a

a long lease of it at fifty Pds p Añn Rent. Litle doubt is to be made but some others were under hand joyn'd in ye profitts of it, but because this may a litle touch upon his Father in Law, my Lord Chancell (who as to ye maine of ye King's business I have found a very good man, & have all waies lived very well with him, as 'tis necessary I should in ye Station I am in), I have rather chose to mention these Particulars in my private Lře, then to insert any thing of them in ye Narrative.

By this it does clearly appeare that ye Commons were in ye Right in not suffering ye revenue of ye Citty to be misapplied, but it can no way justify them in yo turning out yo Recorder & these Aldermen without hearing them, what they could say in their owne defence. I must also observe to yr Lop, that after I had replaced yo Aldermen wch I found thus illegally turned out, ye Commons of ye Citty, influenced by 3 or 4 factious persons, grew soe refractory in all things wch might be expected from them by me, as upon every litle occasion they denied their concurrence with ye Mayor & Aldermen. One instance among others I will name, & ye rather because it may & will certainly have operation upon all ye Garrisons of this Kingdome. This Citty, as all other Garrison Townes, have ever allowed fire & candle in ye Winter time to y° Guards that are in their Citty, but this last Winter ye Commons refused in this to concurre wth ye Mayor & Aldermen, & so ye Soldiers went without it. Other things I could also mention, but upon ye whole it appeared plainly that that Common Councell, as then constituted & influenced, were absolutely resolved to refuse every thing that ye Governor should propose, soe as I could not but judge it necessary that some new constitution should be erected, or otherwise ye Governor here would be lyable to be affronted by them upon every occasion ; & indeed it seems one of ye most arrogant things that I have ever knowne, that because ye Privy Councell would not justify these men in what they had irregularly done, that

a Michael Boyle, successively Archbishop of Dublin and Armagh.

therefore they should refuse all manner of compliance (as indeed they did) to ye Lieut & Councell.

But to tell yr Lốp truly (for since I am upon this subject I resolve to open all) upon what acct these men were thus puff'd up. 'twas clear they were in great measure animated by Coll. Talbott, to whom they perpetually made their application, & he on his part encouraged them, & told them very freely, had he been in London, those new Rules wch I framed had never bin imposed, & that he doubted not but by his interest they should quickly see them vacated. All this I speake not without booke, but can bring prooff for every particular.

And now, having in my two Lres of ye 8th & 19th instant, & also in this wch I have now written, together with ye severall Papers enclosed in them, given yr Lop a true prospect of ye whole matter, & not concealed ye faults of any, I shall be very glad to receive, as soon as may be, his Majties comands what he will have done thereupon; but if any Orders shall arrive to ye first representation that I made of this matter wch was by my Lře of ye 8th, I shall (unless some eminent necessitie should intervene, in wch case much ought to be left to discretion) respitt ye execution of them, till I hear that y Lop has reed this, hoping when you shall have time to compare ye whole, & all my Proceedings herein shall be considered, You will find me free from all partialitie; & whatever his Majesties finall determination shall be in order to ye Goverment of this Citty shall be most punctually observed & performed.

In ye time of my Lord Berkeley's Lieutenancy, a direction came signed by St James Shaen (but by what Authoritie I doe not well know) that his Lop should forbear passing of any Patents upon Certificates from ye Court of Claims; & tho' to ye best of my remembrance I have not reed any Orders to prohibite me from passing of such Patents, yet I have hitherto forborne ye granting I might I thinke very safely upon this opportunitie, now Committee of Inspection is superseded, proceed to ye passing

of any.

that

ye

CAMD. SOC.

P

VOL. I.

of these Grants, but I am unwilling to doe any thing of this nature wthout his Majties permission, notwithstanding it is only a thing of course, & such as an Act of Parliament does order to be done, wherefore I humbly desire yr Lop to acquaint his Majtie therewth, & signifie his pleasure to me in this matter.

The State of ye Recorder of Dublin's case, etc., enclosed to ye Earle of Arlington, July 22, 73.

On ye 24th of November, 1671, Rules were made by ye Lord Berkeley, then Lord Lieut, & by ye Privy Councell of Ireland for ye better regulating ye Corporacion of ye Citty of Dublin, whereby among other things it was declared that ye Common Councell of ye sa Citty should be for ever afterwards annually chosen by ye Lord Mayor, wth ye advice & approbation of ye Aldermen, out of such persons as should be presented to them by ye respective Corporacions of ye sa Citty.

