CHAPTER II.
ILLUSTRATIONS AND NOTES ON PETTY'S LIFE FROM CONTEMPORARY SOURCES.
1 In 1769 edition, "University of Oxon." All the manuscript copies of the "Will" that I have seen, read "Caen."
2 According to Burrows' "Register," p. 483, he took the M. D. degree in 1650.
3 Petty here refers to the "Invisible College" or "Philosophical Club," out of which grew later on the Royal Society. Cf. Masson's "Life of Milton," iii, 662, and note.
4 Petty was Fellow and Vice-Principal of Brasenose College in 1651 and 1659. Burrows' "Register," p. 483.
5 A. Wood gives his father's name as Anthony. "Athenae oxonienses," iv, p. 215.
6 The compiler of the catalogue of the Lansdowne manuscripts in the British Museum asserts that a Hampshire clergyman, William Petty, whose manuscript letters are indexed in the collection, was a brother of Anthony Petty, and conjectures that from this relative Sir William received his Christian name.
7 On Petty's return to England, probably through the influence of Hobbes, he was introduced to Hartlib. This remarkable man, whose name is familiar in the literary history of the time (cf. Masson's "Life of Milton"), became Petty's patron. In a letter to Boyle of 1647 (Boyle's Works, vi, 77) he expresses great admiration for the talents of his young acquaintance.
I put into your hands the design of the history of trade. The author is one Petty, twenty-four years of age, a perfect Frenchman, and a good linguist in other vulgar languages, a most exact anatomist, and excellent in all mathematical and mechanical learning. As for solid judgment and industry altogether masculine.
Petty soon became interested in Hartlib's scheme for the reform of education, and showed his desire to co-operate in the movement by writing a "Tractate on Education," dedicated to Hartlib. At the same time he invented a copying machine. Reference is made to this invention in the "Tractate." A parliamentary patent[1] was secured for it, and a description of it, dedicated to Robert Boyle, was printed in 1648.[2] This invention, like a good many of Petty's later mechanical devices, proved a failure. Curiously we find in a letter, written by Sir Christopher Wren some years after, a reference to a similar machine.[3] Wren, without mentioning any name, complained that a model of his invention, in a still imperfect condition, had been seen by chance by a visitor, and reproduced. The failure of the reproduction of his unfinished invention had made it impossible for him to give to the world his own perfected instrument for multiplying copies of writing. The history of Petty's own invention leads us to suspect that he may have been the person whom Wren accuses of this dishonorable act. From what we know of Petty's insensibility to strict honesty, where he saw any chance of furthering his own interests, we cannot say that he was incapable of such an action.
In 1646, along with Hartlib and Boyle, Petty joined the "London Philosophical Society." This unpretentious club, inaugurated in 1645 by Theodore Haak, was the parent of the Royal Society. The object of the society, which included, besides these already mentioned, the well known names of Drs. Wilkins and Wallis, was the promotion of the study of natural science.[4]
8 Being a man of fortune, he sided with the people then in authority. He went to Oxon when the great rout of loyal scholars was made by the parliamentarian visitors, settled there for some time, followed the faculty of physic, exercised anatomy, and became professor of anatomy. A. Wood, "Athenae Oxonienses", iv, p. 215.
9 An account of this incident is given in a pamphlet entitled "News from the Dead," reprinted by Morgan in the "Phœnix Britannicus," p. 232, ff.
10 Petty had not allowed his interest in the "Philosophical Society" to drop. Some of the original members of the London club, now resident at Oxford, along with several new adherents, held meetings at his lodgings. Cf. Introduction to Peter of Langtoft's Chronicle.
11 Burrows' "Register", p. 335, April 18, 1651. Principal and fellows of Brasenose gave Petty leave of absence for two years with continuance of his stipend of thirty pounds a year.
Evelyn, ii, p. 95. "Sir William came from Oxford to be tutor to a neighbour of mine."
12 Petty's career in Ireland is hardly touched upon by Aubrey. The following account is derived from his own works, chiefly the "Down Survey." This book, unlike Petty's other works, is extremely dull, and difficult reading. Pendergast, in "The Cromwellian Settlement," has made constant use of it, and with the help of his book, I have been able to throw some light on the next few years of Petty's life.
