A Word for the Army and Two to the Kingdom, Part
The Cure may lye in theſe?
The Army (you ſay) muſt yet be maintained, and wee have thought of Eſtabliſhments, &c. to take off all offences occaſioned by the Army; either you muſt find action for it, which will anſwer much, or repartite it upon ſeveral Counties according to proportion, that every County may know their owne men and their charge, by which the Hollanders have kept their Army theſe 70. or 80. yeares; I have formerly anſwered all objections may bee made againſt it. The immediate pay of the Souldier in every County, as it will cut off many unneceſſary charges, ſo it wil be eaſie and contentfull to both parties, I meane the Souldier and the Land-lord.
Secondly, Good men, not good Lawes muſt ſave Kingdomes: not that I would ſeparate them; therefore I thinke that the firſt work to be attended: For as the Venetians live upon their curious elections: ſo the Netherlands by keeping their governement in ſuch hands as they doe, though perpetuating offices to them, have proved dangerous. Good Juſtices, good Majors, &c. had it been our firſt work, it would have been our beſt, & Engliſh-men can as ſoon conform to juſt & honeſt government as any other people. See it in the Army, how ſerviceable the worſt impreſt men have been under example, and Characters to be given out for the Elector, and elected, and for the manageing of chiefer Burgeſſes. What if every fifty in every County choſe one to chooſe for them, &c. moſt men being ignorant of the worthieſt men.
3dly. That all men from the higheſt to the loweſt may know what they may truſt too without delay, and to truſt God with the management of it if according to his will.
4ly. Tithes or ſomething of Analogy to them brought into a common ſtock in every County will doe two things, viz. keepe a good proportion of money ready in every County, & content the Preacher and his Widow better, when in Towns 200.l. or 150.l. per annum, and in the Pariſh 100.l. ſhall certainely be paid, and 40.l. to the Widow, &c. as in other Countreys they doe, and hence raiſe a ſtock to ſet the poor on work in every County, the want of which hath been ſo much complained of.
5ly. That Salaries may be appointed to all places of truſt, that temptations to deceit take not hold of Officers.
6ly. A Committee for union betwixt all men truely godly; that we may ſwim in one Channell (which is in hand) with free and loving debates allowed in every County, that wee may convince, not confound each other, two or three Itinerary Preachers ſent by the State into every County: and a Committee of godly men, Miniſters, Gentlemen and others, to ſend out men of honeſty, holineſſe, and parts, into all Countreyes recommended from their teſt.
7ly. Three men yearely choſen in every Pariſh to take up differences, which may be called friend-makers, as they do in other places with good ſucceſſe.
8ly. That the Cuſtomes (by which great ſums come to hand) may be in very choiſe hands, and their Under-officers in all parts may be preſented from thoſe Ports to them: and out of 2. or 3. ſo preſented, they chooſe one, if not juſt exception againſt him.
9ly. That my former modell for the Navy may be review'd and accepted, which was preſented about two years ſince, whereby the Navies debts may be paid, and two parts of three in the charge ſaved for future, and the work better done.
10ly. That Merchants may have all manner of encouragement, the law of Merchants ſet up, and ſtrangers, even Jewes admitted to trade, and live with us, that it may not be ſaid we pray for their converſion, with whom we will not converſe, wee being all but ſtrangers on the Earth.
11ly. That Forraign Nations may have due reſpect by all faire correſpondences with them, and Intelligencers kept among them, eſpecially that Scotland may be uſed in al things as neighbours and friends, though not as Maſters and Commanders.
12. That Academies may be ſet up for Nobility and Gentry, where they may know piety and righteouſneſſe, as well as gallantry and Court-ſhip; wee commonly fetch over the dirt of France, rather then their Excellencies, and that ſhorter wayes to learning may be advance'd; and that godlineſſe in youth give them place in Colledges before letters and importunity of men.
13. That the worke of Ireland may not thus ſtill be made a mock-work: but that the buſineſſe may be carried on ſtrenuouſly & vigorouſly by men to be confided; who may take it upon them by the great, or day-work, either of theſe; there are good men will undertake it upon them, if fully countenanced with a good Magazine and ſome money; for what we ſend now is but like a worm in a hollow tooth, it takes up no jaw?
14. That no Magiſtrate in matters of Religion meddle further then as a nurſing Father, and then all children ſhall be fed, though they have ſeverall faces and ſhapes.
15. That all men intruſted, may have ſet time, place and perſons appoynted to give up their accounts unto, of their employments.
