(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(5) Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1651–1652, pp. 470–472, 479–481.
(6) Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1652–1653, p. 282.
(7) British Museum, Add. MSS., 5138, f. 145.
(8) Guildhall, Repertories of the Court of Aldermen, 61, p. 152b.
(9) Guildhall, Journal of the Proceedings of the Common Council, Vol. 41, pp. 67b, 68.
(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.
(11) Commons' Journal, VI, p. 140.
(12) Commons' Journal, VI, p. 361.
(13) Commons' Journal, VII, p. 41.
(14) Commons' Journal, VII, p. 220.
(15) Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 283, 284, 285.
(16) Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 343–344; Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1653–1654, pp. 297–298.
(17) Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 652, 654, 655; Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1658–1659, p. 349.
(18) Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 800, 849.
(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).
(20) Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574–1660, pp. 335, 352, 366; Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1651–1652, p. 43.
(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.
(22) Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574–1660, pp. 373–402,passim.
(23) Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1651–1652, pp. 266, 350, 396, 472; 1652–1653, pp. 18, 27, 160, 171.
(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.
(25) Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 308, 319, 341, 375.
(26) Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1654, pp. 61, 285, 316.
(27) Brit. Mus. Add. MSS., 11411, ff. 11b–12b.
(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."
(29) Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1655, pp. 27, 133, 240.
(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.
(31) Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1655–1656, p. 113; 1656–1657, p. 556; 1657–1658, pp. 308, 589; 1657–1658, p. 69.
(32) Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1655–1656, p. 318.
(33) Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 442, 452, 460.
(34) Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574–1660, pp. 436, 439, 440 (2), 441, 443, 447, 453.
(35) Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 12438, iii.
(36) Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1658–1659, p. 349.
(37) Commons' Journal, VII, pp. 442, 452.
(38) Commons' Journal, VII, p. 596.
(39) Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1655–1656, pp. 46, 65, 318, 351.
(40) Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1657–1658, pp. 51, 66.
(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.
(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.
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 andexcise. 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 andin 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 inmany 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 andPovey 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; hostilitiesbroke 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,3rather 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. Theywere 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."4Either 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 Venableswas 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."5The 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 Employmt." 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 wthall 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 Commissionrsnow 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 Commissionrsnow in the expedition, and wthall 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, wthout divertion to the nearest Affairs of this Nation, wchbeing 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, wchis 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 Encouragemtsand 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 & comprhension 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 wthin the cognizance of that Council."6
That these recommendations had any influence in determining the character of the Trade Committee of 1655 isdoubtful, 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, wchconcerne 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, 1657.8In the first of these the number of thecouncil 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 Governmtand 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 Inducemtfor 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, wthsuch 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 wththerest wthas little dissatisfaction or injurie to the persons concerned as may bee.
"That a continual correspondence bee so settled and ordered ... that so each place wthin 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 wthheld 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.
(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.
(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.
(3) A draft of such an act is to be found in Egerton, 2395, f. 202.
(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.
(5) That all these proposals were drafted by Povey is evident from similar terms and phrases used in his letters.
(6) Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 11411, ff. 11b–12b.
(7) Brit. Mus., Egerton, 2395, f. 86.
(8) Brit. Mus., Egerton, 2395, f. 99; Add. MSS., 11411, ff. 3–3b. 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.
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 theappointment 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 themonarchy; in 1660 he was appointed treasurer to the Duke of York and Master of Requests to his Majesty in Extraordinary June 22, 1660,2and 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 1665.3As 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," "Matie" for "Highness," and "his MatiesPrivie 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 consultedNoell 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,4and 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 Matsspecial 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 Matieappointed 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 Matiemay (now in this conjuncture, whilst most Foraigne Princes and Potentates doe,upon his Matiesmost 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 Matiewill insert the names of the said Counsell." It is more than likely that the project for the second council, that of plantations, went forwardpari passuwith 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."6The matter of drafting the commissions must have taken some time, for they are not mentioned asready 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.7Probably 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.8Therefore 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,9and that of the African Company of sixty-six. Twenty-eight members are common tothe 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 thesummer 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:
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.