Strafford, in following out the familiar policy of transplanting English settlers into Ireland, had brought about a rebellion among the natives. To suppress this outbreak, an army had to be sent from England. This army was raised and supported by money advanced by private individuals, subscribed on the security of 2,500,000 acres of Irish land to be confiscated at the close of the rebellion. The debt was still unsettled at the end of Cromwell's Irish campaign in 1652. As the army had not yet received its pay, the government proposed to settle both of these claims, by granting to each party confiscated land sufficient to meet their demands. The army was induced to accept the same rates as had already been agreed upon by the subscribers, who are called for brevity the "Irish Adventurers." According to this agreement, the money value of a thousand acres of land varied from £200 to £600, according to quality and location. The original Irish landowners, and even the older English proprietors who had lived in the district of rebellion, were to be transported to Connaught. It was proposed to send the poorer native inhabitants to foreign countries, the men to Spain, the women and children to the West Indies.
The first step in carrying out this scheme was a survey of the land, which was to be set off for the various claimants. Worsely, the surveyor-general, had made a survey in 1653, which was notoriously erroneous. Petty immediately pointed out the defects and the way to remedy them, offered to undertake a new survey, to be concluded within thirteen months, and to prepare a general map of the whole country. The surveyor-general, anxious to retain this work in his own hands, subjected every part of Petty's offer to minute criticism. His objections were answered, and Petty, supported by influential friends, secured the contract, which was signed on December 24, 1654. The survey was performed with the promised rapidity, not by introducing new scientific methods, but by careful direction of the numerous subordinates among whom the labor was apportioned. The opposition which had met Petty at every step had a deeper ground than the personal enmity of Worsely. Cromwell was carrying out in Ireland the policy that he had already adopted in England, of trying to draw to the support of the government the conservative element of the country. He attempted to attract the Presbyterians in Ireland, who had large vested interests there, and used them to break down the power of the clique of army officers, who were Anabaptists, and notoriously republican in politics. Henry Cromwell, who supplanted Fleetwood as commander of the forces in Ireland in 1655, had directions from his father to give the country a settled government in place of the anarchy which the selfish interests of the army had encouraged. Petty allied himself with the Protector's party, and was soon promoted to be Henry Cromwell's secretary, and finally Clerk of the Council.
We have already seen what were the initial difficulties of the "Down Survey" (Petty's undertaking was so-called because in it the natural divisions of the country were marked down). The end of his task brought fresh obstacles. On the completion of the work Petty requested that the sureties should be discharged, the survey accepted, and payment made for his services. A committee of officers directed the surveyor-general to examine the survey. At the expiration of three months, he made a report advising its rejection on the ground of non-fulfilment of the terms of the contract. A fresh committee was then appointed, not so inimical to Petty, to review the entire matter. This body finally accepted the "survey" on the 17th of May, 1656. Petty's other requests were reserved for consideration, and only after a delay of more than six months were his sureties released, and his claim for pay acknowledged. The amount received by him for conducting the survey was £18,532, out of which sum the pay of his assistants and general expenses were to be defrayed. He had some difficulty in collecting from the army the amount which they had agreed to pay at the rate of a penny for each acre. In February, 1657, there still remained due to him from this quarter £614. This he was allowed to collect personally, and it was raised to £3,181 to cover the costs of collection, and to remunerate his other services to the state. In payment of this debt, 9,665 acres of land were allotted to him. This transaction brought upon him many charges of fraud. On the public records this large allotment was made over to him for £1,000. His own explanation is that this money belonged to him personally, and that no mention is made of his previous claim of £3,181.
