies of the said Colonies to send
+you an exact account of the State of their Condition at present, and of
+such particulars within these your Instructions as you shall in the
+first place thinke most necessary for them to answer or informe you of.
+</p>
+<p>
+And that they doe further propound to you what they judge to be
+most immediately necessary either for their security, or for the
+encouragement, and accomodation of them.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To observe such other Instructions as shall be sent under
+his Ma<sup>ties</sup> Signe Manuall, and if further Powers be found necessary,
+the Councill to adresse to his Ma<sup>tie</sup> therein.
+</p>
+<p>
+19. Lastly you are to follow such other Instructions concerning the
+Præmises, as shall be sent to you from time to time by us under our
+Signe Manuall.
+</p>
+<p>
+And in all cases wherein you shall judge that further Powers and
+Assistance shall be necessary for you, You are
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page124" name="page124"></a>[124]</span>
+
+                                                to addresse Your selves
+to us, for our further pleasure Resolution and Direction therein.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Given at our Court at Whitehall the 30<sup>th</sup>. day of July 1670,
+    in the two and twentieth yeare of our Reigne.
+</p>
+<p>
+    By his Ma<sup>ties</sup> Command
+</p>
+<p>
+    <span class="sc">Arlington</span>
+</p>
+
+<h3>
+<span class="sc">Additional Instructions for the Council for Foreign Plantations, 1670&ndash;1672.</span>
+</h3>
+<h4>
+<span class="sc">Given at Our Court at Whitehall the First Day of August, 1670.</span>
+</h4>
+<p class="side">
+To inquire concerning the Strength Fortifications and
+Military discipline of the Plantations.
+</p>
+<p>
+1. You are also particularly to inquire and informe your selves of the
+strength of all and every of our Colonies, how they are respectively
+fortifyed, what the said Fortifications are, and how conveniently
+situated; as also to inquire how the Inhabitants of the said Colonies
+are respectively trained or disciplined.
+</p>
+<p>
+And in what Posture they are to make a resistance upon occasion, against
+any sudden attempt or Assault, if it should be offred them either by the
+Indians, or by the forces of any other Prince or State that are their
+Neighbours:
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+Concerning the Stores of their Ball, Powder, and other
+Ammunition and the securing and præserving of them.
+</p>
+<p>
+And what Stores they have of Armes, Ball, Powder or any other Ammunition
+respectively, and what care is further necessary to be employed, for the
+better Securing and præserving each of them, and to give an account from
+time to time of the whole to us.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To recommend to the Governours, the breeding and producing
+of Salt Petre.
+</p>
+<p>
+2. And forasmuch as we are informed, that there are among severall of
+our Plantations, Grounds very proper for the Breeding and producing of
+Salt Petre.
+</p>
+<p>
+And those so rich also that if they were improoved to the utmost, great
+quantities of that Commodity might be easily had from those parts,
+without sending into the Indies for it:
+</p>
+<p>
+You are therefore very specially to Recommend this affaire to the
+Governours of such Plantations, where you shall be informed the Grounds
+are fittest for this purpose. And not only to require their care for the
+Improovement of it; but to send your Advice to them, and to receive
+their respective answer and opinion, how and in what manner they judge
+the same, may be best, and most speedily put in Execution.
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page125" name="page125"></a>[125]</span></p>
+
+<p class="side">
+The Planting of such Commodities as are most for the benefit
+of the Plantacons and to redresse all præjudiciall Courses of Planting.
+</p>
+<p>
+3. And forasmuch as the greatest benefitt that can arise to any of our
+said Colonies, must be when the Planters of any of the said Colonies
+shall be able to improove their Labour or Ground to the utmost Profitt
+respectively.
+</p>
+<p>
+Wherefore if the Sayle of any of the said Plantations shall be equally
+fitt for the producing as well of severall other Commodities, as for the
+producing of that which the said Colonie is accustomed unto.
+</p>
+<p>
+And that the said other Commodities are such also as are of more profitt
+to be planted by farre then that which is usuall, And that doe not only
+grow in the Countries adjacent to the said Plantations, but are found by
+Experience to thrive well even in the very said Plantations themselves.
+</p>
+<p>
+In this Case you are to take care that a Custome be not nourished to the
+præjudice of Trade, and of the said Plantations, But that you take order
+for the Planting, Husbanding and Improoving of that Commodity that is
+most profitable and most for the benefitt of the said Plantation. And to
+this End that you by Letters conferre with the Governour, or with the
+Assembly of the said respective Plantation, that some redresse may be
+made and some stopp put to such a præjudiciall Course, or Custome of
+planting as is aforesaid.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To consider how Spices, Gummes, Drugs, Dying Stuffes &amp;c. may
+best be obtained from the East Indies, and other places, for the storing
+and enriching Plantations, and how to Reward the Undertakers thereof.
+</p>
+<p>
+4. And forasmuch as the scituation of severall of our said Plantations
+is such, as that it seemeth very probable to us, they might be stored
+with many more Druggs, Gummes, and Dying Stuffes than what they now
+have. Yea with severall Spices, and other Merchandises as well from the
+East Indies, Turkie, and other places, as from severall of the Spanish
+and Portugeeze Plantations. You are therefor required to consider and
+advise what Commodities, in any of the Countries aforementioned or in
+any other that shall be considered by you, may be (as you Judge) best
+and fittest to transplant into any of our said Colonies (respect being
+had to their said severall and respective Climates). And how the said
+Commodities may easiest, best, and with least Observation, be obtained
+from the said Countries:
+</p>
+<p>
+What methods are meetest to be used, or what Rewards fittest to be
+given, to any that shall runne the hazards and Expence of it, to
+undertake them.
+</p>
+<p>
+And which may therefore the same, may be most probably soe effected, as
+that the Commerce mey be encreased, and the said Plantations enriched
+through it.
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page126" name="page126"></a>[126]</span></p>
+
+<p class="side">
+What Councills are established in other Kingdomes, and what
+Powers and instructions are given them for the improving of their Trade
+and Plantations and to consider the Advantages and Disadvantages
+thereof.
+</p>
+<p>
+5. You are to informe your selves as farre as you may what Councills
+are Established in any other Kingdome for the good Governement, and
+Improoving of their respective Plantations. What Directions or
+Instructions, also, are particularly given to the said respective
+Councills, and what Policy, Method or Conduct is used by them with
+relation to the Strength, Trade and Increase of the said respective
+Colonies, or with relation to the people themselves that are sent
+thither.
+</p>
+<p>
+And if you shall discerne such Methods and Directions to be good, or to
+be well founded in Experience and Reason, You are to consider either how
+the same may be aplyed to the Advantage of our owne Plantations, or how
+any Inconveniences that may follow from them may be by you prudently
+avoided.
+</p>
+<p>
+    Given at our Court at Whitehall, the first day of August 1670,
+    in the two and twentieth yeare of our Reigne.
+</p>
+<p>
+    By his Ma<sup>ties</sup> Command
+</p>
+<p>
+    <span class="sc">Arlington</span>.
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page127" name="page127"></a>[127]</span></p>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h2>
+    APPENDIX III.
+</h2>
+<h3>
+<span class="sc">Draft of Instructions for the Council of Trade and Foreign Plantations,
+1672&ndash;1674.</span>
+</h3>
+<h4>
+<span class="sc">The Commission and Instructions Were Issued on September 27, 1672.</span>
+</h4>
+
+<p class="side">
+To consider the Improvem<sup>t</sup> of the Commodityes of these
+Kingdomes.
+</p>
+<p>
+1. You are to consider how all Goods and Commodityes of the Production
+or Growth of these Our Kingdomes may be best Improoved. What other
+usefull Commodityes or Materialls for Manufactures there are which the
+Nature of Our Sayle with good Husbandry will beare, or that tyme and
+Industry can make Native.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To consider the Setting up of Manufactures.
+</p>
+<p>
+2. You are likewise to consider the setting up and Improoving of
+Manufactures within Our said Kingdomes, especially of shipping. And such
+others as are most for the Employment of Our people of best use, and
+greatest Proffit to our Kingdomes. The Establishing of Such Manufactures
+in Townes and places most convenient for them. And to provide that all
+such Manufactures (especially our Old and new Draperyas) be truely made
+and fully manufactured at home.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+The improoving of the Fishing Trade at home &amp; abroad.
+</p>
+<p>
+3. You are to consider how the Fishing Trade both at home and abroad may
+be encouraged and improoved to the best advantage.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+The opening of Rivers, Ports and Harbours.
+</p>
+<p>
+4. How Our Rivers may be made Navigable and Our Ports and Harbours more
+capable of receiving Shipping.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+The Distributing of Trade and Manufactures.
+</p>
+<p>
+5. And how Trade and Manufactures may be more fitly and equally
+distributed through Our Kingdomes.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To examine the Burthens of Trade.
+</p>
+<p>
+6. You are strictly to Examine what Burthens the Trade of Our sayd
+Kingdomes doth at present Groane under both at home and abroad, more
+then the Trade of Neighbouring Princes and States.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To enquire into abuses in Trade and Manufactures.
+</p>
+<p>
+7. You are to make due Search and Inquiry into the abuses practised
+among Merchants, Vintners, Wyne-Coopers, Brewers, Dyers, Apothecaryes,
+Goldsmyths, Refyners, Wyre-Drawers, Penterers, Hatters, Clothiers and
+other Trades and Manufactures within these Our Kingdomes, as also
+concerning Weights and Measures.
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page128" name="page128"></a>[128]</span></p>
+
+<p class="side">
+To consider of the better venting of Native Commodity's.
+</p>
+<p>
+8. You are to consider how Our Native Commodityes, and Manufactures may
+be vented in greater Quantetyes, and with more Hono<sup>e</sup> and profitt to
+Our said Kingdomes.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+How forreigne Commodityes may be brought in at cheaper
+Rates.
+</p>
+<p>
+9. And how forreigne Goods, and Commodityes may be brought from the
+severall places of their Growth or making in fitt and reasonable tymes,
+and at the Cheapest rates.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+about building of Ships for the carriage of Bulky
+Commodityes.
+</p>
+<p>
+10. You are to consider about the Building of Pinkes, Flutes, and other
+great Ships for the more convenient Carryage of Masts, Tymber and other
+Bulky Commodityes. And about setting them out (according as the place to
+which they are bound may allow) with fewer men and Gunns then usuall.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+How Correspondencyes may be kept in places of great commerce
+abroad.
+</p>
+<p>
+11. You are to consider how Correspondencyes may be settled and kept
+in all places of Great Commerce abroad for the better knowing with what
+proffit or Losse Our Native Commodityes and Manufactures are vented. And
+What Lawes are from tyme to tyme made or Trades new Erected in forreigne
+parts to the advantage, or Disadvantage of Our Trade or Commerce.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+How free Ports may be opened.
+</p>
+<p>
+12. You are to consider how Free Ports may conveniently be opened
+about Our Coasts for the Landing, and Storeing of Forreigne
+Commodityes. Giving leave to retransport them paying only some small
+acknowledgements. And of the severall Advantages that may arise unto
+these Our Kingdomes by Giving way (according to the Example of other
+Nations) to a more open, and free Trade then that of Companyes and
+Corporations.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To receive Propositions concerning Trade and Navigation.
+</p>
+<p>
+13. And you are to receive and Consider all Propositions or Overtures
+concerning new Inventions or Improvements in any Art, Trade or
+Manufacture, or concerning the regulating or Securing of Trade, and
+Improoving of Navigation that shall be offered unto you by any person
+whatsoever.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To enquire into the State of his Ma<sup>ts</sup> forreigne
+Plantacons.
+</p>
+<p>
+14. You are strictly to enquire, and informe yourselves by the best
+wayes and Meanes you can of the State and Condition of Our said
+Forreigne Collonyes and Plantations. By whome they are Governed and what
+Commissions, Powers and Instruccons have been granted by Us, or by any
+of Our Royall Predecessors to that End, and how the same have been
+Executed and observed.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To enquire What Councills Assemblies and Courts of Indicature
+there are in them.
+</p>
+<p>
+15. You are likewise to enquire and informe yourselves. What Councills,
+Assemblyes and Courts of Indicature for Civill and Criminall Causes
+there are within the said Collonyes and Plantations, and of what Nature
+and Kind.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+What Courts of Admiralty.
+</p>
+<p>
+16. What Courts of Indicature they have relating to the Admiralty.
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page129" name="page129"></a>[129]</span></p>
+
+<p class="side">
+What their Legislative and Executive Powers are.
+</p>
+<p>
+17. Where the Legislative and Executive Powers of their Governments are
+seated.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+What Statutes and Lawes they have.
+</p>
+<p>
+18. What Statutes, Lawes, and Ordinances they have made, and are now in
+force.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+What number of Horse and Foot.
+</p>
+<p>
+19. What number of Horse and Foot they have and whether Trayned Bands,
+Bands, or Standing Forces.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+What Castles and Forts and how provided.
+</p>
+<p>
+20. What Castles or Forts they have, how situated and what Stores and
+Provisions they are furnished with.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+What strength their Neighbours have.
+</p>
+<p>
+21. What strength their Bordering Neighbours have by Sea and Land.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+What Correspondency they keep with them.
+</p>
+<p>
+22. What Correspondency they keep with their Neighbours.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+What Armes Ammunition &amp;c. have been sent unto them.
+</p>
+<p>
+23. What Armes, Ammunition, and Stores have been sent unto the said
+Collonyes and Plantations upon our Accompt, when received, how Employed,
+and what part of them is there remayning and where.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+What Moneys have been paid for Armes &amp;c. and Fortifications.
+</p>
+<p>
+24. What Moneys have been paid or appointed to be paid by Us, or Leavyed
+within the said severall Collonys, and Plantacons for and towards the
+buying of Armes, or making and Mayntaining of any Fortifications, or
+Castles, And how the said Moneys have been expended.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+The Boundaryes and Contents of their Lands.
+</p>
+<p>
+25. What the Boundaryes, and Contents of their Lands are.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+What Mynes, Commodityes and Manufactures they have.
+</p>
+<p>
+26. What Mynes they have of Gold, Silver, Copper, Tynne, Ledd, or Iron.
+What Commodityes there are of their production, growth, or Manufacture.
+What Materialls for Shipping and whether Salt-petre is or may be
+produced in any of the said Collonyes or Plantations. And if so, At what
+Rates it may be delivered in England.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+Whether Spices, Gumms, Drugs if Planted will not thrive.
+</p>
+<p>
+27. Whether Nutmegs, Cinnamon, Cloves, Pepper, and other Spices, and
+Gumms, Druggs and Dying Stuffs which now grow in the East Indyes, and
+are brought from thence may not be planted and come to perfection in
+some of Our Collonyes, and Plantations in the West Indyes.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+What Rivers, Harbours &amp;c. they have.
+</p>
+<p>
+28. What Rivers, Harbours, and Roads they have, and of What Depths, and
+Soundings.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+What Banks or Shoales for Fishing.
+</p>
+<p>
+29. What Banks, or Shoales they have upon, or neare their Coasts for
+Fishing.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+What number of Planters and Parishes.
+</p>
+<p>
+30. What number of Planters, Servants, and Slaves, and how many Parishes
+they have.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+What number of Whites and Blacks doe yearly come.
+</p>
+<p>
+31. What Number of English, Scotch, or Irish doe yearely come, and what
+Blacks, or Slaves, are brought unto them.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+What number of People dye yearely.
+</p>
+<p>
+32. What Number of People doe yearely dye within the said Collonyes and
+Plantations both Whites, and Blacks.
+</p>
+<p>
+33. What Number of Shipps doe Yearely Trade to and from the said
+Collonyes and Plantations, and of what Burthen they are.
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page130" name="page130"></a>[130]</span></p>
+
+<p class="side">
+What number of Ships Trade yearely.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+What obstructions they have and Advantages may be gained to
+their Trade.
+</p>
+<p>
+34. What Obstructions there are, and What advantages may be gained to
+the Improovement of their Trade and Navigation.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+What Dutyes are Charged upon Goods imported, or exported.
+</p>
+<p>
+35. What Rates and Dutyes are charged and payable upon any Goods or
+Commodityes exported out of the said Collonyes and Plantations, whether
+of their owne Growth and Manufacture or otherwyse. As also upon Goods
+imported.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+What Publick Revenues doe arise among them.
+</p>
+<p>
+36. What Revenues doe or may arise unto Us within the said Collynes and
+Plantations, and of what nature they are. By whome Collected, and how
+answered and Accompted unto Us.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+How they instruct the People in Religion, and pay their
+Ministry.
+</p>
+<p>
+37. And what Course they take about Instructing of their People in the
+Christian Religion. And what Provision is made for the Maintenance of
+their Ministers.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To consider which of the said Collonyes are not fully
+Planted.
+</p>
+<p>
+38. You are to informe yourselves which of our said Collonyes and
+Plantations are not fully Planted or Inhabited, and to consider how such
+of them may most conveniently be supplyed from others that are
+overstored with people.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+How the s<sup>d</sup> Collonyes may be serviceable to one another and
+useful to these Kingdomes.
+</p>
+<p>
+39. You are to consider how our said Collonyes, and Plantations may be
+serviceable unto one another in relation to their mutuall Sustenance and
+Defence, and how they may be Governed to be of use and advantage
+likewise to these Our Kingdomes.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To Correspond by Letters with forreigne Governours.
+</p>
+<p>
+40. You are to take care in Keeping frequent Correspondency by Letters
+with the severall Governours of Our said Collonyes, and Plantations.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To Charge them to preserve peace with their Neighbo<sup>rs</sup> and
+to protect y<sup>e</sup> Indians.
+</p>
+<p>
+41. You are hereby required in Our Name strictly to charge all and every
+the Governours of Our said Collonyes and Plantations respectively. That
+they doe not Give any just Provocation unto any of their Neighbours
+Indians or others that are at Peace &amp; Amity with Us. But that they doe
+by all just wayes and Meanes endeavours to preserve such Peace and Amity
+and keep a good and fayre Correspondencye with them.
+</p>
+<p>
+And if any of the said Indians shall desire to putt themselves under
+the Protection of the Governours, or Governments of our said Collonyes
+or Plantations, That they doe receive them with respect and Kindnesse,
+and Give them due Protection, and Defence in their Persons, Goods, and
+Possessions according to Lawe. And in case any Persons shall contrary
+thereunto offer any Affronts or Injuryes unto them, That the said
+Governours doe
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page131" name="page131"></a>[131]</span>
+
+               severly punish such offenders according to Justice and
+Right.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To procure Coppyes of all Grants concerning the said
+Collonyes &amp;c.
+</p>
+<p>
+42. You are to endeavour the procuring Coppyes of all Letters Patents,
+Charters, or Grants of any of Our said Collonyes or Plantations, or of
+any Part of them, passed by Us or any of Our Predecessors under the
+Great Seale of England, to any Person, Socyety, or Corporation of Men
+Whatsoever. And to informe yourselves whether they have been duely putt
+in Execution according to the Severall Grants, Clauses and Conditions,
+conteyned in them respectively.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To procure Exact Mapps of the said Collonyes.
+</p>
+<p>
+43. You are likewise to endeavour the procuring of Exact Mapps,
+Platts, or Charts of all Our said Collonyes and Plantations with the
+Descriptions of their respective Rivers, Forts, Harbours, Bayes, and
+Roads.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To consider of the improoving of their Trade and Commerce.
+</p>
+<p>
+44. And when you shall have received due Information concerning the
+perticulars in the foregoing Instructions. You are to consider of the
+best wayes, and Meanes for the encourageing settling, and Improoving
+the Trade, and Commerce of Our sayd Collonyes, and Plantations. And
+accordingly to offer unto Us your Opinions, and Advice thereupon.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To Examine if the Articles of Peace and Commerce with
+forreigne Princes have been performed.
+</p>
+<p>
+45. You are to consider the severall Articles of Peace and Commerce that
+have been heretofore made between Us or any of our Royal Predecessors,
+and all forreigne Princes, and States, and to Examine whether the
+Priviledges and Immunityes by them Granted or agreed for the Benefitt
+and advantage of Our Merchants, have from tyme to tyme been carefully
+upheld and performed, And in case you shall find any Manifest Breach of
+them, or any Injuryes done to Our Merchants, or any Obstructions to Our
+Trade thereby, You are to represent the same to Us for Our
+Consideration.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To enquire what Councills of Trade &amp;c. are settled in
+forreigne Parts and w<sup>t</sup> Commiss<sup>ns</sup> Instructions and Allowances
+they have.
+</p>
+<p>
+46. You are to informe yourselves the best that may be, What Councills,
+or Courts of Indicature are Established in any forreigne Kingdomes
+or States for the well Government of their Trade and Navigation,
+and for the Improovement Settlement, and Defence of their Collonyes
+and Plantations. As also What Commissions, Powers, Authorityes,
+Instructions, and allowances they have Given and Granted unto them
+for the better carrying on of those Services.
+</p>
+<p class="side">
+To observe such other Instructions &amp;c as shall be sent
+und<sup>r</sup> his Ma<sup>ts</sup> Signe Manuall and to addresse to his Ma<sup>ty</sup>
+for further Instructions &amp;c. if need be.
+</p>
+<p>
+47. And Lastly you are required and authorized to observe and putt in
+Execution all such other Powers, Authorityes and Instructions (relating
+unto Our said Collonyes or
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page132" name="page132"></a>[132]</span>
+
+                           Plantations, or unto the Trade, Commerce or
+Navigation of them, or of these our Kingdomes) as shall from tyme to
+tyme be sent unto you by Us under Our Signe Manuall.
+</p>
+<p>
+And where you shall judge it necessary to have any further Powers,
+Authorityes, or Instructions for the better Carrying on of Our Service
+therein. You are to Addresse yourselves unto Us for Our further Pleasure
+and Direction.
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page133" name="page133"></a>[133]</span></p>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h2>
+    APPENDIX IV.
+</h2>
+<h3>
+    <span class="sc">Heads of Business of Councils, 1670&ndash;1674.</span>
+</h3>
+<h4>
+<span class="sc">Council for Foreign Plantations, 1670&ndash;1672.</span>
+</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>August 3, 1670.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Commission and instructions for a Council for Foreign Plantations read.
+(From the Index mentioned on p. 101, note 6, here cited as <i>Journal</i>.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>August 9.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Letter to Trinity House. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>August 12.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Oath of Secrecy to the Officers. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>August 16.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Petition of St. Christopher read. (<i>Journal</i>; Cal. State Papers, Col.
+1669&ndash;1674, § 232, here cited as <i>Cal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>August 19.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Commissioners for St. Christopher agreed on. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, § 232.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>August 22.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Report on St. Christopher's case. (<i>Cal.</i>, §§ 232, 850.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>September 22.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Petition for a chief governor of the Leeward Is. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>,
+§ 268.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>September 24.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Beginning of consideration of Surinam question. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>,
+§§ 60, 291, 486, 524, and <i>passim.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>September 26.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Col. Lynch to be a committee at St. Christopher and afterwards to goe to
+Jamaica as his Maj. Lieutenant. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, § 287.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>September 27.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Leeward Is. petition again read. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 269.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>September 29.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Drafting of queries to Gov. Berkeley of Virginia. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 565.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page134" name="page134"></a>[134]</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>September 30.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Jamaica &amp; the Isle of Providence. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, § 276.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>October 5.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Surinam, Jamaica, St. Christopher; Conveyance of Letters to Foreign
+Plantations. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, <i>Dom.</i>, 1672&ndash;1673, p. 295.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>October 10.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Surinam agreement with the two ships, 20,000<sup>11</sup> damage at St.
+Christopher. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, §§ 274, 292, 295.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>October 18.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+St. Christopher order of summons to planters of Barbadoes and
+petitioners from St. Christopher to appear. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 297.) There must
+have been a meeting on "Friday next."
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>October 25.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Draft instructions for Commissioners for St. Christopher for bringing
+off from Surinam English subjects, their families, and estates.
+(<i>Cal.</i>, § 304.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>October 27.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Leeward Is. their Governor apart, Answer of Lord Willoughby read.
+(<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, §§ 309, 327.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 1.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Surinam, names of Commissioners. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, §§ 319, 320, 324.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 5.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Commission and instructions to Major Bannister for fetching off the
+English from Surinam. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 850.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 8.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Peace with Spain. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, §§ 334, 334 I.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 12.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Barbadoes imposition on Sugar. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, §§ 332, 519, 520,
+p. 229, <i>passim.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 15.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Order regarding 16th article of the treaty with Spain. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 334.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 17.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Report on petition of Leeward Is., favoring the petition, despite Lord
+Willoughby's objections. (<i>Cal.</i>, §§ 339, 850.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 26.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Sir Chas. Wheeler appointed governor of the Leeward Is. (<i>Journal</i>;
+<i>Cal.</i>, §§ 327, 392&ndash;397.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>December 16.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Commission and instructions to Sir Thomas Lynch, Lieut. Gov. of Jamaica.
+(<i>Cal.</i>, § 850.)
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page135" name="page135"></a>[135]</span></p>
+
+<h4>
+1671.
+</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>January 14.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Newfoundland, petition regarding the fishery. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>,
+§§ 362, 368, 369, 385.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>January 21.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Governors of Plantations to take the Oaths [of Allegiance?]. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>January 28.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Continuation of Newfoundland Question. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>February 9.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Consideration of proposals of Sir Charles Wheeler. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>,
+§§ 410, 412, 415, 420.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>February 14.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Wheeler's proposals regarding defence of St. Christopher. (<i>Journal</i>;
+<i>Cal.</i>, §§ 412, 850.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>February 18.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Spiriting, kidnapping of young persons for transport to the plantations.
+(<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, 1661&ndash;1668, Preface, p. xxvii <i>et seq.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>March 2.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Continuation of Newfoundland question. Report on the petition. (<i>Cal.</i>,
+§§ 362, 850.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>March 8.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Estimate sent (and probably received on same day) by officers of
+ordnance regarding ammunition, etc. for Leeward Is. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 445.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>March 10.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Report on Newfoundland petition, made on March 2, read. (<i>Cal.</i>, <i>Dom.</i>,
+1671, under Mar. 10.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>April 27.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Petition of Ferdinando Gorges read. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 512; See <i>Cal.</i>, <i>Dom.</i>,
+1671, April 27, Slingsby to Williamson.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>May 22.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Robert Mason's first petition to the Council; divers relations
+concerning New England, with observations of the commissioners lately
+employed there, read. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 512.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>May 26.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+"The Earl of Bristol's house in Queen's Street (Lincoln's Inn Fields)
+was taken for the Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, and furnished
+with rich hangings of the King's. It consisted of seven rooms on a
+floor, with a long gallery, gardens, etc. This day we met the Duke of
+Buckingham, Earl of Lauderdale, Lord Culpeper, Sir George Carteret, Vice
+Chamberlain,
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page136" name="page136"></a>[136]</span>
+
+             and myself, had the oaths given us by the Earl of Sandwich,
+our President. It was to advise and counsel his Majesty, to the best of
+our abilities, for the well-governing of his Foreign Plantations, etc.,
+the form very little differing from that given to the Privy Council. We
+then took our places at the Board in the Council Chamber, a very large
+room furnished with atlases, maps, charts, globes, etc. Then came the
+Lord Keeper, Sir Orlando Bridgeman, Earl of Arlington, Secretary of
+State, Lord Ashley, Mr. Treasurer, Sir John Trevor, the other Secretary,
+Sir John Duncomb, Lord Allington, Mr. Grey, son to the Lord Grey, Mr.
+Henry Broncher, Sir Humphrey Winch, Sir John Finch, Mr. Waller and
+Colonel Titus of the Bed chamber, with Mr. Slingsby, Secretary to the
+Council, and two clerks of the Council, who had all been sworn some
+days before. Being all set, our Patent was read, and then the additional
+Patent, in which was recited this new establishment; then, was delivered
+to each a copy of the Patent, and of instructions; after which we
+proceeded to business.
+</p>
+<p>
+The first thing we did was to settle the form of a circular letter to
+the Governors of all his Majesty's Plantations and Territories in the
+West Indies and Islands thereof, to give them notice to whom they should
+apply themselves on all occasions, and to render us an account of their
+present state and government; but what we most insisted on was, to know
+the condition of New England, which appearing to be very independent as
+to their regard to Old England or his Majesty, rich and strong as they
+now were, there were great debates in what style to write to them; for
+the condition of that Colony was such that they were able to contest
+with all other Plantations about them, and there was fear of their
+breaking from all dependence on this nation; his Majesty, therefore
+commended this affair more expressly. We, therefore, thought fit, in the
+first place, to acquaint ourselves as well as we could of the state of
+that place, by some whom we heard of that were newly come from thence;
+and to be informed of their present posture and condition; some of our
+Council were for sending them a menacing letter, which those who better
+understood the peevish and touchy humour of that Colony, were utterly
+against.
+</p>
+<p>
+A letter was then read from Sir Thomas Modiford, Governor of Jamaica;
+and then the Council brake up." (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II, pp. 63&ndash;64.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>June 6.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+"I went to Council where was produced a most exact and ample information
+of the state of Jamaica and of the best
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page137" name="page137"></a>[137]</span>
+
+                                        expedients as to New England,
+on which there was a long debate; but at length it was concluded that if
+any it should be only a conciliating paper at first, or civil letter,
+till we had better information of the present face of things, since we
+understood they were a people almost on the very brink of renouncing any
+dependence on the Crown." (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II, p. 65.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>June 16.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Colonel Cartwright's papers concerning the New England Colonies read.
+(<i>Cal.</i>, § 512.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>June 19.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Patent of Massachusetts read. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 572; The <i>Journal</i> says,
+"Cartwright's report"; but this seems to be wrong as both Evelyn and the
+<i>Calendar</i> place Cartwright's report on the 21st.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>June 20.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+"To carry Colonel Middleton [Capt. Thomas Middleton of the former
+Council for Foreign Plantations] to Whitehall, to Lord Sandwich, our
+President, for some information which he was able to give of the Colony
+in New England." (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II, p. 65.) Probably no regular
+meeting was held on this day.
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>June 21.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Commission and instructions of the New England Commissioners read;
+Col. Cartwright heard (<i>Cal.</i>, §§ 512, 566). "To Council again, when one
+Colonel Cartwright a Nottinghamshire man (formerly in commission with
+Colonel Nicholls) gave us a considerable relation of that country; on
+which the Council concluded that in the first place a letter of amnesty
+should be despatched." (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II, p. 65.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>June 26.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Further consideration of the New England case. (<i>Cal.</i>, §§ 512.)
+</p>
+<p>
+"To Council, where Lord Arlington acquainted us that it was his
+Majesty's proposal we should, every one of us, contribute £20 toward
+building a Council Chamber and conveniences somewhere in Whitehall, that
+his Majesty might come and sit amongst us, and hear our debates; the
+money we laid out to be reimbursed out of the contingent monies already
+set apart for us, viz. £1000 yearly. To this we unanimously consented."
+(Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II, p. 66.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>June 29.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Sir Thomas Modyford, Panama. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, §§ 209, 433, 504, 505,
+577, 578.)
+</p>
+<p>
+"To Council, where were letters from Sir Thomas Modiford, of the
+expedition and exploit of Colonel Morgan, and others
+</p>
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page138" name="page138"></a>[138]</span>
+</p>
+<p class="quote">
+                                                     of Jamaica, on the
+Spanish Continent at Panama." (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II, p. 66.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>July 4.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+"To Council, where we agreed to and drew up a letter to be sent to New
+England, and made some proposal to Mr. Gorges, for his interest in a
+plantation there." (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II, p. 66.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>July 12.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Report on Gorges petition, recommending the sending of commissioners to
+New England. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 439, I.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>July 17.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+New England, Massachusetts. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>July 24.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Robert Mason's second petition to the Council read. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 512.)
+</p>
+<p>
+"To Council. Mr. Surveyor brought us a plot for the building of our
+Council Chamber, to be erected at the end of the Privy-garden, in
+Whitehall." (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, p. 66.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>August 3.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Agreement about Commissioners to New England. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 512.)
+</p>
+<p>
+Address regarding sending two ships to Surinam. (<i>Cal.</i>, §§ 596, 850.)
+</p>
+<p>
+"A full appearance at the Council. The matter in debate was whether we
+should send a deputy to New England, requiring them of the Massachusetts
+to restore such to their limits and respective possessions, as had
+petitioned the Council; this to be the open commission only; but in
+truth, with secret instructions to inform us of the condition of those
+Colonies, and whether they were of such power, as to be able to resist
+his Majesty and declare for themselves as independent of the Crown,
+which we were told and which of late years made them refractory. Colonel
+Middleton being called in, assured us they might be curbed by a few of
+his Majesty's first-rate frigates, to spoil their trade with the
+islands; but, though my Lord President was not satisfied, the rest were,
+and we did resolve to advise his Majesty to send Commissioners with a
+formal Commission for adjusting boundaries, etc., with some other
+instructions." (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II, p. 66.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>August 12.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Report concerning New England, a representation of the present state of
+New England and the sending over of Commissioners. (<i>Cal.</i>, §§ 512, 598,
+850.)
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page139" name="page139"></a>[139]</span></p>
+
+<p>
+<i>August 19.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+"To Council. The letters of Sir Thomas Modiford were read, giving
+relation of the exploit at Panama, which was very brave." (Evelyn's
+<i>Diary</i>, II, pp. 66&ndash;67.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>September 9.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Commissioners (names of) to be sent to New England. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>September 15.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+"In the afternoon at Council, where letters were read from Sir Charles
+Wheeler, concerning his resigning his government at St. Christopher's."
+(Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II, p. 67.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>September 19.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Council informed that the king had agreed to the sending commissioners
+and desiring instructions to be prepared against spring. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 512.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 13.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Further information to Council regarding commissioners; Council to treat
+with Mason and Gorges regarding sale of their estates in New England,
+but not without the king's leave. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, § 512.)
+</p>
+<p>
+St. Christopher and Leeward Is. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+Negroes, Leeward Is. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, § 700.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 14.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+"To Council, where Sir Charles Wheeler, late Governor of the Leeward
+Islands, having been complained of for many indiscreet managements,
+it was resolved, on scanning many of the particulars, to advise his
+Majesty to remove him; and consult what was to be done to prevent these
+inconveniences he had brought things to. This business stayed me in
+London almost a week, being in Council or Committee every morning till
+the 25th." (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II, p. 72.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 16.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Mr. Gorges, New England. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 20.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+St. Christopher; Publication by Sir Charles Wheeler and answer of the
+Council. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, §§ 657, 658, 659.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 24.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Report to the king on the same subject. (<i>Cal.</i>, §§ 659, 850.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 26 (7).</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+St. Christopher: proclamation disowning Sir Charles Wheeler read.
+(<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, § 661.)
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page140" name="page140"></a>[140]</span></p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Brouncker's conference with the French ambassador read. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+"We ordered that a proclamation should be presented to his Majesty to
+sign against what Sir Charles Wheeler had done in St. Christopher's
+since the war, on the articles of peace at Breda. He was shortly
+afterwards recalled." (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, p. 73.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 28.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+The Answer of the Planters of the Leeward Is. read. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+Account of Jamaica, probably taken from Gov. Lynch's answers to queries.
+(<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, § 663, p. 277.)
+</p>
+<p>
+Heads of king's proclamation regarding St. Christopher. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>December 7.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Report of the Council on the proclamation and the framing of something
+fit to be offered to the French ambassador. (<i>Cal.</i>, §§ 675, 677, 850.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>December 11.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+New England Case, Mr. Mason's account of the commodities of New
+Hampshire. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, § 687.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>December 14.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Mr. Mason, the answer of the Council. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>December 18.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Instructions to Mr. Slingsby to speak to members of Privy Council
+regarding patents to Massachusetts. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 652.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>December 19.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Mr. Slingsby's report about a new governor for the Leeward Is.
+(<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>December 20.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Draft of commission for governor of Leeward Is.; revocation of Wheeler's
+commission; report to king concerning Col. Stapleton, the new governor.
+(<i>Cal.</i>, §§ 699, 707, 738, 740, 744, 804, 805, 850.)
+</p>
+
+<h4>
+1672.
+</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>January 22.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Commissioners for New England. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 512.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>February 6.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Report of Mr. Gorges, "Commissioner for the province of Maine" read.
+(<i>Cal.</i>, § 753.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>February 12.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+"At the Council, we entered on enquiries about improving the Plantations
+by silks, galls, flax, senna, etc., and considered how nutmegs and
+cinnamon might be obtained and brought to Jamaica,
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page141" name="page141"></a>[141]</span>
+
+                                                   that soil and climate
+promising success. Dr. Worsley being called in, spake many considerable
+things to encourage it. We took order to send to the Plantations,
+that none of their ships should venture homeward single, but stay for
+company and convoys. We also deliberated on some fit person to go as
+Commissioner to inspect their actions in New England, and, from time
+to time, report how that people stood affected.&mdash;In future to meet at
+Whitehall." (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II, p. 74.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>February 13.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Instructions from Secretary of State to prepare commission, etc., for
+New England Commissioners. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 512.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>February 16.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Account of the militia in the Province of Maine read. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 762.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>February 20.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Letter from Sir Thomas Lynch to the Council read. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 640.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>March 1.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+"A full Council of Plantations, on the danger of the Leeward Islands,
+threatened by the French, who had taken some of our ships, and began
+to interrupt our trade. Also in debate, whether the new governor of
+St. Christopher's should be subordinate to the Governor of Barbadoes.
+The debate was serious and long." (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II, p. 75.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>April 2.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Report concerning the general state of the Leeward Is. and the
+differences depending between the English and French at St. Christopher.
+(<i>Cal.</i>, § 850.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>April 9.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+About Logwood (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, §§ 709, 742, 777, 825), and the
+defence of Barbadoes and the Leeward Is. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 799.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>April 15.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Commission and instructions for Lord Willoughby and a report on his
+proposals. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 850.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>April 16.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Letter from Sir Charles Wheeler read. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 748.)
+</p>
+<p>
+"Sat in Council, preparing Lord Willoughby's commission and instructions
+as governor of Barbadoes and the Caribbee Islands." (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>,
+II, p. 78.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>April 19.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+"At Council, preparing instructions for Colonel Stapleton, now to go
+Governor of St. Christopher's; and heard the complaints
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page142" name="page142"></a>[142]</span>
+
+                                                        of the Jamaica
+merchants against the Spaniards, for hindering them from cutting logwood
+on the main land, where they have no pretence." (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II,
+pp. 78&ndash;79.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>April 26.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Archibald Henderson's case. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, §§ 775, p. 339, 806.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>April 30.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Commissioners for New England named, etc. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, § 512.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>May 7.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Case of Mark Gabry, exporter of wool. (<i>Cal.</i>, <i>Dom.</i>, 1671&ndash;1672,
+pp. 155, 156, 481.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>May 10.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Case of the <i>James</i> of Belfast (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, § 813), and Wheeler
+letter (§ 775), containing a statement about Henderson.
+</p>
+<p>
+Draft commission for Willoughby (§ 822).
+</p>
+<p>
+Agreed that the commission for New England should be expedited (§ 512).
+</p>
+<p>
+Report to the king upon the case of the <i>William and Nicholas</i> (§ 850).
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>May 14.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Proposals about the Leeward Is. formerly delivered by Lord Willoughby.
+(<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, § 828.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>May 17.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Case of the <i>William and Nicholas</i>, Logwood ship. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>,
+§§ 823, 824.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>May 27.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Letter from Sir Thomas Lynch read. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 777.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>June 4.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Consideration of the Logwood trade. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, §§ 825, 837.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>June 11.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Order regarding ship <i>William and Nicholas.</i> (<i>Cal.</i>, § 823.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>June 13.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Surinam and Curaçao. (<i>Journal</i> has "Quarasao"; <i>Cal.</i>, § 879.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>June 15.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Continuation of the Logwood difficulty. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, §§ 825, II,
+879, 880.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>June 21.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Case of the <i>Peter</i> of London (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, § 820; <i>Cal.</i>, <i>Dom.</i>,
+1673, pp. 198&ndash;199.)
+</p>
+<p>
+Petition from Montserrat. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, §§ 859, 879.)
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page143" name="page143"></a>[143]</span></p>
+
+<p>
+<i>June 25.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Jews in Jamaica. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, §§ 848, 879.)
+</p>
+<p>
+Heads of a letter to Sir Thomas Lynch from the Council. (<i>Journal</i>;
+<i>Cal.</i>, § 943.)
+</p>
+<p>
+Injuries from the French in the West Indies. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, § 805.)
+</p>
+<p>
+About ship departure from Jamaica. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, §§ 683, 910.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>July 2.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Opinion and advice of the Council to the king upon a great variety of
+matters already discussed. Jews, logwood, Surinam, Jamaica defence,
+Curaçoa, Leeward Is. and Wheeler, and Stapleton, defense of Montserrat,
+etc. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 879.) In addition the merchants seem to have made a
+report on the best time for ships to depart from Jamaica. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>July 3.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Petition from the Long Islanders regarding the whale fishery and their
+relations with New Amsterdam read. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 875.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>July 16.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Concerning Virginia&mdash;probably the question of the Arlington and Culpeper
+grant. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>July 19.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Regarding the whale fishery. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, § 875.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>July 26.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Petition of Sir Ernestus Biron, escheator in Barbadoes, read.
+(<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, 1661&ndash;1668, § 1622.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>July 29.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Report on the petition. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>September 1.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+"Our Council of Plantations met at Lord Shaftesbury's (Chancellor of the
+Exchequer) to read and reform the draught of our new Patent, joining the
+Council of Trade to our political capacities." (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II,
+p. 83.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>September 20.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Particulars of monies disbursed for the Council. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>October 1 (about).</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Letters written by Sir Thomas Lynch on June 20 and July 5 read to the
+Council. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 943.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<span class="sc">Council for Trade and Foreign Plantations, 1672&ndash;1674.</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>October 13.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Commission opened and read and oath administered. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+Letters from Gov. Stapleton and his answer to inquiries read. (<i>Cal.</i>,
+§§ 842, 896.)
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page144" name="page144"></a>[144]</span></p>
+
+<p>
+"Went to my Lord Keeper, (Sir Orlando Bridgeman) at Essex House, where
+our new patent was opened and read, constituting us that were of the
+Council of Plantations, to be now of the Council of Trade also, both
+united. After the patent was read, we all took our oaths, and departed."
+(Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II, p. 85.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>October 24.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Oaths administered. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+"Met in Council, the Earl of Shaftesbury, now our President, swearing
+our Secretary and his clerks, which was Mr. Locke, an excellent learned
+gentleman, and student of Christ Church, Mr. Lloyd, and Mr. Frowde [son
+of Philip Frowde, clerk of the former Council of 1660]. We dispatched a
+letter to Sir Thomas Linch Governor of Jamaica, giving him notice of a
+design of the Dutch on that island." (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II, p. 86.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>October 27.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Jamaica laws received and probably considered. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 829.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>October 29.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Meeting held at 9. a. m. No statement as to business. (<i>Cal.</i>, <i>Dom.</i>,
+1672&ndash;1673.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 3.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Logwood case; depositions and letters presented. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 954.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 8.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+New England case considered. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+Letter from Sir Thomas Lynch read. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 855.)
+</p>
+<p>
+Rodney petition received from the Privy Council and read. (<i>Cal.</i>,
+§ 958.)
+</p>
+<p>
+The petition from the consul of Venice, asking that consulage be levied
+on goods not on ships. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, <i>Dom.</i>, 1673, pp. 100, 303.)
+</p>
+<p>
+"At Council we debated the business of the consulate of Leghorn (?). I
+was of the Committee with Sir Humphrey Winch, the Chairman, to examine
+the laws of his Majesty's several plantations and colonies in the West
+Indies, etc." (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II, p. 86.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 13.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Letter from Dep. Gov. Coddrington of Barbadoes read. (<i>Cal.</i>, §§ 872,
+901, 902.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 15.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Petition of the consul at Venice considered further. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+"Many merchants were summoned about the consulate of Venice; which
+caused great disputes; the most considerable thought it useless."
