hands ye nomination of all ye Magistrates & Common Councell men. This Citty is growne very populous, therefore I conceive it highly necessary that something may be speedily done to setle ye govermt of it, wch makes me desire y' Löp humbly to move his Majestie that, as soon as conveniently may, an answer be given to these Rules. And truly tis high time to put an end to this affaire, for I have had severall seditious papers dropt in ye Castle, & by other means come to my hands, wherein they seem to look upon themselves as if they were a free State, & ye severall Corporacions in ye Citty were in a sort litle Commonwealths, & that their representatives were only accountable to them, not owning that submission to ye Govermt as is fitting. The Papers are large, but I have given you ye substance of them, yt yr Lốp may see how necessary tis to have something resolved of, but I am sure, & you may rely upon it, that his Majestie hath entrusted his sword in such a hand who will rather perish then see his Majesties Authority slighted.

I am opinion that, considering ye greatness of this Towne & how dayly spreads it selfe, it were very fitt that his Majtie had a good Cittadell built here, wch would not only for ye future secure ye quiett of ye Citty, but would be so firme a footinge in this Kingdome as his Majestie would never be in danger of loosing it, upon almost any revolution whatever. I know ye same has bin proposed by others formerly, but as ye Towne grows more considerable, so ye. reasons for it become still more pregnant.

I have yet had no answer from yr Löp concerning ye Farthings.b They are a great cheat & burthen upon ye Kingdome as now permitted, therefore I wish yr Löp would mind his Majestie of this

matter.

On May 17 he had written to urge that the new farthings should be like those in England.

In the 4th Rule for ye Regulating of ye Corporacions of ye Citty of Dublin, as followeth :

And wee doe hereby order & establish, That ye severall Guilds or Corporacions of this Citty, out of wch any persons are now usually chosen to be of ye sd Citty, sometime wthin ye month of Novemb' next ensuing, & so from time to time wthin every month of Novemb' wch shall for ever hereafter be at ye end of every 3 years, from yo end of ye month of Novemb" next ensuing yo date hereof, shall elect & nominate double ye number of persons usually chosen out of each such Giuld or Corporacion into yo Comon Councell of this Citty, & by ye Masters & Wardens of each such Giuld or Corporacion shall, sometime within ye month of Novemb", present y names of such persons soe elected to ye La Mayor of this Citty for ye time being, who is hereby authorised & required in the presence of one of the Sheriffs & eight of the Aldermen, before yo 24th day of Decemb' then next ensuing, to elect out of ye persons whose names shall be so presented ye number of Persons usually serving in ye Comon Councell of ye sd Citty for each such Giuld or Corporacion respectively, weh sd persons so presented & elected shall be by vertue of that Election for 3 years then next ensuing, & no longer, of ye member of ye Coñons or Comon Councell of ye sd Citty.

Conformable to this Rule, ye Lord Mayor, on ye 28 of Novembr 1672, in ye presence of ye Sheriffs & eight or more of ye Aldermen, & with their consent, did elect thirty-three, being yo full number, to serve as Common Councell men for ye great Giuld, among whom were ten or eleven of ye Roman persuasion. Afterwards, on ye 18 Decemb1, ye Lord Mayor call'd a Table of Aldermen, &, one or both of ye Sheriffs being present, did acquaint them that he was in a mistake in asking their consents to ye Election, for that ye sd Election was by ye Rules solely entrusted in himselfe, only limited to be perform'd in ye presence of 8 Aldermen & one Sheriffe, & accordingly then proceeded to a new Election, & went through

wth it not only for ye great Giuld, but likewise for all ye other Giulds & Corporacions, compleating ye number of ninety-six, & in this Election left out all those of ye Roman persuasion. Again, on ye 20 Decemb', my Lord Mayor call'd a Table of Aldermen, ye Sheriffs too being present, & told them that he found himself in an error in what he had done two days before, & that he was now satisfied he ought to have their concurrence in ye Election, & then proceeded on ye worke he had begun ye 28 Novemb1, & elected ye others who were to serve for ye rest of ye Giulds, wth ye consent of ye Aldermen & Sheriffs, soe as there were then two elections in being, one made by ye Lord Mayor in ye presence & with ye consent of a Table of Aldermen & Sheriffs, & another by ye Lord Mayor singly, in ye presence of a Table of Aldermen & Sheriffs. By ye former of these, wch was begun first but perfected after yo other, there are severall Romanists nominated; by ye latter, wch was begun after, but compleated before ye other, all those of ye Roman persuasion are omitted. Thus far was transacted purely among themselves. On ye 28 January following the Lord Mayor acquainted me that in obedience to ye Rules he had with ye consent of a Table of Aldermen & Sheriffs, elected ye Comon Councell men, & that among them there were ten of ye Roman religion, wch I order'd him to certifie under his hand, & upon his certificate I granted my order of dispensation from taking ye Oath of Supremacy, & directed him to proceed to ye swearing of them. All those of ye Roman persuasion have taken their Oaths as Comon Councell men, but a great number of yo others refuse to swear, & particularly except agt that short Oath enjoyn'd by ye Rules, viz. :