In the work of allotting the lands among the claimants, Petty took a prominent share. He was one of four commissioners, to whom the duty was assigned, and had really the responsibility of the whole matter. This new position made him a more conspicuous object of attack, by placing in his hands many opportunities for taking advantage of this authority. In this division, as the individual share was decided by lot, much discontent was caused by differences in the quality of the land, and bribery was readily employed to remedy adverse fortune. In the meantime the "Irish Adventurers" were impatiently waiting for satisfaction. They had already refused to be assigned tracts of lands apart from the army, fearing that peaceful possession would be impossible without military protection. Now they were alarmed at the prospect of the number of claimants exceeding the supply of land. Henry Cromwell, lately become Lord Deputy of Ireland, advised the "Adventurers" to entrust their interests to Petty. In the summer of 1658 he visited London and arranged with them a satisfactory agreement, in which they consented to accept his survey as the basis for their own allotments. The number of those waiting to be satisfied was very great, and the conflicting interests caused considerable delay. There were held as many as 33,400 debentures on Irish lands. Of these were returned only 11,804, the rest being held back in the hope of obtaining better terms. The delay caused a vast amount of speculation, for the poorer soldiers were obliged to sell their debentures for ready money to their superior officers, who desired to get an estate in Ireland. As a government official Petty could not legally take a share in this land jobbery, but be soon managed to overcome this difficulty. His salary as land commissioner was in arrears. The government compensated him by assigning him 6,000 acres of land, and gave him permission to buy £2,000 worth of debentures. Such notorious advantages could hardly pass unmarked, especially as Petty's official pluralism and his influence with Henry Cromwell made him all the more open to attack.
One must give him the credit of possessing conspicuous energy. His various duties he performed assiduously. He lived abstemiously. He spent a large part of the night dictating to his secretaries. He mastered the details of his varied official work by systematic labor. While he tells us that he disregarded the unpopularity which he brought upon himself, it is evident that he was somewhat sensitive to its violence. In a letter to Boyle written in February, 1657, he expresses himself in the following words: "I never lived a more miserable life than now. I wish I had the opportunity to make you understand the state of some things; till when suspend your judgment of me. I think I can demonstrate the necessity of the most malign action I am taxed with."[5] In August, 1658, we catch a glimpse of Petty during his visit to London on the business of the "Adventurers' " claims. Hartlib, in a letter to Boyle, writes: "Dr. Petty spent two hours with me; he talked of an educational plan on which he proposed to spend £2,000. The history of trade he looks upon as the great pillar for the reformation of the world."[6]
Upon the death of Oliver Cromwell the attacks against Petty became more violent. In the person of Sir Jerome Sankey he found a most active and determined enemy. During Petty's residence at Oxford, Sankey had been a fellow of All Souls and Proctor of the University.[7] He gave up his academic career to try his fortune in a more active field. He had served with distinction in Ireland under Cromwell. In religion he was a fanatical Anabaptist, and in politics a prominent member of the army faction. According to Petty's statement, Sankey's enmity was due to his watchfulness in preventing Sankey from illegally changing his allotment of land.
In November, 1658, an anonymous libel against Petty was brought to the notice of the Lord Deputy. In this he was accused of general official misconduct. So high he stood in Cromwell's favor, so great was his influence, that his enemy compared him to Cardinal Wolsey. A committee of seven officers were charged to investigate the truth of the charges contained in the libel. He was acquitted, but a dissenting report was presented by the minority in which he was accused of magnifying the debt due to him by the army, of charging the army with debts not really due by them, of reserving for himself portions of choice lands. Petty replied to this in general terms, claiming that all his actions were done with full Government sanction. He ended by asking for a speedy trial.
