INDUSTRIES 



of them, for on 4 November following they 

 suggested a plan whereby the king by sup- 

 pressing some of the officers in the ordnance 

 and resuming to himself the saltpetre manu- 

 facture might effect a very considerable 

 saving.' Their arguments were objected to 

 as fallacies by the officers of the ordnance. 

 Meanwhile John Evelyn, accused of the non- 

 fulfilment of his contract with the commis- 

 sioners, complained that no agreement had 

 been ratified.* But in 1621^ we find that 

 the commissioners were the Marquis of Buck- 

 ingham, Lord Carew and Sir Lionel Cran- 

 field, and from this time until the meeting of 

 the Long Parliament the business of contract- 

 ing for the supply of gunpowder and saltpetre 

 was vested in the Lords of the Admiralty, 

 who in the exercise of this function are al- 

 most invariably termed the Commissioners for 

 Saltpetre and Gunpowder. 



On 21 April 1621 * the first of a series ot 

 contracts, each contract being for a period of 

 three years, was entered into with John 

 Evelyn by the Commissioners. In a report 

 made by the officers of the Ordnance * when 

 the last of these contracts was expiring, 

 Evelyn's contracts are given as four in num- 

 ber, dated respectively 21 April 1621, i July 

 1624, 16 March 1626-7, ^""^ 7 J^^X 1632. 

 This omits one which would seem to have 

 been made in April 1630.* The general 

 principles upon which these different contracts 

 were based remained the same, such modifi- 

 cations as were introduced into the later ones 

 being chiefly concerned with the quantities of 

 powder to be supplied and with the price. 

 To illustrate therefore the conditions under 

 which our Surrey gunpowder makers worked 

 for a period of twenty years we may recapit- 

 ulate here the terms of the Commissioners' 

 first contract with John Evelyn, as they are 

 set out in a State Paper of the date. The 

 more important modifications in the later con- 

 tracts will be briefly noted afterwards. 



The chiet points are these : — 



(i) The deputation made by the Lords to 

 Evelyn was to continue for three years from 

 21 April 1 621, if the Lords' commission 

 should continue so long in force. 



(2) Evelyn was to provide a storehouse in 

 Southwark or within a mile thereof for the 

 storage of the saltpetre made by virtue of the 

 king's patent, and was to notify the allowed 

 saltpetre men of the fact. 



» S. P. Dom. Jas. I. cxvii. 54. 



' Ibid, cxviii. 72. 



' Ibid. Grant Bk. 287. 



* Ibid. Jas. I. cxx. loz. 



s On 4 April 1637, ibid. Chas. I. ccclii. 27. 



• See ibid. dxv. Jo. 



(3) He was weekly and from time to time 

 to buy from all the saltpetre men all the salt- 

 petre made by virtue of their patent. 



(4) The quantity of all saltpetre before it 

 was received by Evelyn was to be entered in 

 a ledger by a clerk appointed by the Lords, 

 and Evelyn was to subscribe the entry or to 

 give bills for every receipt. 



(5) Within six days of the delivery and 

 receipt of the saltpetre Evelyn was to pay the 

 saltpetre men at the rate of £2 35. 4^, the cwt., 

 accounting 1 1 2 lb. to every cwt. In case of 

 any of the saltpetre being adjudged faulty by 

 the proofmaster appointed by the Lords such 

 abatement was to be made as should seem 

 reasonable to two men appointed the one by 

 Evelyn and the other by the deliverer of the 

 saltpetre in question. 



(6) Evelyn within a convenient time of 

 receiving it was to double-refine the saltpetre 

 at his own charge, allowing for waste 12 lb. 

 in every cwt. of 1 1 2 lb. 



(7) Evelyn within convenient time of 

 double-refining the saltpetre was to convert it 

 into gunpowder for the use of the king and 

 his subjects, and was yearly to deliver at the 

 Tower 80 lasts in even monthly portions 

 of 6 lasts 1 6 cwt., ' well conditioned, corned, 

 cooped, and dried and well barrelled and 

 casked in good cask of seasonable oak without 

 sap, well hooped, closed, and dried,' account- 

 ing twenty-four barrels to the last and 1 00 lb. 

 net to every barrel. 



(8) If the petre delivered was not enough 

 to make 120 lasts every year, Evelyn was to 

 deliver to the Tower but two-thirds of all the 

 powder he should make and sell the remaining 

 third to subjects, except upon any special 

 demand for the king's stores. 



(9) Evelyn, over and above the said quan- 

 tity of 80 lasts, was to deliver such greater 

 proportion of powder as at any time the Lords 

 should require upon the Crown's behalf, pro- 

 vided that the saltpetre received was sufficient 

 to make it. All powder brought into the 

 king's stores should be proved by the officers 

 of the Ordnance and defects supplied from 

 time to time. 



(10) Evelyn was to be paid upon the 

 four officers' certificate to the Lord Treasurer 

 and Chancellor, at the rate of "jd. per pound 

 for every monthly delivery of 6 lasts 1 6 cwt., 

 and for every pound of powder delivered by 

 the Lords' warrant over and above the annual 

 proportion of 80 lasts, lod. 



(11) If the Lords should think fit that the 

 whole quantity of 80 lasts be not delivered 

 to his Majesty's use Evelyn was to allow ^^30 

 for every last so forborne. 



(12) Every last of gunpowder was to be 



15 



