Page:Sir William Petty - A Study in English Economic Literature - 1894.djvu/27

28 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,