+(Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II, p. 86.)
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page145" name="page145"></a>[145]</span></p>
+
+<p>
+<i>November 20.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Petition of Rabba Couty, whose ship was seized at Port Royal, Jamaica,
+on the ground that he was a foreigner. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 968; <i>Cal.</i>, <i>Dom.</i>,
+1672&ndash;1673, p. 295.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 29.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Order of Council appointing a committee to confer with Sir Charles
+Wheeler. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 974.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>December 7.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Report of the conferences. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 977.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>December 10.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Report of the conferences. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 977.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>December 20.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Report on the case of Rabba Couty, recommending the return of the
+vessel. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 968, IV; <i>Cal.</i>, <i>Dom.</i>, 1672&ndash;1673, p. 295.)
+</p>
+<p>
+Order issued for a more speedy and orderly despatch of reports to
+the King and of letters and orders to the Governors of plantations.
+(<i>Cal.</i>, <i>Dom.</i>, 1672&ndash;1673, p. 295.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>December 21.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+"Settled the Consulate of Venice." (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>. II, p. 86.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>December 29.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Report on petition of the Gambia merchants regarding the use of a wood
+called "sanders" for dyeing purposes. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 973, III; <i>Cal.</i>,
+<i>Dom.</i>, 1673, pp. 190, 217.)
+</p>
+
+<h4>
+1673.
+</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>January 7.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Letter of Sir Thomas Lynch; complaint of Gambia Company; Russell's
+answer to Rodney's petition; report on laws of Jamaica; articles
+relating to the Venetian trade; Ordinance in Sweden against "our
+privileges"; St. Christopher business; answer to Col. Stapleton; advice
+to the King about planting St. Christopher; regarding the books and
+papers of the former councils; Newfoundland trade; acts of Barbadoes.
+(<i>Cal.</i>, <i>Dom.</i>, 1672&ndash;1673, p. 403. This series of subjects is the only
+complete list of the heads of a single day's business that we find
+anywhere, except in the minutes of two meetings noted below.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>January 9.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+About Johnson "the Pyrat." (<i>Cal.</i>, §§ 938, 1082, Index; <i>Journal</i>.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>January 11.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Order of the Council to the secretary to report on losses and injuries
+lately sustained from the Spaniards. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 1022.)
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page146" name="page146"></a>[146]</span></p>
+
+<p>
+<i>February 1.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Similar order regarding the differences with the French at St.
+Christopher. (<i>Cal.</i>, §§ 1028, 1033.)
+</p>
+<p>
+Heads of a letter to Gov. Stapleton of St. Christopher. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>February 6.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Gambia Adventurers. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>February 18.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Gambia Adventurers. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+Secretary's report on St. Christopher. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 1034.) Secretary
+ordered to prepare another report for the 25<sup>th</sup> on same subject.
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>February 25.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Secretary's report probably presented on this day.
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>March 6.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Letter to Gov. Stapleton written. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+Letter from Lord Willoughby read. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 1000.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>March 17.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Petition from Rodney asking that a certain Carpenter, "who has long
+lived in Nevis," may be heard. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 1049.)
+</p>
+<p>
+Reply of Capt Rodney to the answer of Gov. Russell read. (<i>Cal.</i>,
+§ 1050.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>April 10.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Heads of an address about St. Christopher. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, §§ 1038,
+1069.)
+</p>
+<p>
+New England. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>April 14.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Representations on Gambia question drawn up. (<i>Cal.</i>, <i>Dom.</i>, 1773,
+p. 142.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>April 22.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Rodney's petition. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, §§ 958, 1049&ndash;1050, 1071, 1074,
+1110, 1194, 1225. See Index.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>June 9.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Address of Council to the king regarding differences between the English
+and the French at St. Christopher. (<i>Cal.</i>, §§ 903, 1105.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>June 23.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Representation and advice of the Council regarding the Rodney case.
+(<i>Cal.</i>, § 1110.)
+</p>
+<p>
+"To London, to accompany our Council, who went in a body to congratulate
+the new Lord Treasurer [Sir Thomas Osborne], no friend to it, because
+promoted by my Lord Arlington, whom he hated." (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II,
+p. 90.)
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page147" name="page147"></a>[147]</span></p>
+
+<p>
+<i>July 21.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+About the exportation of wool (<i>Journal</i>); report on this question
+urging that present laws be put in execution and export of wool be
+strictly forbidden. (<i>Cal.</i>, <i>Dom.</i>, 1673, pp. 382, 541.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>September 13.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Dr Worsley, his discharge. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, § 1151.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>September 16.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+To Council about chosing a new Secretary. (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II, p. 94.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>October 15.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Mr. Lock sworne. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, §§ 1162, 1163.)
+</p>
+<p>
+"To Council, and swore in Mr. Locke, secretary, Dr. Worsley being dead."
+(Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II, 95. This statement regarding Dr. Worsley cannot
+be true.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>October 21</i> (committee).
+</p>
+<p>
+Charter parties for transporting to Barbadoes stores and provisions
+read. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 1058.)
+</p>
+<p>
+Letters from Sir Peter Colleton &amp; others read. (<i>Cal.</i>, §§ 1101, 1104,
+1131, 1133.)
+</p>
+<p>
+Regarding capture of New York. (<i>Cal.</i>, §§ 1138, 1157.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>October 27</i> (committee).
+</p>
+<p>
+About Sir J. Atkins, Barbadoes. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+Regarding New York; Mr. Dyer's project for reducing that town.
+(<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, § 1157.)
+</p>
+<p>
+"To Council about sending succours to recover New York; and then we read
+the commission and instructions to Sir Jonathan Atkins, the new Governor
+of Barbadoes." (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II, 95.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 3.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+About New York, Albany, etc.; consideration of the retaking of these
+places from the Dutch. (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, §§ 1160, 1165.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 7</i> (committee).
+</p>
+<p>
+William Dervell's statement regarding the loss of New York. (<i>Cal.</i>,
+§ 1143.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 8.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Barbadoes and Sir J. Atkins. (<i>Journal.</i>) Probably the question
+of Atkins's commission as Governor of Barbadoes was here under
+consideration.
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 19</i> (committee).
+</p>
+<p>
+Letters from Gov. Lynch read. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 1115.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 24.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Petitions of Steed, provost marshal of Barbadoes, read. (<i>Cal.</i>,
+§ 1167.)
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page148" name="page148"></a>[148]</span></p>
+
+<p>
+<i>December 1.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Letter from Sir Jonathan Atkins received and (probably) read. (<i>Cal.</i>,
+§ 1173.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>December 5.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Deposition of William Carpenter in favor of Steed. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 1177.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>December 19.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Report to the King, presenting draft of commission and instructions for
+Sir Jonathan Atkins, governor of Barbadoes. (<i>Cal.</i>, §§ 1182, 1185.)
+</p>
+
+<h4>
+1674.
+</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>January 7.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Received order from Privy Council committee on grievances regarding the
+Rodney petition. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 1194.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>January 10</i> (committee).
+</p>
+<p>
+Petition of William Dyer of New York to the King read. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 1108.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>January 16.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Report of the Council on this petition. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 1108.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>January 23.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Order from the Privy Council instructing the Council to transmit a true
+state of the case between Rodney and others. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 1207.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>February 10.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+"Ordered, That a Copy of M<sup>r</sup>. Rodneys Petic&#771;on and his Ma<sup>ties</sup>.
+Reference thereupon, and the Report of this Councill should bee
+delivered by M<sup>r</sup>. Lock to M<sup>r</sup>. Secret<sup>ry</sup>. Coventry to bee by him
+p<sup>e</sup>sented to his Ma<sup>ty</sup>.
+</p>
+<p>
+The Earle of Arlingtons Lr&#65058;e&#65059; to this Councill of the 23<sup>d</sup>. of
+January last signifying his Ma<sup>ties</sup>. pleasure, That this Councill
+should consider of a Com<sup>n</sup>. &amp; Instruc&#65058;c&#65059;ons for the Earle of
+Carlisle, appointed to bee Governo<sup>r</sup>. of Jamaica, and Col: Morgan
+appointed to bee Deputy Governo<sup>r</sup>. was read.
+</p>
+<p>
+A Draught of Instruc&#65058;c&#65059;ons for my Lord Carlisle was read and debated,
+and the further debate thereof adjourned till next meeting.
+</p>
+<p>
+My Lord Culpeper having acquainted this Councill, that my Lord Carlisle
+had something to offer to this Councill. The Councill desired my Lord
+Culpeper to acquaint his Lords&#65058;p&#65059;, That if hee pleased to come to the
+Councill on Fryday next in the Afternoone, they shall bee ready to
+receive what e&#65058;v&#65059; his Lords&#65058;p&#65059; shall bee pleas'd to offer to them.
+</p>
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page149" name="page149"></a>[149]</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+Ordered that M<sup>r</sup>. Lock gett some Presses made wherein the papers
+belong to this Councill may bee conveniently layd up.
+</p>
+<p>
+Two Addiconall Instruc&#65058;c&#65059;ons for S<sup>r</sup>. Jonathan Atkins Ordered to bee
+drawne, one to p<sup>e</sup>vent his making of Judges &amp; Justices by Com<sup>ns</sup>.
+limited in tyme, becaus some former Governo<sup>rs</sup>. by com&#771;issionating
+these Officers only for a yeare, kept them at their devoc&#771;on for
+feare they should bee left out of the next, thereby eluding their
+Instruc&#65058;c&#65059;ons, which forbid the turning out of any of these Officers,
+but for good caus. Another to prevent the perpetuity of Laws in the
+Plantac&#771;ons w<sup>th</sup>out his Ma<sup>ties</sup> confirmac&#771;on. Ordered also
+that the Addres to his Ma<sup>ty</sup> ab<sup>t</sup>. Jonathan Atkins and others
+Governo<sup>rs</sup>. taking the Oath's here, to be drawne w<sup>th</sup>out Preamble."
+(<i>Shaftesbury Papers</i>, Div. X, 8 (8).)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>February 17.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+"M<sup>r</sup>. Locke Reported to the Councill, That attending M<sup>r</sup>. Secretary
+Coventry w<sup>th</sup> the papers concerning Rodney's Case ordered by this
+Council the 10<sup>th</sup> of this Instant February, M<sup>r</sup>. Secretary Coventry
+told him, That the Order of the Privy Councill being to transmitt the
+said papers, to his Ma<sup>ty</sup> in Councill, that itt was not proper to do
+itt by his hands, Butt that they should bee sent to one of the Clerks of
+the Councill to bee by him delivered.
+</p>
+<p>
+Ordered thereupon, That the said papers bee delivered to one of the
+Clerks of the Councill, to bee by him p<sup>e</sup>sented to his Ma<sup>ty</sup> in
+Councill.
+</p>
+<p>
+Ordered That the Address of this Councill to his Ma<sup>ty</sup> concerning
+S<sup>r</sup>. Jonathan Atkins and other Governo<sup>rs</sup>. and Deputy Governo<sup>rs</sup>.
+takeing the Oathes &amp;c: here, bee delivered to the Earle of Arlington to
+bee by him p<sup>e</sup>sented to his Ma<sup>ty</sup>.
+</p>
+<p>
+Two Addiconall Instruc&#65058;c&#65059;ons for S<sup>r</sup>. Jonathan Atkins, The one about
+the Com<sup>ns</sup>. of Justices of the Peace, and the other about Marshall Law
+read &amp; agreed.
+</p>
+<p>
+A Copy of an Order of the Presid<sup>ts</sup>. &amp; Councill of Barbados,
+concerning the Provost Marshall's place, was brought in by my Lord
+Culpeper, who assured the Councill hee had rec&#771;ed itt in a Letter from
+the Clerk of the Councill there, which letter hee had not now about him.
+The considerac&#771;on thereof adjourned till this Copy bee made appeare to
+this Councill to bee more authentique.
+</p>
+<p>
+Upon Reading the Addiconall Instruc&#65058;c&#65059;on to Sir Jonathan Atkins
+concerning the reenacting of Laws. The Councill entred into a debate
+about the best way for his Ma<sup>ty</sup> to confirme the Laws made by the
+Plantac&#771;ons, which being often tymes ill worded by the Assembly there,
+and some tymes faulty in some part though the maine deserves to bee
+established. Which being
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page150" name="page150"></a>[150]</span>
+
+                         found to bee a matter of great moment, The
+farther debate thereof was adjourned till another opportunity, when the
+Earle of Shaftesbury should bee present." (<i>Shaftesbury Papers</i>, Div. X,
+8 (9); <i>Cal.</i>, § 1221. These minutes are the only complete record that
+we have of the proceedings at council meetings. They show how much has
+been lost in the disappearance of the original journal.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>March 6.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Letter from Lord Willoughby read. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 966.)
+</p>
+<p>
+Petition of William Helyar regarding woodland purchased by him in
+Jamaica. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 1236.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>March 8.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Report of the Council upon the petition of Edwin Steed. (<i>Cal.</i>,
+§ 1238.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>March 17.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Mr. Gorges paper regarding the sugar plantations. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 1244.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>March 23.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Sends Helyar's petition to Gov. Lynch and wishes reply. (<i>Cal.</i>,
+§ 1250.)
+</p>
+<p>
+Draft Commission for the Earl of Carlisle, appointed governor of
+Jamaica. (<i>Cal.</i>, §§ 1251, 1252. Cf. § 1253.)
+</p>
+<p>
+Similar draft for Col. Morgan, deputy governor of Jamaica. (<i>Cal.</i>,
+§ 1254.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>April 3.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Petition from Representatives of Leeward Is. for convoys, etc.
+(<i>Cal.</i>, § 1257.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>April 13.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+New England: petition of Earl of Sterling, Gorges, and Mason read.
+(<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, § 1247.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>May 8</i> (committee).
+</p>
+<p>
+Letter from Gov. Stapleton read. (<i>Cal.</i>, §§ 1201&ndash;1203, 1327.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>July 3.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Petition of Edmund Cooke, merchant, regarding the barbarous treatment
+received from the Spaniards. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 1320.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>July 17.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Similar petition from other merchants. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 1327.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>September 15.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+"To Council, about fetching away the English left at Surinam, etc.,
+since our reconciliation with Holland." (Evelyn's <i>Diary</i>, II, p. 99.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>September 22.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Regarding Surinam question&mdash;fetching the English away, etc. (<i>Cal.</i>,
+§ 1354.)
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page151" name="page151"></a>[151]</span></p>
+
+<p>
+<i>September 24.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Report on this question to the King. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 1355.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>October 6</i> (Committee).
+</p>
+<p>
+Letter from Gov. Lynch in answer to Col. Helyar's petition read.
+(<i>Cal.</i>, § 1301.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>October 13.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Letter from Gov. Stapleton on the wrongs suffered from the French in the
+Leeward Is. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 1333.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>October 15.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Proposal read of F. Gorges, agent of Gov. Stapleton, regarding the
+action of the French. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 1360.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>October 16.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+St. Christopher and Sir William Lockhart's letter. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 1365, I.)
+Lockhart was "Resident with the French King."
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>October 27.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Discussion of the Surinam situation. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>October 30.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Continuation of the same. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 17.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Continuation of the same. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+"To Council, on the business of Surinam, where the Dutch had detained
+some English in prison, ever since the first war, 1665." (Evelyn's
+<i>Diary</i>, II, 100.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 20.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+About Negroes; probably regarding a clause in Lord Vaughan's commission.
+(<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>, §§ 1386, 1392.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 21.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Jamaica and my Lord Vaughan. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>November 24.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Heads of Lord Vaughan's commission and instructions. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 1392).
+About Negroes. (<i>Journal.</i>)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>December 4.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+About Surinam. Address of the Council to the King (<i>Journal</i>; <i>Cal.</i>,
+§ 1401.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>December 17.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Address of the Council regarding Indians brought by force from Guinea to
+Barbadoes. (<i>Cal.</i>, § 1409.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>December 18.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+About Surinam. (<i>Journal.</i>) Instruction for a vessel sailing to that
+island. (<i>Cal.</i>, §§ 1413, 1414, 1415.)
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>December 22.</i>
+</p>
+<p>
+Address from the Council to the King regarding the Surinam question.
+(<i>Cal.</i>, § 1416.)
+</p>
+
+<div style="height: 6em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of British Committees, Commissions, and
+Councils of Trade and Plantations, 1622-1675, by Charles M. Andrews
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of British Committees, Commissions, and
+Councils of Trade and Plantations, 1622-1675, by Charles M. Andrews
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: British Committees, Commissions, and Councils of Trade and Plantations, 1622-1675
+
+Author: Charles M. Andrews
+
+Release Date: August 1, 2010 [EBook #33313]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRITISH COMMITTEES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, David Garcia and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note: Portions of this text are written in an archaic
+manner in which macrons over single or double letters stand in place
+for an abbreviation. This has been represented in the text version
+by enclosing the letter in square brackets and preceeding the letter
+(or letters) with a tilde character. There are also copious single
+and multiple superscripted abbreviations represented in the text version
+by enclosing the superscripted characters with curly braces, preceded
+by a caret.]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+         Series XXVI           Nos. 1-2-3
+
+         JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY STUDIES
+                       IN
+         Historical and Political Science
+
+      Under the Direction of the Departments
+        of History, Political Economy, and
+                Political Science
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+BRITISH COMMITTEES, COMMISSIONS, AND COUNCILS OF TRADE AND PLANTATIONS,
+1622-1675
+
+
+BY CHARLES M. ANDREWS
+Professor of History
+
+
+
+  BALTIMORE
+  THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS
+
+  PUBLISHED MONTHLY
+  January, February, March, 1908
+
+
+  Copyright 1908 by
+  THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS
+
+
+
+
+TABLE OF CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+CONTROL OF TRADE AND PLANTATIONS UNDER JAMES I AND CHARLES I.
+
+  Before 1622, Privy Council the sole authority                         10
+  Commission of Trade, 1622-1623                                        11
+  Commission of Trade, 1625-1626                                        12
+  Privy Council Committee of Trade, 1630-1640                           13
+  Temporary Plantation Commissions, 1630-1633                           14
+  Laud Commission for Plantations, 1634-1641                            14
+  Subcommittees for Plantations, 1632-1639                              17
+  Privy Council in control, 1640-1642                                   21
+  Parliamentary Commission for Plantations, 1643-1648                   21
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+CONTROL OF TRADE AND PLANTATIONS DURING THE INTERREGNUM.
+
+  The Council of Trade, 1650-1653                                       24
+  Plantation Affairs controlled by the Council of State, 1649-1651      30
+  Standing Committee of the Council for Plantations,
+    1651-April, 1653                                                    33
+  Plantation Affairs controlled by the Council of State,
+    April-Dec., 1653                                                    35
+  Trade controlled by Council of State and Parliamentary Committees,
+    Dec., 1653-June, 1655                                               36
+  Importance of the years 1654-1655                                     36
+  The great Trade Committee, 1655-1657                                  38
+  Parliamentary Committees of Trade, 1656-1658                          43
+  Plantation Affairs controlled by Protector's Council and Council
+      of the State, 1653-1660                                           43
+    Special Council Committees for Plantations, 1653-1659               44
+    Council Committee for Jamaica and Foreign Plantations, 1655-1660    44
+    Select Committee for Jamaica, known later as Committee
+      for America, 1655-1660                                            45
+  Inadequacy of Control during the Interregnum                          47
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE PROPOSALS OF THE MERCHANTS: NOELL AND POVEY.
+
+  Career of Martin Noell                                                49
+  Career of Thomas Povey                                                51
+  Enterprises of the Merchants, 1657-1659                               53
+  Proposals of Noell and Povey                                          55
+    "Overtures" of 1654                                                 55
+    "Queries" of 1656                                                   58
+    Additional Proposals, 1656, 1657                                    58
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+COMMITTEES AND COUNCILS UNDER THE RESTORATION.
+
+  Plantation Committee of Privy Council, June 4, 1660                   61
+  Work of Privy Council Committee                                       63
+  Appointment of Select Councils of Trade and Plantations, 1660         64
+  Membership of these Councils                                          67
+  Comparison of Povey's "Overtures" with the Instructions for
+    Council for Foreign Plantations                                     68
+  Comparison of Povey's "First Draft" with Instructions for
+    Council of Trade                                                    71
+  Work of Council for Foreign Plantations, 1660-1665                    74
+  Control of Plantation Affairs, 1665-1670                              79
+  Work of Council of Trade, 1660-1664                                   80
+  Parliamentary Committee of Trade, 1664                                85
+  Commission for English-Scottish Trade, 1667-1668                      86
+  Reorganization of Committees of the Privy Council, 1668               87
+  Work of Privy Council Committee for Foreign Plantations, 1668-1670    90
+  New Select Council of Trade, 1668-1672                                91
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE PLANTATION COUNCILS OF 1670 AND 1672.
+
+  Influence of Ashley and Locke                                         96
+  Revival of Council for Foreign Plantations, 1670-1672                 97
+    Membership                                                          97
+    Commission and Instructions                                         99
+    Meetings and Work                                                  101
+  Select Council of Trade and Foreign Plantations, 1672-1674           106
+    Membership                                                         106
+    Commission and Instructions                                        107
+    Meetings and Work                                                  109
+  Causes of the Revocation of the Commission of Select Council, 1674   111
+  Later History of Plantation Control, 1675-1782                       112
+
+
+APPENDICES.
+
+  I.   Instructions, Board of Trade, 1650                              115
+  II.  Instructions, Council for Foreign Plantations, 1670-1672        117
+       Additional Instructions for the Same                            124
+  III. Draft of Instructions, Council of Trade and Foreign
+         Plantations, 1672-1674                                        127
+  IV.  Heads of Business; Councils of 1670 and 1672                    133
+
+
+
+
+BRITISH COMMITTEES, COMMISSIONS, AND COUNCILS OF TRADE AND PLANTATIONS,
+1622-1675.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Control of Trade and Plantations Under James I and Charles I.
+
+
+In considering the subject which forms the chief topic of this paper, we
+are not primarily concerned with the question of settlement, intimately
+related though it be to the larger problem of colonial control. We are
+interested rather in the early history of the various commissions,
+councils, committees, and boards appointed at one time or another in the
+middle of the seventeenth century for the supervision and management of
+trade, domestic, foreign, and colonial, and for the general oversight of
+the colonies whose increase was furthered, particularly after 1650, in
+largest part for commercial purposes. The coupling of the terms "trade"
+and "foreign plantations" was due to the prevailing economic theory
+which viewed the colonies not so much as markets for British exports
+or as territories for the receipt of a surplus British population--for
+Great Britain had at that time no surplus population and manufactured
+but few commodities for export--but rather as sources of such raw
+materials as could not be produced at home, and of such tropical
+products as could not be obtained otherwise than from the East and West
+Indies. The two interests were not, however, finally consolidated in
+the hands of a single board until 1672, after which date they were not
+separated until the final abolition of the old Board of Trade in 1782.
+It is, therefore, to the period before 1675 that we shall chiefly direct
+our attention, in the hope of throwing some light upon a phase of
+British colonial control that has hitherto remained somewhat obscure.
+Familiar as are many of the facts connected with the early history of
+Great Britain's management of trade and the colonies, it is nevertheless
+true that no attempt has been made to trace in detail the various
+experiments undertaken by the authorities in England in the interest
+of trade and the plantations during the years before 1675. Many of
+the details are, and will always remain, unknown, nevertheless it is
+possible to make some additions to our knowledge of a subject which
+is more or less intimately related to our early colonial history.
+
+At the beginning of colonization the control of all matters relating
+to trade and the plantations lay in the hands of the king and his
+council, forming the executive branch of the government. Parliament
+had not yet begun to legislate for the colonies, and in matters
+of trade and commerce the parliaments of James I accomplished much
+less than had those of Elizabeth. "In the time of James I," says Dr.
+Prothero, "it was more essential to assert constitutional principles
+and to maintain parliamentary rights than to pass new laws or to create
+new institutions." Thus the Privy Council became the controlling factor
+in all matters that concerned the colonies and it acted in the main
+without reference or delegation to others, since the practice of
+appointing advisory boards or deliberative committees, though not
+unknown, was at first employed only as an occasional expedient. The
+councils of James I were called upon to deal with a wide variety of
+colonial business--letters, petitions, complaints and reports from
+private individuals, such as merchants, captains of ships voyaging
+to the colonies, seamen, prisoners, and the like, from officials
+in England, merchant companies, church organizations, and colonial
+governments, notably the governor and council and assembly of Virginia.
+To all these communications the Council replied either by issuing orders
+which were always mandatory, or by sending letters which often contained
+information and advice as well as instructions. It dealt with the
+Virginia Company in London and sent letters, both before and after the
+dissolution of the company, to the governor and council in Virginia,
+and in all these letters trade played an important part. For example,
+the order of October 24, 1621, which forbade the colony to export
+tobacco and other commodities to foreign countries, declared that such
+a privilege as an open trade on the part of the colony was desirable
+"neither in policy nor for the honor of the state (that being but a
+colony derived from hence)," and that it could not be suffered "for that
+it may be a loss unto his Majesty in his customs, if not the hazarding
+of the trade which in future times is well hoped may be of much profit,
+use, and importance to the Commonalty."[1] Similarly the Council issued
+a license to Lord Baltimore to export provisions for the relief of his
+colony at Avalon,[2] ordered that the _Ark_ and the _Dove_, containing
+Calvert and the settlers of Maryland, be held back at Tilbury until the
+oaths of allegiance had been taken,[3] and instructed the governor and
+company of Virginia to give friendly assistance to Baltimore's
+undertaking.[4]
+
+Of the employment of committees or special commissions to inquire
+into questions either commercial or colonial there is no evidence
+before the year 1622. A few months after the dissolution of the third
+Stuart parliament, James I issued a proclamation for the encouragement
+of trade, and directed a special commission not composed of privy
+councillors to inquire into the decay of the clothing trade and to
+report to the Privy Council such remedial measures as seemed best
+adapted to increase the wealth and prosperity of the realm.[5] At the
+same time he caused a commission to be issued to the Lord Keeper, the
+Lord Treasurer, the Lord President of the Council and others "to collect
+and cause a true survey to be taken in writing of the names, qualities,
+professions, and places of habitation of such strangers as do reside
+within the realm of England and use any retailing trade or handicraft
+trade and do reform the abuses therein according to the statutes now in
+force."[6] The commissioners of trade duly met, during the years 1622
+and 1623, summoned persons to appear before them, and reported to the
+Council. Their report was afterward presented to the King sitting with
+the Council at Wansted, "was allowed and approved of, and commandment
+was given to enter it in the Register of Counsell causes and to remain
+as an act of Counsell by order of the Lord President."[7] There is
+evidence also to show that the commission issued orders on its own
+account, for in June, 1623, the Mayor and Aldermen of the city of London
+wrote two letters to the commission expressing their approval of its
+orders and sending petitions presented to them by citizens of London.[8]
+
+On April 15, 1625, less than three weeks after the death of James I,
+a warrant was issued by his successor for a commission of trade, the
+duties of which were of broader and more general character than were
+those of the previous body.[9] The first record of its meeting is dated
+January 18, 1626, but it is probable that then the commission had been
+for some time in existence, though the exact date when its commission
+was issued is not known. The text of both commission and instructions
+are among the Domestic Papers.[10] The board was to advance the
+exportations of home manufactures and to repress the "ungainful
+importation of foreign commodities." Looked upon as a subcommittee of
+the Privy Council, but having none of the privy councillors among its
+members, it was required to sit every week and to consider all questions
+that might be referred to it for examination and report. The fact that a
+complaint against the patent of Sir Ferdinando Gorges was referred to it
+shows that it was qualified to deal not only with questions of trade but
+also with plantation affairs.[11] At about the same time a committee of
+the Council was appointed to take into consideration a special question
+of trade and to make report to the Council. Neither of these bodies
+appears to have had more than a temporary existence, although the
+commission sat for some time and accomplished no inconsiderable amount
+of work.
+
+The first Privy Council committee of trade that had any claim to
+permanency was that appointed in March, 1630, consisting at first of
+thirteen members, the Lord Keeper, the Lord Treasurer, the Lord
+President, the Lord Privy Seal, Earl Marshall, the Lord Steward, Earl
+of Dorset, Earl of Holland, Earl of Carlisle, Lord Dorchester, the
+Vice-Chamberlain, Sir Henry Cottington and Mr. Secretary Coke. This
+committee was to meet on Friday mornings. The same committee, with the
+omission of one member, was appointed the next year to meet on Tuesdays
+in the afternoon. In 1634 the membership was reduced to nine, but in
+1636, 1638 and 1639, by the addition of the Lord Treasurer, the number
+was raised to ten, as follows: the Lord President, the Lord Treasurer,
+the Lord Keeper, the Lord Privy Seal, Earl Marshall, Earl of Dorset,
+Lord Cottington, Mr. Comptroller, Mr. Secretary Coke and Mr. Secretary
+Windebank. The meetings were again held on Fridays, though on special
+occasions the committee was warned to meet on other days by order of the
+Council, and on one occasion at least assembled at Hampton Court.[12]
+To this committee were referred all matters of trade which came to the
+attention of the Council during the ten years, from 1630 to 1640. Notes
+of its meetings between 1631 and 1637 were kept by Secretaries Coke and
+Windebank and show the extent and variety of its activities. Except for
+the garbling of tobacco it does not appear to have concerned itself
+with plantation affairs.[13] As the King was generally present at its
+meetings, it possessed executive as well as advisory powers, not only
+making reports to the Council, but also drafting regulations and issuing
+orders on its own account. Occasionally it appointed special committees
+to examine into certain trade difficulties, and on September 21, 1638,
+and again on February 3, 1639, we find notice of a separate board of
+commissioners for trade constituted under the great seal to inquire into
+the decay of the clothing industry. This board sat for two years and
+made an elaborate report to the Privy Council on June 9, 1640.[14]
+
+Though committees for trade, ordnance, foreign affairs, and Ireland
+had a more or less continuous existence during the period after 1630,
+no similar committee for plantations was created during this decade.
+Temporary commissions and committees of the Council had been, however,
+frequently appointed. In 1623 and 1624 several sets of commissioners for
+Virginia were named "to inquire into the true state of Virginia and the
+Somers Islands plantations," "to resolve upon the well settling of the
+colony of Virginia," "and to advise on a fit patent for the Virginia
+Company." In 1631 a commission of twenty-three persons, of whom four
+constituted a quorum, was created, partly from within and partly from
+without the Privy Council, "to advise upon some course for establishing
+the advancement of the plantations of Virginia."[15] Similar commissions
+were appointed to meet special exigencies in the careers of other
+plantations, Somers Islands, Caribbee Islands, etc. In 1632, we meet
+with a committee forming the first committee of the Council appointed
+for the plantations, quite distinct in functions and membership
+from the committee for trade and somewhat broader in scope than the
+commissions mentioned above. The circumstances of its appointment were
+these: In the year 1632 complaints began to come in to the Privy Council
+regarding the conduct of the colony of Massachusetts Bay. Thomas Morton
+and Philip Ratcliffe had been banished from that colony and sent back
+to England. Sir Christopher Gardiner, also, after a period of troubled
+relations with the authorities there, had taken ship for England. These
+men, acting in conjunction with Gorges and Mason, whose claims had
+already been before the Council, presented petitions embodying their
+grievances. On December 19, 1632, the Council listened to the reading
+of these petitions and to the presentation of a "relation" drawn up by
+Gardiner. After long debate "upon the whole carriage of the plantation
+of that country," it appointed a committee of twelve members, called the
+Committee on the New England Plantations, with the Archbishop of York at
+its head, "to examine how the patents for the said plantations have been
+granted." This committee had power to call "to their assistance such
+other persons as they shall think fit," "to examine the truth of the
+aforesaid information or any other information as shall be presented to
+them and shall make report thereof to this board and of the true state
+of the said plantations." The committee deliberated on the "New England
+Case," summoned many of the "principal adventurers in that plantation"
+before it, listened to the complainants, and reported favorably to the
+colony. The essential features of its report were embodied in an order
+in council, dated January 19, 1633.[16] This committee, still called the
+Committee for New England, was reappointed in December, 1633, with a
+slight change of membership, Laud, who had been made primate the August
+before, taking the place of the Archbishop of York as chairman. But this
+committee was soon overshadowed by the greater commission to come.[17]
+
+The first separate commission, though, in reality, a committee of the
+Privy Council, appointed to concern itself with all the plantations,
+was created by Charles I, April 28, 1634. It was officially styled
+the Commission for Foreign Plantations; one petitioner called it
+"the Lords Commissioners for Plantations in General," and another
+"the learned Commissioners appointed by the King to examine and rectify
+all complaints from the plantations." It is probable that the term
+"Committee of Foreign Plantations" was occasionally applied to it,
+as there is nothing to show that the committee of 1633 remained in
+existence after April, 1634.[18] Recommissioned, April 10, 1636, it
+continued to sit as an active body certainly as late as August, 1641,
+and possibly longer,[19] though there is no formal record of its
+discontinuance. Its original membership was as follows: William Laud,
+Archbishop of Canterbury; Richard Neile, Archbishop of York; Sir Thomas
+Coventry, the Lord Keeper; Earl of Portland, the Lord Treasurer, Earl
+of Manchester, the Lord Privy Seal, Earl of Arundel, the Earl Marshall,
+Earl of Dorset, Lord Cottington, Sir Thomas Edmondes, the Master
+Treasurer, Sir Henry Vane, the Master Comptroller, and the secretaries,
+Coke and Windebank. Later the Earl of Sterling was added.[20] Five
+constituted a quorum. The powers granted to the commission were
+extensive and almost royal in character: to make laws and orders for the
+government of the English colonies in foreign parts; to impose penalties
+and imprisonment for offenses in ecclesiastical matters; to remove
+governors and require an account of their government; to appoint judges
+and magistrates, and to establish courts, both civil and ecclesiastical;
+to hear and determine all manner of complaints from the colonies;
+to have power over all charters and patents, and to revoke those
+surreptitiously or unduly obtained. Such powers clearly show that the
+commission was designed as an instrument for enforcing the royal will
+in the colonies, and furnishes no precedent for the later councils and
+boards of trade and foreign plantations. Called into being probably
+because of the continued emigration of Puritans to New England, the
+complaints against the Massachusetts charter, and the growth of
+Independency in that colony, it was in origin a coercive, not an
+inquisitory, body, in the same class with the courts of Star Chamber and
+High Commission, and the Councils of Wales and the North. Unlike these
+bodies, it proved practically impotent, and there is nothing to show
+that it took any active part in the attempt to repeal the Massachusetts
+charter or in any important particular exercised the powers granted
+to it. It did not remove or appoint a governor, establish a court, or
+grant or revoke a charter. It received petitions either directly or
+from the Privy Council and made recommendations, but it never attempted
+to establish uniformity in New England or to bring the New England
+colonies more directly under the authority of the Crown. Whether it was
+the failure of the attempt to vacate the Massachusetts charter, or the
+poverty of the King, or the approach of civil war that prevented the
+enforcement of the royal policy, we cannot say, but the fact remains
+that the Laud commission played a comparatively inconspicuous part
+during the seven years of its existence and has gained a prominence in
+the history of our subject out of all proportion to its importance.
+
+More directly connected with the commercial and colonial interests of
+the realm were the subcommittees which the Privy Council used during
+these years and earlier as advisory and inquisitory bodies. In addition
+to committees of its own, the Privy Council called on various outside
+persons known to be familiar with the circumstances of a particular
+case or experts in the general subject involved, and entrusted to
+them the consideration of important matters that had been called to its
+attention. As we have already seen, such a subcommittee on trade had
+been appointed in 1625, and after 1630 we meet with many references to
+individuals or groups of experts. The attorney general was called upon
+to examine complaints regarding New England and Maryland in 1632 and
+1635; the Chancellor of London was requested to examine the parties in
+a controversy over a living in St. Christopher in 1637; many commercial
+questions were referred to special bodies of merchants or others holding
+official positions. In 1631 a complaint regarding interlopers in Canada
+was referred to a committee of three, Sir William Becher, clerk of the
+Council; Serj. (Wm.) Berkeley, afterward governor of Virginia, and
+Edward Nicholas, afterward clerk of the Council, and a new committee
+in which Sir William Alexander and Robert Charlton took the place of
+Becher and Nicholas was appointed in 1632.[21] Berkeley, Alexander,
+and Charlton were known as the Commissioners for the Gulf and River of
+Canada and parts adjacent, and were all directly interested in Canadian
+trade.[22] These committees received references from the Council,
+summoned witnesses and examined them, and made reports to the Council.
+Similarly, the dispute between Vassall and Kingswell was referred on
+March 10, 1635, to Edward Nicholas and Sir Abraham Dawes for examination
+and report, and because it was an intricate matter, consumed
+considerable time and required a second report.[23] Again a case
+regarding the Virginia tobacco trade was referred to the body known
+as the "Commissioners of Tobacco to the Lords of the Privy Council,"
+appointed as early as 1634 and itself a subcommittee having to do with
+tobacco licenses, customs, and trade. The members were Lord Goring,
+Sir Abraham Dawes, John Jacob, and Edmund Peisley. The first specific
+references to "subcommittees," _eo nomine_, are of date May 23, May 25,
+and June 27, 1638. The last named reference mentions the receipt by the
+Privy Council of a "certificate" or report from Sir John Wolstenholme
+and Sir Abraham Dawes "unto whom their lordships had formerly referred
+the hearing and examining of complaints by John Michael in the Laconia
+case."[24] As the earlier reference of May 23 had to do with the estate
+of Sir Thomas Gates and that of May 25 to a Virginia matter, it is
+evident that this particular subcommittee had been appointed some time
+before May 23, 1638, and that the only thing new about it was the
+term "subcommittee" as applied to such a body. This conjecture seems
+reasonable when we note that Wolstenholme and Dawes had already served
+on the commission for Virginia and were thoroughly conversant with
+plantation affairs, while Dawes was also a member of the tobacco
+commission and had served on the committee in the Kingswell-Vassall
+case. An examination of later "subcommittees" shows that many of the
+same men continued to be utilized by the Council in their capacity as
+experts. Lord Goring, John Jacob, Sir Abraham Dawes, with Sir William
+Becher and Edward Nicholas, clerks of the Council, and Edward Sandys,
+brother of Sir Edwin Sandys, and a councillor of Virginia under Governor
+Wyatt, formed the subcommittee to whom, on July 15, was referred the
+complaint of Samuel Mathews against Governor Harvey. When the same
+matter was referred again to a subcommittee on October 24, Sir Dudley
+Carleton, formerly one of the commissioners for Virginia, and Thomas
+Meautys, clerk of the Council, were substituted for Dawes and
+Nicholas.[25] These committees were instructed "to call the parties
+before them, to examine the matter, and find out the truth, and then
+to make certificate to their lordships of the true state of things and
+their opinion thereof."[26] Similar references continued to be made
+during the year 1639, on January 4, February 22, March 8,[27] June 12,
+16, July 17, 26, 28, August 28, and the evidence seems to show that the
+committee, though frequently changing its membership, was considered
+a body sitting regularly and continuously. The certificate of July 9,
+1638, in answer to the reference of June 16, was signed by Sir William
+Becher, Thomas Meautys, Sir Francis Wyatt, and Abraham Williams; that
+of July 23 by Becher, Dawes, Jacob, and Williams. After August 28 we
+hear no more of the subcommittee. Whether this is due to a failure of
+the Register to enter further references and certificates or to the
+actual cessation of its labors, we cannot say. The committee was always
+appointed by the Council, and always reported to that body. Frequently
+its certificates are entered at length in the Register.[28] The petition
+upon which it acted was sometimes sent directly to itself, frequently
+to the Privy Council, which referred it to the subcommittee, and but
+rarely to the Commissioners for Foreign Plantations.[29] The committee
+was limited in its scope to no one colony. It reported on matters in
+England, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Somers Islands, and Virginia.
+It dealt with secular business and ecclesiastical questions, and on one
+occasion at least was required to examine and approve the instructions
+issued to a colonial governor.[30] It does not appear ever to have acted
+except by order of the Privy Council, and was never in any sense of
+the word a subcommittee of the Commissioners of Foreign Plantations,
+although in reporting to the Council it was reporting to those who
+composed that commission.[31]
+
+From 1640 to 1642 plantation business was managed by the Privy Council
+with the aid of occasional committees of its own appointed to consider
+special questions. The term "subcommittee," as we have seen, does not
+appear to have been used after 1639,[32] but commissions authorizing
+experts to make inquiry and report are referred to, and committees
+of the Council took into consideration questions of trade and the
+plantations. During the year from July 5, 1642, to June, 1643, no
+measures relating to the colonies appear to have been taken, for
+civil war was in full swing. In 1643, Parliament assumed to itself
+the functions of King and Council and became the executive head of the
+kingdom. Among the earliest acts was the appointment of a parliamentary
+commission of eighteen members, November 24, 1643, authorized to control
+plantation affairs. At its head was Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick,
+and among its members were Philip, Earl of Pembroke, Edward, Earl of
+Manchester, William, Viscount Say and Seale, Philip, Lord Wharton, and
+such well known Puritan commoners as Sir Arthur Haslerigg, John Pym, Sir
+Harry Vane, Junior, Oliver Cromwell, Samuel Vassall, and others. Four
+members constituted a quorum. The powers granted to this commission were
+extensive, though as far as phraseology goes, less complete than those
+granted to the commission of 1634. The commissioners were to have "power
+and authority to provide for, order, and dispose all things which they
+shall from time to time find most fit and advantageous to the well
+governing, securing, and strengthening, and preserving" of "all those
+islands and other plantations, inhabited, planted, or belonging to any
+of his Majesty's the King of England's subjects." They were authorized
+to call to their assistance any inhabitants of the plantations or owners
+of land in America who might be within twenty miles of their place of
+meeting; to make use of all records, books, and papers which concerned
+any of the colonies; to appoint governors and officers for governing
+the plantations; to remove any of the officials so appointed and to put
+others in their places; and, when they deemed fit, to assign as much of
+their authority and power to such persons as they should deem suitable
+for better governing and preserving of the plantations from open
+violence and private disturbance and destruction.
+
+In the exercise of these powers the commissioners never embraced the
+full opportunity offered to them by their charter. They did appoint
+one governor, Sir Thomas Warner, governor of the Caribbee Islands.
+They granted to the inhabitants of Providence, Portsmouth, and Newport
+a patent of incorporation and conferred upon the patentees authority
+"to rule themselves by such form of civil government as by voluntary
+consent of all or the greater part of them they should find most
+suitable to their estate or condition.[33] They also endeavored to make
+a grant of the Narragansett country to Massachusetts, at the special
+request of Massachusetts' agents in 1643, but failed, partly because
+they had no certain authority to grant land and partly because the
+only clause of their commission which seemed to give such authority
+required the consent of a majority, and the agents could obtain but nine
+signatures to the grant. Even these activities on the part of the board
+lasted but little over a year, and after 1644 the commissioners played a
+more or less passive role. They continued to sit but their only recorded
+interest in colonial affairs concerned New England. From 1645 to 1648
+they became involved in the controversy over the Narragansett country,
+and in the attempt of Massachusetts to thwart her enemies, the
+Gortonists and the Presbyterians.[34] Whether the commission continued
+to sit after the execution of the King is uncertain; there are no
+further references to its existence. That many of its members remained
+influential in colonial affairs is evident from the fact that at least
+seven of the commissioners became members of the Council of State,
+appointed February 13, 1649: Philip, Earl of Pembroke (died 1650); Sir
+Arthur Haslerigg, Sir Harry Vane, the younger; Oliver Cromwell, Dennis
+Bond, Miles Corbet, and Cornelius Holland. Haslerigg was a conspicuous
+leader in colonial as well as other matters during the entire period of
+the Commonwealth and the Protectorate; Vane became president of the new
+board of trade created in August, 1650, was at the head of the Committee
+of the Admiralty, which often had colonial matters referred to it, and
+served frequently on plantation committees from 1649 to 1659; while
+Bond, Corbet, and Holland, though never very active, were members of
+one general and a few special committees that concerned themselves with
+trade and plantations. Thus the spirit of the Independent wing of the
+old commission continued to influence the policy of the government
+in the early years of the Commonwealth period. The Council of State,
+appointed by act of the Rump Parliament, was given full authority to
+provide for England's trade at home and abroad and to regulate the
+affairs of the plantations. Though its membership underwent yearly
+changes and its composition and members were altered many times before
+1660, its policy and machinery of control remained constant except as
+far as they were affected by the greater power which the Council gained
+in the face of the growing weakness of Parliament.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Footnote 1: Privy Council Register, James I, Vol. V, p. 173; repeated
+p. 618.]
