to their Right so manifest upon many Entries in the Common-Hall Journals According to what is said in Slade's Case The Returns of Sheriffs or Entries of Clerks without challenge of the Party or consideration of the Court being contrary to common Law and Reason are not allowable And therefore whatever may have been entred in the Books of the Common-Council it shall not be suppos'd that the Common-Hall ever admitted any Man to have been discharg'd till they had actually consented to it or did it virtually in chusing another in his stead And the same may be applied to Exemptions of which I will admit there are some Instances to be found in the Books of the Common-Council 4 th That no Man was ever duly discharged or exempted till there was the Consent of the Common-Hall may sufficiently appear by what I have shewn of the by-By-Laws and Custom in this Matter And yet if both favour'd the Mayor Aldermen and Common-Council I shall make it evident that they would be void in Law To which purpose I shall shew 1. That the exempting a Person from being chosen Sheriff within the City of London and the discharging or amoving one chosen is contrary to the common-common-Law Right of the Electors 2. That it is contrary to their Charters confirm'd by Parliaments 3. That Magna Charta and other Acts of Parliament declaratory of the Common-Law have so vested the exemption and discharge in the Electors that if their free Consent out of Parliament might divest them of it for certain nothing less can 4. That they have never parted with or quitted it Yet if they had are restor'd to their Right by his present Majesty's gracious Act of Restitution A Canon of Waltham having in the Reign of H. 6. been arrested by a Serjeant of the City in the Close of St. Martin le Grand the Legality of it coming in question because of the pretended Privilege of that Place granted by W. 1. there called Conqueror The Mayor and Citizens justify and say All the Close is and ought to be and of all time beyond memory of Man was of and in the Liberty and Jurisdiction of the said City For the verifying which they say and shew divers Reasons and Evidences First they say That the said City is and beyond memory of Man was the Capital City of the whole Kingdom of England before the rest of the Cities and Towns of the same adorn'd as well with Honours as Liberties and very many free Customs of divers Kinds For it was founded of Old by the famous Progenitors of our Lord the King that now is after the likeness and manner and in memory of Antient Troy the Great and from hence was long called Trinovant Which City in the time of St. Edward King and Confessor and of all time before was of it self and in it self one sole and entire County and one sole and entire Jurisdiction and Liberty held at Farm by the said Citizens and their Predecessors of the said King and his Predecessors And the same Citizens then and from all the time aforesaid by reason of their said Jurisdiction and Liberty have among other such Liberties and free Customs to wit to chuse and make of themselves every Year certain principal Officers in the said â—â—â—y who may faithfully answer the King of the said Farm and immediately under him the People of the said City and others resorting to the same in Peace and Justice according to its antient Laws and Customs to rule And also they could ought and for all the times aforesaid us'd to make other Ministers under them in aid of the sustaining and 〈◊〉 â—â—ising the Premisses So that all the said time no Summons Attachment Distress or Execution ought or us'd to be made in the Place where the said Close now is nor elsewhere in any Part of the City unless by the Officers and Ministers aforesaid except on their failure And they say That the said Lord William the Conqueror before the Foundation of the Church aforesaid and the making the said Charter of which before was mention by the Authority of his Parliament and by two Charters which the said Mayor and City here proffer to wit by one of them demised to the Citizens of London the whole said City and County with all its Appendences Things and Customs to them in any manner appertaining And by the other he granted and by the Authority aforesaid confirm'd to the same Citizens and their Successors that they should have the said and all other their Liberties and Free Customs unhurt which they had in the time of the said holy King Edward his Progenitor and that they should peaceably use and enjoy them c. And speaking of other Kings his Successors Which Kings severally some by their Charters and some by their Charters and the Authority of divers their Parliaments granted and confirmed to the said Citizens and their Successors all the said City and County with all the Rights Jurisdictions Liberties and Free Customs before-mentioned with their Appurtenances whatsoever in Fee Farm Indeed I find no Judgment upon this but it seems the Plea quieted the Dispute That the Plea was rightly founded may appear from two considerable Authorities not to name more 1. The Confessor's Law received and sworn to by Wil. 1. more than once out of which the Passage concerning the Antiquity of the City and its being founded in Imitation and in Memory of Old Troy is transcribed That Law derives the City's Laws Rights Liberties and Royal Customs from its first Foundation and says it has preserved them with an entire Inviolability and consequently affirms those Laws Rights Liberties and Royal Customs to have been at Common Law before any Charter A Charter passed in Parliament 1 E. 3. and at the Request of the City express'd by the Recorder enrolled in the King's-Bench soon after This Charter mentioning the great Charter's Confirmation of all the City's antient Liberties and Customs adds that at the making of that Charter and in the times of Edward King and Confessor and of William the Conqueror and other E. 3 d's Progenitors the said Citizens had divers Liberties and Customs as well by Charters of Kings as without of antient Custom Where the Custom is laid from before the reputed Conquest And thus their Plea above which I find likewise pleaded or prepared 25 H. 8. is in effect warranted by Act of Parliament It appears that the Charter to St. Martins which occasioned this Plea was granted 2 Will. 1. and that in Parliament for it was at the Queenâ—s Coronation which as appears by the old Rituals and Histories could not then be without the Consent of the States Though in the Charter to be seen in the Tower by inspeximus there are Words exempting the Place from all secular Jurisdiction yet the whole County of London being the City's Farm Jurisdiction in every part of it was such an Incident as could not be taken away by
