Page:Sir William Petty - A Study in English Economic Literature - 1894.djvu/30

401] 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" 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.