+
+[Footnote 2: P.C.R., Charles I. Vol. V, p. 106.]
+
+[Footnote 3: P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. IX, p. 291.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Cal. State Papers, Colonial, 1574-1660, p. 170, Sec. 78.]
+
+[Footnote 5: Rymer, Foedera XVII. pp. 410-414.]
+
+[Footnote 6: Public Record Office, Chancery, Crown Dockets, 4, p. 280,
+June 26, 1622.]
+
+[Footnote 7: P.C.R., James I, Vol. VI, pp. 333, 365-368, July, 1624.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Analytical Index to the Series of Records known as
+Remembrancia preserved among the Archives of the City of London,
+1579-1644, p. 526.]
+
+[Footnote 9: Cal. State Papers, Domestic, 1625-1649, pp. 4, 84.]
+
+[Footnote 10: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1625-1649, pp. 225, 522, Sec.Sec. 19,
+20, p. 495.]
+
+[Footnote 11: P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. II, Pt. I, p. 68.]
+
+[Footnote 12: P.C.R., Charles I, Vols. V, p. 10; VI, p. 7; X., p. 3;
+XII, p. 1; XV, p. 1.]
+
+[Footnote 13: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1629-1631, p. 526; 1634-1635,
+pp. 453, 472, 513, 584; 1635, pp. 30, 515, 548, 598; 1635-1636,
+pp. 44, 231; 1636-1637, p. 402; 1637, pp. 47; 1637-1638, p. 410.
+The secretaries' notes will be found as follows: Coke, 1629-1631, pp.
+526, 535; Windebank, 1634-1635, pp. 500, 513; 1635, pp. 11-12, 29, 502,
+536; 1635-1636, pp. 291-292, 428-429, 551-552; 1636-1637, pp. 402; 1637,
+p. 47.]
+
+[Footnote 14: Historical MSS. Commission, Report XV. Manuscripts of the
+Duke of Portland, VIII, pp. 2-3.]
+
+[Footnote 15: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574-1660, pp. 44, 62, 63, 64,
+130; Virginia Magazine, VIII, pp. 29, 33-46, 149.]
+
+[Footnote 16: Bradford, pp. 352-355; P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. VIII, pp.
+346-347; Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574-1660, p. 158.]
+
+[Footnote 17: P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. IX, p. 1. The order in Council
+of July 3, 1633, regarding Virginia and Lord Baltimore, is headed "Lords
+Commissioners for Foreign Plantations." It is evident, however, that
+this body is not a separate board of commissioners but the Privy Council
+sitting as a committee of the whole for plantations. The membership does
+not agree with that of the committee of 1632, that committee did not sit
+in the Star Chamber, and such a committee could not issue an order which
+the Privy Council alone could send out. There was no separate commission
+of this kind in July, 1633, as Tyler, England in America, pp. 122-123
+(Amer. Nation Series, IV) seems to think.]
+
+[Footnote 18: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574-1660, pp. 184, 200, 251,
+259.]
+
+[Footnote 19: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1675-1676, Sec. 193.]
+
+[Footnote 20: P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. X, p. 1; XII, p. 1; XV, p. 1; Cal.
+State Papers, Col., 1574-1660, pp. 177, 232.]
+
+[Footnote 21: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574-1660, pp. 9, 140, 151, 158,
+211, 258.]
+
+[Footnote 22: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574-1600, p. 129.]
+
+[Footnote 23: Cal. State Papers, Col., pp. 197-198, 207.]
+
+[Footnote 24: P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. XV, p. 300.]
+
+[Footnote 25: Virginia Magazine, X, p. 428; XI, p. 46.]
+
+[Footnote 26: P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. XV, p. 508.]
+
+[Footnote 27: "Att Whitehall, 8th of March, 1638(9)
+
+Their Lordships do pray and require the subcommittee for foreign
+plantations to consider of this petition at their next meeting and to
+make report to their Lordships of their opinion concerning the same.
+
+Will. Becher."]
+
+[Footnote 28: P.C.R., Charles I, Vols. XV, p. 343; XVI, pp. 542-543.]
+
+[Footnote 29: P.C.R., Charles I, Vol. XVI, p. 558; Cal. State Papers,
+Col., 1574-1660, p. 301.]
+
+[Footnote 30: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1675-1676, Sec. 190.]
+
+[Footnote 31: The commissioners frequently formed a majority of those
+present at a Privy Council meeting. For example, in 1638, the Council
+wrote a letter to the governor of Virgina. This letter was signed by
+eleven councillors, of whom eight were members of the Commission.
+It is sometimes difficult to distinguish the different capacities in
+which Archbishop Laud acted. A series of minutes drawn up by him in 1638
+of the subjects upon which he had prepared reports to the King notes
+the following: concerning the six plantations, grants of offices in
+reversion, new patent offices and monopolies, the execution of the
+King's former directions, and trade and commerce. In making these
+reports Archbishop Laud acted as president of the Council, president
+of the Commission for Foreign Plantations, president of the committee
+for Foreign Affairs, High Commission Court, etc.]
+
+[Footnote 32: The term "subcommittee" is used by petitioners as late
+as August, 1640 (Cal. Col., 1574-1660, p. 314), but no references and
+reports of so late a date are to be found in the Calendar or the
+Register.]
+
+[Footnote 33: This is, of course, the well-known Williams patent of
+1644. Rhode Island, Colonial Records, I, pp. 143-146.]
+
+[Footnote 34: Osgood, The Colonies in the Seventeenth Century, III,
+pp. 110-112.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+Control of Trade and Plantations During the Interregnum.
+
+
+The earliest separate council to be established during the period from
+1650 to 1660 was that appointed by act of Parliament, August, 1650,
+known as the Commission or Council of Trade, of which Sir Harry Vane
+was president and Benjamin Worsley, a London merchant and "doctor of
+physic," already becoming known as an expert on plantation affairs,
+was secretary. This body was specially instructed by Parliament to
+consider, not only domestic and foreign trade, the trading companies,
+manufactures, free ports, customs, excise, statistics, coinage and
+exchange, and fisheries, but also the plantations and the best means
+of promoting their welfare and rendering them useful to England.
+"They are to take into their consideration," so runs article 12 of the
+instructions, "the English plantations in America or elsewhere, and
+to advise how these plantations may best be managed and made most
+useful for the Commonwealth, and how the commodities thereof may be so
+multiplied and improved as (if it be possible) those plantations alone
+may supply the Commonwealth of England with whatsoever it necessarily
+wants." These statesmanlike and comprehensive instructions are notable
+in the history of the development of England's commercial and colonial
+program. Free from the limitations which characterize the instructions
+given to the earlier commissions, they stand with the Parliamentary
+ordinance of October, 1650, and the Navigation Act of 1651, as forming
+the first definite expression of England's commercial policy. Inadequate
+though the immediate results were to be, we cannot call that policy
+"drifting" which could shape with so much intelligence the functions
+of a board of trade and plantations. There is no trace here of the
+coercive and politico-ecclesiastical purpose of the Laud Commission, or
+of the partisan policy in the interests of the Puritans that the Warwick
+Commission was instructed to carry out. Here we have the first attempt
+to establish a legitimate control of commercial and colonial affairs,
+and to these instructions may be traced the beginnings of a policy which
+had the prosperity and wealth of England exclusively at heart.
+
+Of the history of this board but little has been hitherto known and
+its importance has been singularly neglected. It was more than a merely
+advisory body, like the later councils and boards of trade, for it had
+the power to issue orders of its own. It sat in Whitehall, received
+information, papers,[1] and orders from the Council of State, and
+reported to that higher authority, which approved or disapproved of
+its recommendations. To it the Council instructed traders and others
+to refer their petitions, and itself referred numbers of similar papers
+that came into its hands.[2] This board took into consideration the
+various questions touched upon in its instructions, especially those
+concerning fisheries (Greenland), manufactures, navigation, commerce,
+trade (with Guinea, Spain, Canary Islands, etc.), the poor, the trading
+companies (especially the East India and Guinea companies), the merchant
+companies (chiefly of London), and freedom of trade. During the first
+year of its existence it was an active body and could say on November
+20, 1651, that it had made seven reports to the Council of State and
+seven to Parliament, that it had its opinions on six subjects ready
+to be reported, and eight other questions under debate.[3] In two
+particulars a fuller consideration of its work is desirable.
+
+The Council of Trade devoted a considerable amount of time to regulating
+the buying and selling of wool, and to settling the difficulties that
+had arisen among the curriers, fellmongers, staplers, and clothiers
+of London and elsewhere regarding their trade privileges. Late in the
+spring of 1651 petitions and statements of grievance had been sent
+both to the Council of Trade and to the Common Council of London by
+the "freemen of the city trading in wool," for redress of grievances
+practiced by the Society of Staplers. Shortly afterward, May 13,
+apparently in answer to the complaint of the freemen of London, the
+fellmongers of Coventry petitioned the Council of Trade, begging that
+body not to interfere with its ancient privileges. Taking the matter
+into consideration, the Council, on May 14, issued an order requiring
+the companies to present their expedients and grievances, and appointed
+a committee of two expert wool staplers, members of the Staplers
+Company, to meet with the other companies and draft a certificate of
+their proper and ancient rights. The Common Council, on the same day,
+ordered its committee of trade, or any five of them, to attend the
+Council of Trade and assist the "Company of Upholders," the committee
+presenting the original complaint, in its attempt to obtain a redress
+of grievances according to the plan already placed before the Common
+Council. These efforts were not very successful, for the wool growers
+refused to meet the committee of staplers appointed by the Council of
+Trade, and the fellmongers and clothiers could not reach an agreement
+with the staplers as to the latter's ancient privileges. Consequently,
+the Council of Trade, on June 11, issued a second order requiring the
+committee of trade of the Common Council to report on "the foundation
+and nature of the Staple and the privileges pretended to by that
+Society." This committee "heard certain of the principal staplers and
+perused the acts and records produced by them in defence of the same,"
+and reported to the Council of Trade on June 26 that, in its opinion,
+the Company of Staplers had become an unnecessary and useless Society,
+and were the principal cause for the dearness of wool, the badness of
+cloth, and the general decay of the woolen trade.[4]
+
+The trouble seems to have been that the fellmongers and staplers
+were deemed useless middlemen between the growers and the clothiers,
+and injurious to the clothing industry because of their abuses. The
+controversy was carried before the Council of State and its committees,
+and both fellmongers and staplers argued long and forcibly in defence
+of their trade.[5] On November 3, 1652, the two societies presented an
+answer to the particular order of the Council of Trade which declared
+them unnecessary and disadvantageous, denied the charges, and prayed
+that they might enjoy their trade as before. Even as late as April 16,
+1653, the fellmongers petitioned for leave to produce wool-growers and
+clothiers to certify the necessity of their trade.[6] But fellmongers
+and staplers as factors in English trade and industry were beginning
+to pass away by the middle of the seventeenth century.
+
+The second important question that came before the Council was no less
+significant in its relation to the growth of British trade than was the
+decay of the Societies of Fellmongers and Staplers. It concerned the
+breaking down of the privileges of the merchant companies in general,
+and the establishment of free ports and free trade in England--that is,
+free trade controlled and ordered by the state. To this end, the Council
+appointed a committee of eleven merchants to whom it gave elaborate
+directions to report on the feasibility of setting apart four free ports
+to which foreign commodities might be imported without paying customs
+dues if again exported. These merchants met and drew up a report dated
+April 26, 1651, and again on May 26 of the same year expressed further
+opinions on the advisability of the "opening of free ports for trade."
+"Trade being the basis and well-being of a Commonwealth, the way to
+obtain it is to make it a free trade and not to bind up ingenious
+spirits by exemptions and privileges which are granted to some
+particular companies." In addition to the home merchants, the Council
+of Trade presented its queries to the merchant strangers and to the
+Committee for the Affairs of Trinity House, all of whom returned
+answers. It also made public its desire to consider the appointment of
+"convenient ports for the free trade in the Commonwealth," and as early
+as May 22 a number of the out-ports, Dover, Plymouth, the Isle of Wight,
+Barnstaple, Bideford, Appledore, and Southampton petitioned that they be
+recognized as free landing places. The period was one of rivalry between
+London and the out-ports, and the latter believed that the various acts
+of 1650 and 1651 were in the interest of the London merchants only.
+"Yet thus much that act seems to have on it only a London stamp and
+a contentment to subject the whole nation to them, for most of the
+out-ports are not capable of the foreign trade to Indies and Turkey. The
+Londoners having the sole trade do set what price they please upon their
+commodities, knowing the country cannot have them nowhere but by them,
+whereby not only the out-ports are undone but the country brought to the
+devotion of the city. But a great abuse is here, for the city are not
+contented with this act but only so far as it serves their own turns,
+for they procure (upon some pretexts or other) particular licenses for
+many prohibited commodities contrary to that act, as namely for the
+importation of French wines and free both of custom and excise tax,
+and for the importation of whale oil and skins so as either directly or
+indirectly they will have the whole trade themselves."[7] Evidently the
+Council of Trade favored the establishment of a freer trade as against
+the monopoly of the merchant companies, believing, it may be, that
+London did monopolize trade and that it was "no good state of a body
+to have a fat head and lean members." The city authorities, apparently
+alarmed at the favorable action of the Council, took immediate action.
+On June 19, 1651, the Court of Aldermen instructed Alderman Fowke, one
+of its most influential members, in case the Council of Trade came to
+an agreement favorable to free trade, to move for a reconsideration in
+order that London might have a hearing before the matter was finally
+settled.[8] But the hearing, if had, could not have been successful in
+altering the determination of the Council, for a few months later, on
+December 5, 1651, the Common Council of London, probably convinced that
+the Council of Trade was in earnest in its policy and alarmed at the
+prospect of losing its trading privileges, ordered its committee of
+trade to prepare a petition to Parliament, the Council of State, or the
+Council of Trade, asking that London be made a free port. The petition
+was duly drawn up and approved by the Common Council, which ordered its
+committee "to maintain" it before the Council of Trade.[9] Evidently the
+matter went no further. The Council of Trade continued its sittings and
+debated and reported on a number of petitions "complaining of abuses and
+deceits" in trade, but after 1652 it plays but an inconspicuous part.
+Even before that date many questions before it were taken over by the
+Council of State and referred to its own committees. Fellmongers and
+staplers defended their cause before the higher body and the free trade
+difficulty continued to be agitated, at least as far as concerned the
+Turkey trade and the Greenland fishing, by the Council committee after
+it had passed out of the hands of the lesser body.[10] The period was
+one of transition from a monopolized to an open trade, and consequently
+to many trade everywhere appeared to be in decay. Remedies were sought
+through the intervention of the state and the passing of laws, but the
+early period of the Commonwealth was not favorable to a successful
+carrying out of so promising an experiment. On October 3, 1653, trade
+was reported from Holland as "somewhat dead" and the Council of Trade,
+which the Dutch at first feared might be "very prejudicial" to their
+state, was declared "only nominal," so that the Dutch hoped that in time
+those of London would "forget that they ever were merchants." In fact,
+however, the Council of Trade had come to an end more than four months
+before this report was made.
+
+That the Council of Trade, notwithstanding its carefully worded
+instructions, had no part in looking after the affairs of the colonies
+is probably due to the activity of the Council of State, which itself
+exercised the functions of a board of trade and plantations. According
+to article 5 of the Act of February 13, 1649, appointing a Council
+of State, it was to use all good ways and means for the securing,
+advancement, and encouragement of the trade of England and Ireland
+and the dominions to them belonging, and to promote the good of all
+foreign plantations and factories belonging to the Commonwealth.
+It was also empowered "to appoint committees of any person or persons
+for examinations, receiving of informations, and preparing of business
+for [its] debates or resolutions." The members chosen February 14, 1649,
+were forty-one in number and were to hold office for one year.[11]
+February 12, 1650, a second council was elected, of which twenty were
+new members and the remaining twenty-one taken over from the former
+body.[12] On November 24, 1651, a third council was chosen under the
+same conditions.[13] The same was true of the fourth council of
+November 24, 1652.[14] Many of the "new" members were generally old
+members dropped for a year or more. On July 9 and 14, 1653, the number
+of members was reduced to thirty-one, and this council was designed to
+last only until the following November.[15] Two councils, the fifth
+and sixth were, therefore, elected in the same year, each composed of
+fifteen old and fifteen new members. The sixth council, elected November
+1, 1653, was chosen for six months, but after six weeks was supplanted
+by the body known as the Protector's Council, elected December 16,
+1653, under the provisions of the _Instrument of Government_.[16]
+This council was to consist of not more than twenty-one nor less than
+thirteen members, and according to the method of election provided for
+in that instrument, was practically controlled by Cromwell himself. The
+membership varied from time to time, rarely numbering more than sixteen,
+with an average attendance of about ten. Cromwell was frequently absent
+from its meetings, but the council, though designed constitutionally to
+be a check upon his powers, was in reality his ally and answerable to
+him alone, particularly after the dissolution of Parliament in January,
+1655. The council provided for in _The Humble Petition and Advice_ was
+but a continuation of the Protector's Council, so that from December,
+1653, until May, 1659, the Protector's Council, representing Cromwell
+policy and interest, continued to exist. After the abdication of Richard
+Cromwell and the restoration of the Rump Parliament, the Protector's
+Council came to an end, and a new council, the eighth, was chosen on May
+13, 14, 15, 1659.[17] This body contained ten members not of Parliament
+and lasted until December 31, when a new Council of State was chosen
+for three months; but on February 21 the council was suspended, and two
+days afterward the tenth and last council was chosen.[18] On May 21,
+1660, this council was declared "not in being," and formally came to
+an end on May 27, when Charles II, who had had his Privy Council more
+or less continuously since 1649, named at Canterbury Monck, Southampton,
+Morrice, and Ashley as privy councillors. The first meeting at Whitehall
+was held May 31.[19]
+
+The Council of State itself acted as a board of trade and plantations
+and directly transacted a large amount of business in the interest of
+manufactures, trade, commerce, and the colonies. It initiated important
+measures, received petitions, remonstrances, and complaints, either at
+first hand or through Parliament, from which it also received special
+orders, entered into debate upon all questions arising therefrom,
+summoned before it any one who might be able to furnish information
+or to offer advice, and then drew up its reply, embodied in an order
+despatched to government officials, private individuals, adventurers,
+merchant and trading companies, colonial governments in particular
+or in general. For example, it ordered letters to be written to the
+plantations, giving them notice of the change of government in 1649,
+sending them papers necessary for their information, and requiring them
+to be obedient if they expected the protection which the Republic was
+prepared to extend to them. Until March 2, 1650, it does not appear to
+have organized itself especially for this purpose, but on that date it
+authorized the whole council, or any five members, to sit as a special
+committee for trade and plantations, and on February 18 and December 2,
+1651, repeated the same order.[20] During the early part of this period
+it depended to a considerable extent on committees, either of merchants
+and others outside the council, men already engaged in trade with the
+plantations, such as Worsley, Maurice Thompson (afterward governor of
+the East India Company), Lenoyre, Allen, Martin Noell, and others,
+or of councillors forming committees of trade (sitting in the Horse
+Chamber in Whitehall), of plantations, of the admiralty, of the navy,
+of examinations, of Scottish and Irish affairs, and of prisoners, to
+whom many questions were referred and upon whose reports the Council
+acted. It also appointed special committees to take into consideration
+particular questions relating to individual plantations, Barbadoes,
+Somers Islands, Bermudas, New England, Newfoundland, Virginia. Of all
+these committees none appears to have been more active, as far as the
+plantations were concerned, than the Committee of the Admiralty, before
+whom came a large amount of colonial business, which was transacted
+with the cooeperation of Dr. Walker, of Doctors Commons, advocate for
+the Republic, and David Budd, the proctor of the Court of Admiralty.
+
+An important departure was introduced on December 17, 1651, when a
+standing committee of the Council was created, consisting of fifteen
+members, to concern itself with trade and foreign affairs. This
+committee took the place of that which had formerly sat in the Horse
+Chamber in Whitehall, and renewed consideration of all questions which
+had been referred to that body. It was organized, as were all the
+Council committees, with its own clerk, doorkeeper, and messenger, and
+as recommissioned on May 4, 1652, and again on December 2, 1652, when
+the membership was raised to twenty-one and the plantations were brought
+within the scope of its business, became a very independent and active
+body until its demise in April, 1653. Its members were Cromwell, Lords
+Whitelocke, Bradshaw, and Lisle, Sir Arthur Haslerigg, Sir Harry Vane,
+Sir William Masham, Sir Gilbert Pickering, Colonels Walton, Purefoy,
+Morley, Sidney, and Thomson, Major Lister, Messrs. Bond, Scott, Love,
+Challoner, Strickland, Gurdon, and Alleyn.[21] This committee, to which
+new members were frequently added, sat in the Horse Chamber at Whitehall
+and took cognizance of a great variety of commercial and colonial
+business. It considered the question of free trade versus monopolies
+and during the summer of 1652, after the Council of Trade had fallen
+into disfavor, debated at length the desirability of opening the Turkey
+trade as freely to adventurers as was that of Portugal and Spain. It
+listened to a number of forcible papers presented in the interest of
+free trade in opposition to trade in the hands of companies; it dealt
+with the operation of the Navigation Act of 1651 and rendered decisions
+regarding penalties, exemptions, licenses, and the disposal of prizes
+and prize goods; it devoted a large amount of time to plantation
+business; and, for the time being, probably supplanted consideration
+of these matters by the Council of State, and rendered unnecessary the
+appointment of any other committee on colonial affairs. Except for the
+Admiralty Committee and one or two other committees to which special
+matters were referred, as concerning Newfoundland, there appears to
+have been no other subordinate body actually in charge of affairs in
+America between December 17, 1651, and April 15, 1653. The period was
+an important and critical one, and the committee must have had before
+it business connected with nearly every one of the colonies in America.
+The Council of State referred to it petitions, etc., from and relating
+to Massachusetts, Plymouth, New Haven, Rhode Island, Newfoundland,
+Maryland and Virginia, Barbadoes, Nevis, Providence Island, and the
+Caribbee Islands in general. It dealt with the proposed attack on
+the Dutch at New Amsterdam, losses of merchant ships, privateer's
+commissions and letters of marque; the Greenland and Newfoundland
+fisheries, naval stores, and land disputes. It drafted bills and
+governors' commissions, considered vacancies in the colonies, and
+received applications for office, and, in one case, promoted the
+founding of a plantation in South America.[22] This business was
+performed to a considerable extent through subcommittees, many of
+which met in the little Horse Chamber and acted in all particulars as
+regular committees. On one occasion, the entire committee was appointed
+a subcommittee, and very frequently the committee met for no other
+purpose than to hear the report of a subcommittee. These subcommittees,
+which were generally composed of councillors, referred matters to
+outside persons, merchants, judges, and doctors of civil law, while
+the committee itself called before it merchants, officials, members
+of other committees, and indeed any one from whom information might
+be extracted. The main work was performed by the subcommittees, their
+reports were reviewed by the committee itself, and, if approved, were
+sent to the Council of State, which based upon them recommendations to
+Parliament.[23] After April 15, 1653, we hear no more of this committee.
+There is some reason to think that the duties entrusted to it were
+deemed too extensive and a division between trade, plantations, and
+foreign affairs was planned, but no definite record of such a separation
+of functions is to be found. A Council Committee of Foreign Affairs was
+appointed, probably before June, 1653, reappointed on July 27, and again
+reappointed August 16, but no committees of trade and of plantations
+appear. Very likely the Council of State, with the assistance of the
+committees on Scottish and Irish affairs, admiralty, navy, and customs,
+and a few special committees and commissioners, assumed control of
+plantation affairs. The interests of industry and trade may have been
+looked after by the Committee on Trade and Corporations appointed by the
+Barebones Parliament, July 20, 1653, "to meet at Whitehall in the place
+where the Council of Trade did sit."[24] Several times during the year
+this committee proposed the establishment of a separate council of trade
+to take the place of the former Council, to which proposition Parliament
+agreed, but nothing was done, and the Parliamentary Committee of Trade
+and Corporations seems to have been the only official body that existed
+during the year 1653 for the advancement of trade and industry.[25]
+
+On December 29, 1653, the Protector's Council made known its purpose
+of taking "all care to protect and encourage navigation and trade,"
+and in March, 1654, we meet with a reference to a committee of the
+Council appointed for trade and corporations. As this body was organized
+for continuous sitting, with a clerk, doorkeeper, and messenger, and
+as a second reference to it appears under date August 21, 1654, the
+probabilities are in favor of its existence as a regular committee
+during the year 1654.[26] That it was an important committee is
+doubtful, for we meet with practically no references to its work, and
+when in January, 1655, the project of a select trade committee was
+brought forward it was referred for consideration and report, not to
+this committee, but to Desborough of the Council and the Admiralty
+Committee.
+
+The events of the years 1654 and 1655 mark something of an era in the
+history of trade and commerce, not because the capture of Jamaica had
+any very conspicuous effect upon Cromwell's own policy or upon the
+commercial activities of the higher authorities, but because it opened
+a larger world and larger opportunities to the merchants and traders of
+London who were at this time seeking openings for trading ventures in
+all parts of the world. To better their fortunes many men accompanied
+the expedition under Penn and Venables, and the merchants at home were
+seized with something of the spirit of the Elizabethans in planning,
+not only to increase commerce and swell their own fortunes, but also
+to drive the Spaniard from the southwestern waters of the Atlantic
+and extend British control and British trade into regions heretofore
+wholly in the hands of Spain. Barbadoes, Jamaica, Florida, Virginia,
+New England, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland became a world of great
+opportunities, and with plans for the expansion of trade went plans for
+naval and military activity. If the merchants of the period had had
+their way, a systematic and orderly policy of colonial control in the
+interest of British power and profit would have been inaugurated during
+the second period of the Interregnum, but circumstances do not appear
+to have been propitious, and the disturbed political order during the
+years 1658 and 1659 led not only to a cessation of activity as far
+as the government was concerned but also to decay of trade, shrinking
+of profits, decrease of fortunes, and widespread discouragement.
+Furthermore, there is nothing to show that Cromwell himself ever rose
+to a statesmanlike conception of colonial control and administration.
+He was thoroughly interested in those matters, was personally influenced
+by the London merchants, frequently called on the most conspicuous of
+them for advice, placed them on committees and councils established for
+purposes of trade, and was always open to their suggestions. But while
+he was willing to act upon their opinions and recommendations in many
+respects, he never seems to have grasped the essentials of a large
+and comprehensive plan of colonial control, and it is not possible
+to discover in what he actually accomplished any broadminded idea of
+uniting the colonies under an efficient management for the purpose of
+laying the foundations of an empire. His expedients, interesting and
+practical as many of them were, do not seem to be a part of any large or
+well-formed plan. Whether he would ever have risen to a higher level of
+statesmanship in these respects we cannot say, but he never found time
+to give proper attention to the suggestions of the merchants or to the
+demands of trade and commerce.
+
+That he took a great interest in the industrial and commercial
+development of England is evident from one of his earliest efforts to
+provide for its proper control. Even while the fleet was on its way
+to the West Indies, the Council of State instructed Desborough and
+the Admiralty Committee, January 29, 1655, to consider "of some fit
+merchants to be a trade committee." There is some reason to think
+that this instruction was in response to a paper drawn up by certain
+merchants of London in 1654, entitled, "An Essaie or Overture for the
+regulating the Affairs of his Highness in the West Indies," drafted
+after the expedition had sailed and with the confident expectation of
+conquest in mind.[27] If the original suggestion did not come from the
+merchants, we may not doubt that in the promotion of the plan they
+exercised considerable influence. In 1655, Martin Noell and Thomas Povey
+sent a petition to the Protector regarding trade, and suggested that
+there be appointed "some able persons to consider what more may be done
+in order to those affairs and a general satisfaction for the fixing the
+whole trade of England." They wished that a competent number of persons,
+of good reputation, prudent and well skilled in their professions and
+qualifications should be "selected and set apart" for the "care of his
+Highness Affairs in the West Indies." The number was to be not less than
+seven, and these not to be "of the same but of a mixt qualification,"
+constituting a select council subordinate only to the Protector and the
+Council. After careful attention to the fitness of a large number of
+prominent individuals, a committee of twenty was named on July 12, 1655.
+If the "Overture" was responsible for the decision to name a select
+council, its influence went no further, for except that merchants were
+placed as members, there is no likeness between the plan as finally
+worked out and that formulated by the merchants. Indeed, Povey himself
+later expressed his dissatisfaction in saying that "that committee which
+[we] so earnestly prest should be settled will not tend in any degree
+to what we proposed, the constitution of it being not proportionable
+to what was desired."[28] The committee of twenty was soon expanded into
+a much larger and more imposing body, possibly due to the receipt of the
+news of the capture of Jamaica and the decision announced in Cromwell's
+proclamation of August to hold the island. On November 11, 1655,[29]
+a board, made up of officers of state, gentlemen, and merchants, was
+commissioned a "Committee and Standing Council for the advancing and
+regulating the Trade and Navigation of the Commonwealth," generally
+shortened to "Trade and Navigation Committee," or simply "Trade
+Committee." Its membership, instead of being seven, was over seventy,
+and it was thus a dignified though unwieldy body. At its head was
+Richard Cromwell and its members were as follows: Montague, Sydenham,
+Wolseley, Pickering, and Jones of the Protector's Council; Lord Chief
+Justice St. John and Justices Glynn, Steele, and Hale; Sir Henry Blount,
+Sir John Hobart, Sir Gilbert Gerard, gentlemen of distinction; Sir
+Bulstrode Whitelocke and Sir Thomas Widdrington, sergeants-at-law; Col.
+John Fiennes and John Lisle, commissioners of the Great Seal; the four
+Treasury Commissioners; Col. Richard Norton, governor of Portsmouth;
+Capt. Hatsell, navy commissioner of Plymouth; Stone and Foxcroft, excise
+commissioners; Martin Noell, London merchant and farmer of the customs;
+Upton, customs commissioner; Bond, Wright, Thompson, Ashurst, Peirpont,
+Crew, and Berry, London merchants; and Tichborne, Grove, Pack (Lord
+Mayor), and Riccards, aldermen of London; Bonner, of Newcastle; Dunne,
+of Yarmouth; Cullen, of Dover; Jackson, of Bristol; Toll, of Lyme;
+Legay, of Southampton; Snow, of Exeter; and Drake, of Sussex. At various
+times, and probably for various purposes, the following members were
+added between December 12, 1655, and June 19,1656: Secretary Thurloe,
+William Wheeler, Edmund Waller, Francis Dincke, of Hull; George Downing,
+at that time major general and scoutmaster; Alderman Ireton, of London;
+Col. William Purefoy; Godfrey Boseville; Edward Laurence; John St.
+Barbe, of Hampshire, [Lord] John Claypoole, Master of the Horse, and
+Cromwell's son-in-law; John Barnard; Sir John Reynolds; Col. Arthur
+Hill; George Berkeley; Capt. Thomas Whitegreane; Thomas Ford, of Exeter;
+Francis St. John; Henry Wright; Col. John Jones, Alderman Frederick,
+sheriff of London; Richard Ford, the well-known merchant of London;
+Mayor Nehemiah Bourne; Charles Howard; Robert Berwick; John Blaxton,
+town clerk of Newcastle; Col. Richard Ingoldsby; Edmund Thomas;
+Thomas Banks, and Christopher Lister. Thus the Trade Committee, composed
+of members from all parts of England, represented a wide range of
+interests. Furthermore, any member of the Protector's Council could come
+to the meetings of the committee and vote.[30] Such a body would have
+been very unmanageable but for the fact that seven constituted a quorum
+and business was generally transacted by a small number of the members.
+The instructions were prepared by Thurloe after a scrutiny of those
+of the former Council of Trade, and bore little resemblance to the
+recommendations of the "Overture," because they were designed to cover
+a far wider range of interests than were considered by the merchants.
+The "Overture" was planned only for a plantation council. The Trade
+Committee was invested with power and authority to consider by what
+means the traffic and navigation of the Republic might best be promoted
+and regulated, to receive propositions for the benefit of these
+interests, to send for the officers of the excise, the customs, and the
+mint, or such other persons of experience as they should deem capable of
+giving advice on these subjects, to examine the books and papers of the
+Council of Trade of 1650, and all other public papers as might afford
+the members information. When finally its reports were ready for the
+Council of State, that body reserved to itself all power to reject or
+accept such orders as it deemed proper and fitting.
+
+The Trade Committee met for the first time on December 27, 1655, in the
+Painted Chamber at Westminster. Authorized to appoint officers, it chose
+William Seaman secretary, two clerks, an usher, and two messengers at
+a yearly salary of L280, with L50 for contingent expenses;[31] and from
+the entries of the payments ordered to be made to these men for their
+services, we infer that the board sat from December 27, 1655, until
+May 27, 1657, exactly a year and a half. During this time it probably
+accumulated a considerable number of books and papers, though such are
+not now known to exist. Proposals, petitions, complaints, and pamphlets,
+such, for example, as that entitled _Trading Governed by the State_, a
+protest against the commercial dominance of London, were laid before it,
+and it took into its own hands many of the problems that had agitated
+the former board. It discussed foreign trade, particularly with Holland,
+and the questions of Swedish copper,[32] Spanish wines, and Irish linen;
+home manufactures, among which are mentioned swords and rapier blades,
+madder-dyed silk, needle making, and knitting with frameworks; and
+domestic concerns, such as the preservation of timber. It made a number
+of recommendations regarding "the exportation of several commodities of
+the breed, growth, and manufacture of the Commonwealth," "the limiting
+and settling the prices of wines," "vagrants and wandering, idle,
+dissolute persons," and the "giving license for transporting fish in
+foreign bottoms." These recommendations were drafted by the Trade
+Committee, or by one of its subcommittees, and after adoption were
+reported to the Council of State and by it referred to its own committee
+appointed to receive reports from the Trade Committee. When approved by
+the Council of State, the recommendations were sent to Parliament and
+there referred to the large Parliamentary committee of trade of fifty
+members, appointed October 20, 1656. That committee drafted bills which
+were based on these recommendations and which later were passed as acts
+of Parliament and received the consent of the Protector. For example,
+the recommendation regarding exports, noted above, became a law November
+27, 1656.[33]
+
+Under the head of "navigation and trade" came the commercial interests
+of the plantations, and though there existed during this year, 1656,
+other machinery for regulating plantation affairs, a number of questions
+were referred from the Council to the Trade Committee that were strictly
+in the line of plantation development. These questions concerned customs
+duties on goods exported to Barbadoes, the political quarrels in
+Antigua which threatened to bring ruin on that plantation and the
+remedies therefor, the pilchard fishery off Newfoundland, and finally
+the controversy between Maryland and Virginia which had already been
+referred to a special committee of the Council. Upon all these questions
+the Trade Committee reported to the Council; its recommendations and
+findings were debated in that body or further referred to one of its own
+committees or to the outside committee for America, and finally embodied
+in an order regulating the matter in question.[34]
+
+Of the activity of the Trade Committee during the few months of the year
+1657, when it continued its sessions, scarcely any evidence appears.
+There is a very slight reason to believe that it took up the question of
+free ports, but there is nothing to show that it accomplished anything
+in that direction. That it came to an end in May seems to be borne out
+by the fact that the officers of the board were paid only to May 27, but
+this statement is rendered uncertain by the further fact that on June 26
+Portsmouth petitioned the committee to be made a free port and that the
+petition was brought in by one of the members of the committee for
+America, Capt. Limbrey.[35] The question cannot be exactly settled.
+Though the committee was by no means a nominal body, it accomplished
+little, and certainly did not meet the situation that confronted the
+trade and navigation of the kingdom.
+
+After the appointment of this select Trade Committee, no standing
+committee of the Council was created. Questions of trade were looked
+after either by the Council itself, that of May, 1659, being especially
+instructed to "advance trade and promote the good of our foreign
+plantations and to encourage fishing,"[36] by an occasional special
+committee, by the Trade Committee until the summer of 1657, or by the
+committees of Parliament. Of Parliamentary committees there were two:
+one a select committee of fifty members, appointed October 20, 1656, to
+which were added all the merchants of the House and all members that
+served for the port towns;[37] and a grand committee of the whole House
+for trade, appointed February 2, 1658, which sat weekly and was invested
+with the same powers as the committee of 1656 had had.[38] But except
+that the first committee adopted some of the recommendations of the
+Trade Committee, there is nothing to show that these committees took any
+prominent part in the advancement of the interest in behalf of which
+they had been created.
+
+From 1654 to 1660 the welfare of the plantations lay chiefly in the
+hands of the Protector's Council and the Council of State, and their
+system of control was in many respects similar to that which had been
+adopted during the earlier period of the Interregnum. At first all
+plantation questions were referred to committees of the Council
+appointed temporarily to consider some particular matter. From December
+29, 1653, to the close of the year 1659 some fifty cases were referred
+to about thirty committees, of which twenty were appointed for the
+special purpose in hand. Many matters were referred to such standing
+committees as the Admiralty Committee, Customs Committee, etc.; others
+to the judges of admiralty, commissioners of customs, and the like,
+while petitions and communications regarding affairs in Jamaica, New
+England, Virginia, Antigua, Somers Islands, Newfoundland, and Nevis,
+regarding the transporting of horses, mining of saltpeter, payments of
+salaries, indemnities, and trade, and regarding personal claims, such as
+those of Lord Baltimore, William Franklin, De La Tour, and others, were
+referred to committees composed of from two to eight members of the
+Council, whose services in this particular ended with the presentation
+of their report. Sometimes a question would be referred to the whole
+Council or to a "committee," with the names unspecified, or to "any
+three of the Council." The burden of serving upon these occasional
+committees fell upon a comparatively small number of councillors:
+Ashley, Montague, Strickland, Wolseley, Fiennes, Jones, Sydenham, Lisle,
+and Mulgrave. One or more of these names appear on the list of every
+special committee appointed except that to which Lord Baltimore's case
+was referred, consisting of the sergeants-at-law, Lords Whitelocke and
+Widdrington. During 1654 the committees for Virginia and Barbadoes, to
+which were referred other colonial matters, came to be known as the
+"committee for plantations," but it is doubtful if this was deemed in
+any sense a standing committee.
+
+When the affairs of Jamaica became exigent after the summer of 1655
+a committee of the Council was appointed to carry out the terms of
+Cromwell's proclamation and to report the needs of the colony. Though
+the membership was generally changed this committee continued to be
+reappointed as one question after another arose which demanded the
+attention of the Council. It reported on the equipment of tools,
+clothing, medicaments and other necessaries, on the transporting of
+persons from Ireland and colonies in America, on the distribution of
+lands in the island, and on various matters presented to the Council
+in letters and petitions from officers and others there or in England.
+After 1656 this committee, which continued to exist certainly until
+the middle of April, 1660, played a more or less secondary part, doing
+little more than consider the various colonial matters, whether relating
+to Jamaica or to other colonies, that were taken up by the select or
+outside committee appointed by Cromwell in 1656.
+
+The employment of expert advisers in the Jamaica business was rendered
+necessary by the financial questions involved, and in December Robert
+Bowes, Francis Hodges and Richard Creed were called upon to assist a
+committee of Council appointed May 10, 1655, in determining the amounts
+due the wives and assignees of the officers and soldiers in Jamaica.
+Creed was dropped and Sydenham and Fillingham were added in 1656.[39]
+But a more important step was soon taken. On July 15,1656, Cromwell
+appointed a standing committee of officers and London merchants to
+take general cognizance of all matters that concerned "his Highness
+in Jamaica and the West Indies." The following were the members: Col.
+Edward Salmon, an admiralty commissioner and intimately interested in
+the Jamaica expedition; Col. Tobias Bridges, one of Cromwell's major
+generals, afterwards serving in Flanders, who was to play an important
+part in proclaiming Richard Cromwell Protector; Lieutenant Colonel
+Miller, of Col. Barkstead's regiment, and Lieutenant Colonel Mills;
+Capt. Limbrey, London merchant and Jamaican planter, who had lived in
+Jamaica and made a map of the island, and as commander of merchant
+vessels had made many trips across the Atlantic; Capt. Thomas Aldherne,
+also a London merchant and sea captain, the chief victualler of the
+navy, and an enterprising adventurer in trade; Capt. John Thompson, sea
+captain and London merchant; Capt. Stephen Winthrop, sea captain and
+London merchant; Richard Sydenham, and Robert Bowes, already mentioned
+as commissioners for Jamaica,[40] and lastly Martin Noell, London
+merchant, and Thomas Povey, regarding whom a fuller account is given
+below. Povey, who was not appointed a member until October, 1657,
+apparently became chairman and secretary, while Francis Hodges was
+clerical secretary. Except for Tobias Bridges, the military members had
+little share in the business of the committee, the most prominent part
+being taken by Noell, Bridges, Winthrop, Bowes, Sydenham, and Povey.
+As far as the records show, Salmon, Miller, Aldherne, Thompson, and
+White never signed a report, while Mills and Limbrey signed but one.
+The committee seems to have sat at first in Grocer's Hall, afterward
+in Treasury Chambers, where its members discussed and investigated
+all questions that came before them with care and thoroughness.
+Their instructions authorized them to maintain a correspondence
+with the colonies, obtaining such infromation and advice as seemed
+essential; to receive all addresses relating thereunto, whether from
+persons in America or elsewhere; to consider and consult thereof and
+prepare such advices and answers thereupon as should be judged meet
+for the advantage of the community. Their earliest business concerned
+itself with Jamaica, its revenues, finances, expenses of expeditions
+thither, arrears due the officers and soldiers, their wives and
+assignees, individual claims, want of ministers, and other similar
+questions. But as addresses came in from other colonies the scope of
+their activity was broadened until it included at one time or another
+nearly all the American colonies. The committee reported on the
+constitution, governing powers, fortifications, militia of Somers
+Islands (Bermudas) and on the fitness of Sayle to be governor there;
+on the controversy between Virginia and Maryland and on the organization
+and government of the former colony; on the petition of the Long
+Islanders and others in New England, and on complaints against
+Massachusetts Bay; on the revenue, government, and admiralty system
+of Barbadoes; on questions of governor and arrears of salary in
+Nevis and Tortugas; on the desirability of continuing the plantation
+in Newfoundland; and lastly on the important subject of ship insurance,
+upon which Capt. Limbrey presented a very remarkable paper.[41] These
+reports were sent sometimes to the Protector, sometimes to the Council
+of State, and sometimes to the committee of the Council on the affairs
+of America. While the latter committee, under the name of "Committee for
+Foreign Plantations" continued until the return of the King, the select
+committee for America does not appear to have lasted as a whole after
+the final dissolution of the Rump Parliament, March 16, 1660. Thomas
+Povey alone seems to have been the committee from March to May, and on
+April 9 and May 11 made two reports on matters referred to him by the
+Council committee regarding Jamaica and Newfoundland. As Charles II had
+been recalled to his own in England before the last report was sent in,
+the machinery created under Cromwell for the plantations remained in
+existence after the government set up by him had passed away.[42]
+
+Any account of the system appointed for the control of trade and
+plantations during the Interregnum is bound to be something of a tangle,
+not because the system itself was a complicated one, but because its
+simplicity is clouded by a bewildering mass of details. Occasional
+committees of Parliament, the Council as a board of trade and
+plantations, committees of the Council, and select councils and
+committees do not form a very confusing body of material out of which
+to fashion a system of colonial control. Yet, despite this fact, the
+management of the colonies during the Interregnum was without unity or
+simplicity. Control was exercised by no single or continuous organ and
+according to no clearly defined or consistent plan. Colonial questions
+seemed to lie in many different hands and to be met in as many different
+ways. Delays were frequent and there can be little doubt that many
+important matters were laid aside and pigeon-holed. When an important
+colonial difficulty had to pass from subcommittee to committee, from
+committee to Council, and sometimes from Council to Parliamentary
+committee and thence to Parliament, we can easily believe that in the
+excess of machinery there would be entailed a decrease of despatch and
+efficiency. Indeed, during the Interregnum colonial business was not
+well managed and there were many to whom colonial trade was of great
+importance, who realized this fact. Merchants of London after 1655
+became dissatisfied with the way the plantations were managed and
+desired a reorganization which should bring about order, improve
+administration, economize expenditure, elevate justice, and effect
+speedily and fairly a settlement of colonial disputes. They doubted
+whether a Council, "busyed and filled with a multitude of affairs,"
+was able to accomplish these results and they refused to believe that
+affairs of such a nature should be transacted "in diverse pieces and
+by diverse councils." The remedy of these men was carefully thought
+out and carefully expressed and though it was undoubtedly listened
+to by Cromwell, it never received more than an imperfect application.