and the generality of the Free-men having rested contented with their Livery-men Such Sufferance and Consent has made that become a legal Settlement which at first could be no more than Matter of Advice And according to this I find Writs from the Crown and Acts of Common-Council place the legality of such Restrictions in the Custom of the City But I must submit to Consideration whether there is not better ground to believe That the Livery-men were the standing Representatives of the rest of the Free-men before ever such a Council as now acts had any setled Being or at least before the time of E. IV. than there is to think that the Words of either of the Ordinances of his time so much as recommend any other designation of Electors than what Custom and consequently the Consent of the Free-men had setled before In short it has appear'd That the Resolution of the Judges cited on the other side and more particularly mother upon the like Occasion us'd by me are strong for the Common-Hall That according to that very Act of Common-Council 7 Car. I. on which the Vindicator relies no Man chosen Sheriff is dischargeable unless for want of sufficiency in Estate Nor is there any ground for other Exemption And whatever Discharge or Exemption may have been given by any besides the Common Hall the Party is nevertheless elegible as if he had never been discharged or exempted This is made yet more evident by comparing the Act of Common-Council 7 Car. I. with former Acts But chiefly with the Act of Common-Hall 24 E. III. which was reinforc'd 18 Hen. VIII and to this very Day stands in full Virtue declaring the Sense of the Body of Free-men That for the Common-Council to vacate or defeat their Elections is to the Prejudice of particular Persons who are oblig'd to serve through Default of others and of the whole City in general who may want sufficient Persons to serve Or at least cannot find Men of the like Qualifications in every respect with those whom they first chose If we look into the Custom it is manifest That the Authority of the Common-Hall and of none besides to Discharge or Exempt has been fully exerted and own'd not only by Common-Councils but by the Crown and that in Times neither too long since past nor such wherein Precedents on the side of the Commons could have obtain'd if their Right had not been undoubted And as this Authority has been exercised by the Common-Hall before ever any Common Council of the present Form or Nature had a setled Being so it has been after and since the Time that the Vindicator supposes the Livery Common Hall to have been instituted And the seeming Practice of later Days to the contrary has been of such kind as has been far from proving any Authority to go along with Acts of Common-Council for the discharging or exempting any one Person The Discharge arising from the Common-Hall's proceeding to a new Choice Farther yet if either by-By-Laws or Custom or both have crept in to the seeming Diminution of the Right of the Electors as has appeared they would have been void in Law being contrary to their common-Common-Law Right declared by Charters and confirmed by Acts of Parliament And whatever Force Custom and by-By-Laws supposing them clear might have had against Rights so established the Act of Restitution 2 W M. being made while the Commons were in Possession of their Power to oblige the Person whom they had chosen to hold notwithstanding any pretended Discharge certainly wrought a Remitter to their antient Right And this was remitted and restored to the Livery-men I may add that by the express Words of that Statute it is enacted that the several Companies that is the Mysteries so often named in the City-Journals shall have all their lawful Liberties and particularly every Person admitted into the Freedoms or Liberties of the Companies shall enjoy the Rights and Privileges of a Freeman and Livery-man Which confirms the Livery-men in the Possession of the Common-Hall with all the Rights and Incidents belonging to that Possession And whereas the Vindicator supposes that the Common-Council can set aside the Rights and Privileges of the Livery-men as they of the Common-Council are the City's Legislators If they were such the Restrution 2 W. M. settles the Livery men beyond being shaken by any Authority within the City for the making By-Laws And in truth the Authority of making By-Laws both at Common-Law and by Charter originally rested with the whole Body of Freemen and has formerly been regularly exercised by the whole Body in their Assemblies in Guildhall or other Folkmote The Exerâ—ice of this has by Custom been confined to Guildhall and is now become impracticable elsewhere Of this Common-Hall and the Authority of this Court the Livery-men with the Mayor and Aldermen were in full legal possession before such a Common Council as now acts had any settled Being nor has any Act of Common-Council so much as occasioned the Privileges of the Livery-men much less has it created them