I. 't is Humbly Proposed , that all Places and Offices in England , Ireland , and in the Dominion of the King of England , in America , or elsewhere , that are in the Gift of the Crown , or are in the disposal of any Place or Office that is in the Gift of the Crown , and receives Sallary or Profit from thence , amounting to the Summ of an 100 Pounds per Ann. shall be Sold for two Lives , at Five Years purchase , except all Spiritual Preferments ; and all Judges , if the Parliament shall think fit .

II . That those Officers that are to serve in the Fleet or Army , shall have liberty to buy their Places at Three Years Purchase , and to dispose of them again ( with the King's consent ) at the same Rate as bought ; their Arrears to be taken as ready Money : And if an Officer buys his Place , and has no Son or Heir fit for that Place , he may put in any other Life ; and when he grows Old , and unfit for Service himself , he shall have the liberty to sell to any Person , the King shall approve of ; or if he dies before having done so , he shall have the power ( if the other Life he put in be in being ) to dispose either of the Place , or the Money , which his Successor shall be obliged to pay to his Executors .

III . That those Persons who have any Office for Life , as the Six Clerks , Clerks of the Assize , and several others ; shall have an Assignment for a Life after their own , at two years and an halfs Purchase ; but if they shall neglect , or refuse to pay the same , in such a limited time , the King shall have power to grant the said Assignment to any Person who will pay the said Money .

The Objections that may be brought against these Proposals are ,

Obj. 1. THat the King would lose one part of his Prerogative , Viz . The Disposal of these Offices , seeing they are to be Sold to any body that will purchase them .

Answ . To which I Answer ; that these Proposals will enlarge the King's Prerogative ; for the King will have the same Power of disposing of all Offices as before ; and the same Power of putting any Person out of his Place , whom he thinks not qualified to Execute it , or has any exception against his Person , and bestowing it upon whomsoever he pleases ; provided the Person that 's put out , be re-pay'd his Money , by him that is to succeed him , before he shall be oblig'd to resign his Place : And the King will be better served , in having all Offices Executed with the greatest Care and Fidelity ; for the Care of any Man will naturally bear a proportion to the value of the thing cared for , or the interest he has in it . Now the interest of all Persons in Offices will be greater than formerly , and consequently their care to preserve them will be so too ; for the livelyhood , not only of the Officer himself , and his Family , but the future being of his Son too , will depend upon his due Execution of his Office ; for if any Officer shall be legally Convicted in any of His Majesty's Courts , of any Male-Administration , he shall absolutely forfeit his Interest to the King , without any consideration of the Money he paid .

It 's very well known , the King of France never fails of raising a considerable Summ by this Method ; and every body , I believe , will allow , that no Prince is better served ; nor can there be braver Troops than those , whose Officers buy their Places ; as plainly appears by those of France , and Freizland .

But the greatest advantage the King will have by these Proposals , will be the augmentation of his Revenue ; for tho' the Money that shall at present be raised , by putting Lives into all Offices , will be intirely appropriated to the publick good , yet when any of these Lives fall , the profit that will arise from thence , will be wholly Converted to the King's Use ; which may in time , make a considerable part of the Revenue of the Crown .

Obj. 2. The Second Objection will be , that , Those Officers , who have the disposal of other Inferiour Places , ( as the Master of the Rolls , Judges , &c. ) will lose the Gift of the said Places , that are in their disposal .

Answ . To which I answer , That 't will not be a certain Injury to any particular person , for the Death of any of the Six Clerks , or Clerks of the Assize , is a very great Contingency , and they deserve but little Consideration , who will not sacrifice a Private Interest , so contingent and uncertain , for the Publick Good : Besides the Nomination to all the said places , may continue in the same Persons as formerly , provided the Money they are valued at , be paid in to the Publick Use .

Obj. 3. The Third Objection may be , That those who are in Possession of Places , may be unwilling to lay down so much Money , and 't will be an Injustice to turn them out , without any other reason .

Answ . To which I answer , That there is hardly any body who will not , with great willingness , pay Five Years Purchase , to be secure of his Place for His own and His Sons Life ; or if His Heir is not qualified to succeed him , he is sure his Money shall be repaid him again . It is but lending Money upon good Security , with better Interest than usual , which he that succeeds him ( except the Lives he puts in fall ) must pay him ; so that , I believe , there will be no occasion to use any Severity in turning any body out of their Place .

Obj. 4. The Fourth Objection may be , That , he that buys a Place , has not always a Son fit to succeed him , tho' he may be capable of it himself .

Answ . To which I answer , That any Man has an opportunity to qualifie which Son or Friend he pleases , or if he is not qualified , he is secure of so much Money , or if he dies , and leaves a Son under Age , the Son may act by a Deputy , with the consent of the King .

Obj. 5. The Fifth Objection may be , That some persons who are in Places , by reason of the smallness of their Fortunes , are not capable of laying down a sum of Money .

Answ . To which I answer , The Parliament may grant , That those whose Circumstances will not allow them to lay down so much ready Money , may give their Bond , which may pass till such a limitted time , by which one may reasonably suppose the Money may be raised out of the said Office , and the usual Interest shall be paid in the mean time , and the Office may be made a Collateral Security for the Money .

There is no body but will reap considerable Advantages by these Proposals ; the King will very much increase his Revenue , and his Officers , when their Interest is so considerable in their places , will be afraid to hazard the forfeiting them , by any such illegal practices , as have lately been discovered in the Exchequer , so much to the Kings prejudice : All Men of Estates , will have the advantage of easing their Land of the almost insupportable burthen of Four Shillings in the Pound : And all Persons that are in Offices , will have the advantage of securing them for their own Life , and another , at a very easie Rate , so that they need not make so much haste to grow rich , as some have lately done , now they depend upon Pleasure . This will be also a considerable advantage in raising Money this way , that whereas no other Tax is raised in less than a year , and some in a much longer time , and therefore the King who has an absolute necessity for ready Money ( especially now , to Disband the Army , the Debt to it daily increasing considerably ) is forced to allow so great Interest for it , that a good part of the said Taxes are swallowed up by it , ( which is the cause of the constant Deficiencies ) but this will be all paid into the Exchequer in Three Months time ; and the charge of Collecting it will be inconsiderable , for it may be paid directly into the Exchequer , for all people that are concerned will come voluntarily in , to take care of their own Interests . Nor can there be any Deficiency by a false Calculation , for if this Honourable House pleases to order a List of all the said Offices , with their Salaries and Perquisites to be laid before you , it may then be exactly computed what they will raise , which cann't amount to less than between Five and Six Millions .