note 38: Commons' Journal, VII, p. 596.]

[Footnote 39: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1655-1656, pp. 46, 65, 318, 351.]

[Footnote 40: Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1657-1658, pp. 51, 66.]

[Footnote 41: Cal. State Papers, Col., 1574, 1660, pp. 445, 447, 448,
449, 450, 452, 453, 455, 456, 458, 459, 460, 461, 464, 465, 468, 470,
477; Brit. Mus. Egerton, 2395, ff. 123, 136, 142, 148-151, 157; Add.
MSS., 18986, f. 258.]

[Footnote 42: Note to the report of May 11, 1660, is as follows: "By
order of the Councill of State sitting and taking care of the government
in the interval between the suppression of the Rump of the Parliament
and the return of his Majesty which was not many days before the date of
this report." Egerton MSS., 2395, f. 263. Probably the recall not the
actual landing at Dover is meant.]

CHAPTER III.

The Proposals of the Merchants: Noell and Povey.

Between the colonial and commercial activities of the later years of
the Interregnum and the corresponding activities during the early years
of the Restoration no hard and fast line can be drawn. The policy of
control adopted by Charles II can be traced to the agitation of men,
chiefly merchants of London and others familiar with the colonies, who
since 1655 had become impressed with the possibilities of the New World
as a field for profitable ventures in trade and commerce, and desired,
whether under a republic or a monarchy, the cooeperation and aid of the
government. Among the leaders of this movement were Martin Noell and
Thomas Povey.

Martin Noell was probably the most conspicuous London merchant of his
time. Of his early life nothing seems to be known. He first appears as
a merchant in 1650 trading with Nevis and Montserrat, and in the next
few years he extended his operations to New England, Virginia, the other
West India islands, and the Mediterranean. His ships trafficked in a
great variety of commodities--iron, hemp, pitch, tar, flax, potashes,
cables, fish, cocoa, tobacco, etc., and he became a power in London,
his place of business in Old Jewry being the resort of merchants,
ship captains, and persons desiring to cooeperate in his ventures.
He was an alderman as early as 1651, was placed a little later on the
commission for securing the peace of the city, and held other offices
by appointment of the city or of the Commonwealth. He was also
a member of the East India Company and influential in its councils.
In addition to his mercantile inte