+To these men and their proposals we must pay careful attention for
+therein we shall find the connecting link between the Protectorate
+and the Restoration as far as matters of trade and the plantations
+are concerned.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Footnote 1: Among others, The Advancement of Merchandize or certain
+propositions for the improvement of the trade of this Commonwealth,
+humbly presented to the Right Honorable the Council of State by Thomas
+Viollet, of London, Goldsmith, 1651. This rare pamphlet was drawn up
+by Viollet when connected with the Mint in the Tower and sent to the
+Council of State, evidently in manuscript form. Most of the papers
+composing this pamphlet were transmitted by the Council of State to
+the Council of Trade. For Viollet see Cal. State Papers, Domestic,
+1650-1651, 1659-1660.]
+
+[Footnote 2: The Council of Trade accumulated in this and other ways a
+considerable mass of books and papers, but this material for its history
+has entirely disappeared.]
+
+[Footnote 3: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1650, p. 399; 1651, pp. 16, 29,
+38, 107, 230; 1651-1652, pp. 87. The first suggestion of this committee
+was as early as January 1650, Commons' Journal, VI, p. 347.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Guildhall, Journal of the Proceedings of the Common
+Council, Vol. 41, ff. 45, 55; Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1651, pp. 198,
+247-249, 270-271; Inderwick, The Interregnum, ch. II.]
+
+[Footnote 5: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1651-1652, pp. 470-472, 479-481.]
+
+[Footnote 6: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1652-1653, p. 282.]
+
+[Footnote 7: British Museum, Add. MSS., 5138, f. 145.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Guildhall, Repertories of the Court of Aldermen, 61, p.
+152^{b}.]
+
+[Footnote 9: Guildhall, Journal of the Proceedings of the Common
+Council, Vol. 41, pp. 67^{b}, 68.]
+
+[Footnote 10: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1651-1652, pp. 232, 235. The
+question was as to whether or not the Turkey trade could best be carried
+on by a company "as now," or by free trade, as in the case of Portugal
+and Spain. Able arguments in favor of free trade were brought forward,
+and when later the question of a monopoly of the Greenland whale fishing
+came up, the Council of State admitted free adventurers to a share in
+the business. Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1653-1654, p. 379; 1654, p. 16.]
+
+[Footnote 11: Commons' Journal, VI, p. 140.]
+
+[Footnote 12: Commons' Journal, VI, p. 361.]
+
+[Footnote 13: Commons' Journal, VII, p. 41.]
+
+[Footnote 14: Commons' Journal, VII, p. 220.]
+
+[Footnote 15: Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 283, 284, 285.]
+
+[Footnote 16: Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 343-344; Cal. State Papers,
+Dom., 1653-1654, pp. 297-298.]
+
+[Footnote 17: Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 652, 654, 655; Cal. State
+Papers, Dom., 1658-1659, p. 349.]
+
+[Footnote 18: Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 800, 849.]
+
+[Footnote 19: P.C.R., Charles II, Vol. I, May 3/13, 1649--September
+28, 1660. Meetings of Privy Councils during the Interregnum were held at
+Castle Elizabeth, St. Hillary, Breda (1649-1650), Bruges (1656, 1658),
+Brussels (1659), Breda (1660), Canterbury (May 27, 1660), Whitehall (May
+31, 1660).]
+
+[Footnote 20: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574-1660, pp. 335, 352, 366;
+Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1651-1652, p. 43.]
+
+[Footnote 21: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574-1660, p. 394; Cal. State
+Papers, Dom., 1651-1652, pp. 67, 232, 235, 426; 1652-1653, pp. 18-27.]
+
+[Footnote 22: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574-1660, pp. 373-402,
+_passim_.]
+
+[Footnote 23: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1651-1652, pp. 266, 350, 396,
+472; 1652-1653, pp. 18, 27, 160, 171.]
+
+[Footnote 24: Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 19, 287. On May 6, 1653,
+a new commission of trade was proposed by the Council of State but
+no appointments are given. Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1653-1654,
+pp. 310, 344.]
+
+[Footnote 25: Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 308, 319, 341, 375.]
+
+[Footnote 26: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1654, pp. 61, 285, 316.]
+
+[Footnote 27: Brit. Mus. Add. MSS., 11411, ff. 11^{b}-12^{b}.]
+
+[Footnote 28: That such an outcome was anticipated is evident from the
+concluding words of the "Overture." "If his Highness shall think fit
+to constitute a council for the general Trade of these Nations and the
+several Interests relating thereunto, these seaven may properly be of
+that number, the employment being of the same nature and therefore
+will rather informe then divert them who ought indeed to be busyed or
+conversant in no other Affaires than the matters of Trade."]
+
+[Footnote 29: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1655, pp. 27, 133, 240.]
+
+[Footnote 30: Thurloe, State Papers, IV, p. 177; British Museum, Add.
+MSS., 12438, iii; Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1655, p. 240, 1655-1656, pp.
+1, 2, 54, 73, 100, 114, 115, 141, 156, 162, 188, 252, 275, 297, 327,
+382. "We might speak also of the famed 'Committee of Trade' which has
+now begun its sessions 'in the old House of Lords.' An Assembly of
+Dignitaries, Chief Merchants, Political Economists, convened by summons
+of his Highness; consulting zealously how the Trade of this country
+may be improved. A great concernment of this commonwealth 'which his
+Highness is eagerly set upon.' They consulted of 'Swedish copperas' and
+such like; doing faithfully what they could." Cromwell's Letters and
+Speeches, II, p. 202.]
+
+[Footnote 31: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1655-1656, p. 113; 1656-1657,
+p. 556; 1657-1658, pp. 308, 589; 1657-1658, p. 69.]
+
+[Footnote 32: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1655-1656, p. 318.]
+
+[Footnote 33: Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 442, 452, 460.]
+
+[Footnote 34: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574-1660, pp. 436, 439, 440 (2),
+441, 443, 447, 453.]
+
+[Footnote 35: Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 12438, iii.]
+
+[Footnote 36: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1658-1659, p. 349.]
+
+[Footnote 37: Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 442, 452.]
+
+[Footnote 38: Commons' Journal, VII, p. 596.]
+
+[Footnote 39: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1655-1656, pp. 46, 65, 318, 351.]
+
+[Footnote 40: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1657-1658, pp. 51, 66.]
+
+[Footnote 41: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574, 1660, pp. 445, 447, 448,
+449, 450, 452, 453, 455, 456, 458, 459, 460, 461, 464, 465, 468, 470,
+477; Brit. Mus. Egerton, 2395, ff. 123, 136, 142, 148-151, 157; Add.
+MSS., 18986, f. 258.]
+
+[Footnote 42: Note to the report of May 11, 1660, is as follows: "By
+order of the Councill of State sitting and taking care of the government
+in the interval between the suppression of the Rump of the Parliament
+and the return of his Majesty which was not many days before the date of
+this report." Egerton MSS., 2395, f. 263. Probably the recall not the
+actual landing at Dover is meant.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+The Proposals of the Merchants: Noell and Povey.
+
+
+Between the colonial and commercial activities of the later years of
+the Interregnum and the corresponding activities during the early years
+of the Restoration no hard and fast line can be drawn. The policy of
+control adopted by Charles II can be traced to the agitation of men,
+chiefly merchants of London and others familiar with the colonies, who
+since 1655 had become impressed with the possibilities of the New World
+as a field for profitable ventures in trade and commerce, and desired,
+whether under a republic or a monarchy, the cooeperation and aid of the
+government. Among the leaders of this movement were Martin Noell and
+Thomas Povey.
+
+Martin Noell was probably the most conspicuous London merchant of his
+time. Of his early life nothing seems to be known. He first appears as
+a merchant in 1650 trading with Nevis and Montserrat, and in the next
+few years he extended his operations to New England, Virginia, the other
+West India islands, and the Mediterranean. His ships trafficked in a
+great variety of commodities--iron, hemp, pitch, tar, flax, potashes,
+cables, fish, cocoa, tobacco, etc., and he became a power in London,
+his place of business in Old Jewry being the resort of merchants,
+ship captains, and persons desiring to cooeperate in his ventures.
+He was an alderman as early as 1651, was placed a little later on the
+commission for securing the peace of the city, and held other offices
+by appointment of the city or of the Commonwealth. He was also
+a member of the East India Company and influential in its councils.
+In addition to his mercantile interests he became a farmer, first of
+the inland and foreign post-office,--one writer speaking of him as
+"the postmaster,"--and later, on a large scale, of customs and excise.
+At one time or another he held the farm of the customs in general and
+of the excise of salt, linen, silk mercery, and wines in particular. In
+these capacities he acted as a banker of the government, paying salaries
+and expenses of official appointees, advancing loans, and issuing bills
+of exchange and letters of credit. His vessels carried letters of marque
+during the Dutch war and the war with Spain, and he himself traded in
+prizes and became one of the commissioners of prize goods. The Jamaican
+expeditions of 1654 and afterward gave him an opportunity to become a
+contractor and he organized a committee in London for the purpose of
+financiering the expedition, himself advancing L16,000, and in company
+with Capts. Alderne, Watts, and others contracted for the supplies of
+the ships and soldiers, furnishing utensils, clothing, bedding, and
+provisions for this and other expeditions, notably that to Flanders.
+He was Gen. Venables' personal agent in London and agent for the army
+in general in Jamaica. He also became a contractor for transporting
+vagrants, prisoners, and others to various American plantations. These
+accumulating ventures increased his interest in the colonies, and after
+the capture of Jamaica in 1655 he obtained a grant of 20,000 acres in
+that island, from which he created several plantations. In his new
+capacity as planter he was constantly engaged in shipping servants,
+supplies, and horses. The firm of Martin Noell & Company became
+exceedingly prosperous, and Noell himself one of the mainstays of the
+government. He became a member of the Trade Committee in 1655, of the
+committee for Jamaica in 1656, and was frequently called in by the
+Council of State to offer advice or to give information. He was on terms
+of intimacy with Cromwell, and because of the Protector's friendship
+for him and confidence in his judgment, his recommendations for office,
+both in England and the colonies had great weight. Povey speaks of the
+"extraordinary favor allowed him (Noell) by his Highness." He had a
+brother, Thomas Noell, who was prominent in Barbadoes and Surinam and
+in charge of his interests there. He was also represented in other
+islands by agents and factors, of whom Edward Bradbourne was the most
+conspicuous, while Major Richard Povey in Jamaica, and William Povey
+in Barbadoes, brothers of Thomas Povey, had for a time charge of his
+plantations in those islands. Noell indirectly played no small part in
+politics, particularly of Barbadoes, where Governor Searle held office
+largely through his influence. Besides his Jamaica holdings he had
+estates at Wexford in Ireland, and in April, 1658, wrote to Henry
+Cromwell that he had "transplanted much of his interest and affairs
+and relations" to that country, seeming to indicate thereby that his
+colonial ventures were not prospering satisfactorily. Noell was a
+politic man, shrewd and diplomatic, asserting his loyalty to the house
+of Cromwell, yet becoming a trusty subject of King Charles, from whom
+he afterward received knighthood.[1]
+
+Thomas Povey was born probably about 1615, son of Justinian Povey,
+auditor of the exchequer and one of the commissioners of the Caribbee
+Islands in 1637. He was one of a large family of children, nine at
+least, Justinian, John, Francis, William, Richard, Thomas, Mrs.
+Blathwayt (afterward Mrs. Thomas Vivian), Mrs. Barrow, and Sarah Povey,
+and he spent his early years at the family home in Hounslow. In 1633 he
+entered Gray's Inn and in 1647 became a member of the Long Parliament.
+"Purged" with the other Presbyterian members in 1648, he did not return
+to Parliament until the restoration of those members in 1659. He was
+evidently inclined at first to go into law and politics, but for reasons
+unnamed, possibly the slenderness of his fortune, which he says was
+hardly sufficient to support him, he turned, about 1654, to trade,
+and was thus brought into close relations with Martin Noell. Of his
+activities until 1657 we hear very little, though it is evident that
+from 1654 to 1657 he lived in Gray's Inn, engaging in many trading
+ventures in the West Indies and elsewhere, was on terms of intimacy
+with Noell and frequently at his house, and showed himself fertile of
+suggestions, as always, regarding the improvement of trade and the
+care and supply of men, provisions, and intelligence. In 1657 he lost
+by death his brothers John and Francis, and his mother, who died at
+Hounslow. As two of his brothers had gone to the West Indies with the
+expedition of 1654 and the remainer of the family was scattered, he
+decided to marry, and settled down in a house in Lincoln's Inn Fields
+next the Earl of Northampton, with a widow without children, but
+possessed "of a fortune capable of giving a reasonable assistance to
+mine." In October of that year, possibly through Noell's influence, he
+became a member of the committee for America, and from that time was
+a conspicuous leader among those interested in plantation affairs.
+As chairman and secretary of the committee, he took a prominent part
+in all correspondence, and was familiar with the chief men in all the
+colonies. He exchanged letters with Searle, of Barbadoes, D'Oyley,
+of Jamaica, Temple, of Nova Scotia, Digges, at one time governor of
+Virginia, Russell, of Nevis, Major Byam, of Surinam, Col. Osborn, of
+Montserrat, General Brayne, in command of one of the expeditions to
+Jamaica, and particularly with Lord Willoughby of Parham, with whom he
+stood on terms of intimate friendship and over whose policy he exercised
+considerable control. He was proposed at this time as agent in London
+for Virginia, but the suggestion does not appear to have been acted on.
+His brother Richard was commissary of musters and major of militia in
+Jamaica, and his brother William, the black sheep of the family, who
+had married a wife far too good for him, as Povey once wrote her, was
+provost marshal in Barbadoes and in charge of Noell's interests there,
+bringing that merchant nothing but "discontent and damage," and causing
+Thomas Povey a great deal of trouble and expense. The colonial
+appointments of these brothers were obtained entirely through the
+influence of Noell and Povey in England. The disordered and uncertain
+political situation in England in 1659 and the unsettled state of
+affairs in both Jamaica and Barbadoes at the same time cost Povey great
+anxiety and a part of his own and his wife's fortune, and he echoed
+the complaint, widespread at the time, of the decay of trade and the
+insecurity of all commercial ventures. We may not doubt that Povey,
+as well as Noell, was ready to welcome the return of the King.[2]
+
+Though Noell and Povey were intimate friends and had been engaged in
+common trading enterprises for a number of years, we have no definite
+knowledge of their earlier undertakings, beyond the fact that with Capt.
+Watts and Capt. Aldherne, whom Povey met by accident at Noell's house,
+they were particularly concerned in developing the Barbadoes and Jamaica
+trade. In the years 1657 and 1658, when Noell was "swol'n into a much
+greater person by being a farmer of the customs and excise," we meet
+with two enterprises, one for a West India Company, promoted by Lord
+Willoughby, Noell, Povey, and Watts, as partners and principals, with
+Watts as sea captain in charge of the vessel; the other for a Nova
+Scotia Company, composed of Lord William Fiennes, Sir Charles Wolseley,
+Noell, Povey, and others, with Watts and Collier as managers and Capt.
+Middleton as sailing master. The latter company was organized for
+settling a trade in furs and skins in Nova Scotia, and to that end
+engaged the cooeperation of Wolseley's cousin, Col. Thomas Temple,
+lieutenant general of Nova Scotia since 1655, and of Capt. Breedon,
+a prominent merchant of New England. It sent out a ship freighted with
+goods under Capt. Middleton, but despite an auspicious beginning,
+does not appear to have prospered. The title to Nova Scotia was disputed
+not only by the French, but also by the Kirkes, whom Cromwell had
+dispossessed in 1655, when he appointed Temple as governor; hostilities
+broke out in Nova Scotia, and the company was called upon for a larger
+stock and incorporation at a time when its promoters seemed unwilling to
+risk more money. Though Povey was encouraged by the specimens of copper
+which Temple sent over, the enterprise made no progress until after the
+Restoration. It is probable that both Noell and Povey lost money by the
+venture.
+
+The project for a West India Company was more ambitious and must have
+been formulated some time in 1656 or 1657. Various propositions were
+drawn up with care, probably by Povey or by Noell and Povey together,
+for the better serving the interests of the Commonwealth by the erection
+of a company which had as its object the advancing of trade and the
+prosecution of the war with Spain. The two ideas seem, however, to have
+been kept separate. Trade was to be promoted by despatching a vessel to
+"Florida" under Capt. Watts which, in case it was unable to open trade
+there, was to take on a lading of pipe staves in New England, sail to
+the West Indies, and return thence with a cargo of sugar and other West
+Indian commodities. For the purpose of attacking Spanish towns, of
+"interrupting the Spanish fleet in their going from Spain to the Indies
+and in their return thence for Spain, and of ousting the Spaniards from
+their control in the West Indies and South America"--a subject regarding
+which Capt. Limbrey had drawn up a paper of information,--the company
+proposed that the state should furnish and equip twenty frigates which
+were to be fully provisioned, manned and officered by itself. The
+company desired to be incorporated by act of Parliament,[3] rather
+than by a patent under the great seal, because the former would confer
+"diverse privileges and assistances, and an immunity and sole trade
+in any place they shall conquer or beget a trade with the Spaniard's
+dominion," all of which a patent could not convey. The proposals were
+presented to the Council of State in 1659 and were referred to a special
+committee. They were debated in Council on August 7, and on October 20
+Povey wrote to Governor Searle that they had received encouragement
+and hoped to have a charter from Parliament, and because "they have so
+much favor from the state they will have an influence upon most of the
+English plantations."[4] Either Parliament refused to incorporate the
+company or in the distractions of the winter of 1659-1660 the proposals
+were lost sight of.
+
+The group of merchants, among whom Noell and Povey were so conspicuous,
+seemed to desire, as far as possible, a monopoly of the trade in America
+and the West Indies, and to that end controlled to no inconsiderable
+extent political appointments there. Governor Searle, of Barbadoes,
+was their appointee, and Governors Russell, of Nevis, and Osborn,
+of Montserrat, were in close touch with them and looked to them for
+support. In 1657, acting through the committee for America, they
+recommended that Edward Digges be made governor of Virginia, and about
+the same time Martin Noell and eighteen others petitioned that Capt.
+Watts be made governor of Jamaica. Lord Willoughby was practically
+one of them, and Gen. Brayne and Lieut. Gen. D'Oyley were on intimate
+terms with them. It is not surprising, in view of the importance of the
+colonial trade and the disturbed condition of the plantations, that such
+a man as Povey, who was always ready with plans and proposals, should
+have endeavored to solve the problem of colonial control. He was in
+frequent consultation with Noell concerning matters relating to the West
+Indies, and in consequence, many schemes were discussed and carefully
+worked out by them. The various drafts touching the West India Company
+are elaborated in minute detail, and Povey showed clearly that he
+possessed admirable qualities as a committee-man and an organizer.
+
+The first "overture" or plan seems to have been written in 1654 at the
+time when the expedition of Penn and Venables was on its way to the
+West Indies, and does not refer specifically to Jamaica. Its authors
+recommended that a competent number of persons, not less than seven, of
+good repute and well skilled in their professions and qualifications,
+be selected to form a council. A greater number would be undesirable,
+they said, because "in such an affair where there are many, the chief
+things are done and ofttimes huddled up by a few; and there is neither
+that secrecy, steadiness, nor particular care, nor so good an account
+given of the trust, where more are employed than are necessary and
+proportionable to the business."[5] The qualifications of the seven are
+interesting: "(1) One to be a Merchant that hath been in those Indias
+and trading that waie. (2) One also to bee a Merchant but not related
+to that trade, and who rather retires from than pursues in profession.
+(3) One well experienced Seaman, not or but little trading att present.
+(4) One Gentleman that hath travailed; that hath language and something
+of the civill Lawe. (5) One Citizen of a general capacitie and
+conversation. (6) One that understands well our municipall Lawes and
+the general Constitutions of England. (7) One to be a Secretarie to his
+Highness in all Affaires in the West Indias, and relating thereunto, who
+is solely to give himself up to this Employm^{t}." This council was to be
+subordinated only to Cromwell and the Council and its powers were to be
+fairly extensive. It was
+
+    "to have power to advise w^{th} all other Committees or Persons,
+    Officers, or others as occasion shall require;
+
+    "to consider (by what they shall observe here and what shalbee
+    represented from the Commission^{rs} now in the expedition) how
+    and what forreigne Plantations may be improved, transplanted,
+    and ordered;
+
+    "to reduce all Colonies and Plantations to a more certaine,
+    civill, and uniforme way of government and distribution of
+    publick justice;
+
+    "to keep a constant correspondence with the Commission^{rs} now
+    in the expedition, and w^{th} all the Chiefe Ports both at home
+    and abroad;
+
+    "to be able to give up once in a year unto his Highness a perfect
+    Intelligence and Account of the Government of every place, of their
+    complaints, their wants, their abundance of every ship trading
+    thither and its lading and whither consigned, and to know what the
+    proceeds of the place have been that yeare, whereby the intrinsick
+    value and the certaine condition of each port will be thoroughly
+    understood. And by this conduct and method those many rich places
+    and severall Governments and Adventures will have all due and
+    continuall care and Inspection taken of them, w^{th}out divertion
+    to the nearest Affairs of this Nation, w^{ch} being of so much of a
+    greater and a closer consequence, the Superior Council can seldome
+    bee at leisure to descend any further than to breife and imperfect
+    considerations and provisions, w^{ch} is the sad Estate of fforeigne
+    Dominions, and distant Colonies and Expeditions from whence usually
+    the most strict, or servile duty and obedience is exacted, but very
+    seldome any Indulgencie or paternall care is allowed to them.
+
+    "These therefore are to indeavour and contrive all possible
+    Encouragem^{ts} and Advantages for the Adventurer, Planter, and
+    English Merchants, in order also to the shutting out all Straingers
+    from that Trade, by making them not necessary to it, and by drawing
+    it wholly and with satisfaction to all parties into our Ports here,
+    that it may bee afterward instead of Bullion to trade with other
+    Nations, it being the Traffick of our own proper and native
+    Commodities. That our Shipping may be increased, our poore here
+    employed, and our Manufactures encouraged: And by the generall
+    consequencies hereof, a considerable Revenue may be raised to
+    his Highness.
+
+    "to debate among themselves, and satisfy themselves from others;
+    and to present their Results to his Highness in all matters
+    reserved and proper for his Highness Judgment and last
+    Impressions.
+
+    "to bee a readie and perfect Register both to his Highness and
+    all other persons, as far as they may be concerned, of all
+    particulars relating to those Affaires.
+
+    "The Secretarie may be the person to represent things from time
+    to time between his Highness and this Councill. To make and receive
+    dispatches. To make readie papers for his Highness signature.
+    And generally his Office wilbee to render the Supreame Management
+    & comp^{r}hension of this Affaire less cumbersome and difficult to
+    his Highness, hee being allwaies ready to give his Highness a full
+    and a digested consideration, if any particular relating to those
+    Affaires and w^{th}in the cognizance of that Council."[6]
+
+
+That these recommendations had any influence in determining the
+character of the Trade Committee of 1655 is doubtful, but the next
+effort of the merchants was probably more successful. Some time in 1656
+Povey drew up a series of queries "concerning his Highness Interest in
+the West Indias" in which occur the following suggesive paragraphs:
+
+    "Whether a Councell busyed and filled with a multitude of
+    Affaires, w^{ch} concerne the imediat Safety and preservation
+    of the State at home, can bee thought capable of giving a proper
+    conduct to such various and distant Interests.
+
+    "Whether an Affaire of such a nature and consequence may be
+    transacted in diverse peices and by diverse Councells, and how
+    a proper Result cann be instantly arise out of such a kind of
+    management.
+
+    "Whether a Councill constituted of fitt Persons Solely sett apart
+    to the busyness of America be not the likeliest means of advancing
+    his Highness Interest there and of bringing them continually to
+    a certain account and readiness whensoever his Highness or his
+    Privie Councill shall have occasion to looke into any particular
+    thereof.
+
+    "Whether it be not a prudentiall thing to draw all the Islands,
+    Colonies, and Dominions of America under one and the same
+    management here."[7]
+
+
+That the men who drafted these queries were mainly responsible for the
+creation of the select council of 1656, at first known as the Committee
+for Jamaica and afterwards as the Committee for his Highness Affairs
+in America, we can hardly doubt, for the constitution and work of that
+committee represents very nearly the ideas that Povey and Noell had
+expressed up to this time. It is not to be wondered at that Povey should
+have been the chairman, secretary, and most active member of this
+committee after his appointment in 1657.
+
+Two other propositions or overtures appear among Povey's papers that
+belong to the period of the Protectorate, and were written probably
+the one in 1656, known as the "Propositions concerning the West India
+Councill," and the other, known as "Overtures touching the West Indies,"
+before August, 1657.[8] In the first of these the number of the
+council was to be ten, in the second it was not to exceed six. The
+"Propositions" repeat in the main the points already quoted, including
+the recommendation that it should be the business of the council
+"to consider of the reducing all Colonies and Plantations to a more
+certaine, civill, and uniform waie of Governm^{t} and distribution
+of publick justice." The "Overtures" are much more elaborate, though
+frequently containing the identical phrases of the first "Overture,"
+with many new paragraphs which seem to show the same spirit of hostility
+for Spain that is exhibited in the formation of the West India Company.
+Indeed this document is an outcome of the same movement which led to the
+formation of that company. Some of the more important sections are as
+follows:
+
+    "To render what we already possess, and all that depends upon it,
+    to be a foundation and Inducem^{t} for future undertakings; by
+    gathering reasonable assistances from thence, and by mingling and
+    interweaving of Interest, and letting it appear that such Persons
+    and Collonies shall have the more of the Indulgencie of the State
+    as shall merit most in what they shall in any way be readier to do,
+    or contribut to the service of the whole; for hereafter they may
+    be considered as one embodied Commonwealth whose head and centre
+    is here.
+
+    "That every Governour shall have his Commission reviewed, and
+    that all be reviewed in one form, w^{th} such clauses and provisions
+    as shalbee held necessary for the promotion of his Highness other
+    public affairs, and that as soone as order can be conveniently taken
+    therein the several Governours to be paid their allowances from
+    hence (though upon their own accounts), that their dependencie bee
+    immediately and altogether from his Highness....
+
+    "That all prudentiall means be applyed to for the rendering these
+    Dominions useful to England, and England helpful to them; and that
+    the severall Peices and Colonies bee drawn and disposed into a more
+    certaine, civill, and uniforme waie of Government and distribution
+    of Publick Justice. And that such Collonies as are the Proprietie
+    of particular Persons or of Corporations may be reduced as neare as
+    cann bee to the same method and proportion w^{th} the rest w^{th}
+    as little dissatisfaction or injurie to the persons concerned as
+    may bee.
+
+    "That a continual correspondence bee so settled and ordered ...
+    that so each place w^{th}in itself and all of them being as it
+    were made up into one Commonwealth may be regulated accordingly
+    upon comon and equal Principles."
+
+
+These proposals are followed by a series of propositions designed to
+further the enterprise of the merchants and to aid in the defeat of
+the Spaniards, whereby "those oppressed People (who are w^{th}held
+from Trade though to their extreme suffering and disadvantage)" may
+be released "from the Tyranny [of Spain] now upon them."
+
+Taken as a whole, these documents form a remarkable series of unofficial
+papers which formulate foundation principles of colonial empire that
+England never applied. That these principles met the approval of those
+who were to shape the colonial policy of the Restoration a further
+examination will show.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Footnote 1: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574-1660; Dom., vols. for years
+1650-1660, Indexes; Brit. Mus. Egerton, 2395, Add. MSS., 11410, 11411,
+15858, f. 97, 22920, f. 22; Lansdowne, 822, f. 164, 823, f. 33.]
+
+[Footnote 2: Cal. State Papers, Col. and Dom. Indexes; Egerton, 2395,
+which contains Povey's collection of papers; Add. MSS., 11411, which
+contains his correspondence. See also Dictionary of National Biography.]
+
+[Footnote 3: A draft of such an act is to be found in Egerton, 2395, f.
+202.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Brit. Mus. Egerton, 2395, pp. 87-113, 176 (there is a
+duplicate of Povey's letter in Add. MSS., 11410); Cal. State Papers,
+Col., 1574-1660, pp. 475, 477.]
+
+[Footnote 5: That all these proposals were drafted by Povey is evident
+from similar terms and phrases used in his letters.]
+
+[Footnote 6: Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 11411, ff. 11^{b}-12^{b}.]
+
+[Footnote 7: Brit. Mus., Egerton, 2395, f. 86.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Brit. Mus., Egerton, 2395, f. 99; Add. MSS., 11411, ff.
+3-3^{b}. In a letter of August, 1657, Povey refers to these "Overtures,"
+which he says were designed "for the better setting and carrying on of
+the general affairs of the West Indies, enforcing the authority and
+powers of the several governors there, and the establishment of a
+certain course," etc.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+Committees and Councils Under the Restoration.
+
+
+Charles II landed at Dover on May 25, 1660 and on the twenty-seventh
+named at Canterbury four men, General Monck, the Earl of Southampton,
+William Morrice, and Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, who took oath as privy
+councillors. Others who had been members of the Council on foreign soil
+or were added during the month following the return of the King swelled
+the number to more than twenty. The first meeting of the Privy Council
+was held on May 31, and it was inevitable that during the ensuing weeks
+many petitions concerning the various claims and controversies which
+had been agitating merchants and planters during the previous years
+and had been reported on by the Committee for America should have been
+brought to the attention of the Council. Such matters as appointments to
+governorships and other offices, the political disturbances in Antigua,
+Barbadoes, and Jamaica, the titles to Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and
+Barbadoes, became at once living issues. Many of the petitions were from
+the London merchants, and we may not doubt that the personal influence
+of those whose names have been already mentioned was brought to bear
+upon the members of the Council. It became necessary, therefore,
+for the King and his advisers to make early provision for the proper
+consideration of colonial business in order that the colonies might
+be placed in a position of greater security and in order that the
+West Indian and American trade, from which the King and his Chancellor
+expected important additions to the royal revenue, might be encouraged
+and extended. Among the petitions received in June, 1660, were two from
+rival groups of merchants interested in the governorship and trade of
+the island of Nevis. One of these petitions desired the confirmation
+of the appointment of Col. Philip Ward as governor of Nevis; the other
+the reappointment of the former governor, Russell. This was the first
+difficult question that had yet arisen, for Berkeley's return to
+Virginia was a foregone conclusion, while the condition and settlement
+of Nova Scotia, Barbadoes and Jamaica were to be of importance later.
+Acting on these petitions regarding Nevis, only the second of which is
+entered in the Privy Council Register, the King in Council appointed
+on July 4, 1660, a committee, known as "The Right Honorable the Lords
+appointed a Committee of this Board for Trade and Plantations." The
+members were Edward Montague, Earl of Manchester, the Lord Chamberlain;
+Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, the Lord Treasurer; Robert
+Sydney, Earl of Leicester; William Fiennes, Lord Say and Seale; John
+Lord Robartes; Denzil Holles, Arthur Annesley, Sir Anthony Ashley
+Cooper, and the Secretaries of State, Sir Edward Nicholas and Sir
+William Morrice. The committee was instructed to meet on every Monday
+and Thursday at three o'clock in the afternoon, "to review, heare,
+examine, and deliberate upon any petitions, propositions, memorials, or
+other addresses, which shall be presented or brought in by any person or
+persons concerning the plantations, as well in the Continent as Islands
+of America, and from time to time make their report to this board of
+their proceedings."[1]
+
+It is evident from the wording of these instructions that the committee
+was designed to be a continuous one and to carry on the work of the
+former committee for foreign plantations of the Council of State. There
+is no essential difference between these committees, except that one
+represented a commonwealth and the other a monarchy. We pass from the
+one arrangement to the other with very little jar, and with much less
+sense of a break in the continuity than when we pass from the system
+under the Republic to that under the Protectorate. The Privy Council
+committee had all the essential features of a standing committee and,
+after the experiment with separate and select councils had proved
+unsatisfactory, it assumed entire control of trade and plantation
+affairs in 1675, a control which it exercised until 1696. Though an
+occasional change was made in its membership and some reorganization was
+effected in 1668, the Lords of Trade of July 4, 1660, commissioned with
+plenary powers by patent under the great seal, became the Lords of Trade
+of February 9, 1675.
+
+From 1660 to 1675 this committee of the Privy Council played no
+insignificant part although, after the creation of the councils, it was
+bound to be limited in the actual work that it performed. During the
+four months after its appointment it was the only body that had to do
+with trade and plantations except the Privy Council, which occasionally
+sat as a committee of the whole for plantation affairs. During the
+summer the committee considered with care and a due regard for all
+aspects of the case the claims of various persons to the government of
+Barbadoes. Despite the opposition of Modyford, who had been commissioned
+governor by the Council of State the April before, and John Colleton,
+one of the Council of Barbadoes, and despite the efforts of Alderman
+Riccard and other merchants of London, Francis Lord Willoughby was
+restored to the government under the claims of the Earl of Carlisle.
+At the same time the claims of the Kirks, Elliott, and Sterling to Nova
+Scotia were examined and eventually decided in favor of Col. Temple, the
+governor there. Willoughby immediately appointed Capt. Watts governor of
+the Caribbee Islands, himself, through his deputy, took the governorship
+of Barbadoes, Modyford became governor of Jamaica, Berkeley of Virginia,
+and Russell of Nevis. It is at least worthy of recall that Willoughby,
+Watts, Temple, and Russell were all within the circle of Povey's
+friends, that Povey and Noell both petitioned the King for Russell's
+reappointment, and that Temple wrote Povey begging him to exert his
+influence in his (Temple's) behalf, lest he lose the governorship. Povey
+was certainly in high favor with the monarchy; in 1660 he was appointed
+treasurer to the Duke of York and Master of Requests to his Majesty
+in Extraordinary June 22, 1660,[2] and during the years that followed
+he held office after office and with all the skill of a politician
+continued to find offices for his kinsmen. William Blathwayt, of later
+fame, was his nephew. Noell was no less honored; he became a member of
+the Royal Company of Merchants, the Royal African Company, the Society
+for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England, and was finally
+knighted in 1663 and died in 1665.[3] As we shall see, both men became
+very active in the affairs of the plantations, and it is more than
+likely that the opinions of the King in Council were not infrequently
+shaped by their suggestions and advice.
+
+How early the decision was reached to create separate councils of trade
+and foreign plantations it is impossible to say. Some time between May
+and August, 1660, Povey must have planned to recast his "Overtures"
+and to present them for the consideration of the King. At first he
+endeavored to adapt those of 1657 to the new situation by substituting
+"Foreign Plantations" for the "West Indies," "Ma^{tie}" for "Highness,"
+and "his Ma^{ties} Privie Councill" for "the great Councill"; but
+he finally decided to present a new draft, in which, however, he
+retained many of the essential clauses of the former paper. Whether the
+recommendations of Povey as presented in the "Overtures" influenced Lord
+Clarendon to recommend such councils to the King we cannot say; it is
+more likely that the practice adopted under the Protectorate had already
+commended itself to the Chancellor, who was beginning to show that
+interest in the plantations which characterizes the early years of his
+administration. That he should have consulted Noell and Povey and other
+London merchants is to be expected of the man who for at least five
+years kept up a close correspondence with Maverick of New England,
+Ludwell of Virginia, and D'Oyley, Littleton, and Modyford in the
+West Indies,[4] and who was constantly urging upon the King the
+importance of the plantations as sources of revenue and the great
+financial possibilities that lay in the improvement of trade. On August
+17, 1660, the King in Council drafted a letter to "Our very good Lord
+the Lord Maior of the Citty of London & to the Court of Aldermen of the
+said City," reading as follows:
+
+    "After our hearty commendations these are to acquaint you, That
+    his Majesty having this day taken into his princely consideration
+    how necessary it is for the good of this kingdom, that Trade and
+    Commerce with foreign parts, be with all due care, incouraged
+    and maintayned, And for the better settling thereof declared his
+    gracious intention to appoint a Committee of understanding able
+    persons, to take into their particular consideration all things
+    conducible thereunto; We do by his Ma^{ts} special command and
+    in order to the better carrying on of this truly royal, profitable,
+    and advantageous designe, desire you to give notice hereof
+    unto the Turkey Merchants, the Merchant Adventurers, the East
+    India, Greenland, and Eastland Companys, and likewise to the
+    unincorporated Traders, for Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, and
+    the West India Plantations; Willing them out of their respective
+    societies to present unto his Majesty the names of fower of their
+    most knowing active men (of whom, when his Majesty shall have
+    chosen two and unto this number of merchants added some other
+    able and well experienced persons, dignified also with the
+    presence and assistance of some of his Majesty's Privy Council)
+    All those to be by his Ma^{tie} appointed constituted and authoried
+    by commission under the Great Seal as a Standing Committee, to
+    enquire into and rectify all things tending to the Advancement
+    of Trade and Commerce; That so by their prudent and faithful
+    council and advice, his Ma^{tie} may (now in this conjuncture,
+    whilst most Foraigne Princes and Potentates doe, upon his Ma^{ties}
+    most happy establishment upon his throne, seek to renew their
+    former Allyances with this Crowne), insert into the several
+    Treatyes, such Articles & Clauses as may render this Nation more
+    prosperous and flourishing in Trade and Commerce. Thus by prudence,
+    care, & industry improving those great advantages to the highest
+    point of felicity, which by its admirable situation Nature seems
+    to have indulged to this his Majesty's kingdom. So we bid you
+    heartily farewell."[5]
+
+
+This letter was signed by Chancellor Hyde, Earl of Southampton, George
+Monck, Earl of Albemarle, Lord Say and Seale, Earl of Manchester, Lord
+Robartes, Arthur Annesley, and Secretary Morrice, who probably formed a
+special committee appointed to draft it. Some time within the month the
+answer of the Aldermen must have been received, for on September 19 the
+Council ordered the attorney general "to make a draught of a commission
+for establishing a Councell of Trade according to the grounds layed"
+in the letter of the seventeenth of August, "upon the perusal whereof
+at the Board his Ma^{tie} will insert the names of the said Counsell."
+It is more than likely that the project for the second council, that of
+plantations, went forward _pari passu_ with the Council for Trade and
+that the letter to the Mayor and Aldermen served a double purpose. At
+any rate that must have been the understanding among those interested at
+the time, for on September 26, one Norwich, Captain of the Guards, who
+had been in Clarendon's employ, sent in a memorial to the Chancellor
+begging that the King employ him "in his customs and committees of trade
+and forraign plantations."[6] The matter of drafting the commissions
+must have taken some time, for they are not mentioned as ready for the
+addition of names before the last week in October. The business of
+making up the lists of members must have been a difficult and tedious
+matter. Many lists exist among the Domestic Papers which contain
+changes, erasures and additions, drafts and corrected drafts, which show
+how much pains Clarendon and the others took to make the membership of
+the Council of Trade satisfactory. A suggested list was first drawn up
+containing the names of privy councillors, country gentlemen, customers,
+merchants, traders, the navy officers, gentlemen versed in affairs, and
+doctors of civil law. With this list was considered another containing
+the names of the persons nominated by the different merchant companies.
+Other lists seem also to have been presented.[7] Probably in much the
+same way the list of the members of the Council for Foreign Plantations
+was made up, but more slowly.
+
+The commissions were both ready by October 25 and on November 7 had
+reached the Crown Office (Chancery), ready to pass the great seal. The
+commission for the Council of Trade passed the great seal on that day
+and is dated November 7, 1660; but the commission for the Council for
+Foreign Plantations was held back that the names of other members might
+be added and it became necessary to have a new bill passed and duly
+engrossed three weeks later.[8] Therefore the commission for the Council
+for Foreign Plantations is dated December 1, 1660.
+
+An analysis of the membership of these two councils and of the
+membership of the Royal African Company, created soon after, shows many
+points of interest. The Council of Trade consisted of sixty-two members,
+that of Foreign Plantations of forty-eight,[9] and that of the African
+Company of sixty-six. Twenty-eight members are common to the first two
+bodies, eleven are common to the Council of Trade and the Royal African
+Company, and eight are common to all three groups. These eight are John
+Lord Berkeley of Stratton; Sir George Carteret, Sir Nicholas Crispe,
+Sir Andrew Riccard, Sir John Shaw, Thomas Povey, Martin Noell, and
+John Colleton. The other members common to the two councils are
+Lord Clarendon, the Earl of Southampton, Earl of Manchester, Earl of
+Marlborough, Earl of Portland, Lord Robartes, Francis Lord Willoughby,
+Denzil Holles, Sir Edward Nicholas, Sir William Morrice, Arthur
+Annesley, Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, William Coventry, Daniel O'Neale,
+Sir James Draxe, Edward Waller, Edward Digges, William Williams, Thomas
+Kendall, and John Lewis; while among the other members of the Council
+for Foreign Plantations are such well-known men as Sir William Berkeley,
+Capt. John Limbrey, Col. Edward Waldrond, Capt. Thomas Middleton,
+Capt. William Watts, and Capt. Alexander Howe. Thus the merchants,
+sea-captains, and planters, men thoroughly familiar with the questions
+of trade and plantations and intimately connected with the plantations
+themselves are members of the Council of Plantations and sometimes
+of that of Trade also. It is significant that among the four London
+merchants common to all three groups should be found the names of Noell
+and Povey. Their associates, Crispe and Riccard, were persons well
+known in the history of London trade, and probably the four names
+represent the four most influential men among the merchants of London
+who supported the King. When we turn to the work of these councils we
+shall see that Povey and Noell were active members also.
+
+However uncertain we may be regarding the influence of Povey and Noell
+in shaping the policy of Clarendon and the King, that uncertainty
+disappears as soon as we examine the instructions which were drafted
+to accompany the commission for a Council for Foreign Plantations.