In the meantime Petty had been elected a member in the Parliament summoned by Richard Cromwell. In this body he represented the town of West Low, in the county of Cornwall. When Parliament met in March, Sankey, also a member, took an early occasion of bringing up his charges against Petty. In Burton's "Diary"[8] we find a report of Sankey's speech. The following are the opening words: "I open the highest charge against a member of this house that ever was; such news has not been of a long time; a high breach of trust. It is against a great person. .... He is both cook, caterer and hunt; is commissioner and surveyor; has had the disposing of two million acres of land. He is a man of great parts, but has highly wronged them. His name is Dr. Petty." Sankey went on to accuse him of bribery and fraud. Several members spoke in Petty's favor and recognized his services to the State. Sankey was directed to put his charges in a more specific form, and the Speaker on March 26, 1659, commanded Petty to attend and answer the following charges: 1. Dealing in Debentures. 2. Taking bribes. 3. Appropriating money belonging to the state. Petty arrived in London on the 17th of April. On the 19th he took his seat. On the 21st he made his defense. He complained that his services had never been paid. In the conduct of the survey he had kept strictly within the conditions of his contract, and claimed government permission for dealing in debentures. The attacks against him he ascribed to personal jealousy. His responsibility as land commissioner was shared by three others. As Clerk of the Council his conduct had met with the approval of his superiors. He now wished a speedy trial. Sankey made a rather rambling reply, in which he mentioned by name several persons from whom Petty had received bribes, and concluded by charging him with retaining in his possession all the original records of the survey.
A stop was put to further proceedings by the dissolution of Parliament on the following day. Petty was disappointed by seeing the prospect of a trial more remote than ever. Sankey continued to threaten him with bringing the case before the Protector and the Council of State. When nothing was done in the matter, Petty requested Sankey to submit the charges to Fleetwood for arbitration.
Fleetwood excused himself from acting on the plea of the unsettled state of public affairs. Henry Cromwell, who had hitherto exerted himself in Petty's favor, wrote as follows in a letter of April 11, 1659, to Thurloe:[9] "If Sir Hierom Sankey doe not run him (Petty) down with numbers and noise of adventurers and such other like concerned persons, I believe the Parliament will finde him as I have represented him. He has curiously deluded mee these four years if he be a knave.... Petty is not the only marke aimed at." Despairing of a trial, Petty returned to Ireland on the 12th of May. The fall of the Protector, Richard, at the end of the month, placed his brother's power in Ireland in a precarious position. It was impossible to retain Petty in official relations with him any longer. Deprived of all his offices, Petty returned to England in June, bringing the following letter of recommendation: "The bearer, Dr. Petty, has been my Secretary and Clerk of the Council, and is one whom I have known to be an honest and ingenious man. Great endeavours have been made to beget prejudice against him."[10] Sankey had now risen into a position of much importance as a member of the army faction who were now governing the country. In July the subject was revived in the Rump Parliament, and Petty was kept under surveillance to await his trial. The case was suddenly referred to the Commissioners for Ireland, and nothing more was heard of it.
In the autumn of this year Petty joined the politiclub known as the "Rota," an organization formed by Harrington to discuss and advocate the well-known political theories of that philosopher. No practical result attended its deliberations, but as it became the rendezvous of many clever people, its discussions were the talk of the town.[11]
The odium attached to Petty's Irish career still pursued him, for we find him now appealing to the public for the first time in a defence, contained in a broadside of four pages, entitled a "Brief of Proceedings between Sir H. Sankey and Dr. Petty."
This pamphlet contains a review of the charges brought already to the notice of Parliament with Petty's replies. Then comes a list of the charges which had been brought before the Irish Commissioners. Petty points out with great satisfaction the discrepancies in the two lists. Many of the earlier charges of fraud and bribery had been dropped, and in their place less serious accusations substituted. In the following year he published a more complete vindication under the title "Reflections upon some persons and things in Ireland." An interesting feature of this work is a prefatory letter signed J. H. I have not been able from these initials to identify the writer. He was an old friend of Petty. Their acquaintance had begun during Petty's stay in Paris. Like other friends of his youth he had seen, he tells us, with surprise and regret, the course of Petty's career in Ireland. Those who had formerly looked upon him as an ardent devotee of science had lamented his defection from their ranks, and begged for an explanation. Petty in his reply refutes the charge of neglecting his earlier and more honorable pursuits, by the rather ingenuous assertion that he had undertaken the "Survey" in order to demonstrate to the public the utility of a scientific training. The most interesting part of the work is the conclusion, which throws much light on the whole transaction. In 1659 he had not dared to say the whole truth for fear of offending those in power. Now he is not afraid of the consequence of free speech. He explains his unpopularity by the conspicuous position he had held under Henry Cromwell's Government. The fanatical Anabaptists, Petty declares, hated Cromwell's policy, but hesitated to openly oppose a son of the Lord Protector. They then determined to ruin Petty's reputation in order to discredit the Government under which he served, singling him out for attack, because he had made himself obnoxious by his watchfulness in circumventing their intrigues. "Sectaries," he says, "are always of perverse mind and jealous." Besides, there were especial reasons for the extreme bitterness against him. Sankey, his opponent, had the ambition to cut a great figure. The under-surveyors were discontented. The personal collection of the debt owed to him by the army had contributed to his unpopularity. In the work of allotting the confiscated land his fellow commissioners were inactive and desired to shift to his shoulders the responsibility for any mistakes. By refusing to associate himself with any faction, or to take any part in religious controversies, he had had no chance to secure personal supporters. He had a ready tongue, he confessed, and was fond of a jest. The exercise of these dangerous gifts had cost him dear. His indifference in Church matters had made him obnoxious to all parties. By some he was called a Papist, by others an Atheist.
