Draft of MINT00044 (Mint 19/1/121)

<119r>

To the R^t Hon^ble the Lords^s {sic} Comm^rs of his Maj^ts Treary.

May it pl. yo^r Lord^ps,

Amongst all the Petitioners for the place of Weigher & Teller, whose Petitions are referred to us I have most experience of {illeg}|the| abilities of M^r Haynes. The allegations in his Petition are true & while he acted in the Mint he had there a general reputation for integrity, diligence, sobriety, good humour & readiness in business & have been long\about 14 years/ amongst us he is skilled in all the business of the Mint & in the time of recoyning the hammered money did great service. In these accounts the Officers of the Mint (M^r Neale, M^r Hall & my self mentioned in the Petition & my self) then recommended him earnestly to the Lords Comm^rs of his Maj^ts Treary as a very fit person to execute the Office of Comptroller under the two late Comptrollers in that time of great business, & when the Comptrollers insisted on M^r Beresford a stranger, M^r Haynes was appointed to take care of the Comptroller's business till M^r Beresford could qualify himself. After the reccoynage {sic} of the hammered money was over M^r Haynes was imployed in the Excise Office by M^r Hall above mentioned who is able to give a further account\character/ of his abilities & behaviour in both Officers|.|: Yet M^r Neale till his death \Decemb. 99/ continued him his Clerk w^th a salary of 100^℔ ꝑ an in recompence of his services |& making up\examining & {seeking}/ the Aco^ts of y^e five Country Mints.| On account of his abilities I have ever since wished for him back into the Mint & if he be not now brought back (as he has been once already at a time when we could not be w^thout him) some person unskilled in o^r business will instead of him come amongst us a success {until} the late Weigher & Teller |other {illeg} {illeg}|&| Tellers place or into\either to succeed the late weighers//us to succeed either in the place of the late weigher & Teller or in\ the place w^ch his successor shall| or the new one.\the Wardens/ |Wardens Deputy.|\leave/ If any of their Principal Officers or their Clerks or Deputies should at any time die or leave the Mint M^r Haynes is qualified to assist till the place can be supplied anew that y^e business of the Mint receive no stop. For we want men of skill.

If any other Competitor thinks himself equally qualified in Mint affairs I desire that his character may by any friend who best knows it be put into the hands of the Officers of the Mint that we may examin it \by tryall/ & make a true report thereof\of his skill/ to yo^r Lord^ps. But of the qualifications of such Petitioners as have not been conversant\are not versed/ in the Mint affairs we do not pre{illeg}|sum|e to judge. They are recommended to yo^r Lord^ps by p|P|ersons better able to judge of their disposition & capacity in generall then we are. What skill men have attained to we can know by seeing them use it but what {t}hey will attain to hereafter & in what time we are not able to foretell, We \& therefore/ reccon it a very great advantage to be actually skilled in o^r business

<119v>

He{illeg}|r|odotus represents Nitocris above{illeg} mentioned to have been a woman of greater

Herodotus represents\tells us/ that there were two famous Queens of Babylon, See|i|vanis & Nitocris above above mentioned & that y^e latter was {illeg} more skilfull. She|⁺| < insertion from lower down f 119v > + She observing th{illeg}|a|t y^e kingdom of the Medes {be} having subdued many {enties} & am{illeg}|o|ngst others {Nineve} & {illeg} was become great & {sedate}\potent/, \intercepted &/ f{illeg}|o|rtified the passages out of Media into Babylon, & the river w^ch before was streight she made crooked with great windings – < text from higher up f 119v resumes > The river w^ch was str{a}|e|ght before made {illeg} crooked that it might flow more sedately & w^th great windings that it might be less apt to flow be less apt to overflow, & above Babylon dug a Lake {illeg} {Stadia}\Every way/ 40 miles broad to keep \receive/ the water of the river as {a mist} a d\in spring & keep it/ for watering the ground{illeg} land. And turning the River she built \{illeg}/ a Bridge over it|s| \channel/ in Babylon & then She built also a bridge over it in Babylon tur{illeg}|n|ing into another channel\the stream into the Lake/ till the Bridge was built. Philostratus says that she made a \{illeg} veta/ |Apollo| /{illeg}\ bridge under the River two fathomes broad, meaning a|n| cave arched cave over which the river flowed. He calls her Med Μηδεια that is a Mede. For Berosus tells us that Nebuchadnezzar built {illeg}|a| pensil Garden upon arches be{illeg}|c|a{illeg}|us|e his wife was a Mede & right to\delighted in/ mountanous prospects, She also observing that the kingdom of the Medes was become great & sedate/which were wanting in Babylon w^ch/such as\ abounded in Media but were\ \wanting in Babylon./ its probable that {s}he was y^e sister of Astyages married Ne{illeg}|b|uchadnezzar upon a {leage} /between their fathers against Nineva\

— {illeg}|&| the \many/ works of Seminarus were extant in divers parts of Asia till the days of Syria