The Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution. Samuel Rawson Gardiner
all these particular places he can and doth truly affirm, his late Majesty did bestow them of his own royal motion (except the Wardenship of the Cinque Ports only), and thereto also he gave his approbation and encouragement. And the Duke denieth that he obtained these places either to satisfy his exorbitant ambition or his own profit or advantage, as is objected against him; and he hopeth he shall give good satisfaction to the contrary, in his particular answers ensuing, touching the manner of his obtaining the places of Admiralty, and the Wardenship of the Cinque Ports; whereunto he humbly desireth to refer himself. And for the Mastership of the Horse to His Majesty, he saith it is a mere domestic office of attendance upon the King’s person, whereby he receiveth some profit, yet but as a conveniency to render him more fit for his continual attendance. And in that place, the times compared, he hath retrenched the King’s annual charge to a considerable value, as shall be made apparent. And for the number of places he holdeth, he saith that, if the Commonwealth doth not suffer thereby, he hopeth he may, without blame, receive and retain that which the liberal and bountiful hand of his master hath freely conferred upon him; and it is not without many precedents, both in ancient and modern times, that one man eminent in the esteem of his sovereign, hath at one time held as great and as many offices; but when it shall be discerned that he shall falsify or corruptly use those places or any of them, or that the public shall suffer thereby, he is so thankful for what he hath freely received, that, whensoever his gracious master shall require it, without disputing with his sovereign, he will readily lay down at his royal feet, not only his places and offices, but his whole fortunes and his life to do him service.
2. For his buying of the Admiral’s place, the said Duke maketh this clear and true answer:—
That it is true, that in January, in the sixteenth year of his late Majesty’s reign, his late Majesty by his letters patent under the great seal of England, granted unto the Duke the office of Admiralty, for his life, which grant, as he well knoweth it was made freely, and without any contract or bargain with the late Lord Admiral, or any other, and upon the voluntary surrender of that noble and well-deserving lord, so he is advised it will appear to be free from any defect in law, by reason of the statute of 5 Ed. VI, mentioned in this article of his charge, or of any other cause whatsoever. For he saith, that the true manner of his buying this office, and of all the passages thereof, which he is ready to make good by proof, was thus: That honourable lord, the Earl of Nottingham, then Lord Admiral, being grown so much in years, and finding that he was not then so able to perform that which appertained to his place, as in former times he had done to his great honour, and fearing lest His Majesty’s service and commonwealth might suffer by his defeat, became an humble and earnest petitioner to his late Majesty, to admit him to surrender his office. His late Majesty was, at the first, unwilling unto it, out of his royal affection to his person, and true judgment of his worth. But the Earl renewed his petitions, and in some of them nominated the Duke to be his successor, without the Duke’s privity or forethought of it. And about that time a gentleman of good place about the Navy, and of long experience, of himself came to the Duke, and earnestly moved him to undertake the place. The Duke apprehending the weight of the place, and considering his young years and want of experience to manage so great a charge, gave no ear unto it; but excused it, not for form, but really and ingenuously out of his apprehension of his then unfitness for it. This gentleman not thus satisfied, without the Duke Ref. 009 applied himself to the late King, and moved His Majesty therein, and offered reasons for it, that the Duke was the fittest man at that time, and as the state of the Navy then stood, for that place; for he said it was then a time of peace; that the best service could be done for the present was to repair the navy and ships royal, which then were much in decay, and to retrench the king’s charge, and to employ it effectually; and that before there was personal use of service otherwise, the Duke, being young and active might gain experience, and make himself as fit as any other; and that, in the mean time, none was so fit as himself, having the opportunity of His Majesty’s favour, and nearness to his person, to procure a constant assignment and payment of monies for the navy, the want whereof was the greatest cause of the former defects. These reasons persuaded his late Majesty, and upon His Majesty’s own motion, persuaded the Duke to take the charge upon him. And therefore the Earl, voluntarily, freely and willingly, and upon his own earnest and often suit, surrendered his place, without any precedent contract or promise whatsoever that might render the Duke in the least degree subject to the danger of the law (which was not then so much as once thought upon); and upon that surrender, the grant was made to the Duke. But it is true, that His Majesty, out of his royal bounty, for recompence of the long and faithful service of the said Earl, and for an honourable memory of his deserts to him and the Crown of England, did grant him a pension of ten thousand pounds per annum, for his life; which in all ages hath been the royal way of princes, wherewith to reward ancient and well-deserving servants in their elder years, when, without their own faults, they are become less serviceable to the state. And the Duke also, voluntarily and freely, and as an argument of his noble respect towards so honourable a predecessor, whom to his death he called father, whose estate, as he then understood, might well bear it, with his late Majesty’s privity and approbation, did send him three thousand pounds in money; which he hopeth no person of worth and honour will esteem to be an act worthy of blame in him. And when the Duke had thus obtained this place of great trust, he was so careful of his duty that he would not rely upon his own judgment or ability; but of himself humbly besought his then Majesty to settle a Commission of fit and able persons for the affairs of the Navy, by whose counsel and assistance he might manage that weighty business with the best advantage for His Majesty’s service; which commission was granted and still continueth; and without the advice of those commissioners he had never done any thing of moment; and by their advice and industry he hath thus husbanded the King’s money, and furthered the service; that whereas the ordinary charge of the Navy was four and fifty thousand pounds per annum, and yet the ships were very much decayed, and their provisions neglected; the charge was reduced to thirty thousand pounds per annum; and with that charge the ships all repaired and made serviceable, and two new ships builded yearly; and for the two last years, when there were no ships built, the ordinary charge was reduced to twenty-one thousand six hundred pounds per annum; and now he dare boldly affirm, that His Majesty’s Navy is in better state by much than ever it was in any precedent time whatsoever.
3. For his buying the Wardenship of the Cinque Ports, he maketh this plain ingenuous and true answer:—
That in December, in the two and twentieth year of his late Majesty’s reign, he obtained the office of Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and Constable of the Castle of Dover (being one entire office) upon the surrender of the Lord Zouch, then Lord Warden. The manner of obtaining whereof was thus: The Lord Zouch being grown in years, and with his almost continual lameness being grown less fit for that place, he discovered a willingness to leave it, and made several offers thereof to the Duke of Richmond, and Richard, Earl of Dorset, deceased; but he was not willing to part with it without recompence; notice whereof coming to the Duke, by an offer from the Lord Zouch, he, finding by experience how much and how many ways both the King’s service might and many times did suffer, and how many inconveniences did arise to the King’s subjects, in their goods and ships and lives, by the intermixture of the jurisdiction of the Admiralty and Wardenship of the Cinque Ports, by the emulation, disaffection and contention of their officers, as will clearly appear by these particulars, amongst many others that may be instanced.
(1) Where the Admiral’s jurisdiction extends generally to all the narrow seas, the Warden of the Cinque Ports hath and exerciseth Admiral jurisdiction on all the sea coasts from Showe Beacon Ref. 010 in Essex, to the Red Noore Ref. 011 in Sussex; and within those limits there have been continual differences between the Lord Admiral and the Lord Warden, whether the Lord Warden’s jurisdiction extends into the main sea, or only as far as the low water mark, and so much further into the sea as a man on horseback can reach with a lance; which occasioneth questions between those chief officers themselves.
(2) There are many and continual differences in executing warrants against offenders; the officers of the one refusing to obey or assist the authority of the other: whereby the offender, protected or countenanced by either, easily escapeth.
(3) Merchants and owners of goods questioned in the Admiralty are often enforced to sue in both courts, and often enforced, for their