13 Story of this duel is repeated by Evelyn, vol. ii, p. 96, who by mistake names Sir Aleyn Brodrick as Petty's antagonist.
14 This faculty of imitation also noticed by Evelyn, vol. ii, p. 96.
15 Evelyn, ii, p. 97. "He could never get favour at Court, because he outwitted all the projectors that came near him."
16 This double-keeled boat is referred to several times in Pepys' "Diary," pp. 31, 87, 89, 193, 210; also in Evelyn's "Diary," i, 358, 378-387; ii, 95.
17 Pepys' "Diary," vol. ii, 89. Petty had a small opinion of the "Religio Medici" and the "Hudibras." He could hardly be expected to sympathize with either work. In his manuscript directions to his sons he advises them to read Aristotle's "Rhetoric," Hobbes's "De Cive," Justinian, and the Common Law. In a letter to Boyle[12] he discourages reading.
18 The following account of the latter part of Petty's life may supplement the scanty information given by Aubrey. Petty's interests in his earlier pursuits revived with his retirement from public life. Hartlib hoped that he would make some practical use of his "Tractate on Education." He had talked of spending a part of his fortune in carrying out his educational schemes.[13] At least there was now an opportunity for again taking up the neglected "History of Trade." The meetings of the Philosophical Club, interrupted for some time during the unsettled state of public affairs, were resumed. It was resolved to give the organization a more permanent and a more serious character. Petty was one of the promoters of the change which transformed the "Philosophical Club" into the Royal Society. He was one of the original Fellows, and was placed on the Council.[14] In 1661, April 11, he was knighted and was sent by Charles II to Ireland as Surveyor-General.[15] In the Irish Parliament, which met early in the summer, he sat as member for Enniscorthy. In August he was sent to England as one of the commissioners from that Parliament to watch over the interests of the English landowners. The Act of Settlement of September, 1662, with the Explanatory Act of the following year, were favorable to Petty and the interests that he represented.
To keep possession of his property he was obliged to engage in continual lawsuits, and his name appears frequently in petitions to the King to recognize his claims.[16] He did not scruple to use questionable means to defend the integrity of his estate. After winning a suit against the Duke of Ormond he boasted that he had employed witnesses, who, to use his characteristic expression, would swear through a six-inch board.[17]
Knowing the policy of the English Government towards Ireland, we are hardly surprised at finding Petty appointed one of the commissioners, who sat as a Court of Claims to settle the Irish land question. In 1666 he appeared personally with other prominent Irishmen before the English Parliament to protest against the Bill which prohibited the export of Irish cattle into England.[18] In 1679 he was again a member of the Irish Parliament, and took an active part in opposing the contract which the Government had made with the revenue farmers. In the later years of his life he became a member of the Irish Council of Trade. As an Irish landlord he devoted himself to the industrial development of the country. An account of his Colony of Kenmare is given by Lord Macaulay.[19] Much of the later portion of his life he passed in England. The intervals of his absence from London are indicated in the "Transactions of the Royal Society." From 1661-1671 his name does not appear. A shorter period of absence is marked from 1675-1678, and again during the years 1680 and 1681. For several years he remained on the Council of the Society. In 1674 he became its vice-president. In Dublin he founded the Irish Royal Society, and became its first president in 1684. In the year 1677 he began to complain of ill health. This and the worries of constant litigation weighed heavily upon him. In a manuscript letter to Aubrey he uses the following language: "I begin to be afraid of living in a place where we have ten exasperated enemies for one friend, and where I am obliged to spend my whole time upon what I hate." The failure of his naval experiments he took greatly to heart, and he complained bitterly of the ridicule their want of success had brought upon him. In another letter he says: "My anxieties are heartbreaking. My services in Ireland have never been recognized or rewarded. Some accuse me of madness; others call me fanciful." Invited by a friend to embark in a commercial enterprise for colonizing Tobago, he refused, because he feared that those in power might accuse him of being a malcontent. He strongly resented the criticism excited by his works. It was a matter of much annoyance to him that some of his writings were printed against his wish, and others he was not allowed to publish by those in authority.
