STATE PAPERS. 



371 



liament, the customs on wood, 

 goods, and tonnage and poundage, 

 amounted only to 40,688/., which 

 may be taken as eciual to about 

 250,000/. of money at its present 

 value. But another reason also 

 presents itself for limiting our ob- 

 servations to more recent periods ; 

 for, although regulations connect- 

 ed with this subject are to be 

 found in the statute-book certainly 

 as far back as Edward 1., yet it is 

 the statute of 33 Heniy VIII. 

 cap. 9, on which extents at the 

 suit of the crown are founded ; 

 and whatever may be thought of 

 the character of Heniy or of his 

 government, yet the tenour of 

 that statute affords a sti'ong pre- 

 sumption that the courts thereby 

 created for the king's lands (and 

 which in the 1st of Mary were 

 united to the Exchequer) were in- 

 tended to take cognizance only of 

 debts bonafidt: due immediately to 

 the king ; and that the extensions 

 of the process which have since 

 arisen have been unwarranted en- 

 croachments. 



That the temptation afforded to 

 individuals speedilyprod need abuse, 

 we have indeed convincing evi- 

 dence in the privy seal of 12 Jac. I. 

 (1G14), which in the strongest 

 terms acknowledges and condemns 

 the practices by which the " pre- 

 rogati\'e had been made an instru- 

 ment of oppression and greefe to 

 his loving subjects," and "the 

 commerce, intercourse, and deal- 

 ing between men and men greatly 

 hindered j" nor could James's love 

 of power, or high notions of pre- 

 rogative, render him insensible to 

 these evils, or to tiie duty of cor- 

 recting them. Notwithstanding 

 this roval and wholesome inter- 



ference, however, we find that in 

 1639, 15 Car. I., it became expe- 

 dient to frame rules in the Court 

 of Exchequer, apparently for the 

 remedyof similar inconveniences : 

 since which time, your committee 

 observe with concern, that the 

 issue of this prerogative process 

 has increased in a degree inconsis- 

 tent with the equitable spirit of 

 the Bankrupt Laws, and the ease 

 of the subject, and peculiarly ill- 

 suited to the state of things pro- 

 duced by that extended commerce 

 of which this country so justly 

 boasts. 



At what particidar time the law 

 acquired that latitude of interpre- 

 tation, of which some individuals 

 have not scrupled to avail them- 

 selves with such mischievous effect, 

 does not exactly appear. That 

 sudden and excessive growth of 

 the issue of these writs, which 

 alarmed and irritated the • whole 

 country, did not occur until 1815: 

 their previotis use having been 

 almost wholly confined to the de- 

 partment of stamps, out of which 

 alone nearly half of all issued since 

 the year 180G have proceeded. 

 From the accounts in the appen- 

 dix, it will appear, that the whole 

 number of extents in aid issued 

 fiom the office (the king's re- 

 membrancei''s),from 180J to 1814, 

 both inclusive, had been only 207, 

 or less than 15 per annum, of 

 which the majority, probably, had 

 a legitimate object, i. e. the re- 

 covery from the parties of monies 

 which really belonged to the pub- 

 lic, and might otherwise have been 

 lo.st. 



Of the multitude which have 

 lately been granted, a very small 

 proportion can pietend lo this 



2 B 2 character. 



