Note 24 — Chapter II
Reading edition
Sir W. Temple, in his Memoirs, part iii., gives an account of the plan and working of this Council. His object was to enable the Crown to manage the Commons, by making the Crown, as far as possible, independent of the Commons. After noticing the wealth of the Council in revenues of land or offices as amounting to £300,000 per annum, whilst that of the House of Commons seldom exceeded £400,000, he adds, “And authority is observed much to follow land, and, at the worst, such a Council might, out of their own stock, and upon a pinch, furnish the King so far as to relieve some great necessity of the Crown.”—Temple’s Works, vol. i. 414. He says (436) he told the Duke of York, “he might always reckon upon me as a legal man, and one that would always follow the Crown as became me.” These passages seem to be overlooked by some historians, in estimating the nature and objects of Temple’s scheme.