ot considered
carefully, thoroughly, and, in the main, impartially by the Council.[12]
The business was nearly always handled, in the first instance, by
experts, for with few exceptions the working committees were made up
of men who had had intimate experience with colonial affairs or were
financially interested in their prosperity. The first committee, that of
January 7, 1661, for example, was composed of Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper,
who had been on plantation committees during the Interregnum; Robert
Boyle, president of the Corporation for the Propagation of the Gospel
in New England and one of the founders of the Royal Society; Sir Peter
Leere and Sir James Draxe, old Barbadian planters; Edmund Waller,
poet and parliamentarian, who had been interested in colonial affairs
for some years; General Venables, who knew Jamaica well; Thomas Povey,
Edward Digges, John Colleton (soon to be Sir John), Martin Noell (soon
to be Sir Martin), and Thomas Kendall, all merchants and experts on
colonial trade, and Middleton, Jefferies, Watts, and Howe, sea-captains
and merchants in frequent touch with the colonies. Other committees
were made up in much the same way, although the number of members was
usually smaller. When letters were to be written or reports drafted that
required skill in composition and embodiment in literary form, we find
the task entrusted to Povey alone or to Povey assisted by the poets
Waller and Sir John Denham. Povey was, indeed, the most active member
of the Council, serving as its secretary in much the same capacity
as on the Committee for America from 1657 to 1660.[13] On both these
boards he exemplified his own recommendation that there should be on
the Council "a Person who is to be more imediately concern'd and active
than the rest ... allwaies readie to give a full and digested account
and consideracon of any particular relating to those Affaires." Among
the Povey papers are many drafts of letters and reports in process of
construction, bearing erasures and additions which point to Povey as
their author.[14]

The Council for Plantations and its committees sat and deliberated
apart, the latter in Grocer's Hall; but the subjects under examination
were considered by both bodies. The subcommittees were frequently
instructed to call in persons interested, to write to others from whom
information could be obtained, and to pursue their investigations with
due regard for both sides of the case. Sometimes question