+The instructions are little more than a verbal reproduction of the
+"Overtures" which Povey drafted some time during the summer of 1660
+for presentation to the King. They are based on the earlier overtures
+and proposals and certain passages can be traced back unchanged to the
+first "Overture" of 1654. Seven of the eleven clauses are taken from
+the Povey papers as follows:
+
+  _Overtures._                           _Instructions._
+
+  They may forthwith write letters       2. You shall forthwith write
+  to everie Governour ... requiring      letters to evrie of our
+  an exact and perticular Account of     Governo^{rs} ... to send unto
+  the State of their affairs; of the
+  nature and constitution of their       3. you ... perticular and exact
+  Lawes and Government, and in what      accompt of the state of their
+  modell they move; what numbers of      affaires; of the nature and
+  them, what Fortifications, and         constitution of their lawes and
+  other Strengths, and Defences are      governm^{t} and in what modell
+  upon the Places.                       and frame they move and are
+                                         disposed; what numbers of men;
+                                         what fortifications and other
+                                         strengths and defences are upon
+                                         the place.
+
+  To apply to all prudentiall meanes     5. To applie your selves to
+  for the rendering these Dominions      all prudentiall means for the
+  usefull to England, and England        rendering those dominions usefull
+  helpfull to them; and that the         to England, and England helpful
+  Severall Pieces, and Collonies bee     to them, and for the bringing the
+  drawn and disposed into a more         severall Colonies and Plantacons,
+  certaine, civill, and uniform waie     within themselves, into a more
+  of Government; and distribution of     certaine civill and uniforme
+  publick justice.                       [waie] of government and for the
+                                         better ordering and distributeing
+                                         of publicque justice among them.
+
+  To settle such a continuall            4. To order and settle such a
+  correspondencie, that it may be able   continuall correspondencie that
+  to give upp an account once a yeare    you may be able, as often as you
+  to his Ma^{tie} of the Goverment of    are required thereunto, to give
+  each Place; of their Complaints,       up to us an accompt of the
+  their Wants, their Aboundance, of      Governm'{t} of each Colonie; of
+  everie Shipp trading there, and its    their complaints, their wants,
+  lading; and whither consign'd; and     their abundance; of their severall
+  to know what the proceeds of that      growths and comodities of every
+  Place have been that yeare; whereby    Shipp Tradeing there and its
+  the instrinsick value, and the true    ladeing and whither consigned and
+  condition of each part and of the      what the proceeds of that place
+  whole may be thoroughly understood;    have beene in the late years; that
+  and whereby a Ballance may be          thereby the intrinsick value and
+  erected for the better ordering and    the true condicon of each part of
+  disposing of Trade, and of the         the whole may be thoroughly
+  growth of the Plantations, that soe,   understood; whereby a more steady
+  each Place within itself and all of    judgem^{t} and ballance may be
+  them being as it were made up into     made for the better ordering and
+  one Comonwealth, may by his Ma^{tie}   disposing of trade & of the
+  bee heere governd, and regulated       proceede and improvem^{ts} of the
+  accordingly, upon common and equal     Plantacons; that soe each place
+  principles.                            within it selfe, and all of them
+                                         being collected into one viewe and
+                                         managem^{t} here, may be regulated
+                                         and ordered upon commonand equall
+                                         ground & principles.
+
+  To enquire diligently into the         6. To enquire diligently into
+  Severall Governments and Councells     the severall governm^{ts} and
+  of Plantations belonging to            Councells of Colonies Plantacons
+  forreigne Princes, or States;          and distant Dominions, belonging
+  and examine by what Conduct and        to other Princes or States, and
+  Pollicies they govern, or benefitt     to examine by what conduct and
+  their own Collonies, and upon what     pollicies they govern or benefit
+  Grounds. And is to consult and         them; and you are to consult and
+  provide soe, that if such Councells    provide that if such councells be
+  be good, wholesome, and practicable,   good wholesome and practicable,
+  they may be applyed to our use; or     they may be applied to the case
+  if they tend, or were designed to      of our Plantacons; or if they
+  our prejudice or Disadvantage, they    tend or were designed to the
+  may bee ballanced, or turned-back      prejudice or disadvantage thereof
+  upon them.                             or of any of our subjects or of
+                                         trade or comerce, how then they
+                                         may be ballanced or turned back
+                                         upon them.
+
+  To receive, debate, and favour         11. To advise, order, settle, and
+  all such Propositions as shall         dispose of all matters relating to
+  be tendered to them, for the           the good governm^{t} improvement
+  improvement of any of the forreigne    and management of our Forraine
+  Plantations, or in order to any        Plantacons or any of them, with
+  other laudable and advantageous        your utmost skill direccon and
+  enterprize.                            prudence.
+
+  To call to its Advice and              7. To call to your assistance
+  Consultation from time to time, as     from time to time as often as the
+  often as the matter in debate and      matter in consideration shall
+  under consideration shall require,     require any well experienced
+  any well experienced Persons,          persons, whether merchants,
+  whether Mechants, or Seamen, or        planters, seamen, artificers,
+  Artificers.                            etc.
+
+
+In the "Overtures" there are no clauses corresponding to those in the
+Instructions relating to the enforcement of the Navigation Act or to the
+spread of the Christian religion; these may well be deemed Restoration
+additions, inserted at Clarendon's request. But the clause concerning
+the transportation of servants, poor men, and vagrants may well have
+been Povey's own, for both Povey and Noell were interested in the
+question and Noell had been in the business since 1654. In the "Queries"
+is the following paragraph:
+
+    "Whither the weeding of this Comon Wealth of Vagabonds, condemned
+    Persons and such as are heere useless and hurtful in wars and
+    peace, and a settled course taken for the transporting them to
+    the Indias and thereby principally supplying Jamaica is not
+    necessary to be consulted."
+
+
+Among the Povey papers is one entitled "Certain propositions for the
+better accommodating the Forreigne Plantacons with Servants," which
+Povey may have drawn up. Hence, there is no good reason to doubt but
+that Povey wrote the entire draft of these instructions himself. Even
+those portions that are not to be found in the "Overtures" are written
+in Povey's peculiar and rather stilted style.
+
+That Povey and Noell were the authors of the instructions given to the
+Council of Trade it is not so easy to demonstrate. A preliminary sketch
+of "Instructions for a Councill of Trade" as well as a copy of the final
+instructions are to be found among the Povey papers and both Povey and
+Noell were sufficiently familiar with the requirements of trade at that
+period to have drafted such a document. The fact that the second paper
+is but an elaboration of the first leads to the conclusion that they
+bear to each other much the same relation that the "Overtures" bear
+to the Instructions for the Council of Plantations:
+
+
+  FIRST DRAFT.                           FINAL INSTRUCTIONS.
+
+  1. You shall in the first place        1. You shall take into your
+  consider, and propound how to          consideration the inconveniences
+  remedy inconveniencys of the the       w^{ch} the English Trade hath
+  English trade, in all the respective   suffered in any Partes beyond the
+  dominions of those Princes and         Seas, And are to inquire into such
+  States with whom his Mat^{ie} may      Articles of former Treaties as
+  renew Alliance, and to that end        have been made with any Princes or
+  make due enquiry into such former      States in relation to Trade, And
+  treaties as relate to Trade.           to draw out such Observations or
+                                         Resolutions from thence, as may be
+                                         necessary for us to advise or
+                                         insist upon in any forreigne
+                                         Leagues or Allyances. That such
+                                         evills as have befallen these our
+                                         Kingdomes through the want of
+                                         good information in these great
+                                         and publique concernm^{ts} may be
+                                         provided against in tyme to come.
+
+  What Articles have bin provided        2. You are to consider how & by
+  in favour of the Trade of his          whome any former Articles or
+  Ma^{ties} Subjects, How they have      Treatyes have been neglected or
+  been neglected & Violated, What        violated, what new Capitulations
+  new Capitulations may be necessary     are necessary either to the
+  pro Ratione Rerum, et temporum.        freedome of Sale of your
+                                         Commodities of all sorts, as to
+  And those, either in Relation:         price & payment, Or to the best
+                                         expedition of Justice to the
+  1. To the freedome of Sale of your     recovery of Debts, or to the
+  Commodities of all sorts, as to        Security of Estates of all factors
+  price & payment.                       & their Principalls in case of the
+                                         factor's Death, Or to the
+  2. To the best expedition of           prevention of those interruptions
+  Justice for recovery of your debts.    w^{ch} the Trade & Navigations of
+                                         our Kingdomes have suffered by
+  3. To the security of the Estates      Imbargoes of forreigne Princes or
+  of all factors, and their              States, Or Imprestinge the Shipps
+  Principalls in case of the factor's    of any of our Subjects, for their
+  death.                                 Service.
+
+  4. To the Prevention of the            3. You are to consider well the
+  Interruption of the Trade &            Interest of all such trades as
+  Navigation, by Embargos of forraigne   are or shall be Incorporated
+  Princes & States, or imprestinge       by our Royall Charters, & what
+  your Shipps to their Service.          Jurisdictions are necessary to
+                                         be obteyned from such as are,
+  5. To the Interest of all Trades       or shall be in Allyance with us,
+  that are or shall be incorporated      for the more regular managem^{t}
+  by his Mat^{ies} Charters, what        & governm^{t} of the Trade,
+  jurisdictyon is necessary to be        & of the members of those our
+  obtained from our Allies, for          Corporations & forreigne
+  the more regular government            factories.
+  of the Trade & members of those
+  Corporations in forraigne              4. You are to consider of the
+  factoryes.                             several Manufactures of these our
+                                         Kingdomes how & by what occasions
+  2^{ly}. And next you shall             they are corrupted, debased &
+  consider, how the reputation           disparaged, And by what probable
+  of all the manufactures of his         meanes they may be restored &
+  Mat^{ies} Kingdome may be recovered    maintained in their auncyent
+  by a just regulation and standard      goodness & reputation, And how
+  of weight, length, and breadth,        they may be farther improved to
+  that soe the more profitable and       there utmost advantage by a just
+  ample Vent of them may be procured.    Regulation & Standard of weight
+                                         Length & Breadth, that soe the
+                                         private profitt of the Tradesmen
+                                         or Merchants may not destroy
+                                         the Creditt of the Commodity,
+                                         & thereby render it neglected
+                                         & unvended abroad, to the great
+                                         loss & scandall of these our
+                                         Kingdomes.
+
+                                         5. You are also to take into
+                                         your Consideration all the
+                                         native Commodities of the growth
+                                         & production of these our
+                                         Kingdomes, and how they may be
+                                         ordered, nourished, increased &
+                                         manifactured to the ymployment
+                                         of our People and to the best
+                                         advantage of the Publique.
+
+  4^{ly}. How the fishinge Trades        6. You are especially to
+  of Newfound Land, the Coasts           consider of the whole business
+  of England, Irland, & New              of fishings of these our
+  England may be most improoved,         Kingdomes or any other of our
+  and regulated to the greatest          distant Dominions or Plantations
+  advantage of the Stocke and            & to consult of some effectuall
+  navigation of the nation, by           meanes for the reinforceing
+  excludinge the intrusion of our        encouraging & encreasinge, and
+  neighbors into it.                     for the regulating & carryinge
+                                         on of the Trade in all the
+                                         Parts thereof. To the end That
+                                         the People and Stock, and
+                                         Navigation of these our Kingdomes
+                                         may be ymployed therein and
+                                         our Neighbors may not be
+                                         enricht with that which soe
+                                         properly & advantagiously may
+                                         be undertooke & carryed on by
+                                         our own Subjects.
+
+  3^{ly}. How the Trade of the           7. You are seriously to
+  Kingdome to forraigne parts            consider & enquire whether the
+  may be soe menaged and                 Importation of forreigne
+  proportioned, that we may in           Commodityes doe not over-ballance
+  every part be more Sellers than        the Exportations of such as are
+  buyers, that thereby the Coyne         Native, And how it may be soe
+  and present Stocke of money may        Ordered remedied, & proportioned
+  be preserved and increased.            that we may have more
+                                         Sellers than Buyers in every
+                                         parte abroad, And that the
+                                         Coyne & present Stock of these
+                                         our Kingdomes, may be preserved
+                                         & increased, We judging,
+                                         that such a Scale & Rule of
+                                         proportion is one of the highest
+                                         and most prudentiall points
+                                         of Trade by w^{ch} the riches
+                                         & strength of these our Kingdomes,
+                                         are best to be understood
+                                         & maintained.
+
+                                         8. You are to consider & examine
+                                         by what wayes & means other
+                                         Nations doe preferr their owne
+                                         growths & Manifactures, &
+                                         Importations, & doe discourage
+                                         & suppress those of these
+                                         our Kingdomes, & how the best
+                                         contrivances and managem^{t}
+                                         of Trade, exercysed by other
+                                         Nations may be rendred applicable
+                                         & practicable by these our
+                                         Kingdomes.
+
+                                         9. You are well to consider all
+                                         matters relatinge to Navigation,
+                                         & to the increase, & the Security
+                                         thereof.
+
+                                         10. You are thoroughly to consider
+                                         the severall matters relatinge
+                                         to Money, how Bullonge may be
+                                         best drawne in hither, & how any
+                                         Obstructions upon our Mynt may
+                                         be best removed.
+
+  5^{ly}. How the forraigne              11. You are to consider the
+  Plantations may be made most useful    general State & Condition of our
+  to the Trade & Navigation of these     forreigne Plantations & of the
+  Kingdomes.                             Navigation Trade & severall
+                                         Commodityes ariseinge thereupon,
+                                         & how farr theire future
+                                         Improvem^{t} & Prosperitie may
+                                         bee advanced by any discouragement
+                                         Imposition or Restraint, upon
+                                         the Importation of all goods or
+                                         Commodityes w^{th} which those
+                                         Plantations doe abound, and may
+                                         supply these our Kingdomes, And
+                                         you are alsoe in all matters
+                                         wherein our forreigne Plantations
+                                         are concerned to take advise or
+                                         information (as occasion shall
+                                         require) from the Councell
+                                         appointed & sett apart by us to
+                                         the more perticuler Inspection
+                                         Regulation and Care of our
+                                         forreigne plantations.
+
+                                         12. You are to consider how
+                                         the transportation of such
+                                         things may be best restreined
+                                         and prevented, as are either
+                                         forbiddenby the Lawe,
+                                         or may be inconvenient,
+                                         or of disadvantage by being
+                                         transported out of these our
+                                         Kingdomes and dominions.[10]
+
+
+The councils thus commissioned and instructed soon met for organization
+and business, the Council for Plantations holding its preliminary
+session December 10, 1660, in the Star Chamber, and all remaining
+meetings in the Inner Court of Wards; the Council for Trade meeting,
+first, in Mercer's Hall, near Old Jewry, afterwards in certain rooms in
+Whitehall, still later in a rented house which was consumed in the great
+fire, and, after 1667, in Exeter House, Strand. Philip Frowde became the
+clerical secretary of the Plantation Council and George Duke secretary
+of the Council of Trade, a position that he seems to have lost in 1663
+but to have resumed again before 1667. The meetings were attended
+chiefly by the non-conciliar members, for it was usually the rule that
+privy councillors were to be present only when some special business
+required their cooeperation. Both councils were organized in much the
+same manner, with a number, at least seven, of inferior officers,
+clerks, messengers, and servants, and in both cases journals of
+proceedings and entry books containing copies of documents, patents,
+charters, petitions, and reports were kept.[11] Whether minutes were
+taken of the meetings of the subcommittees is doubtful; no such papers
+have anywhere been found.
+
+The Council for Plantations had a continuous existence from December 10,
+1660, when the preliminary meeting was held, probably until the spring
+of 1665, though August 24, 1664, is the date of its last recorded
+sitting. During that time it shared in the extraordinary activity which
+characterized the early years of the Restoration and represents, as far
+as such activity can represent any one person, the enthusiasm of the
+Earl of Clarendon. There was not an important phase of colonial life and
+government, not a colonial claim or dispute, that was not considered
+carefully, thoroughly, and, in the main, impartially by the Council.[12]
+The business was nearly always handled, in the first instance, by
+experts, for with few exceptions the working committees were made up
+of men who had had intimate experience with colonial affairs or were
+financially interested in their prosperity. The first committee, that of
+January 7, 1661, for example, was composed of Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper,
+who had been on plantation committees during the Interregnum; Robert
+Boyle, president of the Corporation for the Propagation of the Gospel
+in New England and one of the founders of the Royal Society; Sir Peter
+Leere and Sir James Draxe, old Barbadian planters; Edmund Waller,
+poet and parliamentarian, who had been interested in colonial affairs
+for some years; General Venables, who knew Jamaica well; Thomas Povey,
+Edward Digges, John Colleton (soon to be Sir John), Martin Noell (soon
+to be Sir Martin), and Thomas Kendall, all merchants and experts on
+colonial trade, and Middleton, Jefferies, Watts, and Howe, sea-captains
+and merchants in frequent touch with the colonies. Other committees
+were made up in much the same way, although the number of members was
+usually smaller. When letters were to be written or reports drafted that
+required skill in composition and embodiment in literary form, we find
+the task entrusted to Povey alone or to Povey assisted by the poets
+Waller and Sir John Denham. Povey was, indeed, the most active member
+of the Council, serving as its secretary in much the same capacity
+as on the Committee for America from 1657 to 1660.[13] On both these
+boards he exemplified his own recommendation that there should be on
+the Council "a Person who is to be more imediately concern'd and active
+than the rest ... allwaies readie to give a full and digested account
+and consideracon of any particular relating to those Affaires." Among
+the Povey papers are many drafts of letters and reports in process of
+construction, bearing erasures and additions which point to Povey as
+their author.[14]
+
+The Council for Plantations and its committees sat and deliberated
+apart, the latter in Grocer's Hall; but the subjects under examination
+were considered by both bodies. The subcommittees were frequently
+instructed to call in persons interested, to write to others from whom
+information could be obtained, and to pursue their investigations with
+due regard for both sides of the case. Sometimes questions would be
+submitted to the attorney general, to Dr. Walter Walker and others
+from Doctors Commons, to special members of the Council who were more
+familiar than the rest with the facts in the case. On at least one
+occasion all the members of the Council were requested to bring in what
+information they could obtain regarding a particular matter. Question
+after question was postponed from one meeting to another, because the
+Council had not obtained all the details that it felt should be in
+hand before the report was sent to the King in Council. On a few
+occasions members of the Council accompanied the report to the Privy
+Council apparently with the intention of explaining or emphasizing
+their recommendations. The subjects under debate concerned the internal
+or external affairs of all the colonies. They related to Jamaica,
+Barbadoes, Maryland, Virginia, and New England, including Nova Scotia,
+Massachusetts, Maine, and Long Island; they dealt with Quakers, Jews,
+vagrants, and servants, supplies, provisions, naval stores, emigrant
+registration, and abuses in colonial trade; they included that burning
+question of the period, the Dutch at New Amsterdam and the complaints
+that arose regarding Holland as an obstruction to English trade. The
+amount of time taken and pains expended on controversial points can be
+inferred from an examination of the New England case, which was taken
+up at the first regular meeting in January and was under examination
+from that time until April 30, when the Council sent in its report.
+Even then it was taken up by the Privy Council, referred to its own
+committee, called the Committee for New England, and in one or two
+particulars was sent back to the Council for further consideration.
+In the performance of its duties the Council for Plantations can never
+be charged with indolence or neglect. In the year 1661 alone it held
+forty meetings, or an average of one every nine days.
+
+After August, 1664, the records of the Council come to an end, but there
+is reason to believe that the Council continued its sessions at least
+until the spring of 1665. That the last meeting was not held on August
+24 is certain, not only from the wording of the minute, which reads:
+"ordered, being a matter of great moment and the day far spent, that the
+further consideration be deferred for a week," but also from two further
+references to the existence of the Council, of later date,--one dated
+September 7, when the Council sent in a report regarding the proposed
+establishment of a registry office, and the other in the form of an
+endorsement upon a letter from Lord Willoughby which says: "Ref^{d} to
+the Council, Feb. 24," that is February 24, 1665. It seems probable,
+therefore, that the Council was sitting as late as February-March
+of that year.[15] Probably its meetings were broken up by the plague
+which started in London about that time, in the westernmost parish,
+St. Giles-in-the-Fields, and lasted until the end of October. Whether
+the Council resumed its sessions after the plague had subsided it is
+almost impossible to say. No definite record exists of its meetings or
+work. Some of its members had died, Sir Martin Noell in October, 1665,
+and Sir Nicholas Crispe the next year; others had left England, Lord
+Willoughby, Capts. Watts and Kendall, and possibly Sir James Draxe;
+while others had accepted posts that took them away from London, as in
+the case of Capt. Middleton, who became commissioner of the navy at
+Portsmouth. Certainly Povey could have had very little to do with the
+affairs of a council in London in 1664-1666, when as surveyor-general of
+the victualling department he was required to be frequently at Plymouth
+and to spend a considerable amount of time travelling about England.[16]
+Yet there is nothing to show that its commission was revoked, and
+an order of the Privy Council, September 23, 1667, to which further
+reference will be made below, reads as if the Council were in existence
+at that time. If so, it must have been merely a nominal body.
+
+After 1665, and until 1670, plantation affairs seem to have been
+controlled entirely by the Privy Council and its committees, which
+proved themselves capable and vigorous bodies. Before 1666, besides
+the Committee for Foreign Plantations, which has already been noticed,
+other committees were appointed as occasion arose,--committees for
+Jamaica, for Jamaica and Algiers, for the Guinea trade, for the Royal
+Company, for fishing in Newfoundland, for Jersey and Guernsey, and
+for New England. Committees for Trade and for hearing appeals from
+the Plantations also existed. On December 7, 1666, after the plague
+had subsided and the great fire had spent itself, the Privy Council
+reappointed its plantation committee, which now entered upon a career of
+greatly increased activity.[17] At the same time the Council made use of
+its other committees, particularly the "Committee for the Affaires of
+New England and for the bounding of Acadia," October 2, 4, 1667, which
+took into consideration the question of the restitution of Acadia to the
+French;[18] and it referred important matters of business to committees
+of selected experts. Under these conditions the affairs of the colonies
+were managed until the appointment of a new Plantation Council in
+August, 1670.
+
+The Council for Trade met in Mercer's Hall some time before November
+13, 1660, and at its preliminary session considered that part of its
+instructions which related to bullion and coin. On December 13, 1660, it
+passed a resolution urging and inviting people and merchants to send in
+petitions, and it requested the King to issue a proclamation defining
+its powers in all matters relating to trade and manufactures and calling
+on "any person, concerned in the matters therein to be debated or who
+have any petition or invention to offer, to apply to them for redress
+of evils brought on by the late times or for the improvement of trade
+regulations."[19] In response to, this appeal a large number of
+petitions, sent either to the Privy Council or directly to the Select
+Council itself, were received, and the discussion of these petitions
+and the preparing of reports upon them occupied the attention of the
+Council during the first two years. These reports show that the Council
+took its duties seriously and was thoroughly in earnest to improve,
+if possible, the trade of the kingdom, and to carry out to the full
+the commands which the King had laid upon it. There is not a clause
+of the instructions to which it did not pay some attention, and upon
+many matters it debated long and ardently, making reports that are as
+valuable for the student of the trade policy of the seventeenth century
+as are the familiar writings of well-known mercantilists. The Council
+took up and discussed the export of bullion and coin, expressing its
+opinion that the penalties should be withdrawn as injurious to trade,
+because they prevented the English merchants from bringing their money
+into the kingdom where it would be detained, and saying that money most
+abounded in countries which enjoyed freedom from restraints on exports.
+The trade in the Baltic, the East Indies, and the Levant to which trade
+freedom to export bullion was preeminently important; the Merchant
+Adventurers, regarding whose history and position the Council made
+a valuable report, viewing the subject from the beginning; the East
+India Company, whose petition,--largely reproduced in the report of the
+Council,--contained a bitter arraignment of the Dutch, calling to mind
+the "impudent affronts to the honor of this nation and the horrid
+injuries done to the stock and commerce thereof," and demanding damages
+and a definite regulation of trade in the forthcoming treaty with
+Holland then under debate; treaties with foreign powers, clauses in
+which concerning trade were taken up at the early meetings of the
+Council; prohibition of imposts on foreign cloths and stuffs, regarding
+which sundry shopkeepers, tradesmen, and artificers of London had
+petitioned the Privy Council in November, 1660,[20]--all these matters
+the Council took under consideration. It dealt with the granting of
+patents, with the encouragement of home industries, particularly the
+business of the framework knitters, silk-dyeing, and the manufacture of
+tapestry, and with the establishment of an insurance company.[21] As far
+as the plantations were concerned, its recommendations were few, and
+were made chiefly in connection with reports on the ninth and eleventh
+articles of its instructions, which touched upon convoys, imports,
+and composition-ports. It drafted a carefully drawn list of necessary
+convoys in which, of all the American plantations, only Newfoundland
+is mentioned. It considered the importation of logwood and tobacco,
+and upon the latter point made the suggestion "that all tobacco
+of English Plantations do pay at importation 1/2d. a pound and at
+exportation nothing." This recommendation was accompanied by a valuable
+essay on trade in general. It dealt with the question of making Dover
+a free port for composition trade and took the ground that the Acts
+of Navigation should be inviolably kept. On this question the Earl of
+Southampton, the Treasurer, and Lord Ashley (Cooper), Chancellor of the
+Exchequer, took the opposite ground, favoring the freedom of the port,
+"Dover having formerly been a port for free trade," and adding that
+"a free trade thus settled we conceive might conduce to the advantage
+of your Majesty's customs," trade being injured by the "tyes and
+observances which the Act of Navigation places upon it." They reported
+further that the farmers of the customs wished the Act to be dispensed
+with in some cases.[22]
+
+Regarding the attitude of the Council toward the sixth article
+of its instructions, the promotion of the fisheries, we have fuller
+information. At the session of December 17, 1663, there were present the
+Earl of Sandwich, William Coventry, Sir Nicholas Crispe, Henry Slingsby,
+Christopher Boone, John Lord Berkeley, Sir Sackville Crowe, Thomas
+Povey, John Jolliffe, and George Toriano. Acting on a special order
+from the King, they debated how best the fishing trade might be
+gained and promoted, and how encouraged and advanced when gained.
+They considered the respective merits of a commission and a corporation,
+and whether, if a corporation should be agreed upon, it ought to be
+universal or exclusive, perpetual or limited, a joint stock or a divided
+stock, and what immunities and powers should be granted, the character
+of the persons to be admitted and the number. Taking up each point in
+turn, the members of the Council first considered "How to gain the Trade
+of Fishery" and laid down seven methods: 1, 2, by raising money either
+through voluntary contributions or through lotteries; 3, 4, by restraint
+of foreign importation or by impositions upon all foreign importation;
+5, by letters to all countries urging them to contribute such especial
+commodities as cordage, lumber, boards, and the like, in exchange for
+fish; 6, by declaring a war against the Dutch, and at the same time,
+7, by naturalizing or indenizing all Hollanders who would come into
+the English fishery. For the support of the trade when gained the
+Council proposed: 1, to impose a proportion of fish upon every vintner,
+innkeeper, alehouse-keeper, victualler, and coffee house in England;
+2, to refuse all licenses for fish, which were to be paid for to the
+corporation; 3, to take the stock of the poor of every parish and
+provide for the impotent and aged only out of the product, and employ
+such as were able to work in the fishery--the impotent in the making
+of nets, etc.; 4, to require the gentlemen of all maritime counties
+to raise a stock of money in their counties to be employed toward the
+advance of the fishery; 5, to raise busses, _i. e._, Dutch herring
+boats, and to set them forth to their own use and to receive the profits
+in fish or in the product of it; 6, to employ the imposition laid upon
+fish by the last Parliament for the purpose of advancing the trade; to
+accept the offer of fishmongers to raise busses and money; 8, to require
+the master and wardens of the company, and, 9, to encourage private
+persons to do the same; 10, to bring over Dutchmen to teach the English
+the art of curing, salting, and marking fish, and of making casks.
+It was then decided, "after a long and solemne debate of the whole
+matter," _nemine contradicente_, "that there being no disadvantage in a
+corporation But many great Advantages, powers and Immunities that cannot
+be had by Commission That the best way of advancing & encouraging the
+Fishing Trade is by way of [a] Corporation." To this corporation were to
+be granted "the sole power of Lycensing the Eating and killing of flesh
+in Lent," the power to make by-laws, to dispose of "guifts that are or
+shalbee given for carrying on of this Trade," to administer oaths, to
+constitute officers, to exercise coercion in case of contempt against
+orders, to fine and in some cases to imprison, to send for papers,
+persons, books, etc. The corporation was to be universal, perpetual, and
+a joint stock company.[23] As a result of the report of the Council a
+charter of incorporation was issued to the Duke of York and thirty-six
+others, forming the Governor and Company of the Royal Fishery of Great
+Britain and Ireland, and George Duke, "late Secretary to the Committee
+of Trade," was recommended by the King as its secretary.[24]
+
+This account of the debate in the Council upon the fishery question
+is important not only because it gives an interesting glimpse of the
+Council at work, and the only glimpse that we have at any length of
+its procedure, but because it illustrates a phase of mercantilism in
+the making. It shows, also, the intensity of the rivalry that existed
+between England and Holland, and furnishes an admirable example of one
+of the causes of that rivalry, the Dutch predominance in the fishing
+business.[25] The Council frequently appealed to the methods employed
+by the Dutch as a sufficient argument to support its contention, and
+when objections were raised against the universal corporation it
+answered, "You destroy the essence of a Corporation by lymitting it,
+And if you lymitt it, no man will venture their Stocke, and the mayne
+reason why the Dutch employ not only their Stocke but their whole
+families in the fisheries, is because their corporation is perpetual."
+
+How much longer the Council of Trade continued its sessions it is
+impossible to say. Its last recorded action is a report, dated July,
+1664, which contained its opinion upon the question of trade with
+Scotland, a matter soon to be taken up by the higher authorities.
+It is probable that, as in the case of the Council of Plantations, its
+sessions were suspended because of the plague and the fire and were not
+resumed. Its commission was not revoked and it certainly had a nominal
+existence until 1667. That it had no actual existence in April, 1665,
+seems likely from a letter sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury at that
+time, begging that the King appoint a council of trade to find out the
+cause of the decay in the coal trade.[26] By the summer of 1665 trade
+was reported dead and money scarce and to the plague was ascribed "an
+infinite interruption to the whole trade of the Nation." The fire and
+the Dutch war completed the demoralization of commerce and in 1666 the
+plantations were deemed in great want of necessaries on account of the
+obstructions of trade by the war. Though in that year many questions
+arose that might naturally have been referred to such a council had
+it been in session, no such references appear among the records. The
+advancement of trade was looked after by the Privy Council and its trade
+committee, and particularly by the Committee of Trade appointed by
+Parliament. The latter body had been named as early as March, 1664,
+to investigate the export of wool, wool-fells, and fullers' earth.
+A few weeks later it was entrusted with the duty of inquiring into the
+reasons for the general decay of trade. As this function was conferred
+on the Parliamentary Committee at a time when the Select Council was
+still holding its sessions, it is reasonable to suppose that the work
+of the latter body had not proved satisfactory. There is some slight
+evidence to show that the meetings of the Council were at this time but
+little attended and that its members were not working in harmony.[27]
+The Parliamentary Committee, acting as a Council of Trade, ordered
+representatives from all the merchant companies to prepare an account
+of the causes of obstruction in their different branches, and when the
+latter, among other obstacles, named the Dutch as the chief enemies of
+English trade, resolved that the wrongs inflicted by the Dutch were the
+greatest obstructions to foreign trade, and recommended that the King
+should seek redress. Other causes were considered and debated.[28]
+
+An excellent idea of procedure can be obtained from studying the history
+of trade relations with Scotland during this decade. Immediately after
+the passage of the Navigation Act of 1660, the Scots petitioned that the
+Act might be dispensed with for Scotland, and special deputies were sent
+from the Scottish to the English Parliament to prevent, if possible, the
+extension of the Act to their country. The matter was referred to the
+Customs Commissioners and to the Privy Council, and the latter appointed
+a special committee to investigate it. Both of these bodies reported
+that the grant of such liberties to the Scots would frustrate the object
+of the Act, and gave elaborate reasons for this opinion.[29] As an act
+of retaliation the Scottish Parliament laid heavy impositions upon
+English goods, and English merchants in 1664 petitioned Parliament for
+relief. Parliament recommended the appointment of referees on both sides
+and in July, 1664, the Privy Council placed the matter in the hands
+of Southampton, Ashley, and Secretary Bennet. This committee laid the
+question before the Council of Trade, which suggested a compromise,
+whereby duties on both sides should be reduced to 5 per cent., the Scots
+should have the benefits of the Act of Navigation but no intercourse
+with foreign plantations, and should not buy any more foreign built
+ships. As a result of these and further negotiations Parliament passed
+an act in 1667,[30] "for settling freedom and intercourse of trade
+between England and Scotland," and under the terms of that act
+commissioners were appointed to meet with commissioners for Scotland
+in the Inner Star Chamber to negotiate a freedom of trade between the
+two countries. The commissioners duly met on January 13, 1668, and the
+papers recording their negotiations are full and explicit. The whole
+question of the relations between England and Scotland since the union,
+both political and economic, was investigated with great care; papers
+were searched for, records examined, memorials and petitions received,
+and various conditions of trade inquired into. The commissioners
+frequently disagreed and harmony was by no means always attained,
+resulting in delays in drafting the treaty and the eventual failure
+of the negotiations. In October the Scottish commissioners returned
+to Edinburgh, and the conditions remained as before.[31]
+
+The fall of Clarendon, at the end of the year 1667, led to important
+changes in the organization of the government, and the widespread
+demoralization in trade demanded an improvement of the system of trade
+and plantation control. The year 1668 is significant as the starting
+point for a number of attempted remedies in matters of finance and
+trade supervision. We have no opportunity here to examine the political
+aspects of these changes or to determine how far they were effected
+in the interest of mere political control. Suffice it to say that too
+many conditions of the reign of Charles II have been attributed to
+extravagance and political intrigue, and too few to an honest desire
+on the part of those concerned to restore the realm to a condition of
+solvency and prosperity. Heavily burdened with debt at the outset of the
+reign, distracted by plague, fire, and foreign war during the years from
+1665 to 1668, the kingdom needed the services of all its statesmen,
+and even the most selfish politician must have realized the need of
+reorganization. Acting upon a suggestion which Clarendon himself had
+made to the King, the Privy Council in 1667 began by strengthening
+its own committee system, and on January 31, 1668, established four
+standing committees--for foreign affairs, military affairs, trade and
+plantations, and petitions and grievances. These committees had almost
+the character of state departments, though they had no final authority
+of their own, all orders emanating from the Privy Council only. They
+became, however, more independent than had been previous committees by
+virtue of the fact that no order was to be issued by the Council until
+it had been "first perused by the Reporter of each Committee
+respectively," The following is a copy of the regulations:
+
+    His Ma^{tie} among other the important parts of his Affairs
+    having taken into his princely consideration the way & method
+    of managing matters at the Council Board, And reflecting that
+    his Councills would have more reputation if they were put into
+    a more settled & established course, Hath thought it fit to
+    appoint certaine Standing Comitties of the Council for several
+    Businesses together with regular days & places for their
+    assembling in such sort as followeth:
+
+    1. The Committee of FORRAINE AFFAIRES is already settled to
+    consist of these Persons following (besides his Royall Highness,
+    who is understood to be of all comittees, where he pleases to be)
+    vizt. Prince Rupert, L^{d} Keeper [Sir Orlando Bridgeman], Lord
+    Privy Scale [Lord Robartes], Duke of Buckingham, Lord General
+    [Duke of Albemarle], L^{d} Arlington, & M^{r} Sec^{ry} Morice,
+    To which Committee His Ma^{tie} doth also hereby referr the
+    corresponding w^{th} Justices of peace & other officers & ministers
+    in the Severall Countys of the Kingdome, concerning the Temper of
+    the Kingdome &c. The constant day for this Committee to meete to be
+    every Monday besides such other dayes wherein any extraordinary
+    Action shall oblige them to assemble, And the place for their
+    meeting to be at the Lord Arlington's Lodgings in Whitehall.
+
+    2. Such matters as concerne the Admiralty & Navy as also all
+    Military matters, Fortifications &c, so far as they are fit to
+    be brought to the Councill Board, without intermedling in what
+    concernes the proper officers (unlesse it shall by them be
+    desired). If his Ma^{tie} is pleased to appoint that they be
+    und^{r} the consideracon of this following Committee, vizt,
+    Prince Rupert, L^{d} General [Duke of Albemarle], E. of Anglesy,
+    Ea. of Carlisle, Ea. of Craven, Lord Arlington, Lord Berkeley,
+    M^{r} Comptroller [Sir Thomas Clifford], M^{r} Sec^{ry} Morice,
+    S^{r} W^{m} Coventry & S^{r} John Duncombe. The usuall day of
+    meeting to be Wensdays, & oftner, as he that presides shall
+    direct, & the place to be the Councill Chamber, and hereof
+    Three or more of them to be a Quorum.
+
+    3. Another Committee his Ma^{tie} is pleased to constitute for
+    the Business of Trade under whose consideration is to come
+    whatsoever concernes his Ma^{ts}: FORRAINE PLANTATIONS, as also
+    what relates to his Kingdomes of Ireland or Scotland, the Isles
+    of Jersey & Guernsey, which is to consist of the Lord Privy
+    Scale [Lord Robartes], Duke of Buckingham, Earle of Ossory,
+    Ea. of Bridgewater, Ea: of Lauderdail, L^{d}: Arlington,
+    L^{d}: Holles, L^{d}: Ashley, M^{r}. Comptroller [Sir Thomas
+    Clifford], M^{r} Vice Chamberlain [Sir George Carteret],
+    M^{r} Sec^{ry}. Morice, & S^{r} W^{m} Coventry. The usuall day
+    of meeting to be every Thursday in the Councill Chamber, or
+    oftner as he that presides shall direct, and hereof 3 or more
+    of them to be a Quorum.
+
+    4. His Ma^{tie} is pleased to appoint one other Committee to
+    whom all PETITIONS of COMPLAINT & GREIVANCE are to be referred in
+    which His Ma^{tie} hath thought fit hereby particularly to
+    prescribe not to meddle w^{th} Property or what relates to
+    Meum & Tuum. And to this Committee his Ma^{tie} is pleased
+    that all matters which concerne Acts of State or of the
+    Councill be referred. The persons to be the Arch. B^{p}: of
+    Canterbury, Lord Keeper [Sir Orlando Bridgeman], L^{d}: Privy
+    Seale [Lord Robartes], L^{d}: Great Chamberlain [?], L^{d}
+    Chamberlain [Edward, Earl of Manchester], Ea: of Bridgewater,
+    Ea: of Anglesey, Ea: of Bathe, Ea: of Carbery, Viscount
+    Fitzharding, L^{d}: Arlington, L^{d}: Holles, L^{d}: Ashley,
+    M^{r} Sec^{ry}: Morice, M^{r}: Chancellor of the Dutchy
+    [of Lancaster, Sir Thomas Ingram], and S^{r}: John Duncombe.
+    The constant day of meeting to be Friday in the Councill
+    Chamber. And his Ma^{ts} further meaning is, that to these
+    two last committees, any of the Councill may have Liberty to
+    come & vote and that his two principall Sec^{ries}: of State
+    [at this time Lord Arlington and Sir William Morrice] be ever
+    understood to be of all Com^{tees}:, And hereof 3 or more of
+    them to be a Quorum.
+
+    And for the better carrying on of Business at those severall
+    Comittees, his Ma^{tie}: thinks fit, and accordingly is pleased
+    to appoint, That each of these Committees be assigned to the
+    particular care of some one person, who is constantly to attend
+    it. In that of the Navy & Military matters his Royal Highness
+    may p^{r}side, if he so please, or else the Lord Generall [Duke
+    of Albemarle]. In Forraine matters the L^{d} Arlington. In Trade
+    & Plantations the L^{d}: Privy Seale [Lord Robartes]. In matters
+    of State & Greivances, the Lord Keeper [Sir Orlando Bridgeman].
+
+    Besides which fixt & established Committees, if there shall
+    happen anything extraordinary that requires Advice, whether in
+    matters relating to the Treasury, or of any other mixt nature
+    other than what is afore determined His Ma^{ties} meaning and
+    intention is, that particular Committees be in such Cases
+    appointed for them, as hath been accustomed. And that such
+    Committees do make their Report in Writing, to be offered to
+    his Ma^{tie}: the next Councill day following, in which, if any
+    Debate arise, the old Rule is ever strictly to be observed, that
+    the youngest Councell^{r}: do begin, and not to speake a second
+    time without Leave first obteyned. And that as on the one side
+    nothing is hereafter to be resolved in Councill, till the matter
+    hath been first examined, And have received the Opinion of
+    some Committee or other, So on the other hand, that nothing be
+    referred to any Committee, untill it have been first read at
+    the Board, except in Forraine Affaires. And his Ma^{ts} express
+    pleasure is, That no Order of Councill be henceforth any time
+    issued out by the Clerks of the Councill till the same have been
+    first perused by the Reporter of each Committee respectively.[32]
+
+
+There is very little evidence to show that the Committee of the Council
+for Trade and Plantations played any very conspicuous part in regulating
+either trade or plantations during the years from 1668 to 1675, though
+a number of petitions were referred to it. Its most important report
+was that recommending the restoration of the province of Maine to the
+grandson of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, but even that matter was taken out
+of its hands by the further reference of the Gorges' petition to the
+Committee for Foreign Affairs. In 1668, it dealt with the restitution
+of Surinam to the Dutch and the settlement of Lord Willoughby's claims;
+with relief for Barbadoes after the disastrous fire which destroyed
+St. Michaels in April of that year; with the equipment of Sir Tobias
+Bridges' regiment in the same island; and with the liberty granted to
+certain Dutch ships of trading to New York despite the Navigation Act.
+In 1669, it considered a few petitions and reported on Gorges' memorial.
+After 1670 it did little, as far as actual evidence of its activity is
+concerned, but it is entirely clear that it had to transact a great deal
+more business than is recorded either in the Register or in the Colonial
+Papers.[33] Many of the questions that were referred to the Select
+Council of Trade and the Select Council of Trade and Plantations were
+first passed upon by this committee or were referred to it after the
+report from the separate body had come in. Furthermore, we know that
+in the case of this committee, as of similar committees of the Privy
+Council after 1696, many questions were never allowed to pass out of its
+hands, except as they were reported to the Council itself. Though not
+conspicuous, it was potentially active and quite ready in 1675 to take
+up the burden of colonial control that the King placed upon it.[34]
+
+Even before it had begun the reorganization of its committee system, the
+Privy Council made known its decision to revive the system of separate
+and select councils which had probably been in abeyance since 1665.
+On September 23, 1667, it ordered its Committee for Trade and Foreign
+Plantations to take into consideration the advisability of revoking
+the commissions of the two councils of 1660,--which councils must,
+therefore, have been deemed still legally in existence--and of uniting
+these bodies so as to form a single select council for trade and
+plantations. To this end it instructed the secretaries of those
+councils, Philip Frowde and George Duke, to appear before it. For
+reasons that are nowhere found among the official papers this plan was
+given up and the decision reached to revoke only the commission of the
+Council of Trade and to issue a patent for a new body. Roger North, in
+his _Examen_, published in 1740, a work little to be depended on as far
+as historical accuracy is concerned, declares that this move was merely
+a piece of political manoeuvering and never was designed to accomplish
+anything of importance for the trade or revenue of the kingdom. He says:
+
+    "The courtiers, for his Majesty's Ease, moved that there might
+    be a commission to several of the greatest Traders in _London_
+    to examine all matters of that kind, and to report their Opinion
+    to the Council; upon which his Majesty might determine. This
+    plausible project was put in Execution and the Leaders of the
+    Fanatic party in the city [especially Alderman Love and Josiah
+    Child] were the Commissioners; for so it was plotted. The great
+    House in Queen Street was taken for the use of this Commission.