Afterwards, there being severall objections made against ye said Rules, It was on ye second of March, 1671, Order'd by ye late Lord Lieut & Councell that ye sd Rules should continue in force untill ye 24th day of March, 1671, & no longer, & that in ye mean time other Rules should be consider'd of at ye board for regulating ye said Corporacion.

Afterwards, at an Assembly of ye sd Citty, held ye 29 March, 1672, upon a Petition offer'd by certaine of ye Commons of ye sd Citty agt St Francis Brusler, Richard Tigh, Daniel Hutchinson, Marke Quin, Lewis Desmineer, Enoch Reader, & Josua Allen, Aldermen of ye sd Citty, concerning their Actings in relation to ye making & imposing ye sd Rules, It was order'd that ye sa Petition should be referr'd to a Committee of ye sd Assembly, to report their conceptions therein at ye next Assembly.

Whereupon ye sd Committee met on ye first of April, 1672, &

without summoning or hearing ye sd Aldermen made a report, that they were guilty of ye matters whereof they stood charged by ye sa Petition, And that they should answer ye same at ye next Easter Assembly, or els should then be suspended, if ye sa Assembly should thinke fitt.

The next Easter Assembly was not to be held till ye 19th of Aprill, 1672: Yet at another Assembly held ye 3rd of Aprill, 1672, ye sa seven Aldermen were, by ye order of ye sd Assembly, dismiss'd from acting any further as Aldermen, & others order'd to be elected in their places.

And by another Order made ye så 3rd of Aprill, 1672, Sr William Davys was, upon a Petition of certaine of ye Commons complaining of severall crimes committed by him, dismissed from his Office of Recorder, & ye sa Office was ye same day granted to Sr Ellis Leighton.

And ye Office of Clerke of ye Tholsell, then held by Sir William Davys, was also by another order, made ye sd 3rd of Aprill, conferr'd on Alderman Totty, then Lord Mayor.

Afterwards, upon a Petition preferr'd to his Majestie by Sr William Davys & ye sa seven Aldermen, complaining of their being illegally turned out of their Places, His Majestie was pleased, by his Order in Councell dated ye seventeenth of July, 1672, to referr ye hearing & determining of that matter to ye Lord Lieutenant & Councell of this Kingdome. Upon wch Reference all Parties were fully heard severall days at ye Councell board here.

And upon ye sd hearing it fully appear'd yt ye sa Recorder & seven Aldermen were turned out without hearing of them, concerning ye severall pretended crimes that were objected agst them, & also without any prooff made thereof, or summoning them to make their defence thereto. And also that there were not above four Aldermen of ye sa Citty present at ye making of ye sd Order for turning out ye Recorder & these seven Aldermen, whereas by ye Customs of ye sa Citty ye number of eight Aldermen hath bin held necessary to

make up a Table of Aldermen, who have a Negative Vote in all Affairs that pass ye Common Councell of ye sd Citty.

Whereupon, on ye 20 Septemb', 1672, It was declared by ye unanimous consent of ye whole board, That ye sd Proceedings agt ye sa Recorder & ye sd Seven Aldermen in turning them out of their respective Places were irregular & not warranted, either by ye Laws of this Land, or by ye Customs & Constitutions of ye sa Citty, & therefore they did thereby restore them to their sa Places.

Which Resolution & Order of theirs was no other than what by Law they were warranted & obliged to make in this case. It having bin formerly adjudged, That in case a Corporacion have lawful Authoritie by their Charter or Prescription to remove any Persons from their freedome or Places in such Corporacion, & have also just cause to remove them, Yet if it appeares that they have proceeded agt them without hearing them answer to what is objected agt them, or without reasonable warning given them, such a removing of them is agt Justice & Right & Voyd, & shall not bind Party.

ye

LXXV.-THE EARL OF ESSEX TO CHARLES II.

MAY IT PLEASE YR MAJESTIE,

Since my coming hither I have allwaies chosen rather to represent things to yr Majesties Ministers that at yr leisure yr Majestie might from them understand ye state of y1 Affairs in this country, then too often to trouble y selfe with my Lies; but there being something now of importance in relation to ye Goverment, wch in my opinion deserves yr Majesties serious consideration, I conceive it my duty humbly to lay before you in briefe some particulars concerning it.