16. Since the vaſt and even incomprehenſible affaires of this Kingdome by the preſent Councell, muſt have ſo many agitations and ſo many varieties paſſe upon them; two wayes it may be cured. 1. If nothing be taken into the Houſes conſideration but res verè arduae, wherin the heart-blood of the Kingdome runs, and no petty matters.
2. If a Councell of State of 10. or 12. honeſt and godly wellbyaſt men might ſit neer the Houſe, and theſe, not inveſted with power, might commend matters of high concernment to the Houſe, and receive their ſcruples, and thoſe to ſtate alſo government of Churches.
17. That Burgeſſes of Parliament may be better proportioned, 6. 4. or two for Shires, and ſome for great Cities, that they give monthly ſome account to the places intruſting them, and that ſome Lawes may be probationers for a month or two.
18. That ſome of the Parliament may be appointed to receive ſuch ſuggeſtions from friends for the good of the whole, which they cannot conſtantly bring in by way of Petition.
19. That priſoners, eſpecially for debt, may have diſpatches, & not looſe heads, hearts and hands as well as heeles in Gaoles, and that the Creditour may maintain them in priſon: that poore Thieves may not be hang'd for 13.d. ob. but that a Gally or two may be provided to row in the River or Channell, to which they may be committed, or employed in drayning lands, or baniſhed.
It were alſo to be wiſhed that our Gentry find our Callings, and that younger brothers may be better provided for by their parents, that ſome of them fall not on learning & the Miniſtry as a ſhift, & ſome (which is worſe) take up their employments in high wayes, or (at beſt) peſter Ireland or Forreigne Plantations; and all to maintaine the paintry and gliſter of the Family, and too often to keep up the name and honour of it in a ſottiſh and luxurious heire.
20. Quicke Juſtice makes quiet Common-wealths; I look upon that as contenting the Hollanders under their vaſt Taxes, & Exciſes; what they have they can keepe; where (in every Towne) you may get Juſtice as often and as naturally as their Cowes give milke; The few advocates in Amſterdam will tell you what little uſe they make of Lawyers, where I have knowne a Merchant dealing for 30000. pound per annum, & in ſeven yeares not ſpend 20. ſhillings in Law.
And if I might not offend the Court and Gentry, I would ſay the wrapping up of ſo many of them in Gownes, and ſcufling at Weſtminſter, is rather a mark of their meaneneſſe and Jejuneneſſe, and our ſlavery and folly, then of any Nationall glory; That to this day wee can neither buy nor ſell, convey nor make Teſtaments, without great and queſtionable Parchments? And for Law muſt jurare in verba, either of Littleton, Cooke, or Caſuiſt, ejuſdem farinae, which would finde a Cure in keeping Records in all Counties of all mens eſtates and alienations, &c. and thoſe tranſmitted to a grand or leiger Record at Weſtminſt: the ſtrength and time ſpent in Term quarrells, were better beſtowed upon the Weſt Indies to which we have beene ſo often called, and would ſoone make an end of Europes troubles by drying up that Euphrates.
I know not what engagements the King hath upon any, nor how the entercourſe lyes: but before the cloſe of new addreſſes, I wiſh the people might have two things granted them, viz.
1. To underſtand by ſome wiſe Statiſt what the true Engliſh of prerogative, priviledge and liberty is. If theſe three bawling children were well brought to bed, the whole houſe would bee quiet.
2. That a certaine time might be appointed to chuſe their Burgeſſes undenyably if they pleaſe to make uſe of it, with writs or without: what year this ſhall begin I ſay not: but if not granted, you ſhall hardly keepe tyranny out of doores.
To cloſe all and cure all; would this Nation but follow the plaine foote-ſteps of providence in one thing, the worke were done.
Let us but conſider whither the Lord hath not pointed out his worke unto us, viz. putting righteous men into places of truſt, making way thereunto, as if the fulfilling of the many propheſies and the expectation of the juſt, were now to be anſwered. Witneſſe the firſt and now ſecond gaubling the Parliament, the like in the City, the ſame in the Armie, not leſſe in the Miniſtry, as in the choiſe of Jeſſe's ſons: neither this nor that muſt ſerve but the leaſt, that the whole Kingdome hath been in the refiners fire. The Lord would doe us good againſt our wills: but wee content our ſelves to give him a Female when wee have a Male in the flocke: This broke the Axle-tree of the Jewiſh State and Church, and that bought Akeldama.
However I am confident God will carry on this work which is his owne, and to that end I looke above all preſent agitations, knowing if we enter into our chambers, and ſhut our doores for a little moment the indignation ſhall be over-paſt.
FINIS.
End of the text · Hugh Peters, A Word for the Army and Two to the Kingdom (1647)