I A. B. doe declare & believe, That it is not lawfull, upon any Pretence whatever, to take Arms against the King, And that I doe abhorr that traytorous position of taking arms by his Authority agt his Person or agt those that are commissioned by him, wch Oath I must observe to y Lop is imposed on all ye Corporacions of England, by a Statute made 13 Car. 2di, Cap. 1.a

The Corporation Act.

A Lře was lately written by ye Privy Councell to ye Citty, recommending to their care ye making of a way, weh would be very necessary & of advantage to ye Towne; To wch ye Lord Mayor, & Aldermen made this returne, that they found ye sd way would be of great use to ye Citty, but they could not proceed in it without ye consent of ye Coñon Councell, who had bin severall times summon'd, but they could not get a compleat number of them to meet; whereupon ye Privy Councell directed ye Lord Mayor to make a generall summons of them all, & in case they should not assemble, to returne the names of those who neglected to meet, as also of those others who refused ye Oaths.

Accordingly they were all summon'd, & on Munday ye 30th of June, there were assembled 45 Sheriffs, Peers, & Commoners, who, as soon as they were together, voted themselves an unlawfull Assembly, & would therefore Act nothing. The Mayor has since bin wth me, & acquainted me wth their Proceedings, & tells me that he believes, if ye other Election made by himself, without ye consent of ye Aldermen, & wherein all ye Romanists are left out were confirm'd, ye Citty would rest satisfied; but finding this matter something intricate, I have forborne to Act any further in it, & doe humbly submitt it to his Majesties consideration.

State of ye case of ye Citty of Dublin, enclosed in ye foregoing Lře to my Lord of Arlington.

LXX. THE EARL OF ESSEX TO THE EARL OF ARLINGTON. MY LORD,

Dublin Castle, July 15, 73. *

And now that I am upon this subject, give me leave to offer to y1 Lop my opinion, what I conceive fitt to be done in cases of this nature. To my best observation, there are few things give

CAMD. SOC.

VOL. I.

more hindrance to ye improvement of this Kingdome then this wch is now so frequently practised. Men pretend discoverys of lands here wch belong to ye King, & upon that procure Lřes to pass Grants for them. When these Lřes arrive here, their usual Plea is, Let me have ye benefitt of my Lře, & if it prove that his Majestie hast no Title, ye King has given nothing, & there is no hurt done. This & such other like arguments have, I find, prevail'd to pass many unreasonable Grants here, some wherein his Majesties Title has been dubious, & others wherein indeed ye King has had no Title at all; however ye countenance of a Grant under ye great Seale has bin so good a colour of Title as to enable them to commence suits wth ye possessors of these Lands, who, if poor, & not able to contest, have bin necessitated to compound; nay, there are some cases wch might be instanced wherin Patents have bin granted for Lands to wch ye King had no right at all; but yet ye Persons who had these Grants being great men, & those whose Lands were pass'd being meane, & not able to wage Law with them, have bin forced after many vexatious suits to submitt, & part with their Lands for 2 years' Purchase.

This having bin ye case of many men here, I shall venture humbly to offer my thoughts what may be ye most proper course to prevent ye like hardships upon ye People. Whenever any of these Lres shall be received, I conceive it fitt in ye first place ye Lieut informe himselfe from ye severall Offices of ye King's Title to ye Lands intended to be given ; & in case his Majesties Right appear clear & undoubted, ye Grant may then pass, but if any question doe yet remaine, it may be proper to have his Majesties Title first found by an Inquisition before ye Grant be perfected. This, in my opinion, is soe reasonable, & may be of so much benefitt to ye subject, by preventing many chargeable suits, wch have bin created in this Kingdome, by reason of Patents surreptitiously gain'd, as I purpose to forme it into a method, such as may serve to direct both my selfe, & others who succeed me in this employment, how to proceed in cases of this nature.