+    Mr. Henry Slingsby, sometime Master of the Mint was the Secretary;
+    and they had a formal Board with Green Cloth and Standishes,
+    Clerks good store, a tall Porter and Staff, and fitting Attendance
+    below, and a huge Luminary at the Door. And in Winter Time, when
+    the Board met, as was two or three Times a Week, or oftener, all
+    the Rooms were lighted, Coaches at the Door, and great passing in
+    and out, as if a Council of State in good Earnest had been sitting.
+    All Cases, Complaints, and Deliberations of Trade were referred
+    to this Commission, and they reported their opinion."[35]
+
+
+North's implication that the Council was a contrivance of the enemies
+of the King to effect a prohibition of trade with France which the
+government wished to keep open seems deserving of little credence.
+In the past, facts regarding this Council and its work have not been
+complete, and even a full list of its members has been wanting. Even now
+the commission and instructions, which, after considerable delay, were
+issued on October 20, 1668, have eluded discovery, and we can present
+little more than the terms of the docket as entered in the books of
+the Crown Office. The docket reads: "A Commission with instructions
+annexed establishing a Counsell of Trade, for Keeping a control and
+super-inspection of his Majesty's Trade and Commerce." From another
+source we learn that the Council was to take into consideration "the
+Conditions of your Maj^{tyes} Plantations abroad, in order to the
+improvement of Trade and increase of Navigation, and for the further
+encouragement of yo^{r} Maj^{tyes} Subjects in their Trade and Commerce
+both at home and abroad."[36] A second commission was issued on April
+13, 1669, "directed to the same persons in the same form & with the
+same powers and instructions ... with a confirmation of all Acts done
+in pursuance of the said late commission in election of officers and
+otherwise."[37] The clerical secretary was Peter du Moulin, though Dr.
+Benjamin Worsley seems to have had some official position on the board.
+The members of the Council were as follows: Duke of York, Prince Rupert,
+Lord Keeper, Lord Privy Seal, Duke of Buckingham, Duke of Albemarle,
+Duke of Ormond, Earl of Bridgewater, Earl of Ossory, Earl of Anglesey,
+Earl of Carlisle, Earl of Craven, Earl of Lauderdale, Lord Arlington,
+Lord Berkeley of Stratton, Lord Holles, Lord Ashley, Sir Thomas
+Clifford, Sir George Carteret, Sir John Trevor, Sir William Morrice, Sir
+William Coventry, Sir Thomas Osborne, Sir Thomas Littleton, Sir Henry
+Blount, Sir George Downing, Sir Andrew Riccard, Sir William Thompson,
+Silas Titus, William Garroway, Henry Slingsby, Thomas Grey, John Birch,
+William Love, Esq., Benjamin Worsley, Doctor of Physic; John Buckworth,
+Thomas Papillion, John Page, Josiah Child, Thomas Tyte, Benjamin Albyn,
+and John Shorter. In 1669 were added the Earl of Devonshire, Earl of
+Sandwich, Viscount Halifax, and George, Lord Berkeley, making forty-six
+members in all.[38] This is an extraordinary body of men to be engaged
+in pulling the wool over the eyes of the King, and though Professor
+Ashley is inclined to view North's account with approval, we doubt if
+it will stand the test of examination. Professor Ashley's further belief
+that from this Council emanated the document called "A Scheme of Trade,"
+is capable of satisfactory disproof, since but few of the signers of
+that document were members of the Council and the date when it was
+issued, November 29, 1674, was after the Council as a separate body had
+been abolished.[39]
+
+The Council lasted from 1668 to 1672 and during that time it did
+nothing, so far as we can discover, either for or against the trade
+with France. It considered the granting of patents, foreign trade with
+Piedmont and elsewhere, the export of wool, disputes among the merchant
+companies, dispensations from the operation of the Navigation Act, and
+a few matters relating to home industry, particularly as regards abuses
+in the baize trade. It took into consideration the order in Council
+of October 23, 1667, permitting the Dutch to send three or more ships
+yearly for seven years to trade from Holland to New York, and reported
+so strongly against it that the Privy Council revoked the order.[40]
+More important still, it took up the whole question of the operation of
+the navigation acts in the colonies, called upon the merchants and the
+farmers of the customs for information, and made a careful report to the
+Privy Council, which the latter, on January 20,1669, embodied in the
+following order:
+
+    "His Ma^{tie} this day taking into consideration the great
+    importance the Trade of his severall plantations is to his
+    Ma^{tie} & his Kingdome, and being informed that severall
+    Governments of the s^{d} Plantations have been wanting to
+    their duty in the following particulars, viz:
+
+    1. That Governors have not taken the oath enjoined by law,
+
+    2. That shipps have been permitted to trade to and from the
+    Plantations not qualified according to law,
+
+    3. That there has been omission in taking Bond and Security
+    and returning those Bonds according as directed by the severall
+    Acts of Parliament.
+
+    For redresse it is ordered, that the Farmers of the Customs do
+    and are hereby required (at their owne charge) to send over and
+    make choice of upon the place & from time to time commissionate
+    & maynteyne one or more persons in each Plantation (whom his
+    Ma^{tie} shall approve & authorize) to administer the usual oaths
+    to the severall Governors, that no vessels be admitted to trade
+    there till said officer has the perusal of the passes and
+    certificates and certifies that they may trade there, and that
+    no Bond or security be admitted without the allowance of said
+    officer,
+
+    That letters be written to all said Governors to take said
+    oaths before said officer and also to give them countenance and
+    assistance,
+
+    That Directions be given to the Commanders of his Ma^{ties} ships
+    and to any merchant shipps to arrest any ship trading to His
+    Ma^{ties} Plantations contrary to the law."[41]
+
+
+Under this order Edward Digges, former governor of Virginia and a London
+merchant well known to us, was appointed by the farmers of the customs
+as a fit person to execute for the colony of Virginia the articles and
+instructions contained in this order. No other appointments, however,
+appear to have been made at this time.[42]
+
+After 1670 activities of the Council of Trade, as far as they are
+recorded, are very few. It considered the trade of the Eastland Company,
+provided for a supply of coal for London at reasonable rates, and
+discussed a few minor petitions, but as compared with its contemporary,
+the Council for Foreign Plantations, it accomplished little.[43]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Footnote 1: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1514-1660, pp. 482, 483; P.C.R.,
+Charles II, Vol. II, p. 63; New York Colonial Docts., III, p. 30.]
+
+[Footnote 2: P.C.R., Charles II, Vol. II, p. 37; Bodleian, Rawlinson A.,
+117, No. 20.]
+
+[Footnote 3: Professor Osgood thinks that a part of Noell's fortune was
+made in the slave trade. Beyond the fact that he was a member of the
+Royal African Company, I cannot find any evidence whatever to prove this
+statement. Noell certainly was not a slave trader before 1660.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Bodleian, Clarendon Papers, _passim_, New York Hist.
+Soc. Collections, 1869; Brit. Museum, Add. MSS., 11410, ff. 18 et seq.
+Clarendon had an agent in Jamaica, Major Ivy, who was considering the
+setting up of plantations and planting cocoa walks in the interest of
+the King's revenue. Clarendon's policy toward the continental colonies
+overshadows somewhat his policy toward the West Indies and in
+consequence this phase of the subject has been neglected by those who
+have dealt with Clarendon's colonial relations.]
+
+[Footnote 5: P.C.R., Charles II, Vol. II, pp. 131-132; printed in part
+in Analytical Index to the Series of Records known as the Remembrancia,
+preserved among the Archives of the City of London, 1579-1664.
+(Privately printed, 1878); and in very much abbreviated form in
+Bannister, Writings of William Patterson, III, 251-252, from whom it has
+been copied by both Egerton and Cunningham. It seems somewhat strange
+that there should be no entry of the receipt of this letter in the
+journal of the court of Aldermen nor any draft of an answer among the
+Remembrancia or elsewhere. A careful search has failed to disclose any
+reference to action taken upon this letter among the papers in the Town
+Clerk's office at the Guildhall.]
+
+[Footnote 6: Bodleian, Clarendon Papers, 73, f. 232.]
+
+[Footnote 7: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1660-1661, p. 319.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Public Record Office, Chancery, Crown Dockets, 6, p. 50.
+On the docket for the commission of the council of trade the names of
+the members are inserted; but on that of the commission for the council
+for foreign plantations the place is left blank. A marginal note on the
+latter docket gives the explanation noted above.]
+
+[Footnote 9: There is a list of the members in 1661, containing but
+forty-seven names with some omissions and additions.]
+
+[Footnote 10: Egerton, 2395, ff. 268, 269; Cal. State Papers, Dom.,
+1660-1661, pp. 353-354; P.R.O. State Papers, Domestic, XXI, No. 27;
+Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and Commerce, 4 ed., Appendix.]
+
+[Footnote 11: The journal of the Council of Plantations is among the
+Colonial Papers in the Public Record Office, XIV, No. 59, ff. 1-57,
+December 1, 1660-August 4, 1664, entitled "Orders and Proceedings at his
+Ma^{ts} Counsell for Forraigne Plantacons." There is no journal of the
+Council of Trade known to exist, but minutes of one or two meetings,
+which have been preserved, show that a journal must have been kept. An
+entry-book for patents is mentioned, Cal. State Papers, Col., 1661-1668,
+Sec. 15, and an entry-book of petitions and reports, November 13,
+1660-March 12, 1662, is in Brit. Mus. Add. MSS., 25115.
+
+Regarding the history of the papers of the Council of Trade the
+following information may be of interest. The records probably remained
+in the possession of George Duke, secretary to the Council, and were
+called for by Dr. Worsley, secretary of the Council of 1672 in a letter
+dated November 28, 1672 (Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1672-1673, pp.
+213-214). No answer was received from Duke and evidently the papers were
+not handed over, for when in 1698 the Board of Trade applied for them to
+Col. Duke's son-in-law, Henry Crispe, it was informed by Mr. Crispe that
+he had never even seen any of the papers but had heard that some of them
+were burnt in the Temple when in Col. Duke's possession (Journal of the
+Board of Trade, XI, p. 55, May 10, 1698). In June and July, 1707, the
+Board of Trade attempted again to get hold of the papers and wrote to
+Crispe on June 30. Crispe's reply is worth printing:
+
+"If I am rightly informed there are divers original books and papers
+relating to the Royal Fishery and the establishing thereof from the
+year 1660 for divers successive years in which are contained several
+projections concerning the promoting the same. And there are also books
+and minutes of the proceedings of the Council of Trade from the year
+1660 to 1668, which also contain several material things in relation to
+Trade and the improvement thereof, which I understand are in the power
+of a friend of mine.
+
+"These books and papers will be disposed of as the Hon^{ble} Board the
+Council of Trade shall direct or order.
+
+"But it is humbly desired that consideration be allowed the party that
+shall produce these Books and Papers. And that it may be ascertained
+what that consideration shall be and by whom it shall be given.
+
+"I was desired to inform you of this to the end you may take such steps
+therein as you in your great prudence shall judge most proper.
+
+"If any orders or commands shall be given about this affair that I can
+be useful or serviceable therein & they be transmitted for me or be left
+at Johns Coffee House in Bedford St. near the Church in Convent Garden
+such orders will be faithfully observed by
+
+  "S^{rs} Your faithfull humble Servant
+    "H. CRISPE."
+
+
+Crispe sent a list of the books with his letter, but that list is
+missing. The Board answered that it would not buy the books without
+seeing them first, but as we find no further mention of the matter in
+the Journal and as the books and papers are not to be found to-day the
+probabilities are that the negotiations fell through. Journal, XIX,
+p. 296; Board of Trade Papers, Trade, H Nos. 74, 76.]
+
+[Footnote 12: This may be inferred from the following note attached to
+one of the reports: "The council conceiving themselves to be in noe
+capacitie of giving any judgment therein having heard but one side."
+Egerton, 2395, f. 299.]
+
+[Footnote 13: See Cal. State Papers, Col., 1675-1676, Sec.Sec. 338, 339, where
+he is called "Secretary for Foreign Plantations."]
+
+[Footnote 14: Egerton, 2395, ff. 286, 291, 299, 335, 336.]
+
+[Footnote 15: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1661-1668, Sec.Sec. 790, 833; Dom.,
+1664-1665, p. 4.]
+
+[Footnote 16: In December, 1665, he wrote of "an uncomfortable journey
+on unfrequented roads, with none to break the ice, in a hackney coach
+which receives the wind in all parts." Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1665,
+p. 105.]
+
+[Footnote 17: P.C.R., Charles II, Vol. VI, p. 231; Cal. State Papers,
+Col., 1661-1668, Sec. 1685.]
+
+[Footnote 18: Egerton, 2395, ff. 449, 451, 452, 453; Cal. State Papers,
+Col., 1661-1668, Sec.Sec. 1598-1600.]
+
+[Footnote 19: Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 25115, f. 156; Cal. State Papers,
+Dom., 1661-1662, pp. 411-412.]
+
+[Footnote 20: Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 25115; Cal. State Papers, Dom.,
+1660-1661, pp. 356, 359, 363, 372, 412; 1661-1662 pp. 28, 80.]
+
+[Footnote 21: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1660-1661, pp. 383, 532;
+1661-1662, pp. 111, 277, 529, 446; Bodleian, Rawlinson MSS., A. 478, f.
+81.]
+
+[Footnote 22: Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 25115, ff. 133-140; Cal. State
+Papers, Treasury Books, 1660-1667, pp. 245-247, containing the list of
+convoys, a duplicate of that in the British Museum volume; p. 250, the
+Treasurer's report.]
+
+[Footnote 23: Brit. Mus., Egerton, 2543, ff. 137-139.]
+
+[Footnote 24: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1663-1664, pp. 515, 549.
+The Fishing Commission, appointed in 1661, had proved a failure, but
+the council borrowed from the patent of that commission many of the
+suggestions which it recommended. Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1661-1662,
+p. 83.]
+
+[Footnote 25: Cf. Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1661-1662, p. 83.]
+
+[Footnote 26: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1665-1666, p. 330. Yet Crispe's
+letter (_ante_, p. 75, note) certainly speaks as if the Council had a
+continuous existence from 1660 to 1668, and the mention of Exeter House
+as its place of meeting after 1667 points in the same direction.]
+
+[Footnote 27: "Some considerations about the commission for trade,"
+P.R.O. Shaftesbury MSS., Div. X, 8(1).]
+
+[Footnote 28: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1663-1664, pp. 528, 531, 543,
+572, 573, 588.]
+
+[Footnote 29: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1661-1662, pp. 75, 135-136, 149.]
+
+[Footnote 30: 19 Charles II, c. 13.]
+
+[Footnote 31: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1667-1668, pp. 156, 158, 165,
+173, 180, 187, 191, 247, 321, 433, 444, 452, 511, 593, 594; 1668-1669,
+pp. 35, 40.]
+
+[Footnote 32: Brit. Mus., Egerton MSS., 2543, ff. 205-205^{b}. Endorsed
+"Regulation of Committees of the Councill. Read & Ordered in Councill
+the 31^{st} January, 1667^{b}." For reasons that cannot be explained
+this regulation is not entered in the Privy Council Register. It is
+referred to in a similar order of February 12, 1668, P.C.R., Charles II,
+Vol. VII, pp. 176-177, but otherwise omitted. For this reason the
+document is here printed in full. Cf. Cal. State Papers, Dom.,
+1667-1668, p. 261.]
+
+[Footnote 33: For instance, there are among the Colonial Papers memoranda
+of proceedings at various sittings of this committee held between
+April 7, 1668, and February 18, 1669, relative to domestic, colonial,
+and foreign trade, that are not recorded elsewhere.]
+
+[Footnote 34: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1661-1668, Sec.Sec. 1685, 1712, 1759,
+1769, 1791, 1870, 1883; 1660-1674, Sec.Sec. 30, 66, 150, 184-186, 751, 837,
+1226, I, II, III; 1320, 1353, 1390. Dom., 1668-1669, pp. 62, 201.]
+
+[Footnote 35: Roger North, Examen, p. 461, quoted by Prof. Ashley in
+Surveys, Historic and Economic, pp. 274-275.]
+
+[Footnote 36: New York Colonial Docts., III, p. 175.]
+
+[Footnote 37: P.R.O. Chancery, Crown Office, Docket Books, 7, pp. 335,
+344; Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1668-1669, pp. 6, 18, 224-225.]
+
+[Footnote 38: Bodleian, Rawlinson MSS. A, 478, f. 77; Cal. State Papers,
+Dom., 1668-1669, pp. 224-225, 651.]
+
+[Footnote 39: Ashley, Surveys, pp. 275-276.]
+
+[Footnote 40: New York Colonial Docts., III, pp. 175-178; Cal. State
+Papers, Col., 1661-1668, Sec.Sec. 1874, 1875.]
+
+[Footnote 41: P.C.R., Charles II, Vol. VIII, p. 169; Cal. State Papers,
+Col., 1661-1668, Sec. 1884, 1669-1674, Sec.Sec. 6, 9.]
+
+[Footnote 42: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1669-1674, Sec.Sec. 104, 696.]
+
+[Footnote 43: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1671, p. 210; 1671-1672,
+pp. 450-451.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+The Plantation Councils of 1670 and 1672.
+
+
+During the years 1668 and 1669 no member of the government was more
+active in promoting the development of the plantations than Anthony
+Ashley Cooper, Lord Ashley. As one of the proprietaries of Carolina,
+he had taken the lead in advancing that settlement, had called upon
+John Locke to frame a new constitution, and had himself organized the
+expedition of 1669 which gave to the new colony its most important
+impetus. He became a proprietary of the Bahamas in 1670 and later
+attempted to found a plantation on the Edisto River. He planned to
+organize these colonies at Charles Town, Albemarle, Edisto, and New
+Providence into a kind of cooperative trading group of settlements,
+under the same laws and instructions, and from them he hoped to obtain
+in time for himself and the other proprietaries ample returns on their
+investments. It is of no concern to us here that his scheme failed, the
+important fact remains that Ashley and Locke were at this juncture in
+the very heyday of their interest in colonial affairs and were eager to
+take advantage of every opportunity for encouraging colonial trade. The
+revival of the Select Council for Foreign Plantations was due in largest
+part to the influence and initiative of these two men, particularly of
+Ashley, who in 1670 was at the height of his political power and on
+terms of closest intimacy with the King.[1] That he was sincere in this
+movement seems to me beyond question, and the charge that has been made
+against him of recommending the creation of this Council as a means of
+obtaining sinecures for his friends, does not appear capable of the
+slightest proof.[2] If membership on the Council was deemed at the first
+a position of ease, it must soon have lost that character, for few
+committee men ever worked harder than those who looked after plantation
+affairs in the years from 1670 to 1674. This fact will appear as we
+examine the nature and extent of their activities.
+
+Experience with previous councils had shown that too numerous and
+fluctuating a membership was not conducive either to harmony or to
+despatch of business. Therefore, in reviving the Council for Plantations
+it was decided, as the most important change to be effected, that the
+number should be reduced to such terms as to enable the committee to
+apply itself as a whole to the business in hand. The commission was
+issued on July 30, 1670, to ten persons, of whom but three were members
+of the nobility. The commissioners were Edward, Earl of Sandwich;
+Richard, Lord Gorges, Baron of Dundalk in Ireland; William, Lord
+Allington, Baron of Killar in Ireland; Thomas Grey, son of Lord Grey,
+of Warke; Henry Brouncker, Sir Humphrey Winch, Sir John Finch, Edmund
+Waller, Henry Slingsby, master and worker of the mint and one of the
+gentlemen of the privy chamber, and Silas Titus, one of the grooms of
+the bed chamber. To this number was added in 1671 James, Duke of York;
+Prince Rupert, George, Duke of Buckingham, Master of the Horse; James,
+Duke of Ormond, Lord Steward of the Royal Household; John, Earl of
+Lauderdale, Secretary of State for Scotland; Thomas, Lord Culpeper; Sir
+George Carteret, Vice-Chamberlain; and John Evelyn, but of these only
+the last named stood on the same footing with those first appointed as
+a regular and salaried member, the others being appointed to give weight
+and dignity to the board and receiving no compensation. In August, 1671,
+Sir Richard Temple was added to the board, also to serve without pay.
+The only basis for the charge of self-seeking which has been brought
+against the members of this Council is the fact that for the first time,
+as far as we know, the working members received pay for their services.
+The allowances and salaries were as follows: the Earl of Sandwich, as
+president, received L700; Lord Gorges, Lord Allington, Thomas Grey,
+Henry Brouncker, Sir Humphrey Winch, Sir John Finch, Edmund Waller,
+Henry Slingsby, Silas Titus, and John Evelyn, each L500, paid quarterly.
+Dr. Benjamin Worsley, who held the position of advisor and assistant
+secretary under Slingsby, the secretary of the Council, was allowed
+L300, while for contingent expenses L1,000, the same amount that had
+been placed at the disposal of each of the secretaries, Sir Philip
+Frowde and Col. Duke, of the former councils, was appropriated.[3] Five
+members, always including the president or one of the officers of state
+authorized to attend, constituted a quorum of the Council, which was
+ordered to meet for the first time at Essex House, the residence of
+the Lord Keeper, Sir Orlando Bridgeman, near Temple Bar, at two in the
+afternoon. After the addition of the new members, May 16, 1671, it
+removed to the Earl of Bristol's house in Queen Street near Lincoln's
+Inn Fields;[4] and after February 12, 1672, to Lord Arlington's lodgings
+in Whitehall, in order, as Evelyn tells us, that the King might be
+present and hear the debates. It was authorized to employ clerks,
+messengers, solicitors, doorkeepers, and other inferior officers and
+attendants as it should think fit and necessary for its service.
+
+By their commission the members of the Council were empowered "to inform
+themselves by the best ways and meanes they can of the present State and
+condition of our Plantations, together with the Increase, or Decay of
+the Trade, and strength of each of them respectively, And the Causes and
+Reasons of such Encrease or Decay, And to use all Industry and Diligence
+for gaining the full knowledge of all things transacted within any part
+of those our Dominions, either by the respective Governours themselves
+or their respective Deputies or by them and the respective Councills, or
+Assemblies, belonging to any of our said respective Plantations, and
+thereof from time to time to give us a true faithfull and certaine
+Accompt togeather with their best advice and opinion thereupon." The
+range of colonial interest was a wide one, "all the affaires which doe
+or may touch or concerne any of our Forreigne Plantations, Colonies, or
+Dominions, situate, lying and being in any part of America or in the
+Ocean lying betweene this and the maine Land of America, or in any part
+of the Bay of Mexico, or upon the Coast of Guinea, or within any of that
+circuit of the Globe, that is generally known or called by the name of
+the West Indies, whether the said Plantations, Countries, and
+Territories, be immediately held by us, or held by any others of us, by
+vertue of any Charters, Graunts, or Letters Patents thereof already made
+or graunted, or hereafter to be made or graunted, and of all other and
+forreigne Plantations, Colonies, and Dominions (our Towne, Citty and
+Garrison of Tangier only excepted)." The Council had power to send for
+any person or persons whom it deemed able to furnish information or
+advice; to call for any books, papers, or records that it judged likely
+to be useful to it, and to require of every person called upon or
+colonial official addressed prompt and ready response.
+
+By its instructions and additional instructions the Council was
+ordered to make full inquiry into the state of the plantations and
+to take every means of acquiring full and accurate information as to
+the powers of the governors, the execution of the same, the number of
+parishes, planters, servants, and slaves there, and the best means for
+increasing the supply where needed. It was to instruct the governors
+to live at peace with the Indians and not to suffer them to be injured
+in their persons, goods, or possessions; and to keep on terms of amity
+with their neighbors, whether Dutch, French, or Spanish; to take such
+measures that all commodities of the growth or making of the Plantations
+be duly manufactured and improved, and to inquire whether it were
+possible to promote in any way the production of such tropical
+commodities as cotton, ginger, cocoa, etc. It was to find out what
+islands were best fitted for the breeding of cattle and to encourage
+the same; to investigate the opportunities of obtaining masts and to
+stimulate the production of hemp, flax, pitch, and tar in New England,
+and the setting up of saw mills. It was instructed to study the question
+of procuring servants and slaves, to settle all difficulties between the
+Royal African Company and the colonies, and to do all in its power to
+check "spiriting" or the enticing of children and young persons from
+England to the plantations. It was to deal with colonial trade, both
+oceanic and coastwise, to see that the acts of navigation were duly
+enforced; to inquire into the conduct of colonial governments, to
+examine colonial laws and to recommend for annulment such as were
+contrary to honor, justice, or the law of England. It was to become
+familiar with colonial geography, to procure maps and charts, and to
+have them available for examination. It was to aid the spread of the
+Gospel, the purification of morals, and the instruction of Indians and
+slaves. By the additional instructions, issued August 1, 1670, it was to
+consider the question of colonial defence, to recommend the production
+of saltpetre, to consider how spices, gums, drugs, dyeing stuffs, etc.,
+might be procured for the plantations from the East Indies, and to
+study the systems employed in other countries for the improvement of
+trade and the plantations.[5]
+
+It is noteworthy that the sessions of the Council were held in secret,
+no one being admitted except the members, and even those only after each
+had taken an oath not to betray the proceedings. "You shall swear," so
+runs this oath, "to be true and faithful to our Sovereign Lord the King,
+his heirs and successors; you shall according to the best of your skill,
+discretion, knowledge, and experience give unto his Maj^{tie} true and
+faithful councell, in all things that shall be demanded of you touching
+or concerning his Ma^{ties} forreigne Plantations. You shall keepe
+secret and conceale his Ma^{ties} said Councells, without disclosing the
+same to any person except he be of the same Councill, and if the matter
+touch any of the same Councill you shall not disclose the same to him.
+You shall not promote or further any matter in the said Councill, for
+any reward, favour, affection, or displeasure, And in case you shall
+perceive anything to be done contrary to his Ma^{ties} honour and
+service you shall to the utmost of your Power with stand and Lett
+the same."
+
+The Council had its first meeting on August 3, 1670, when the commission
+and instructions were read; and from that time until September 20, 1672,
+a period of nearly twenty-three months, it held one hundred meetings of
+which we have record, and probably many more of which no record has been
+found.[6] It is reasonable to infer that during the working months the
+Council met twice a week.
+
+The Council began by taking over much of the business left unfinished
+by the Committee of the Privy Council, but it soon increased its
+activity. It early inaugurated a policy and system of control that was
+more comprehensive than any which had been put into practice by the
+previous boards. Efficient though some of the former councils and
+committees had been, no one of them had endeavored to cover so wide a
+range of colonial business or to inquire so minutely into the details
+of colonial government as did this Council of 1670. It not only took
+into consideration all petitions, memorials, statements of claim, and
+subjects in dispute, but it also set up an elaborate system of inquiry
+on its own part, following out the instructions which had been given to
+it to require of every colonial governor frequent information regarding
+the condition of his government. It drafted long series of queries which
+were despatched to all the colonies, and to which elaborate replies
+were received, notably from Berkeley, of Virginia, Wheeler, of St.
+Christopher, and Lynch, of Jamaica. It supplemented the information
+thus received by demanding letters from the governors, and received
+in response long and frequent epistles, dealing with colonial affairs
+in the most minute detail. Wheeler, Stapleton, Lynch, Willoughby,
+Colleton, and others furnished the Council with all sorts of descriptive
+and statistical matter, and were always ready to offer suggestion and
+advice. Merchants, planters, agents, and others familiar with colonial
+trade were also called upon for statements, either in person or in
+writing, and at many a meeting outsiders were called in to make reports
+to the board. The evidence thus obtained was generally discussed
+in the Council itself, at which the King and officers of state were
+occasionally present, and it was also referred to committees of two or
+more, which made their report to the Council. Upon the information and
+opinions thus obtained, the Council based its orders and reports to the
+Privy Council.[7]
+
+In addition to these functions, the Council assumed an important and in
+some ways a new role when it took upon itself the business of preparing
+all the preliminary drafts of the various commissions and instructions
+of the governors, often spending many days in the consideration of
+these instruments, and often receiving from the appointees themselves
+suggestions as to the wording of certain clauses. As far as the more
+general powers and duties were concerned, these instructions were
+modelled somewhat after those which the Council itself had received,
+and lively debate arose not infrequently over the nature and extent of
+the authority that ought to be conferred on the appointees. The drafts
+of the commission and instructions, when completed, were sent to the
+Secretary of State, by whom corrections might be made, then conveyed to
+the Privy Council, where the documents were frequently referred to the
+attorney general for his advice on legal points, and sometimes to the
+Committee of the Council, which at this time, as well as afterward, felt
+itself fully empowered to make any alterations it pleased. Thus many
+hands may have had a share in shaping these important papers before they
+were finally engrossed, although it is probable that in the majority of
+instances the draft of the Council was accepted unchanged by the King.
+
+The Council was also beginning to exercise another important function
+in receiving from the Privy Council copies of laws passed in the
+colonies upon the character of which its opinion was desired, and in
+being called upon by the Privy Council or the Secretary of State to
+make recommendations as to fit persons to hold colonial offices. In
+this particular, the most responsible task of the Council lay in the
+selection and instruction of special commissioners, who in accordance
+with many earlier precedents were vested with authority to go to the
+colonies for the settlement of difficult questions there. Three such
+commissions were set on foot by the Council of Plantations: that
+appointed to bring to an end the dispute with the French at St.
+Christopher; that appointed to treat with the Dutch regarding the
+English subjects at Surinam; and that designed for New England, which
+was to be openly commissioned to settle boundary disputes, but to be
+secretly instructed to inform the Council of the condition of the New
+England colonies, "and whether they were of such power as to be able
+to resist his Majesty and declare for themselves as independent of the
+Crown." No commissioners were, however, sent until the time of Edward
+Randolph.[8]
+
+A large amount of time was consumed by the Council in considering the
+petitions and memorials of private persons, who had some grounds of
+complaint against one or other of the colonial governments. Among these
+the charges of Mason and Gorges against Massachusetts hold prominent
+place, but other complainants were none the less insistent; Capt.
+Archibald Henderson, of Antigua, who had been imprisoned by Governor
+Wheeler for alleged seditious practices; the owners of the ship _James_,
+of Belfast, which had been seized by Wheeler as a "stranger-built"
+trading contrary to the Navigation Acts; the owners of the logwood
+ship _William and Nicholas_, also seized by Wheeler on suspicion that
+it had obtained its lading in violation of the treaty of 1670 with
+Spain; owners of the _Peter_, of London, seized by the Spaniards in
+violation of the same treaty; Jamaica planters who claimed that Spain
+had broken the clause of the treaty relating to logwood cutting at
+Campeachy; one Mark Gabry, exporter of wool; merchants in Jamaica
+complaining of the number of Jews there and their engrossment of trade;
+inhabitants of Easthampton, Southampton, and Southold in Long Island in
+regard to their whale fishery and their relations with the Dutch at New
+Amsterdam; the government of Virginia against the Arlington and Culpeper
+grant. The Council also discussed many other matters, all more or less
+closely bound up with the welfare of the plantations and of plantation
+trade, such as the despatch of their letters and orders; the proper time
+for the sailing of merchant ships in order that advantage might be taken
+of companies or convoys; the sugar question in the West Indies, notably
+Barbadoes, that perennial cause of dispute from the point of view of
+customs and impositions; the enticing or spiriting away of young people
+from England to go as servants to the plantations, a grievance almost
+as old as the plantations themselves and one which Ashley had made a
+special subject of inquiry with the result that Parliament passed an
+Act, March 18, 1670, making "spiriting" a capital offence; the fisheries
+and the abuses in the Newfoundland trade; privateering, especially in
+relation to the act of Governor Modyford in commissioning Capt. Morgan
+to cruise against the Spaniards and to capture Panama; the slave trade
+and the relations of the plantations with the Royal African Company;
+and lastly, in obedience to the fourth article of its additional
+instructions, the proper supplying of the West India colonies with such
+commodities as silk, galls, spices, senna and other dyeing materials,
+in order to see whether or not such things could be obtained from
+the plantations, a subject upon which Dr. Worsley, who had already
+experimented with senna, was deemed an authority.
+
+The efficiency of the Council of Foreign Plantations and the
+inefficiency of the Council of Trade during the same period may
+well have led to the belief that the work would be better done if the
+functions of the latter were transferred to the former body. The death
+of the Earl of Sandwich, who lost his life in the naval engagement of
+Southwold Bay with De Ruyter, May 28, 1672, may have hastened this
+conclusion, and the need of economy, especially manifest in this year,
+1672, may have been a further influence. Whatever the causes, as early
+as the summer of 1672 the decision was reached, undoubtedly through the
+advice of Lord Ashley, now the Earl of Shaftesbury, to reconstitute
+the Council, and to issue a new patent which should cover trade as
+well as foreign plantations. Evelyn says that the old Council met at
+Shaftesbury's house on September 1, 1672, to consider the draft of the
+new commission. The form of the commission having been approved, the
+warrant was issued to the attorney general on September 16 to prepare
+the bill for the King's signature, and on the twenty-seventh the Council
+was duly commissioned by writ of privy seal. The membership remained the
+same as before, with the single exception that the Earl of Shaftesbury
+took the place of the Earl of Sandwich as the president of the board,
+with Lord Culpeper as vice-president. When in December of the same year
+Sir John Finch was appointed ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, in place
+of Sir Daniel Harvey, deceased, Sir William Hickman was constituted
+a member of the Council in his stead. As in the case of the former
+Council, the Duke of York, Prince Rupert, and the chief officers of
+state were authorized to attend and vote but without pay. To their
+number were now added the Duke of Ormond, George, Viscount Halifax; Sir
+Thomas Osborne, and Sir Robert Long, all of whom, except Long, had been
+members of the Council of Trade, while Halifax, who had just returned
+from an important mission to France and was rapidly rising to power,
+had been a member of the committee of the House of Lords, appointed
+in October, 1669, to consider the improvement of trade. Sandwich and
+Shaftesbury had both been on the same committee, and it is not unlikely
+that the latter was responsible for the remarkable report made by this
+committee to the Lords that "some relaxation in ecclesiastical matters
+will be a means of improving the trade of this kingdom."[9]
+
+According to its commission, the Council of Trade and Plantations was
+"to take care of the welfare of our said Colonies and Plantations and
+of the Trade and Navigation of these our Kingdomes and of our said
+colonies and plantations," and was to be a council of advice to the
+King "in and for all the affairs which do or may any way concern the
+navigation, commerce, or trade, as well domestic as foreign of these our
+kingdoms and our said foreign colonies and plantations." Five were to
+constitute a quorum of which the president or vice-president or one of
+the unsalaried members should always be one. The salary of the president
+was raised to L800, that of the vice-president was made L700, while that
+of the other salaried members remained as before, L500. No treasurer or
+secretary is named in the commission, but Dr. Worsley held these offices
+until in September, 1673, he was discharged and John Locke took his
+place. In all other respects the commission of 1672 reproduces that
+of 1670.
+
+The most noteworthy difference between the two councils is to be
+found in the instructions, which for the Council of 1672 form a very
+comprehensive and intelligent statement of the essentials of plantation
+control. The draft was undoubtedly written by Shaftesbury and Locke, for
+a preliminary sketch is to be found among the Shaftesbury Papers; the
+preliminary meeting for the consideration and approval of the articles
+was held at Shaftesbury's residence, Exeter House; and the essential
+portions of the document are all to be found embodied in one form or
+another in the instructions and suggestions sent to the planters in
+the Bahamas and Carolina, colonies which for two years had been a kind
+of experimental station for Shaftesbury's and Locke's ideas. All the
+later commissions and instructions were based in the main on the
+principles laid down in these documents, and neither the Lords of Trade
+from 1675 to 1696 nor the Board of Trade from 1696 to 1782 ever in any
+important particular passed the limits herein defined. Probably the
+instructions of 1672 became from this time forward the precedent and
+guide for those who in later years were called upon to shape the powers
+vested in the boards of trade and plantations. It frequently happened,
+of course, that orders in Council directed the attention of the boards
+to matters which needed special examination, but in the main it may be
+said that Povey first and Shaftesbury afterward mapped out the lines
+to be followed by future commissions in their control of plantation
+affairs. This fact gives to the work of these men a peculiar interest
+and value.
+
+By the terms of the instructions of 1672, the Council was to consider
+first of all the trade of the kingdom and of the plantations in the
+following particulars: the increase and improvement of raw commodities
+for use at home, the promotion of manufactures, the betterment of
+the fishing trade at home and abroad, the opening of rivers, ports,
+and harbors, the proper distribution of trade and manufactures, the
+obstacles that lay in the way of English trade as compared with those
+confronting the trade of other nations, and all abuses of trade and
+manufactures in the kingdom. It was to inquire into the best methods of
+increasing the sale and export of native commodities and manufactures,
+of encouraging the importation of foreign goods at the cheapest rates,
+of building ships for the carrying of such bulky articles as masts and
+timber, of extending correspondence with the great commercial centers
+abroad, and of opening free ports where foreign commodities might be
+landed and stored with small charge if designed for reexportation. It
+was also to take into special consideration the advantages of a more
+open and free trade than that of companies and corporations, and to
+encourage inventions and improvements designed to improve any art,
+trade, or manufacture or to secure and promote trade and navigation.
+
+So far as the plantations were concerned, the Council was to inquire
+into the general state of the colonies, and to obtain full information
+regarding councils, assemblies, courts of judicature, courts of
+admiralty, legislative and executive powers, statutes, laws and
+ordinances, militia, fortifications, arms, and ammunition. It was to
+learn all it could about boundaries, lands, mines, staple products,
+and manufactures; to determine whether or not nutmegs, cinnamon,
+cloves, pepper, and other spices would grow if planted; to inform itself
+regarding rivers, harbors, and fishing banks; and to estimate how many
+planters and parishes there were, how many whites and blacks yearly
+arrived, and how many people died each year. It was to learn the number
+of ships trading to the plantations, to discover the obstacles to trade
+and how they could be removed, the advantages and how they could be
+increased; it was to concern itself with export and import dues, public
+revenues, measures taken for the instruction of the people and the
+maintenance of the ministry. It was especially instructed to keep in
+frequent correspondence with the governors, to urge upon them the
+necessity of maintaining peace with their neighbors, the Indians and
+others, of taking the Indians under their protection and of guarding
+their persons, goods, and possessions according to law. Furthermore,
+it was to procure copies of all necessary documents, to purchase maps,
+plats, and charts when needed, to study those portions of treaties
+made with other countries that related to peace and commerce, and to
+determine how far those articles had been upheld and performed. And
+lastly, it was to consider the practice of other countries in matters
+of trade, commerce, and the colonies, and to see how far such practices
+might be of value to England.
+
+The Council had its first meeting on October 13, at Essex House, and
+there the commission was read and the oaths were taken. Soon after, it
+took up its abode at Villier's House in King's Street near Whitehall,
+which it rented of the Duchess of Cleveland for L200 a year. There it
+had a council chamber, an office for the clerks, two messengers, a
+porter, a maid, and a chamber keeper, all of whom were paid out of the
+L1,000 allowed for contingent expenses. We have record of seventy-six
+meetings held between October 13, 1672, and December 22, 1674, a period
+of twenty-six months; but it is quite certain that more meetings than
+this were held, inasmuch as the session-days were every Wednesday and
+Friday at ten in the morning.[10] So far as the plantations were
+concerned the Council did little more than continue the work of its
+predecessor, the Council of 1670, but in addition it concerned itself
+with a large number of questions that had to do with domestic and
+foreign as well as with colonial trade. The most important of these
+related to the petition of the English consul at Venice that his
+consulage be levied on goods and not on ships, a matter that aroused
+prolonged debate; to the petition of the Gambia adventurers against
+the importation by the East India Company of the dyeing wood called
+"sanders" which, because cheaper, was taking the place of their redwood
+from Africa; to the ordinances issued in Sweden against the English
+"privileges" concerning naval stores; to the exportation of wool from
+England, a matter already dealt with in an Act of Parliament; and to
+the treatment of merchants at the hands of the Spaniards, regarding
+which a number of petitions had been received by the board. A few new
+petitions were taken into consideration from traders and others in the
+plantations, notably those of the Jew Rabba Couty, whose ship had been
+seized at Jamaica on the ground that he was a foreigner; of William
+Helyar, whose woodland in Jamaica had been seized by Governor Lynch;
+of John Rodney and his wife Frances, whose plantation in Nevis had
+been seized by Governor Russell, a case destined to drag on for nearly
+two years.
+
+In recommending the appointment of governors and other officials,
+passing upon colonial laws, scrutinizing nominations as of colonial
+councillors, corresponding with the governors, organizing an efficient
+system of communication and supervision in all matters touching trade
+and commerce, and in making reports to the King in Council,--in short,
+in the control and management of colonial affairs, the Council of 1672
+placed the British colonial policy on a broader and more comprehensive
+foundation than had hitherto been laid and inaugurated a more thorough
+system of colonial control than had been established by any of its
+predecessors. It is doubtful if even the Lords of Trade or the Board of
+Trade surpassed the Councils of 1670 and 1672 in enthusiasm, loyalty,
+or dispatch of business.
+
+On December 21, 1674, Charles II revoked the commission of the Council,
+and plantation affairs under their cognizance thus being "left loose and
+at large" were "restored to their accustomed channel of a Committee of
+the Privy Council," that is, to the Committee of the Board appointed for
+matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations.[11] The reasons for
+this step are of course to be found in the first instance in the fall
+of Shaftesbury from power the summer before, but that event is not in
+itself a sufficient explanation of the change. At least it is worthy of
+remark that the dissolution of the Council took place many months after
+Shaftesbury's dismissal. Probably a further cause is to be found in the
+widespread demand for economy and retrenchment. The Council of 1672
+cost the King nearly L8,000 a year; the Committee of the Privy Council
+cost the King nothing for the services of its members, although its
+contingent expenses ran higher than had those of any previous board,
+amounting to between L275 and L400 a quarter from 1676 to 1687 and L250
+and L300 from 1689 to 1696.[12]
+
+Probably a greater reason for the dissolution of the Council of 1672
+is to be found in the dissatisfaction which existed with the system of
+advisory and independent bodies. Povey expressed the matter well when
+he wrote:
+
+    "His Ma^{tie} since his happy Restoraton, rightly considering
+    of how great Consequence his foreign Plantations are to this
+    Crowne, hath at several times Commissionated certain select
+    persons to be Councells for the Plantations, every one of
+    which Councels were variously framed, instructed and encouraged,
+    w^{ch} have all expired without any considerable advantage, or
+    satisfaction to his Ma^{tie} or the Plantations. Among the other
+    Reasons w^{ch} may be given, why they proved fruitless, it seems,
+    That it is found by experience that whatsoever Council is not
+    enabled as well to execute as advise, must needs produce very
+    imperfect and weak effects. It being, by its subordination and
+    impotency obliged to have a continual recourse to superior
+    Ministers, and Councels filled with other business, w^{ch}
+    ofttimes gives great and prejudicial delays and usually begets
+    new  or slower deliberations and results, than the matter in
+    hand may stand in need of, by w^{ch} means the authority and
+    virtue of this little Council became faint and ineffectual.
+    Seeing therefore it hath been held at all times, that may
+    distant Colonies, and the manifold Concernments thereof do
+    require and deserve to be consider'd and provided for by some
+    select persons as a Councel for those affairs, And that the
+    wisdome of our Government admits not such a plenary Authority,
+    but solely in the highest Council, it remains only as the best
+    expedient, That Com^{rs} be appointed out of the Privy Council
+    under the Great Seal, who may sit on some appointed day in every
+    [blank] and sometimes an hour before the Councel shall sit, as
+    occasion may call for it, to take consideration of any of the
+    affairs of the Plantations, who may give direcions in ordinary
+    cases, and in cases extraordinary may report to the King and
+    Councel."[13]
+
+
+We do not know when this paper was written nor do we know whether
+it ever came to the attention of the King and his advisers. Its
+recommendation was certainly carried out, when the King, taking into
+his own hands again the full control of trade and the plantations,
+issued a commission in February, 1675, placing the entire charge of
+these matters in the hands of the committee of the Council, which
+through all the changes of fifteen years had never ceased to exercise
+its functions of supervision and control of colonial affairs. This
+committee, known as the Lords of Trade, acted as a board of trade and
+plantations for twenty years and conducted its business with eminent
+success. Its membership was occasionally changed, though as a rule the
+work fell upon a comparatively small number of men who were in frequent
+attendance. After the fall of the Stuarts, King William continued the
+same policy, appointing a new Council Committee and resisting all
+attempts of Parliament to interfere.