19 Petty is characterized by Pepys and Evelyn in the following way:
Pepys' "Diary," vol. ii, 88. "William Petty, who in discourse is, methinks, one of the most rational men that ever I heard speak with a tongue."
Evelyn, ii, p. 96. "There is not a better Latin poet living when he gives himself that diversion; nor is his excellence less in council and prudent matters of state; but he is so exceeding nice in sifting and examining all possible contingencies, that he adventures at nothing which is not demonstration. There was not in the whole world his equal for a superintendent of manufacture, and improvement of trade, or to govern a plantation. If I were a Prince, I should make him my second Counsellor at least. There is nothing difficult to him."
20 A story current in Petty's family and communicated to Ward, the author of the "Lives of the Gresham Professors," is preserved in some manuscript notes made by Ward now in the British Museum. Petty, according to this tradition, was serving on a small merchant vessel, plying between ports on the Channel. The master of the vessel broke the lad's arm, while administering a flogging. He was put ashore on the coast of Normandy, was kindly given shelter in a monastery, and was there educated by the monks. Aubrey's story is partly corroborative of the family tradition.
- ↑ Boyle's Works (second edition"), vi, 137.
- ↑ Rushworth, "Historical Collection," part iv.
- ↑ Wren's "Parentalia", p. 215.
- ↑ Cf. Wallis's account of the Society in the Introduction of Peter of Langtoft's Chronicle.
- ↑ Boyle's Works, vi, 136.
- ↑ Boyle's Works, vi, 113.
- ↑ Cf. Burrows' "Register," p. 227.
- ↑ Cf. vol. iv, pp. 244-49.
- ↑ Cf. Thurloe, vii, 651, also 684.
- ↑ Mss. Letter indexed in Catalogue of Collection of English Letters, Brit. Mus.
- ↑ Pepys' Diary (vol. i, p. 7), 10 January, 1659⁄1660. "To the coffee house [Miles's] where were a great confluence of gentlemen, viz.: Mr. Harrington, Poultny, chairman, Gold, Dr. Petty, etc., where admirable discourse till nine at night."
A. Wood, " Athenae Oxonienses", hi, p. 11. "In 1659, in the beginning of Michaelmas term, they (Harrington and his disciples) had every night a meeting at the then Turk's Head, called Miles' Coffee House.
"Dr. William Petty was a rotaman, and would sometimes trouble Harrington in his club." Ibid. p. 19. - ↑ Works, vi, 138.
- ↑ Cf. Evelyn's "Correspondence," iii, 131.
- ↑ His return to a scientific life—to the unprofitable pursuit of a Virtuoso—was of short duration. As Hartlib pointedly expresses it, "He had other fish to fry."
- ↑ Cf. A. Wood, op. cit., and Worthington's "Diary," anno 1661.
- ↑ Carte papers in Bodleian Library.
- ↑ Carte's "Ormond," cited by Lecky, "History of England," ii, p. 194.
- ↑ Carte's "Ormond," iv, 243.
- ↑ Cf. "History of England," ch. 12.