2. You shall forthwith write letters to evrie of our Governors... to send unto
3. you ... perticular and exact accompt of the state of their affaires; of the nature and constitution of their lawes and governmtand 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.
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.
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.
To settle such a continuall correspondencie, that it may be able to give upp an account once a yeare to his Matieof 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 weremade up into one Comonwealth, may by his Matiebee heere governd, and regulated accordingly, upon common and equal principles.
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 Governmtof 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 judgemtand ballance may be made for the better ordering and disposing of trade & of the proceede and improvemtsof the Plantacons; that soe each place within it selfe, and all of them being collected into one viewe and managemthere, may be regulated and ordered upon common and equall ground & principles.
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.
6. To enquire diligently into the severall governmtsand 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.
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.
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.
11. To advise, order, settle, and dispose of all matters relating to the good governmtimprovement and management of our Forraine Plantacons or any of them, with your utmost skill direccon and prudence.
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.
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:
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 Matiemay renew Alliance, and to that end make due enquiry into such former treaties as relate to Trade.
1. You shall take into your consideration the inconveniences wchthe 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 concernmtsmay be provided against in tyme to come.
What Articles have bin provided in favour of the Trade of his MatiesSubjects, How they have been neglected & Violated, What new Capitulations may be necessary pro Ratione Rerum, et temporum.
And those, either in Relation:
1. To the freedome of Sale of your Commodities of all sorts, as to price & payment.
2. To the best expedition of Justice for recovery of your debts.
3. To the security of the Estates of all factors, and their Principalls in case of the factor's death.
4. To the Prevention of the Interruption of the Trade & Navigation, by Embargos of forraigne Princes & States, or imprestinge your Shipps to their Service.
5. To the Interest of all Trades that are or shall be incorporated by his MatiesCharters, what jurisdictyon is necessary to be obtained from our Allies, for the more regular government of the Trade & members of those Corporations in forraigne factoryes.
2ly. And next you shall consider, how the reputation of all the manufactures of his MatiesKingdome 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.
2. You are to consider how & 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 & payment, Or to the best expedition of Justice to the recovery of Debts, or to the Security of Estates of all factors & their Principalls in case of the factor's Death, Or to the prevention of those interruptions wchthe Trade & 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.
3. You are to consider well the Interest of all such trades as are or shall be Incorporated by our Royall Charters, & what Jurisdictions are necessary to be obteyned from such as are, or shall be in Allyance with us, for the more regular managemt& governmtof the Trade, & of the members of those our Corporations & forreigne factories.
4. You are to consider of the several Manufactures of these our Kingdomes how & by what occasions they are corrupted, debased & disparaged, And by what probable meanes they may be restored & maintained in their auncyent goodness & reputation, And how they may be farther improved to there utmost advantage by a just 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 beordered, nourished, increased & manifactured to the ymployment of our People and to the best advantage of the Publique.
4ly. How the fishinge Trades of Newfound Land, the Coasts of England, Irland, & 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.
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 & to consult of some effectuall meanes for the reinforceing encouraging & encreasinge, and 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.
3ly. 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.
7. You are seriously to consider & 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, & proportioned 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 wchthe 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 managemtof 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.
5ly. How the forraigne Plantations may be made most useful to the Trade & Navigation of these Kingdomes.
11. You are to consider the general State & Condition of our forreigne Plantations & of the Navigation Trade & severall Commodityes ariseinge thereupon, & how farr theire future Improvemt& Prosperitie may bee advanced by any discouragement Imposition or Restraint, upon the Importation of all goods or Commodityes wthwhich 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 forbidden by the Lawe, or may be inconvenient, or of disadvantage by being transported out of these our Kingdomes and dominions.10