+
+Parliament, however, determined to obtain control of the management of
+colonial affairs, and as early as 1694 made an effort in that direction.
+Acting evidently under the influence of the merchants of London, who
+resented the fact that affairs of this character should be entrusted
+to "courtiers without experience," it took into consideration the
+appointment of a separate board, whose members should be chosen by
+itself. The first bill was thrown out by Parliament, but the matter was
+brought up at the next session in December, 1695. Strenuous efforts were
+made by a few of the leading out-ports, such as Bristol, to obtain,
+through their members in Parliament, a representation on the proposed
+board, in order to overcome "the growing greatness of London." During
+December and January the matter was debated with great heat in the
+House, and Bristol went so far as to send up a special delegation to
+lobby in its behalf. The proposal was defeated by the King's opposition
+to this attempt to encroach upon his prerogative, and a compromise was
+effected, in which the out-ports played no part. Influenced by the
+determination of the majority in Parliament, William issued a commission
+on May 15, 1696, to a separate Board of Trade and Plantations, the
+membership of which was, however, to be controlled by the Crown.
+
+Of the history of the Board of Trade, thus established in 1696, little
+need be said here. The board passed through many vicissitudes in its
+life of nearly eighty-seven years. It enjoyed its greatest repute during
+the first fifteen years of its existence, falling into the hands of
+inferior officials and placemen during the era of Walpole and the first
+years of the supremacy of Newcastle. Granted new powers in 1752, it rose
+again to a position of prominence which it held for fourteen years, and
+it reached a climax in 1765, when it was made a ministerial executive
+office of government, as were the Secretary's office and the boards of
+the Admiralty and the Treasury, possessing full authority and complete
+jurisdiction in all matters relative to its own department. This
+position of independence was, however, soon lost. On August 8, 1766,
+an order in Council declared that all measures relative to commerce and
+the colonies should originate either with the King in Council, the
+Committee of the Council, or one of the principal Secretaries of State.
+This order, which evidently originated with Shelburne, Secretary of the
+Southern Department, that he might increase thereby his control over
+all colonial affairs, reduced the board to the position of an advisory
+and consulting body upon such matters as the Council might refer to
+it. Henceforth all estimates for colonial services and the direction
+and application of money granted thereupon, which had hitherto been
+transacted by the board, were resumed by the higher authorities. From
+this time the importance and influence of the board steadily declined
+until it was finally abolished in 1782. The control of the colonies
+during the period from 1768 to 1782 was assumed by the new Secretary
+of State for the colonies and remained in his charge until his office
+also was abolished in the same year.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Footnote 1: See various papers among the Shaftesbury MSS., Division X,
+particularly 8, No. 4, "L^{d} Shaftesbury's Advice to his Majesty about
+Trade, etc."]
+
+[Footnote 2: Edward Long, governor and historian of Jamaica, viewed
+the appointment of the Council as a piece of jobbery and graft, an
+undertaking espoused not for the national good, but in order to obtain
+new and lucrative offices for Ashley and others "his Brethren in the
+ministry." Brit. Mus. Add. MSS., 12438, iii, f. 17.]
+
+[Footnote 3: Henry Slingsby is named secretary and treasurer in the
+commission and his signature or initials are appended to all orders from
+October 5, 1670, to July 23, 1672. During this time and until September
+13, 1673, Dr. Worsley acted as assistant and is called "secretary" until
+November 15, 1672, when he was made treasurer also. On October 15, 1673,
+after the discharge of Worsley, John Locke, secretary, friend, and ally
+of the Earl of Shaftesbury, president of the new Council of 1672, was
+sworn in as secretary and as treasurer on December 16, 1673. He remained
+in service until the abolition of the Council. Evelyn speaks of Worsley
+as dead on October 15, but this statement cannot be true as Worsley was
+still alive in March, 1675.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Evelyn in describing the room in which the Council sat
+mentions atlases, maps, charts, globes, etc., but Locke when called upon
+to hand over the papers in March, 1675, reported that he never had had
+any globes and maps.]
+
+[Footnote 5: The commission, instructions, and additional instructions
+of the Council for Foreign Plantations are to be found among the
+Shaftesbury Papers in the Public Record Office, fair written in an entry
+book bound in vellum. Div. X, 10. Another copy of the instructions is
+contained in X, 8 (11).]
+
+[Footnote 6: The sources for the history of the councils of 1670 and
+1672 are: The Calendar of State Papers, Colonial, 1669-1674, which
+contains abstracts of the papers of the Councils now among the Colonial
+Papers. Had it been possible to examine each original document before
+writing this paper there is no doubt that the list of the meetings given
+in the Appendix would have been considerably extended. The calendaring
+is often far from clear and the indexing, as far as all the boards are
+concerned from 1622 to 1675, is a muddle of confusion. Among the Board
+of Trade Papers is an Index to the entry books of the councils, which
+shows that the following books, "called in the stile of the office, the
+'rough books,'" were kept: "A Journal," "Orders of Council of Foreign
+Plantations," "Petitions, References, and Reports," "Addresses and
+Advices," "Letters and Answers," "Miscellanies," "Barbadoes," "Leeward
+Islands," "Jamaica," "Virginia," "Letters from the Council," "New
+England," "Fishery," "West India, Surinam," and "Letters to the
+Council." Most of these entry books have been found scattered among
+the Colonial Office volumes. Unfortunately the most important book,
+"A Journal," is missing and has been missing for two centuries. The
+"Index," however, contains a series of entries entitled, "Heads of
+Business," which is very incomplete as an index to the meetings, but
+upon which I have drawn in making up my list. The "Virginia" volume
+is also missing, but it apparently contained nothing except blank
+leaves. Part one of the volume entitled "Letters and Answers" and the
+whole of "Letters to the Council" are also missing. The "New England"
+volume contains only a copy of the Massachusetts charter; that entitled
+"Miscellaneous" three interesting papers "Concerning Spiriting,"
+"Consideration about Foreign Plantations," and "Other considerations
+concerning Plantations." The complete minutes of two meetings are among
+the Shaftesbury Papers and very interesting notes in Evelyn's Diary.]
+
+[Footnote 7: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1669-1674, Sec.Sec. 327, I, 415, 565,
+663, 680, 697, 704, 737, 804, 805, 891, 896, 1044, 1101.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1669-1674, Sec.Sec. 287, 365, 822, 834,
+917, 1003, 1011-1013, 1100, 1186, 1197, 1212, 1251-1252, 1255, 1295,
+1300, 1306, 1386.]
+
+[Footnote 9: Lord's Journal, XII, pp. 254, 257, 273-274, 284.]
+
+[Footnote 10: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1672-1673, pp. 213-214.]
+
+[Footnote 11: New York Col. Docts., III, pp. 228, 229-230; Cal. State
+Papers, Col., 1675-1676, Sec.Sec. 648, 649.]
+
+[Footnote 12: Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 9767, 9768, containing an itemized
+expense account of the Lords of Trade from 1676 to 1696.]
+
+[Footnote 13: Brit. Mus., Egerton, 2395, f. 276.]
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX I.
+
+Instructions, Board of Trade, 1650.
+
+
+_First._--They are to take notice of all the Native commodities of this
+Land, or what Time and Industry may hereafter make Native and advise how
+they may not only be fully Manufactured, but well and truly wrought, to
+the Honor and Profit of the Commonwealth.
+
+_Secondly._--They are to consider how the Trades and Manufactures of
+this Nation may most fitly and equally be distributed to every part; to
+the end that one part may not abound with Trade, and another remain poor
+and desolate for the want of the same.
+
+_Thirdly._--They are to consult how the Trade may most conveniently be
+driven from one part of this Land to another. To which purpose they are
+to consider how the Rivers may be made more Navigable and the Ports more
+capable of Shipping.
+
+_Fourthly._--They are to consider how the Commodities of this Land may
+be vented, to the best advantage thereof, into Foraign Countreys, and
+not undervalued by the evil management of Trade, And that they advise
+how Obstructions of Trade into Foraign parts may be removed; and desire
+by all means, how new ways and places may be found out, for the better
+venting of the Native commodities of this Land.
+
+_Fifthly._--They are to advise how Free Ports or Landing-places
+for Foreign Commodities imported (without paying of Custom if again
+exported) may be appointed in several parts of this Land, and in what
+manner the same is to be effected.
+
+_Sixthly._--They are to consider of some way, that a most exact account
+be kept of all commodities imported and exported through the Land,
+to the end that a perfect Balance of Trade may be taken, whereby the
+Commonwealth may not be impoverished, by receiving of Commodities yearly
+from Foraign parts of a greater value than what was carried out.
+
+_Seventhly._--They are duly to consider the value of the _English_
+Coyns, and the Par thereof, in relation to the intrinsic value which it
+bears in weight and fineness with the Coyns of other Nations. Also to
+consider of the state of the Exchange, and of the gain or loss that
+comes to the Commonwealth by the Exchange now used by the Merchants.
+
+_Eighthly._--They are (in order to the Regulating and Benefit of Trade)
+seriously to consider what Customs, Impositions, and Excise is fit to be
+laid upon all Goods and Commodities, either Native or Imported, and how
+the said Customs, Impositions, and Excise may be best ordered and
+Regulated, and so equally laid and evenly managed, as neither Trade may
+be thereby hindered, nor the State made incapable to defray the Publique
+Charges of the Commonwealth.
+
+_Ninthly._--They are to take into their consideration whether it be
+necessary to give way to a more open or free Trade than that of
+Companies and Societies, and in what manner it is fittest to be done;
+wherein, notwithstanding, they are to take care that Government and
+Order in Trade may be preserved and Confusion avoided.
+
+_Tenthly._--They are to inform themselves of the particular Ordinances,
+Orders, Grants, Patents, and Constitutions of the several Companies of
+Merchants and Handicraftsmen, to the end that if any of them tend to
+the hurt of the Publique, they may be laid down in such manner as the
+Parliament shall think fit.
+
+_Eleventhly._--They are to consider the great Trade of Fishing, and
+that not only upon the coasts of _England_ and _Ireland_ but likewise of
+_Iceland_, _Greenland_, _Newfoundland_, and _New England_, or elsewhere,
+and to take care that the Fishermen may be encouraged to go on in their
+Labors, to the increase of Shipping and Mariners.
+
+_Twelfthly._--They are to take into their consideration the English
+Plantations in America or elsewhere, and to advise how those Plantations
+may be best managed, and made most useful for this Commonwealth, and how
+the Commodities thereof may be so multiplied and improved, as (if it
+be possible) those Plantations alone may supply the _Commonwealth_ of
+_England_ with whatsoever it necessarily wants. (Inderwick, _The
+Interregnum_, p. 74 note.)
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX II.
+
+Instructions for the Council for Foreign Plantations, 1670-1672.
+
+
+Given at our Court at Whitehall the 30th day of July, 1670.
+
+[Sidenote: Preamble.]
+
+Forasmuch as our severall Colonies, and Plantations abroad, have by the
+Prudence of our Predecessors, and not without the great hazard, Charge
+and Expence of these Nations been respectively setled, and being so
+setled are become the proper Right and Soveraigne Posessions of us: And
+forasmuch as the said Colonies having upon severall Occasions readily
+exprest their loyalty and faithfulnesse towards us, have thereby the
+more engaged us, out of our Princely care, not only to take notice of
+them, but by all Wayes and meanes to endeavour the promoting of their
+Welfare and Increase, togeather with their flourishing Estate and
+condition, and more especially their Protection and Defence.
+
+[Sidenote: To inquire of the State of the Plantations, of the Powers
+and Instructions of the Governours how Executed.]
+
+1. You are therefore strictly to inquire and informe your selves, by
+the best wayes and meanes you can of the State and condition of all and
+every of our said respective Colonies, and Plantations, what it is, by
+whome they are respectively governed, and what Commissions, Powers and
+Instructions, have been graunted by us, or any way derived from us to
+that End, how the same have been duly executed and observed.
+
+[Sidenote: Miscarriages to be represented.]
+
+And if upon Enquiry or Examination you shall find any neglect, or
+miscarriage, to have been committed by any of the said Governours
+respectively, or by any of their respective Deputies, or that any such
+neglect or miscarriage shall hereafter appeare to you, that shall tend
+to the abuse of our Authority, or to the prejudice of our Interest, Or
+to the dammage and discouragement of any of our said Plantations, you
+are forthwith and at all times from time to time carefully to represent
+the same to us, that we may give such direction therein as the affaire
+shall require and as to our Princely wisdome shall be thought fitt.
+
+[Sidenote: To send for Coppies of Commissions and Instructions,
+and consider of them.]
+
+[Sidenote: To give Directions accordingly.]
+
+2. And to this End you are to demaund of the said Governours respectively,
+or of their respective Deputies, the Coppies of all such Commissions and
+Instructions, as have mediatly, or immediatly been derived from us, or
+to procure and require the same from the Officers of Record, within this
+our Kingdome. Which having you shall cause them to be fairly transcribed
+and entred in a Booke provided for that purpose. That you may at all
+times be the better enabled to judge of the Duties of the said
+Governours respectively, and may Administer such directions to them,
+as may be suitable thereunto, and most agreeable to our service.
+
+[Sidenote: What Number of Parishes, Planters, Servants and Slaves
+are in the Severall Plantations.]
+
+3. And that you may the better provide for the Defence, Welfare, and
+Security of the said Plantations, you are diligently to informe your
+selves how all and every of the said Colonies and Plantations are
+inhabited (viz) What number of Parishes there are in each respective
+Goverment, and what number of Planters there be in each Parish and what
+number of Servants doe belong to the said Planters respectively, and
+whether the said Servants are Christians, or Slaves that are brought
+from other parts.
+
+[Sidenote: If thinly stockt to consider how they may be supplyed
+from other Plantations or from these Dominions.]
+
+And if you shall find any of the said Plantations to be so thinly and
+weakly inhabited as that it may endanger the losse of them, you are to
+consider how and which way they may most conveniently be supplyed either
+from some other of our Plantations, where they are overstored, or from
+any part of these our Dominions.
+
+[Sidenote: Not to give just Provocations to their Neighbours, Indians,
+or others.]
+
+[Sidenote: To preserve Amity with them.]
+
+4. And forasmuch as most of our said Colonies doe border upon the
+Indians of severall Countries, or doe lye neare the Plantations of
+our Neighbours the French, Spanish, or Dutch, and that peace is not
+to be expected either with the said Indians, or with such as are our
+Neighbours, without the due observance and praeservation of Justice to
+each of them respecively. You are therefore strictly in our Name to
+charge and Command all and every the Governours of our said Colonies
+respectively, that they at no time give any just provocation to any of
+the said Indians, nor to any of our said Neighbours, that are at peace
+with us, or their Subjects, but that they doe by all just wayes and
+meanes endeavour to preserve the Amity that is respectively setled
+betweene them, and to begett also for the future a good and faire
+Correspondency with them.
+
+[Sidenote: Governours to receive all Indians under their Protections.]
+
+5. And inasmuch as some of the Natives of the said Indians may be of
+great use to give Intelligence to our Plantations, Or to discover the
+Trade of other Countries to them, or to be Guides to places more remote
+from them, or to informe our Governours of severall Advantages, and
+Commodities that may be within or neare to our severall Plantations,
+not otherwise capable to be known to them, And may be many other wayes
+serviceable, either to defend or to succour and assist our Plantations.
+It is therefore our pleasure, and we doe hereby require you, to give
+strict order to our severall and respective Governours, that if any of
+the said Indian Nations shall at any time desire to put themselves under
+the protection of our Goverment, that they doe receive them, And that
+they doe by all Wayes and Meanes seeke firmly to oblige them, And that
+they doe direct or employ some persons purposely to learne the languages
+respectively of them.
+
+And that they doe not only carefully protect and defend them from other
+Indians, and from any that are the Adversaries of them. But that they
+more especially take care that none of our owne Subjects, nor any of
+their respective Servants, doe at any time any way harme them.
+
+[Sidenote: Not to suffer them to be injured in their persons Goods
+or Possessions.]
+
+And that if any shall dare to offer any Violence to them in their
+respective persons, Goods or possessions, the said Governours doe
+severely punish the said Injuries agreeable to Justice and Right.
+
+6. And for the better Improovement of the Trade and Commerce of the said
+Plantations, you are as much as in you lyeth to take care, and to give
+such Rules and Directions therein, as you shall in your Judgement thinke
+best.
+
+[Sidenote: That all Commodities of their Growth or making be duly
+manufactured and Improoved.]
+
+That all the Commodities which are made and produce in every of our said
+Plantations, may be duly cured, Manufactured, Improoved, and made as
+Merchantable to the utmost as they may, to the end that they may not
+only be of the greater perfection, but of the greater value, worth and
+repute abroad among other Countries.
+
+[Sidenote: Whether other Commodities, then what grow at present,
+may not be planted and thrive, as Cotton, Ginger, Cocoa &c.]
+
+7. To which End you are to inquire and informe your selves aright.
+Whether there may not be some better Species even of those very
+Commodities which we now plant, Than what we yet have, as of Cotton,
+Ginger, Cocoa &c. Or whether there may not be some better and more
+perfect skill used, in some other places, for the husbanding, managing,
+and perfecting the said Commodities, than what we use at present.
+
+[Sidenote: To gaine the knowledge and skill of such, & impart them
+to the People.]
+
+And if you find the same to be so, you are to use all Endeavour possible
+to procure the said Species, or to gaine the Knowledge of the said
+skill, and to impart the same to the people of our said Plantations.
+
+[Sidenote: What Islands are fittest and most conveniently seated
+for breeding of Cattle.]
+
+8. And forasmuch as the Increase of Horses, and Cattle for Draught
+or for Victuall, are of very great use for the settling of new, and for
+the furnishing of old Plantations, And that there are severall Islands
+which as we are informed, are not so fitt for the inhabiting, or for the
+planting of any Commodity in, as for the breeding the said Cattle, and
+which may yet be the more easily setled, by how much they require the
+lesse people.
+
+You are therefore to informe your selves, what Islands are scituate
+most convenient for that purpose, and to conferre with such Seamen and
+Captaines of Shipps, as have viewed and coasted along the said places.
+
+[Sidenote: To give Encouragement towards the effecting of the same.]
+
+And to consider accordingly of such Conditions, and to publish such
+encouragements, as that the same may be most probable to be effected.
+
+9. And in regard whatever conduceth to the Increase of Shipping, must
+equally conduce to the Safety and strength of these Nations.
+
+[Sidenote: Whether Masts and other Materialls for Shipping may not
+be furnished from the Plantations.]
+
+And that not only Masts, but all other Materialls, as well for the
+building, as fitting out of Shipps of great burthen may as we are
+informed be plentifully furnished from some of our Plantations, if
+care hereunto were more especially used.
+
+[Sidenote: To encourage the producing of Hempe, Flax, Pitch and Tarre
+in New England: and setting up of Sawing Mills.]
+
+You are therefore more particularly to advise about this matter, with
+the severall Governours, and Colonies of New England, and to propound
+to them or receive their Opinion, what methods and course might be
+most fitt for the producing of Flax, Hempe, Pitch and Tarre in those
+Countries in most plenty. As also where Mills might be most conveniently
+placed and encreased for the sawing of Timber, and Planke, and how best
+we may ease the charge and promote the building there of great Shipping.
+
+[Sidenote: How the Plantations may be supplyed with Servants
+and Slaves.]
+
+10. You are to take into your Consideration, how all and every our said
+Colonies, and Plantations, may be best supplyed both with servants and
+Slaves.
+
+[Sidenote: To consider the differences betwixt the Guiny Company,
+and the Plantations, and to find out expedients of agreement.]
+
+[Sidenote: That none of his Ma^{ties} Subjects of these kingdomes be
+forced or Enticed away to the Plantations by any unlawfull Practises,
+but that they may be duly accomodated.]
+
+And what just Objections the said Plantations have against the standing
+and Priviledges of the Guiny Company, Or what complaints the Guiny
+Company doth justly make against any of the said Colonies. And to find
+out such Expedients if possible, that neither of them may lye under any
+Discouragements, or that at least neither of them may be permitted to
+injure or oppresse the other. You are also as farre as you may, to
+provide that none of our Subjects in these Kingdomes, be either forced
+or enticed away into any of our said Plantations, by any indirect and
+unlawfull practises, But that all such persons neverthelesse, as are
+willing, and that shall desire to be transported thither, to seeke a
+better condition there than what they have at present at home, may by
+all meanes be encouraged.
+
+And that some Course be duly considered by you also how far the future
+Vagrants, and all such persons as are Noxious, and infamous for their
+Lives here, may be Transported, as that the forreigne Plantations may
+be accomodated with them, and these Kingdomes disburthened.
+
+[Sidenote: Correspondency with the Governours the better to understand
+their Government, Plantations, Complaints, Trade and Shipping, and the
+Increase or Decrease thereof.]
+
+11. You are likewise to order and settle such a continuall
+correspondence with all and every our said Plentations, and with all and
+every the respective Governements of them. That you may be able as often
+as you are required thereunto to give us an Account, not only of the
+Governement of each Colony, and of the severall Commodities which they
+respectively plant, but of their severall Complaints and wants also,
+and how you find their Trade respectively to increase or decrease.
+
+To which purpose you are to require an Account to be sent you
+continually from time to time of all the Shipps that shall Trade into
+any of the said Plantations. And of the substance of what lading they
+import thither togeather with an account also what Shipps are freighted
+from thence and with what sort of Goods, and what quantity there is of
+each of the said sorts, and whether Consigned. That so the true state
+and condition of each Colony in reference to the Trade and Increase and
+Decrease of it, may be thoroughly and rightly understood.
+
+[Sidenote: To regulate the trade of the Plantations, so that they may
+be serviceable to one another, as well as to these our kingdomes.]
+
+12. And being thus informed you are further to apply your selves by
+all prudentiall wayes and Meanes so to Order, Governe, and Regulate the
+Trade of our whole Plantations, that they may be most serviceable one
+unto another, and as the whole unto these our Kingdomes so these our
+kingdomes unto them.
+
+[Sidenote: To take care of the due execution of the Acts for
+encouragement of Shipping and Navigation.]
+
+13. You are therefore to inquire into, and strictly to take care of the
+due Execution of the severall Acts for the encouragement of Shipping,
+and Navigation and that as much as in you lyeth, none of those good
+Ends and purposes, so much tending to the strength and benefitt of this
+Nation may be frustrated for which the said Acts were primarily intended
+and designed.
+
+[Sidenote: To require Coppies of all Charters and Graunts concerning
+any forreigne Plantations.]
+
+14. And to the End that nothing may be wanting to the said Regulation
+and that Justice may be equally distributed throughout all our said
+Plantations, You are likewise to take an Inspection into, and require
+a Coppy of all Charters, and Graunts that have been passed by us or by
+any of our Praedecessors, to any particular persons, or to any Societies,
+and Corporations of Men with reference to any of the said Plantations.
+
+And more particularly to informe your selves what Goverments are held
+by vertue of any of the said Charters at present, and by whome.
+
+[Sidenote: To examine how the Ends of them have been pursued or
+neglected.]
+
+[Sidenote: In case of any differences to endeavour the composing of
+them amicably.]
+
+You are likewise to examine what Causes, Covenants and Conditions, with
+relation to our selfe and to the Crowne are inserted in any of the said
+Charters or Graunts, and how the same have been performed, and how the
+Ends of the said Graunts themselves have been respectively pursued. Or
+how much on the contrary, you find they have been neglected, and our
+selfe praejudiced, and to report the same to us. And in case there shall
+any differences arise concerning the bounds, and Limits of any of the
+said respective Charters, or concerning the Priviledges, Rights, or
+Properties, which may be challenged by any by vertue of the said
+Charters.
+
+[Sidenote: Otherwise to state and report them to his Ma^{tie}.]
+
+You are to endeavour by the best and justest meanes you may, amicably to
+compose and determine the same. But if the difference arising about any
+of the said Charters, shall have so much difficulty, as that the same
+cannot be friendly and amicably ended as aforesaid. In that case you
+are after Examination of it to state it to us. That we may give such
+Resolution thereupon as may be agreeable to Justice.
+
+[Sidenote: To send for Coppies of the Lawes now in force that if upon
+examination any of them be found contrary to honour, Justice, or the
+Law of England, they may be nulled.]
+
+15. And as you are not to permitt any of our Loving Subjects to be
+oppressed by any of the Governours of our said Colonies contrary to the
+Lawes that are in force, within the said Colonies respectively, so you
+are as carefully to examine, send for and require a Coppy of all such
+Lawes, as have been at any time made, and doe stand yet unrepealed
+within any of our said Plantations. That if any of the said Lawes be
+found inconvenient or contrary to the Lawes of this Land, or to the
+honour and Justice of our Governement, all such Lawes may be immediately
+nulled.
+
+[Sidenote: To procure Mapps and Charts of the severall Plantations,
+and to Register and keep them.]
+
+16. You are also by all Wayes and meanes you may to procure exact Mapps,
+Platts or Charts of all and Every our said Plantations abroad, togeather
+with the Mapps and Descriptions of their respective Ports, Harbours,
+Forts, Bayes, Rivers with the Depth of their respective Channells
+comming in or going up, and the Soundings all along upon the said
+respective Coasts from place to place, and the same so had, you are
+carefully to Register and Keepe.
+
+[Sidenote: To take effectuall care for the Propagating the Gospell in
+the Plantations, and for the providing and maintaining of a pious and
+learned Ministry.]
+
+[Sidenote: To reforme the Debaucheries of Planters and Servants.]
+
+You are above all especially required to take an effectual care for the
+Propagation of the Gospell, in all our said Colonies and Plantations
+respectively, by providing that there be good Encouragem^{t} setled for
+the Invitation and maintenance of pious and learned Ministers, and by
+sending strict Orders and Instructions for the regulating and reforming
+the Debaucheries of Planters and Servants, whose evill Example doth
+bring Scandall upon the Profession of Christianity, and doth deterre
+such as are not yet admitted thereunto, from effecting and esteeming
+the same.
+
+[Sidenote: To invite and Instruct the Indians and Slaves in the
+Christian Religion.]
+
+And you are to consider how much of the Indians, or such as are
+purchased from other parts for Slaves, may be best Instructed and
+invited to the Christian Religion and Faith, it being both for the
+Honour of our Crowne, and of the Protestant Religion it selfe. That all
+persons within any of our Territories though never so remote should be
+taught the Knowledge of God, and be accquainted with the Mysteries of
+Salvation.
+
+[Sidenote: To write Letters to the severall Governours to informe them
+of his Ma^{ties} great care of the Plantations in erecting this Councill
+as also a generall Councill for trade.]
+
+18. You are therefore forthwith to write Letters and to send them
+to the severall Governours of our said respective Plantations, or to
+their respective Deputies in all parts, wherein you are to informe
+them of our great care and signall grace towards our said Colonies,
+and of our erecting not only a general Councill for Trade, that might
+take cognizance of such things as may be their concerne, But of our
+appointing this Councill in particular which is employed only for the
+better care and conduct of them.
+
+[Sidenote: To require of them an Account of the state of their present
+condition and of what they judge necessairie for their Securitie,
+Encouragem^{t}, and accomodation.]
+
+You are therefore to require them, by themselves, or by the Assistance
+of the respective Councills or Assemblies of the said Colonies to send
+you an exact account of the State of their Condition at present, and of
+such particulars within these your Instructions as you shall in the
+first place thinke most necessary for them to answer or informe you of.
+
+And that they doe further propound to you what they judge to be
+most immediately necessary either for their security, or for the
+encouragement, and accomodation of them.
+
+[Sidenote: To observe such other Instructions as shall be sent under
+his Ma^{ties} Signe Manuall, and if further Powers be found necessary,
+the Councill to adresse to his Ma^{tie} therein.]
+
+19. Lastly you are to follow such other Instructions concerning the
+Praemises, as shall be sent to you from time to time by us under our
+Signe Manuall.
+
+And in all cases wherein you shall judge that further Powers and
+Assistance shall be necessary for you, You are to addresse Your selves
+to us, for our further pleasure Resolution and Direction therein.
+
+    Given at our Court at Whitehall the 30^{th}. day of July 1670,
+    in the two and twentieth yeare of our Reigne.
+
+    By his Ma^{ties} Command
+
+    ARLINGTON.
+
+
+
+
+Additional Instructions for the Council for Foreign Plantations, 1670-1672.
+
+Given at Our Court at Whitehall the First Day of August, 1670.
+
+
+[Sidenote: To inquire concerning the Strength Fortifications and
+Military discipline of the Plantations.]
+
+1. You are also particularly to inquire and informe your selves of the
+strength of all and every of our Colonies, how they are respectively
+fortifyed, what the said Fortifications are, and how conveniently
+situated; as also to inquire how the Inhabitants of the said Colonies
+are respectively trained or disciplined.
+
+And in what Posture they are to make a resistance upon occasion, against
+any sudden attempt or Assault, if it should be offred them either by the
+Indians, or by the forces of any other Prince or State that are their
+Neighbours:
+
+[Sidenote: Concerning the Stores of their Ball, Powder, and other
+Ammunition and the securing and praeserving of them.]
+
+And what Stores they have of Armes, Ball, Powder or any other Ammunition
+respectively, and what care is further necessary to be employed, for the
+better Securing and praeserving each of them, and to give an account from
+time to time of the whole to us.
+
+[Sidenote: To recommend to the Governours, the breeding and producing
+of Salt Petre.]
+
+2. And forasmuch as we are informed, that there are among severall of
+our Plantations, Grounds very proper for the Breeding and producing of
+Salt Petre.
+
+And those so rich also that if they were improoved to the utmost, great
+quantities of that Commodity might be easily had from those parts,
+without sending into the Indies for it:
+
+You are therefore very specially to Recommend this affaire to the
+Governours of such Plantations, where you shall be informed the Grounds
+are fittest for this purpose. And not only to require their care for the
+Improovement of it; but to send your Advice to them, and to receive
+their respective answer and opinion, how and in what manner they judge
+the same, may be best, and most speedily put in Execution.
+
+[Sidenote: The Planting of such Commodities as are most for the benefit
+of the Plantacons and to redresse all praejudiciall Courses of Planting.]
+
+3. And forasmuch as the greatest benefitt that can arise to any of our
+said Colonies, must be when the Planters of any of the said Colonies
+shall be able to improove their Labour or Ground to the utmost Profitt
+respectively.
+
+Wherefore if the Sayle of any of the said Plantations shall be equally
+fitt for the producing as well of severall other Commodities, as for the
+producing of that which the said Colonie is accustomed unto.
+
+And that the said other Commodities are such also as are of more profitt
+to be planted by farre then that which is usuall, And that doe not only
+grow in the Countries adjacent to the said Plantations, but are found by
+Experience to thrive well even in the very said Plantations themselves.
+
+In this Case you are to take care that a Custome be not nourished to the
+praejudice of Trade, and of the said Plantations, But that you take order
+for the Planting, Husbanding and Improoving of that Commodity that is
+most profitable and most for the benefitt of the said Plantation. And to
+this End that you by Letters conferre with the Governour, or with the
+Assembly of the said respective Plantation, that some redresse may be
+made and some stopp put to such a praejudiciall Course, or Custome of
+planting as is aforesaid.
+
+[Sidenote: To consider how Spices, Gummes, Drugs, Dying Stuffes &c. may
+best be obtained from the East Indies, and other places, for the storing
+and enriching Plantations, and how to Reward the Undertakers thereof.]
+
+4. And forasmuch as the scituation of severall of our said Plantations
+is such, as that it seemeth very probable to us, they might be stored
+with many more Druggs, Gummes, and Dying Stuffes than what they now
+have. Yea with severall Spices, and other Merchandises as well from the
+East Indies, Turkie, and other places, as from severall of the Spanish
+and Portugeeze Plantations. You are therefor required to consider and
+advise what Commodities, in any of the Countries aforementioned or in
+any other that shall be considered by you, may be (as you Judge) best
+and fittest to transplant into any of our said Colonies (respect being
+had to their said severall and respective Climates). And how the said
+Commodities may easiest, best, and with least Observation, be obtained
+from the said Countries:
+
+What methods are meetest to be used, or what Rewards fittest to be
+given, to any that shall runne the hazards and Expence of it, to
+undertake them.
+
+And which may therefore the same, may be most probably soe effected, as
+that the Commerce mey be encreased, and the said Plantations enriched
+through it.
+
+[Sidenote: What Councills are established in other Kingdomes, and what
+Powers and instructions are given them for the improving of their Trade
+and Plantations and to consider the Advantages and Disadvantages
+thereof.]
+
+5. You are to informe your selves as farre as you may what Councills
+are Established in any other Kingdome for the good Governement, and
+Improoving of their respective Plantations. What Directions or
+Instructions, also, are particularly given to the said respective
+Councills, and what Policy, Method or Conduct is used by them with
+relation to the Strength, Trade and Increase of the said respective
+Colonies, or with relation to the people themselves that are sent
+thither.
+
+And if you shall discerne such Methods and Directions to be good, or to
+be well founded in Experience and Reason, You are to consider either how
+the same may be aplyed to the Advantage of our owne Plantations, or how
+any Inconveniences that may follow from them may be by you prudently
+avoided.
+
+    Given at our Court at Whitehall, the first day of August 1670,
+    in the two and twentieth yeare of our Reigne.
+
+    By his Ma^{ties} Command
+
+    ARLINGTON.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX III.
+
+Draft of Instructions for the Council of Trade and Foreign Plantations,
+1672-1674.
+
+The Commission and Instructions Were Issued on September 27, 1672.
+
+
+[Sidenote: To consider the Improvem^{t} of the Commodityes of these
+Kingdomes.]
+
+1. You are to consider how all Goods and Commodityes of the Production
+or Growth of these Our Kingdomes may be best Improoved. What other
+usefull Commodityes or Materialls for Manufactures there are which the
+Nature of Our Sayle with good Husbandry will beare, or that tyme and
+Industry can make Native.
+
+[Sidenote: To consider the Setting up of Manufactures.]
+
+2. You are likewise to consider the setting up and Improoving of
+Manufactures within Our said Kingdomes, especially of shipping. And such
+others as are most for the Employment of Our people of best use, and
+greatest Proffit to our Kingdomes. The Establishing of Such Manufactures
+in Townes and places most convenient for them. And to provide that all
+such Manufactures (especially our Old and new Draperyas) be truely made
+and fully manufactured at home.
+
+[Sidenote: The improoving of the Fishing Trade at home & abroad.]
+
+3. You are to consider how the Fishing Trade both at home and abroad may
+be encouraged and improoved to the best advantage.
+
+[Sidenote: The opening of Rivers, Ports and Harbours.]
+
+4. How Our Rivers may be made Navigable and Our Ports and Harbours more
+capable of receiving Shipping.
+
+[Sidenote: The Distributing of Trade and Manufactures.]
+
+5. And how Trade and Manufactures may be more fitly and equally
+distributed through Our Kingdomes.
+
+[Sidenote: To examine the Burthens of Trade.]
+
+6. You are strictly to Examine what Burthens the Trade of Our sayd
+Kingdomes doth at present Groane under both at home and abroad, more
+then the Trade of Neighbouring Princes and States.
+
+[Sidenote: To enquire into abuses in Trade and Manufactures.]
+
+7. You are to make due Search and Inquiry into the abuses practised
+among Merchants, Vintners, Wyne-Coopers, Brewers, Dyers, Apothecaryes,
+Goldsmyths, Refyners, Wyre-Drawers, Penterers, Hatters, Clothiers and
+other Trades and Manufactures within these Our Kingdomes, as also
+concerning Weights and Measures.
+
+[Sidenote: To consider of the better venting of Native Commodity's.]
+
+8. You are to consider how Our Native Commodityes, and Manufactures may
+be vented in greater Quantetyes, and with more Hono^{e} and profitt to
+Our said Kingdomes.
+
+[Sidenote: How forreigne Commodityes may be brought in at cheaper
+Rates.]
+
+9. And how forreigne Goods, and Commodityes may be brought from the
+severall places of their Growth or making in fitt and reasonable tymes,
+and at the Cheapest rates.
+
+[Sidenote: about building of Ships for the carriage of Bulky
+Commodityes.]
+
+10. You are to consider about the Building of Pinkes, Flutes, and other
+great Ships for the more convenient Carryage of Masts, Tymber and other
+Bulky Commodityes. And about setting them out (according as the place to
+which they are bound may allow) with fewer men and Gunns then usuall.
+
+[Sidenote: How Correspondencyes may be kept in places of great commerce
+abroad.]
+
+11. You are to consider how Correspondencyes may be settled and kept
+in all places of Great Commerce abroad for the better knowing with what
+proffit or Losse Our Native Commodityes and Manufactures are vented. And
+What Lawes are from tyme to tyme made or Trades new Erected in forreigne
+parts to the advantage, or Disadvantage of Our Trade or Commerce.
+
+[Sidenote: How free Ports may be opened.]
+
+12. You are to consider how Free Ports may conveniently be opened
+about Our Coasts for the Landing, and Storeing of Forreigne
+Commodityes. Giving leave to retransport them paying only some small
+acknowledgements. And of the severall Advantages that may arise unto
+these Our Kingdomes by Giving way (according to the Example of other
+Nations) to a more open, and free Trade then that of Companyes and
+Corporations.
+
+[Sidenote: To receive Propositions concerning Trade and Navigation.]
+
+13. And you are to receive and Consider all Propositions or Overtures
+concerning new Inventions or Improvements in any Art, Trade or
+Manufacture, or concerning the regulating or Securing of Trade, and
+Improoving of Navigation that shall be offered unto you by any person
+whatsoever.
+
+[Sidenote: To enquire into the State of his Ma^{ts} forreigne
+Plantacons.]
+
+14. You are strictly to enquire, and informe yourselves by the best
+wayes and Meanes you can of the State and Condition of Our said
+Forreigne Collonyes and Plantations. By whome they are Governed and what
+Commissions, Powers and Instruccons have been granted by Us, or by any
+of Our Royall Predecessors to that End, and how the same have been
+Executed and observed.
+
+[Sidenote: To enquire What Councills Assemblies and Courts of Indicature
+there are in them.]
+
+15. You are likewise to enquire and informe yourselves. What Councills,
+Assemblyes and Courts of Indicature for Civill and Criminall Causes
+there are within the said Collonyes and Plantations, and of what Nature
+and Kind.
+
+[Sidenote: What Courts of Admiralty.]
+
+16. What Courts of Indicature they have relating to the Admiralty.
+
+[Sidenote: What their Legislative and Executive Powers are.]
+
+17. Where the Legislative and Executive Powers of their Governments are
+seated.
+
+[Sidenote: What Statutes and Lawes they have.]
+
+18. What Statutes, Lawes, and Ordinances they have made, and are now in
+force.
+
+[Sidenote: What number of Horse and Foot.]
+
+19. What number of Horse and Foot they have and whether Trayned Bands,
+Bands, or Standing Forces.
+
+[Sidenote: What Castles and Forts and how provided.]
+
+20. What Castles or Forts they have, how situated and what Stores and
+Provisions they are furnished with.
+
+[Sidenote: What strength their Neighbours have.]
+
+21. What strength their Bordering Neighbours have by Sea and Land.
+
+[Sidenote: What Correspondency they keep with them.]
+
+22. What Correspondency they keep with their Neighbours.
+
+[Sidenote: What Armes Ammunition &c. have been sent unto them.]
+
+23. What Armes, Ammunition, and Stores have been sent unto the said
+Collonyes and Plantations upon our Accompt, when received, how Employed,
+and what part of them is there remayning and where.
+
+[Sidenote: What Moneys have been paid for Armes &c. and Fortifications.]
+
+24. What Moneys have been paid or appointed to be paid by Us, or Leavyed
+within the said severall Collonys, and Plantacons for and towards the
+buying of Armes, or making and Mayntaining of any Fortifications, or
+Castles, And how the said Moneys have been expended.
+
+[Sidenote: The Boundaryes and Contents of their Lands.]
+
+25. What the Boundaryes, and Contents of their Lands are.
+
+[Sidenote: What Mynes, Commodityes and Manufactures they have.]
+
+26. What Mynes they have of Gold, Silver, Copper, Tynne, Ledd, or Iron.
+What Commodityes there are of their production, growth, or Manufacture.
+What Materialls for Shipping and whether Salt-petre is or may be
+produced in any of the said Collonyes or Plantations. And if so, At what
+Rates it may be delivered in England.
+
+[Sidenote: Whether Spices, Gumms, Drugs if Planted will not thrive.]
+
+27. Whether Nutmegs, Cinnamon, Cloves, Pepper, and other Spices, and
+Gumms, Druggs and Dying Stuffs which now grow in the East Indyes, and
+are brought from thence may not be planted and come to perfection in
+some of Our Collonyes, and Plantations in the West Indyes.
+
+[Sidenote: What Rivers, Harbours &c. they have.]
+
+28. What Rivers, Harbours, and Roads they have, and of What Depths, and
+Soundings.
+
+[Sidenote: What Banks or Shoales for Fishing.]
+
+29. What Banks, or Shoales they have upon, or neare their Coasts for
+Fishing.
+
+[Sidenote: What number of Planters and Parishes.]
+
+30. What number of Planters, Servants, and Slaves, and how many Parishes
+they have.
+
+[Sidenote: What number of Whites and Blacks doe yearly come.]
+
+31. What Number of English, Scotch, or Irish doe yearely come, and what
+Blacks, or Slaves, are brought unto them.
+
+[Sidenote: What number of People dye yearely.]
+
+32. What Number of People doe yearely dye within the said Collonyes and
+Plantations both Whites, and Blacks.
+
+33. What Number of Shipps doe Yearely Trade to and from the said
+Collonyes and Plantations, and of what Burthen they are.
+
+[Sidenote: What number of Ships Trade yearely.]
+
+[Sidenote: What obstructions they have and Advantages may be gained to
+their Trade.]
+
+34. What Obstructions there are, and What advantages may be gained to
+the Improovement of their Trade and Navigation.
+
+[Sidenote: What Dutyes are Charged upon Goods imported, or exported.]
+
+35. What Rates and Dutyes are charged and payable upon any Goods or
+Commodityes exported out of the said Collonyes and Plantations, whether
+of their owne Growth and Manufacture or otherwyse. As also upon Goods
+imported.
+
+[Sidenote: What Publick Revenues doe arise among them.]
+
+36. What Revenues doe or may arise unto Us within the said Collynes and
+Plantations, and of what nature they are. By whome Collected, and how
+answered and Accompted unto Us.
+
+[Sidenote: How they instruct the People in Religion, and pay their
+Ministry.]
+
+37. And what Course they take about Instructing of their People in the
+Christian Religion. And what Provision is made for the Maintenance of
+their Ministers.
+
+[Sidenote: To consider which of the said Collonyes are not fully
+Planted.]
+
+38. You are to informe yourselves which of our said Collonyes and
+Plantations are not fully Planted or Inhabited, and to consider how such
+of them may most conveniently be supplyed from others that are
+overstored with people.
+
+[Sidenote: How the s^{d} Collonyes may be serviceable to one another and
+useful to these Kingdomes.]
+
+39. You are to consider how our said Collonyes, and Plantations may be
+serviceable unto one another in relation to their mutuall Sustenance and
+Defence, and how they may be Governed to be of use and advantage
+likewise to these Our Kingdomes.
+
+[Sidenote: To Correspond by Letters with forreigne Governours.]
+
+40. You are to take care in Keeping frequent Correspondency by Letters
+with the severall Governours of Our said Collonyes, and Plantations.
+
+[Sidenote: To Charge them to preserve peace with their Neighbo^{rs} and
+to protect y^{e} Indians.]
+
+41. You are hereby required in Our Name strictly to charge all and every
+the Governours of Our said Collonyes and Plantations respectively. That
+they doe not Give any just Provocation unto any of their Neighbours
+Indians or others that are at Peace & Amity with Us. But that they doe
+by all just wayes and Meanes endeavours to preserve such Peace and Amity
+and keep a good and fayre Correspondencye with them.
+
+And if any of the said Indians shall desire to putt themselves under
+the Protection of the Governours, or Governments of our said Collonyes
+or Plantations, That they doe receive them with respect and Kindnesse,
+and Give them due Protection, and Defence in their Persons, Goods, and
+Possessions according to Lawe. And in case any Persons shall contrary
+thereunto offer any Affronts or Injuryes unto them, That the said
+Governours doe severly punish such offenders according to Justice and
+Right.
+
+[Sidenote: To procure Coppyes of all Grants concerning the said
+Collonyes &c.]
+
+42. You are to endeavour the procuring Coppyes of all Letters Patents,
+Charters, or Grants of any of Our said Collonyes or Plantations, or of
+any Part of them, passed by Us or any of Our Predecessors under the
+Great Seale of England, to any Person, Socyety, or Corporation of Men
+Whatsoever. And to informe yourselves whether they have been duely putt
+in Execution according to the Severall Grants, Clauses and Conditions,
+conteyned in them respectively.
+
+[Sidenote: To procure Exact Mapps of the said Collonyes.]
+
+43. You are likewise to endeavour the procuring of Exact Mapps,
+Platts, or Charts of all Our said Collonyes and Plantations with the
+Descriptions of their respective Rivers, Forts, Harbours, Bayes, and
+Roads.
+
+[Sidenote: To consider of the improoving of their Trade and Commerce.]
+
+44. And when you shall have received due Information concerning the
+perticulars in the foregoing Instructions. You are to consider of the
+best wayes, and Meanes for the encourageing settling, and Improoving
+the Trade, and Commerce of Our sayd Collonyes, and Plantations. And
+accordingly to offer unto Us your Opinions, and Advice thereupon.
+
+[Sidenote: To Examine if the Articles of Peace and Commerce with
+forreigne Princes have been performed.]
+
+45. You are to consider the severall Articles of Peace and Commerce that
+have been heretofore made between Us or any of our Royal Predecessors,
+and all forreigne Princes, and States, and to Examine whether the
+Priviledges and Immunityes by them Granted or agreed for the Benefitt
+and advantage of Our Merchants, have from tyme to tyme been carefully
+upheld and performed, And in case you shall find any Manifest Breach of
+them, or any Injuryes done to Our Merchants, or any Obstructions to Our
+Trade thereby, You are to represent the same to Us for Our
+Consideration.
+
+[Sidenote: To enquire what Councills of Trade &c. are settled in
+forreigne Parts and w^{t} Commiss^{ns} Instructions and Allowances
+they have.]
+
+46. You are to informe yourselves the best that may be, What Councills,
+or Courts of Indicature are Established in any forreigne Kingdomes
+or States for the well Government of their Trade and Navigation,
+and for the Improovement Settlement, and Defence of their Collonyes
+and Plantations. As also What Commissions, Powers, Authorityes,
+Instructions, and allowances they have Given and Granted unto them
+for the better carrying on of those Services.
+
+[Sidenote: To observe such other Instructions &c as shall be sent
+und^{r} his Ma^{ts} Signe Manuall and to addresse to his Ma^{ty}
+for further Instructions &c. if need be.]
+
+47. And Lastly you are required and authorized to observe and putt in
+Execution all such other Powers, Authorityes and Instructions (relating
+unto Our said Collonyes or Plantations, or unto the Trade, Commerce or
+Navigation of them, or of these our Kingdomes) as shall from tyme to
+tyme be sent unto you by Us under Our Signe Manuall.
+
+And where you shall judge it necessary to have any further Powers,
+Authorityes, or Instructions for the better Carrying on of Our Service
+therein. You are to Addresse yourselves unto Us for Our further Pleasure
+and Direction.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX IV.
+
+Heads of Business of Councils, 1670-1674.
+
+
+COUNCIL FOR FOREIGN PLANTATIONS, 1670-1672.
+
+_August 3, 1670._
+
+Commission and instructions for a Council for Foreign Plantations read.
+(From the Index mentioned on p. 101, note 6, here cited as _Journal_.)
+
+_August 9._
+
+Letter to Trinity House. (_Journal._)
+
+_August 12._
+
+Oath of Secrecy to the Officers. (_Journal._)
+
+_August 16._
+
+Petition of St. Christopher read. (_Journal_; Cal. State Papers, Col.
+1669-1674, Sec. 232, here cited as _Cal._)
+
+_August 19._
+
+Commissioners for St. Christopher agreed on. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec. 232.)
+
+_August 22._
+
+Report on St. Christopher's case. (_Cal._, Sec.Sec. 232, 850.)
+
+_September 22._
+
+Petition for a chief governor of the Leeward Is. (_Journal_; _Cal._,
+Sec. 268.)
+
+_September 24._
+
+Beginning of consideration of Surinam question. (_Journal_; _Cal._,
+Sec.Sec. 60, 291, 486, 524, and _passim._)
+
+_September 26._
+
+Col. Lynch to be a committee at St. Christopher and afterwards to goe to
+Jamaica as his Maj. Lieutenant. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec. 287.)
+
+_September 27._
+
+Leeward Is. petition again read. (_Cal._, Sec. 269.)
+
+_September 29._
+
+Drafting of queries to Gov. Berkeley of Virginia. (_Cal._, Sec. 565.)
+
+_September 30._
+
+Jamaica & the Isle of Providence. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec. 276.)
+
+_October 5._
+
+Surinam, Jamaica, St. Christopher; Conveyance of Letters to Foreign
+Plantations. (_Journal_; _Cal._, _Dom._, 1672-1673, p. 295.)
+
+_October 10._
+
+Surinam agreement with the two ships, 20,000^{11} damage at St.
+Christopher. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec.Sec. 274, 292, 295.)
+
+_October 18._
+
+St. Christopher order of summons to planters of Barbadoes and
+petitioners from St. Christopher to appear. (_Cal._, Sec. 297.) There must
+have been a meeting on "Friday next."
+
+_October 25._
+
+Draft instructions for Commissioners for St. Christopher for bringing
+off from Surinam English subjects, their families, and estates.
+(_Cal._, Sec. 304.)
+
+_October 27._
+
+Leeward Is. their Governor apart, Answer of Lord Willoughby read.
+(_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec.Sec. 309, 327.)
+
+_November 1._
+
+Surinam, names of Commissioners. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec.Sec. 319, 320, 324.)
+
+_November 5._
+
+Commission and instructions to Major Bannister for fetching off the
+English from Surinam. (_Cal._, Sec. 850.)
+
+_November 8._
+
+Peace with Spain. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec.Sec. 334, 334 I.)
+
+_November 12._
+
+Barbadoes imposition on Sugar. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec.Sec. 332, 519, 520,
+p. 229, _passim._)
+
+_November 15._
+
+Order regarding 16th article of the treaty with Spain. (_Cal._, Sec. 334.)
+
+_November 17._
+
+Report on petition of Leeward Is., favoring the petition, despite Lord
+Willoughby's objections. (_Cal._, Sec.Sec. 339, 850.)
+
+_November 26._
+
+Sir Chas. Wheeler appointed governor of the Leeward Is. (_Journal_;
+_Cal._, Sec.Sec. 327, 392-397.)
+
+_December 16._
+
+Commission and instructions to Sir Thomas Lynch, Lieut. Gov. of Jamaica.
+(_Cal._, Sec. 850.)
+
+
+1671.
+
+_January 14._
+
+Newfoundland, petition regarding the fishery. (_Journal_; _Cal._,
+Sec.Sec. 362, 368, 369, 385.)
+
+_January 21._
+
+Governors of Plantations to take the Oaths [of Allegiance?]. (_Journal._)
+
+_January 28._
+
+Continuation of Newfoundland Question. (_Journal._)
+
+_February 9._
+
+Consideration of proposals of Sir Charles Wheeler. (_Journal_; _Cal._,
+Sec.Sec. 410, 412, 415, 420.)
+
+_February 14._
+
+Wheeler's proposals regarding defence of St. Christopher. (_Journal_;
+_Cal._, Sec.Sec. 412, 850.)
+
+_February 18._
+
+Spiriting, kidnapping of young persons for transport to the plantations.
+(_Journal_; _Cal._, 1661-1668, Preface, p. xxvii _et seq._)
+
+_March 2._
+
+Continuation of Newfoundland question. Report on the petition. (_Cal._,
+Sec.Sec. 362, 850.)
+
+_March 8._
+
+Estimate sent (and probably received on same day) by officers of
+ordnance regarding ammunition, etc. for Leeward Is. (_Cal._, Sec. 445.)
+
+_March 10._
+
+Report on Newfoundland petition, made on March 2, read. (_Cal._, _Dom._,
+1671, under Mar. 10.)
+
+_April 27._
+
+Petition of Ferdinando Gorges read. (_Cal._, Sec. 512; See _Cal._, _Dom._,
+1671, April 27, Slingsby to Williamson.)
+
+_May 22._
+
+Robert Mason's first petition to the Council; divers relations
+concerning New England, with observations of the commissioners lately
+employed there, read. (_Cal._, Sec. 512.)
+
+_May 26._
+
+"The Earl of Bristol's house in Queen's Street (Lincoln's Inn Fields)
+was taken for the Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, and furnished
+with rich hangings of the King's. It consisted of seven rooms on a
+floor, with a long gallery, gardens, etc. This day we met the Duke of
+Buckingham, Earl of Lauderdale, Lord Culpeper, Sir George Carteret, Vice
+Chamberlain, and myself, had the oaths given us by the Earl of Sandwich,
+our President. It was to advise and counsel his Majesty, to the best of
+our abilities, for the well-governing of his Foreign Plantations, etc.,
+the form very little differing from that given to the Privy Council. We
+then took our places at the Board in the Council Chamber, a very large
+room furnished with atlases, maps, charts, globes, etc. Then came the
+Lord Keeper, Sir Orlando Bridgeman, Earl of Arlington, Secretary of
+State, Lord Ashley, Mr. Treasurer, Sir John Trevor, the other Secretary,
+Sir John Duncomb, Lord Allington, Mr. Grey, son to the Lord Grey, Mr.
+Henry Broncher, Sir Humphrey Winch, Sir John Finch, Mr. Waller and
+Colonel Titus of the Bed chamber, with Mr. Slingsby, Secretary to the
+Council, and two clerks of the Council, who had all been sworn some
+days before. Being all set, our Patent was read, and then the additional
+Patent, in which was recited this new establishment; then, was delivered
+to each a copy of the Patent, and of instructions; after which we
+proceeded to business.
+
+The first thing we did was to settle the form of a circular letter to
+the Governors of all his Majesty's Plantations and Territories in the
+West Indies and Islands thereof, to give them notice to whom they should
+apply themselves on all occasions, and to render us an account of their
+present state and government; but what we most insisted on was, to know
+the condition of New England, which appearing to be very independent as
+to their regard to Old England or his Majesty, rich and strong as they
+now were, there were great debates in what style to write to them; for
+the condition of that Colony was such that they were able to contest
+with all other Plantations about them, and there was fear of their
+breaking from all dependence on this nation; his Majesty, therefore
+commended this affair more expressly. We, therefore, thought fit, in the
+first place, to acquaint ourselves as well as we could of the state of
+that place, by some whom we heard of that were newly come from thence;
+and to be informed of their present posture and condition; some of our
+Council were for sending them a menacing letter, which those who better
+understood the peevish and touchy humour of that Colony, were utterly
+against.
+
+A letter was then read from Sir Thomas Modiford, Governor of Jamaica;
+and then the Council brake up." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, pp. 63-64.)
+
+_June 6._
+
+"I went to Council where was produced a most exact and ample information
+of the state of Jamaica and of the best expedients as to New England,
+on which there was a long debate; but at length it was concluded that if
+any it should be only a conciliating paper at first, or civil letter,
+till we had better information of the present face of things, since we
+understood they were a people almost on the very brink of renouncing any
+dependence on the Crown." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 65.)
+
+_June 16._
+
+Colonel Cartwright's papers concerning the New England Colonies read.
+(_Cal._, Sec. 512.)
+
+_June 19._
+
+Patent of Massachusetts read. (_Cal._, Sec. 572; The _Journal_ says,
+"Cartwright's report"; but this seems to be wrong as both Evelyn and the
+_Calendar_ place Cartwright's report on the 21st.)
+
+_June 20._
+
+"To carry Colonel Middleton [Capt. Thomas Middleton of the former
+Council for Foreign Plantations] to Whitehall, to Lord Sandwich, our
+President, for some information which he was able to give of the Colony
+in New England." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 65.) Probably no regular
+meeting was held on this day.
+
+_June 21._
+
+Commission and instructions of the New England Commissioners read;
+Col. Cartwright heard (_Cal._, Sec.Sec. 512, 566). "To Council again, when one
+Colonel Cartwright a Nottinghamshire man (formerly in commission with
+Colonel Nicholls) gave us a considerable relation of that country; on
+which the Council concluded that in the first place a letter of amnesty
+should be despatched." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 65.)
+
+_June 26._
+
+Further consideration of the New England case. (_Cal._, Sec.Sec. 512.)
+
+"To Council, where Lord Arlington acquainted us that it was his
+Majesty's proposal we should, every one of us, contribute L20 toward
+building a Council Chamber and conveniences somewhere in Whitehall, that
+his Majesty might come and sit amongst us, and hear our debates; the
+money we laid out to be reimbursed out of the contingent monies already
+set apart for us, viz. L1000 yearly. To this we unanimously consented."
+(Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 66.)
+
+_June 29._
+
+Sir Thomas Modyford, Panama. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec.Sec. 209, 433, 504, 505,
+577, 578.)
+
+"To Council, where were letters from Sir Thomas Modiford, of the
+expedition and exploit of Colonel Morgan, and others of Jamaica, on the
+Spanish Continent at Panama." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 66.)
+
+_July 4._
+
+"To Council, where we agreed to and drew up a letter to be sent to New
+England, and made some proposal to Mr. Gorges, for his interest in a
+plantation there." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 66.)
+
+_July 12._
+
+Report on Gorges petition, recommending the sending of commissioners to
+New England. (_Cal._, Sec. 439, I.)
+
+_July 17._
+
+New England, Massachusetts. (_Journal._)
+
+_July 24._
+
+Robert Mason's second petition to the Council read. (_Cal._, Sec. 512.)
+
+"To Council. Mr. Surveyor brought us a plot for the building of our
+Council Chamber, to be erected at the end of the Privy-garden, in
+Whitehall." (Evelyn's _Diary_, p. 66.)
+
+_August 3._
+
+Agreement about Commissioners to New England. (_Cal._, Sec. 512.)
+
+Address regarding sending two ships to Surinam. (_Cal._, Sec.Sec. 596, 850.)
+
+"A full appearance at the Council. The matter in debate was whether we
+should send a deputy to New England, requiring them of the Massachusetts
+to restore such to their limits and respective possessions, as had
+petitioned the Council; this to be the open commission only; but in
+truth, with secret instructions to inform us of the condition of those
+Colonies, and whether they were of such power, as to be able to resist
+his Majesty and declare for themselves as independent of the Crown,
+which we were told and which of late years made them refractory. Colonel
+Middleton being called in, assured us they might be curbed by a few of
+his Majesty's first-rate frigates, to spoil their trade with the
+islands; but, though my Lord President was not satisfied, the rest were,
+and we did resolve to advise his Majesty to send Commissioners with a
+formal Commission for adjusting boundaries, etc., with some other
+instructions." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 66.)
+
+_August 12._
+
+Report concerning New England, a representation of the present state of
+New England and the sending over of Commissioners. (_Cal._, Sec.Sec. 512, 598,
+850.)
+
+_August 19._
+
+"To Council. The letters of Sir Thomas Modiford were read, giving
+relation of the exploit at Panama, which was very brave." (Evelyn's
+_Diary_, II, pp. 66-67.)
+
+_September 9._
+
+Commissioners (names of) to be sent to New England. (_Journal._)
+
+_September 15._
+
+"In the afternoon at Council, where letters were read from Sir Charles
+Wheeler, concerning his resigning his government at St. Christopher's."
+(Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 67.)
+
+_September 19._
+
+Council informed that the king had agreed to the sending commissioners
+and desiring instructions to be prepared against spring. (_Cal._, Sec. 512.)
+
+_November 13._
+
+Further information to Council regarding commissioners; Council to treat
+with Mason and Gorges regarding sale of their estates in New England,
+but not without the king's leave. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec. 512.)
+
+St. Christopher and Leeward Is. (_Journal._)
+
+Negroes, Leeward Is. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec. 700.)
+
+_November 14._
+
+"To Council, where Sir Charles Wheeler, late Governor of the Leeward
+Islands, having been complained of for many indiscreet managements,
+it was resolved, on scanning many of the particulars, to advise his
+Majesty to remove him; and consult what was to be done to prevent these
+inconveniences he had brought things to. This business stayed me in
+London almost a week, being in Council or Committee every morning till
+the 25th." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 72.)
+
+_November 16._
+
+Mr. Gorges, New England. (_Journal._)
+
+_November 20._
+
+St. Christopher; Publication by Sir Charles Wheeler and answer of the
+Council. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec.Sec. 657, 658, 659.)
+
+_November 24._
+
+Report to the king on the same subject. (_Cal._, Sec.Sec. 659, 850.)
+
+_November 26 (7)._
+
+St. Christopher: proclamation disowning Sir Charles Wheeler read.
+(_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec. 661.)
+
+Mr. Brouncker's conference with the French ambassador read. (_Journal._)
+
+"We ordered that a proclamation should be presented to his Majesty to
+sign against what Sir Charles Wheeler had done in St. Christopher's
+since the war, on the articles of peace at Breda. He was shortly
+afterwards recalled." (Evelyn's _Diary_, p. 73.)
+
+_November 28._
+
+The Answer of the Planters of the Leeward Is. read. (_Journal._)
+
+Account of Jamaica, probably taken from Gov. Lynch's answers to queries.
+(_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec. 663, p. 277.)
+
+Heads of king's proclamation regarding St. Christopher. (_Journal._)
+
+_December 7._
+
+Report of the Council on the proclamation and the framing of something
+fit to be offered to the French ambassador. (_Cal._, Sec.Sec. 675, 677, 850.)
+
+_December 11._
+
+New England Case, Mr. Mason's account of the commodities of New
+Hampshire. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec. 687.)
+
+_December 14._
+
+Mr. Mason, the answer of the Council. (_Journal._)
+
+_December 18._
+
+Instructions to Mr. Slingsby to speak to members of Privy Council
+regarding patents to Massachusetts. (_Cal._, Sec. 652.)
+
+_December 19._
+
+Mr. Slingsby's report about a new governor for the Leeward Is.
+(_Journal._)
+
+_December 20._
+
+Draft of commission for governor of Leeward Is.; revocation of Wheeler's
+commission; report to king concerning Col. Stapleton, the new governor.
+(_Cal._, Sec.Sec. 699, 707, 738, 740, 744, 804, 805, 850.)
+
+
+1672.
+
+_January 22._
+
+Commissioners for New England. (_Cal._, Sec. 512.)
+
+_February 6._
+
+Report of Mr. Gorges, "Commissioner for the province of Maine" read.
+(_Cal._, Sec. 753.)
+
+_February 12._
+
+"At the Council, we entered on enquiries about improving the Plantations
+by silks, galls, flax, senna, etc., and considered how nutmegs and
+cinnamon might be obtained and brought to Jamaica, that soil and climate
+promising success. Dr. Worsley being called in, spake many considerable
+things to encourage it. We took order to send to the Plantations,
+that none of their ships should venture homeward single, but stay for
+company and convoys. We also deliberated on some fit person to go as
+Commissioner to inspect their actions in New England, and, from time
+to time, report how that people stood affected.--In future to meet at
+Whitehall." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 74.)
+
+_February 13._
+
+Instructions from Secretary of State to prepare commission, etc., for
+New England Commissioners. (_Cal._, Sec. 512.)
+
+_February 16._
+
+Account of the militia in the Province of Maine read. (_Cal._, Sec. 762.)
+
+_February 20._
+
+Letter from Sir Thomas Lynch to the Council read. (_Cal._, Sec. 640.)
+
+_March 1._
+
+"A full Council of Plantations, on the danger of the Leeward Islands,
+threatened by the French, who had taken some of our ships, and began
+to interrupt our trade. Also in debate, whether the new governor of
+St. Christopher's should be subordinate to the Governor of Barbadoes.
+The debate was serious and long." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 75.)
+
+_April 2._
+
+Report concerning the general state of the Leeward Is. and the
+differences depending between the English and French at St. Christopher.
+(_Cal._, Sec. 850.)
+
+_April 9._
+
+About Logwood (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec.Sec. 709, 742, 777, 825), and the
+defence of Barbadoes and the Leeward Is. (_Cal._, Sec. 799.)
+
+_April 15._
+
+Commission and instructions for Lord Willoughby and a report on his
+proposals. (_Cal._, Sec. 850.)
+
+_April 16._
+
+Letter from Sir Charles Wheeler read. (_Cal._, Sec. 748.)
+
+"Sat in Council, preparing Lord Willoughby's commission and instructions
+as governor of Barbadoes and the Caribbee Islands." (Evelyn's _Diary_,
+II, p. 78.)
+
+_April 19._
+
+"At Council, preparing instructions for Colonel Stapleton, now to go
+Governor of St. Christopher's; and heard the complaints of the Jamaica
+merchants against the Spaniards, for hindering them from cutting logwood
+on the main land, where they have no pretence." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II,
+pp. 78-79.)
+
+_April 26._
+
+Archibald Henderson's case. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec.Sec. 775, p. 339, 806.)
+
+_April 30._
+
+Commissioners for New England named, etc. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec. 512.)
+
+_May 7._
+
+Case of Mark Gabry, exporter of wool. (_Cal._, _Dom._, 1671-1672,
+pp. 155, 156, 481.)
+
+_May 10._
+
+Case of the _James_ of Belfast (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec. 813), and Wheeler
+letter (Sec. 775), containing a statement about Henderson.
+
+Draft commission for Willoughby (Sec. 822).
+
+Agreed that the commission for New England should be expedited (Sec. 512).
+
+Report to the king upon the case of the _William and Nicholas_ (Sec. 850).
+
+_May 14._
+
+Proposals about the Leeward Is. formerly delivered by Lord Willoughby.
+(_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec. 828.)
+
+_May 17._
+
+Case of the _William and Nicholas_, Logwood ship. (_Journal_; _Cal._,
+Sec.Sec. 823, 824.)
+
+_May 27._
+
+Letter from Sir Thomas Lynch read. (_Cal._, Sec. 777.)
+
+_June 4._
+
+Consideration of the Logwood trade. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec.Sec. 825, 837.)
+
+_June 11._
+
+Order regarding ship _William and Nicholas._ (_Cal._, Sec. 823.)
+
+_June 13._
+
+Surinam and Curacao. (_Journal_ has "Quarasao"; _Cal._, Sec. 879.)
+
+_June 15._
+
+Continuation of the Logwood difficulty. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec.Sec. 825, II,
+879, 880.)
+
+_June 21._
+
+Case of the _Peter_ of London (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec. 820; _Cal._, _Dom._,
+1673, pp. 198-199.)
+
+Petition from Montserrat. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec.Sec. 859, 879.)
+
+_June 25._
+
+Jews in Jamaica. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec.Sec. 848, 879.)
+
+Heads of a letter to Sir Thomas Lynch from the Council. (_Journal_;
+_Cal._, Sec. 943.)
+
+Injuries from the French in the West Indies. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec. 805.)
+
+About ship departure from Jamaica. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec.Sec. 683, 910.)
+
+_July 2._
+
+Opinion and advice of the Council to the king upon a great variety of
+matters already discussed. Jews, logwood, Surinam, Jamaica defence,
+Curacoa, Leeward Is. and Wheeler, and Stapleton, defense of Montserrat,
+etc. (_Cal._, Sec. 879.) In addition the merchants seem to have made a
+report on the best time for ships to depart from Jamaica. (_Journal._)
+
+_July 3._
+
+Petition from the Long Islanders regarding the whale fishery and their
+relations with New Amsterdam read. (_Cal._, Sec. 875.)
+
+_July 16._
+
+Concerning Virginia--probably the question of the Arlington and Culpeper
+grant. (_Journal._)
+
+_July 19._
+
+Regarding the whale fishery. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec. 875.)
+
+_July 26._
+
+Petition of Sir Ernestus Biron, escheator in Barbadoes, read.
+(_Journal_; _Cal._, 1661-1668, Sec. 1622.)
+
+_July 29._
+
+Report on the petition. (_Journal._)
+
+_September 1._
+
+"Our Council of Plantations met at Lord Shaftesbury's (Chancellor of the
+Exchequer) to read and reform the draught of our new Patent, joining the
+Council of Trade to our political capacities." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II,
+p. 83.)
+
+_September 20._
+
+Particulars of monies disbursed for the Council. (_Journal._)
+
+_October 1 (about)._
+
+Letters written by Sir Thomas Lynch on June 20 and July 5 read to the
+Council. (_Cal._, Sec. 943.)
+
+
+COUNCIL FOR TRADE AND FOREIGN PLANTATIONS, 1672-1674.
+
+_October 13._
+
+Commission opened and read and oath administered. (_Journal._)
+
+Letters from Gov. Stapleton and his answer to inquiries read. (_Cal._,
+Sec.Sec. 842, 896.)
+
+"Went to my Lord Keeper, (Sir Orlando Bridgeman) at Essex House, where
+our new patent was opened and read, constituting us that were of the
+Council of Plantations, to be now of the Council of Trade also, both
+united. After the patent was read, we all took our oaths, and departed."
+(Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 85.)
+
+_October 24._
+
+Oaths administered. (_Journal._)
+
+"Met in Council, the Earl of Shaftesbury, now our President, swearing
+our Secretary and his clerks, which was Mr. Locke, an excellent learned
+gentleman, and student of Christ Church, Mr. Lloyd, and Mr. Frowde [son
+of Philip Frowde, clerk of the former Council of 1660]. We dispatched a
+letter to Sir Thomas Linch Governor of Jamaica, giving him notice of a
+design of the Dutch on that island." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 86.)
+
+_October 27._
+
+Jamaica laws received and probably considered. (_Cal._, Sec. 829.)
+
+_October 29._
+
+Meeting held at 9. a. m. No statement as to business. (_Cal._, _Dom._,
+1672-1673.)
+
+_November 3._
+
+Logwood case; depositions and letters presented. (_Cal._, Sec. 954.)
+
+_November 8._
+
+New England case considered. (_Journal._)
+
+Letter from Sir Thomas Lynch read. (_Cal._, Sec. 855.)
+
+Rodney petition received from the Privy Council and read.
+(_Cal._, Sec. 958.)
+
+The petition from the consul of Venice, asking that consulage be levied
+on goods not on ships. (_Journal_; _Cal._, _Dom._, 1673, pp. 100, 303.)
+
+"At Council we debated the business of the consulate of Leghorn (?). I
+was of the Committee with Sir Humphrey Winch, the Chairman, to examine
+the laws of his Majesty's several plantations and colonies in the West
+Indies, etc." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 86.)
+
+_November 13._
+
+Letter from Dep. Gov. Coddrington of Barbadoes read. (_Cal._, Sec.Sec. 872,
+901, 902.)
+
+_November 15._
+
+Petition of the consul at Venice considered further. (_Journal._)
+
+"Many merchants were summoned about the consulate of Venice; which
+caused great disputes; the most considerable thought it useless."
+(Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 86.)
+
+_November 20._
+
+Petition of Rabba Couty, whose ship was seized at Port Royal, Jamaica,
+on the ground that he was a foreigner. (_Cal._, Sec. 968; _Cal._, _Dom._,
+1672-1673, p. 295.)
+
+_November 29._
+
+Order of Council appointing a committee to confer with Sir Charles
+Wheeler. (_Cal._, Sec. 974.)
+
+_December 7._
+
+Report of the conferences. (_Cal._, Sec. 977.)
+
+_December 10._
+
+Report of the conferences. (_Cal._, Sec. 977.)
+
+_December 20._
+
+Report on the case of Rabba Couty, recommending the return of the
+vessel. (_Cal._, Sec. 968, IV; _Cal._, _Dom._, 1672-1673, p. 295.)
+
+Order issued for a more speedy and orderly despatch of reports to
+the King and of letters and orders to the Governors of plantations.
+(_Cal._, _Dom._, 1672-1673, p. 295.)
+
+_December 21._
+
+"Settled the Consulate of Venice." (Evelyn's _Diary_. II, p. 86.)
+
+_December 29._
+
+Report on petition of the Gambia merchants regarding the use of a wood
+called "sanders" for dyeing purposes. (_Cal._, Sec. 973, III; _Cal._,
+_Dom._, 1673, pp. 190, 217.)
+
+
+1673.
+
+_January 7._
+
+Letter of Sir Thomas Lynch; complaint of Gambia Company; Russell's
+answer to Rodney's petition; report on laws of Jamaica; articles
+relating to the Venetian trade; Ordinance in Sweden against "our
+privileges"; St. Christopher business; answer to Col. Stapleton; advice
+to the King about planting St. Christopher; regarding the books and
+papers of the former councils; Newfoundland trade; acts of Barbadoes.
+(_Cal._, _Dom._, 1672-1673, p. 403. This series of subjects is the only
+complete list of the heads of a single day's business that we find
+anywhere, except in the minutes of two meetings noted below.)
+
+_January 9._
+
+About Johnson "the Pyrat." (_Cal._, Sec.Sec. 938, 1082, Index; _Journal_.)
+
+_January 11._
+
+Order of the Council to the secretary to report on losses and injuries
+lately sustained from the Spaniards. (_Cal._, Sec. 1022.)
+
+_February 1._
+
+Similar order regarding the differences with the French at St.
+Christopher. (_Cal._, Sec.Sec. 1028, 1033.)
+
+Heads of a letter to Gov. Stapleton of St. Christopher. (_Journal._)
+
+_February 6._
+
+Gambia Adventurers. (_Journal._)
+
+_February 18._
+
+Gambia Adventurers. (_Journal._)
+
+Secretary's report on St. Christopher. (_Cal._, Sec. 1034.) Secretary
+ordered to prepare another report for the 25^{th} on same subject.
+
+_February 25._
+
+Secretary's report probably presented on this day.
+
+_March 6._
+
+Letter to Gov. Stapleton written. (_Journal._)
+
+Letter from Lord Willoughby read. (_Cal._, Sec. 1000.)
+
+_March 17._
+
+Petition from Rodney asking that a certain Carpenter, "who has long
+lived in Nevis," may be heard. (_Cal._, Sec. 1049.)
+
+Reply of Capt Rodney to the answer of Gov. Russell read. (_Cal._,
+Sec. 1050.)
+
+_April 10._
+
+Heads of an address about St. Christopher. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec.Sec. 1038,
+1069.)
+
+New England. (_Journal._)
+
+_April 14._
+
+Representations on Gambia question drawn up. (_Cal._, _Dom._, 1773,
+p. 142.)
+
+_April 22._
+
+Rodney's petition. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec.Sec. 958, 1049-1050, 1071, 1074,
+1110, 1194, 1225. See Index.)
+
+_June 9._
+
+Address of Council to the king regarding differences between the English
+and the French at St. Christopher. (_Cal._, Sec.Sec. 903, 1105.)
+
+_June 23._
+
+Representation and advice of the Council regarding the Rodney case.
+(_Cal._, Sec. 1110.)
+
+"To London, to accompany our Council, who went in a body to congratulate
+the new Lord Treasurer [Sir Thomas Osborne], no friend to it, because
+promoted by my Lord Arlington, whom he hated." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II,
+p. 90.)
+
+_July 21._
+
+About the exportation of wool (_Journal_); report on this question
+urging that present laws be put in execution and export of wool be
+strictly forbidden. (_Cal._, _Dom._, 1673, pp. 382, 541.)
+
+_September 13._
+
+Dr Worsley, his discharge. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec. 1151.)
+
+_September 16._
+
+To Council about chosing a new Secretary. (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 94.)
+
+_October 15._
+
+Mr. Lock sworne. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec.Sec. 1162, 1163.)
+
+"To Council, and swore in Mr. Locke, secretary, Dr. Worsley being dead."
+(Evelyn's _Diary_, II, 95. This statement regarding Dr. Worsley cannot
+be true.)
+
+_October 21_ (committee).
+
+Charter parties for transporting to Barbadoes stores and provisions
+read. (_Cal._, Sec. 1058.)
+
+Letters from Sir Peter Colleton & others read. (_Cal._, Sec.Sec. 1101, 1104,
+1131, 1133.)
+
+Regarding capture of New York. (_Cal._, Sec.Sec. 1138, 1157.)
+
+_October 27_ (committee).
+
+About Sir J. Atkins, Barbadoes. (_Journal._)
+
+Regarding New York; Mr. Dyer's project for reducing that town.
+(_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec. 1157.)
+
+"To Council about sending succours to recover New York; and then we read
+the commission and instructions to Sir Jonathan Atkins, the new Governor
+of Barbadoes." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, 95.)
+
+_November 3._
+
+About New York, Albany, etc.; consideration of the retaking of these
+places from the Dutch. (_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec.Sec. 1160, 1165.)
+
+_November 7_ (committee).
+
+William Dervell's statement regarding the loss of New York.
+(_Cal._, Sec. 1143.)
+
+_November 8._
+
+Barbadoes and Sir J. Atkins. (_Journal._) Probably the question
+of Atkins's commission as Governor of Barbadoes was here under
+consideration.
+
+_November 19_ (committee).
+
+Letters from Gov. Lynch read. (_Cal._, Sec. 1115.)
+
+_November 24._
+
+Petitions of Steed, provost marshal of Barbadoes, read.
+(_Cal._, Sec. 1167.)
+
+_December 1._
+
+Letter from Sir Jonathan Atkins received and (probably) read.
+(_Cal._, Sec. 1173.)
+
+_December 5._
+
+Deposition of William Carpenter in favor of Steed. (_Cal._, Sec. 1177.)
+
+_December 19._
+
+Report to the King, presenting draft of commission and instructions for
+Sir Jonathan Atkins, governor of Barbadoes. (_Cal._, Sec.Sec. 1182, 1185.)
+
+
+1674.
+
+_January 7._
+
+Received order from Privy Council committee on grievances regarding the
+Rodney petition. (_Cal._, Sec. 1194.)
+
+_January 10_ (committee).
+
+Petition of William Dyer of New York to the King read. (_Cal._, Sec. 1108.)
+
+_January 16._
+
+Report of the Council on this petition. (_Cal._, Sec. 1108.)
+
+_January 23._
+
+Order from the Privy Council instructing the Council to transmit a true
+state of the case between Rodney and others. (_Cal._, Sec. 1207.)
+
+_February 10._
+
+"Ordered, That a Copy of M^{r}. Rodneys Peti[~c]on and his Ma^{ties}.
+Reference thereupon, and the Report of this Councill should bee
+delivered by M^{r}. Lock to M^{r}. Secret^{ry}. Coventry to bee by him
+p^{e}sented to his Ma^{ty}.
+
+The Earle of Arlingtons L[~re] to this Councill of the 23^{d}. of
+January last signifying his Ma^{ties}. pleasure, That this Councill
+should consider of a Com^{n}. & Instru[~cc]ons for the Earle of
+Carlisle, appointed to bee Governo^{r}. of Jamaica, and Col: Morgan
+appointed to bee Deputy Governo'{r}. was read.
+
+A Draught of Instru[~cc]ons for my Lord Carlisle was read and debated,
+and the further debate thereof adjourned till next meeting.
+
+My Lord Culpeper having acquainted this Councill, that my Lord Carlisle
+had something to offer to this Councill. The Councill desired my Lord
+Culpeper to acquaint his Lord[~sp], That if hee pleased to come to the
+Councill on Fryday next in the Afternoone, they shall bee ready to
+receive what [~ev] his Lord[~sp] shall bee pleas'd to offer to them.
+
+Ordered that M^{r}. Lock gett some Presses made wherein the papers
+belong to this Councill may bee conveniently layd up.
+
+Two Addiconall Instru[~cc]ons for S^{r}. Jonathan Atkins Ordered to bee
+drawne, one to p^{e}vent his making of Judges & Justices by Com^{ns}.
+limited in tyme, becaus some former Governo^{rs}. by co[~m]issionating
+these Officers only for a yeare, kept them at their devo[~c]on for
+feare they should bee left out of the next, thereby eluding their
+Instru[~cc]ons, which forbid the turning out of any of these Officers,
+but for good caus. Another to prevent the perpetuity of Laws in the
+Planta[~c]ons w^{th}out his Ma^{ties} confirma[~c]on. Ordered also
+that the Addres to his Ma^{ty} ab^{t}. Jonathan Atkins and others
+Governo^{rs}. taking the Oath's here, to be drawne w^{th}out Preamble."
+(_Shaftesbury Papers_, Div. X, 8 (8).)
+
+_February 17._
+
+"M^{r}. Locke Reported to the Councill, That attending M^{r}. Secretary
+Coventry w^{th} the papers concerning Rodney's Case ordered by this
+Council the 10^{th} of this Instant February, M^{r}. Secretary Coventry
+told him, That the Order of the Privy Councill being to transmitt the
+said papers, to his Ma^{ty} in Councill, that itt was not proper to do
+itt by his hands, Butt that they should bee sent to one of the Clerks of
+the Councill to bee by him delivered.
+
+Ordered thereupon, That the said papers bee delivered to one of the
+Clerks of the Councill, to bee by him p^{e}sented to his Ma^{ty} in
+Councill.
+
+Ordered That the Address of this Councill to his Ma^{ty} concerning
+S^{r}. Jonathan Atkins and other Governo^{rs}. and Deputy Governo^{rs}.
+takeing the Oathes &c: here, bee delivered to the Earle of Arlington to
+bee by him p^{e}sented to his Ma^{ty}.
+
+Two Addiconall Instru[~cc]ons for S^{r}. Jonathan Atkins, The one about
+the Com^{ns}. of Justices of the Peace, and the other about Marshall Law
+read & agreed.
+
+A Copy of an Order of the Presid^{ts}. & Councill of Barbados,
+concerning the Provost Marshall's place, was brought in by my Lord
+Culpeper, who assured the Councill hee had re[~c]ed itt in a Letter from
+the Clerk of the Councill there, which letter hee had not now about him.
+The considera[~c]on thereof adjourned till this Copy bee made appeare to
+this Councill to bee more authentique.
+
+Upon Reading the Addiconall Instru[~cc]on to Sir Jonathan Atkins
+concerning the reenacting of Laws. The Councill entred into a debate
+about the best way for his Ma^{ty} to confirme the Laws made by the
+Planta[~c]ons, which being often tymes ill worded by the Assembly there,
+and some tymes faulty in some part though the maine deserves to bee
+established. Which being found to bee a matter of great moment, The
+farther debate thereof was adjourned till another opportunity, when the
+Earle of Shaftesbury should bee present." (_Shaftesbury Papers_, Div. X,
+8 (9); _Cal._, Sec. 1221. These minutes are the only complete record that
+we have of the proceedings at council meetings. They show how much has
+been lost in the disappearance of the original journal.)
+
+_March 6._
+
+Letter from Lord Willoughby read. (_Cal._, Sec. 966.)
+
+Petition of William Helyar regarding woodland purchased by him in
+Jamaica. (_Cal._, Sec. 1236.)
+
+_March 8._
+
+Report of the Council upon the petition of Edwin Steed. (_Cal._,
+Sec. 1238.)
+
+_March 17._
+
+Mr. Gorges paper regarding the sugar plantations. (_Cal._, Sec. 1244.)
+
+_March 23._
+
+Sends Helyar's petition to Gov. Lynch and wishes reply. (_Cal._,
+Sec. 1250.)
+
+Draft Commission for the Earl of Carlisle, appointed governor of
+Jamaica. (_Cal._, Sec.Sec. 1251, 1252. Cf. Sec. 1253.)
+
+Similar draft for Col. Morgan, deputy governor of Jamaica. (_Cal._,
+Sec. 1254.)
+
+_April 3._
+
+Petition from Representatives of Leeward Is. for convoys, etc.
+(_Cal._, Sec. 1257.)
+
+_April 13._
+
+New England: petition of Earl of Sterling, Gorges, and Mason read.
+(_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec. 1247.)
+
+_May 8_ (committee).
+
+Letter from Gov. Stapleton read. (_Cal._, Sec.Sec. 1201-1203, 1327.)
+
+_July 3._
+
+Petition of Edmund Cooke, merchant, regarding the barbarous treatment
+received from the Spaniards. (_Cal._, Sec. 1320.)
+
+_July 17._
+
+Similar petition from other merchants. (_Cal._, Sec. 1327.)
+
+_September 15._
+
+"To Council, about fetching away the English left at Surinam, etc.,
+since our reconciliation with Holland." (Evelyn's _Diary_, II, p. 99.)
+
+_September 22._
+
+Regarding Surinam question--fetching the English away, etc. (_Cal._,
+Sec. 1354.)
+
+_September 24._
+
+Report on this question to the King. (_Cal._, Sec. 1355.)
+
+_October 6_ (Committee).
+
+Letter from Gov. Lynch in answer to Col. Helyar's petition read.
+(_Cal._, Sec. 1301.)
+
+_October 13._
+
+Letter from Gov. Stapleton on the wrongs suffered from the French in the
+Leeward Is. (_Cal._, Sec. 1333.)
+
+_October 15._
+
+Proposal read of F. Gorges, agent of Gov. Stapleton, regarding the
+action of the French. (_Cal._, Sec. 1360.)
+
+_October 16._
+
+St. Christopher and Sir William Lockhart's letter. (_Cal._, Sec. 1365, I.)
+Lockhart was "Resident with the French King."
+
+_October 27._
+
+Discussion of the Surinam situation. (_Journal._)
+
+_October 30._
+
+Continuation of the same. (_Journal._)
+
+_November 17._
+
+Continuation of the same. (_Journal._)
+
+"To Council, on the business of Surinam, where the Dutch had detained
+some English in prison, ever since the first war, 1665." (Evelyn's
+_Diary_, II, 100.)
+
+_November 20._
+
+About Negroes; probably regarding a clause in Lord Vaughan's commission.
+(_Journal_; _Cal._, Sec.Sec. 1386, 1392.)
+
+_November 21._
+
+Jamaica and my Lord Vaughan. (_Journal._)
+
+_November 24._
+
+Heads of Lord Vaughan's commission and instructions. (_Cal._, Sec. 1392).
+About Negroes. (_Journal._)
+
+_December 4._
+
+About Surinam. Address of the Council to the King (_Journal_; _Cal._,
+Sec. 1401.)
+
+_December 17._
+
+Address of the Council regarding Indians brought by force from Guinea to
+Barbadoes. (_Cal._, Sec. 1409.)
+
+_December 18._
+
+About Surinam. (_Journal._) Instruction for a vessel sailing to that
+island. (_Cal._, Sec.Sec. 1413, 1414, 1415.)
+
+_December 22._
+
+Address from the Council to the King regarding the Surinam question.
+(_Cal._, Sec. 1416.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of British Committees, Commissions, and
+Councils of Trade and Plantations, 1622-1675, by Charles M. Andrews
+
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