But according to the Presumption of Law they have had an uninterrupted Possession from before 8 E. 2. nor does it appear that any Man can gave any Vote among them otherwise than as a Livery-man the Right of Suffrages in the Common-Hall being settled in the Livery-men who have been and yet are the true Common-Council of the â—ity On the other side that which now obtains the Name of the Common-Council has been from its several Institutions and yet is a mere Creature of the Common-Hall and dependent upon its Pleasure at the most is but of the Nature of a Committee and has no greater or higher Relation than of a Part to the whole and whether it acts by it self or in Conjunction with the greater Body must be concluded by the Majority To close this Argument which may seem tedious to many and yet possibly is no more labour'd than the strength of Prepossession requires I may well say with the Vindicator While some strive to make Breaches my business shall be to promote Peace But it must be consider'd That Men have very different Notions of Peace When our Governors in Church and State valued themselves upon the Peacefulness of former Reigns many who now would have the Commons of the City of London to sacrifice their Right to the quieting this Controversie were thought properly to have applied that old Sarcasm They make Solitude and call it Peace For my part I always thought the asserting and adhering to the Fundamental Constitution of the Great Community in the first place and next of the City of London which according to the Confessor's Law is the Head of the Great Body to be the best means to secure such a Peace as English Men may rejoice to transmit to Posterity And I cannot but hope That both Sides may receive this my sincere Endeavour as a seasonable Peace-Offering FINIS Sold by Richard Baldwin near the
could not begin without common Assent Since therefore common Assent has plac'd the Election of Sheriffs in the Common-Hall it will lie upon the other Side to shew at least the Presumption of common Assent to place the Discharge in the Common-Council And they must not for this urge any Act of Common-Council as Authoritative in it self 2. I do not find that the Vindicator pretends that the Custom for the Mayor and Aldermen by themselves or in conjunction with the Common-Council to discharge a Person chosen Sheriff by the Common-Hall is so antient that a By-Law to warrant it made by the Common-Council as now acting much less by the Common-Hall is to be presumed But he insists upon Positive by-By-Laws made in the Common-Council for their excusing any Persons duly chosen by admitting them to Fine for one Year This he supposes to have been established by several Acts of Common-Council one of which he pretends to have transcribed But certainly no Act ever began with and as his Transcript does And it is visible that what he gives as the whole Act 7 C. 1. is very lame and imperfect Had he publish'd the beginning of it the pretence of more Acts of Common-Council than that one unless they be of very late and suspected Date must have vanish'd For tho as may appear by comparing it with former Acts it makes in great measure the same Provisions and uses almost the same words with some of them only altering the Penalties and Values of Estates requir'd for a Qualification with some other necessary Circumstances yet it in express Terms repeals all former Acts made upon that Subject The Substance of what he is pleas'd to communicate is this If any Freeman of the City being duly chosen Sheriff shall not personally appear before the Mayor and Aldermen at their next Court unless he have such reasonable Excuce as the Mayor and greater part of the Aldermen then present shall allow and there enter into Bond to take the Office upon him in Common-Hall on Michaelmass Eve or shall openly refuse he shall forfeit as is there provided Unless he shall be duly discharged for want ☞ or defect of Ability in Wealth and shall nevertheless remain eligible yearly afterwards as if he had never been chosen Upon thus much of the Order it is observable 1. That the Excuce to be allowed by the Lord-Mayor and Aldermen is not for not taking the Office upon him but for not attending at the next Court-Day and not entring into Bond before-hand to oblige himself to take the Office upon him in Common-Hall Now it is probable that Men may have been out of Town or detain'd by Sickness or necessary Affairs which hindred them from engaging at the next Court-Day to take the Office and yet they might appear in Common-Hall time enough to enter upon it And therefore the Court of Aldermen might be Judges of the Reasonableness of the Excuce for not engaging before-hand or at least not so soon as the Order in strictness requires and yet there would be no Consequence from thence That it is in their Power totally to excuse from holding Further yet it will appear That this of entring into Bond was an additional Provision made 34 Eliz. and repeated 7 Car. 1. beyond what was in any former Order Nor was there any Custom in the City for entering into such Bond. This therefore being a Creature of Common-Council might be left to the Discretions of the Mayor and Aldermen without the least Prejudice to the Right of the Common-Hall 2. The Excuce of which the Mayor and Aldermen are made Judges is only such as is reasonable so that their Discretion is a legal Discretion And if the Excuce be for not holding the Office it is evident that no Excuce for that is to be allowed unless it be want of sufficient Estate in which Case only the Party is dischargable by the Words of that Order 3. Paying a Penalty is not properly any Excuce 4. He is to be discharged duly the Order does not mention by whom But this as it will appear ought to be by the Common-Hall either in express Terms or by implication in their proceeding to a new Choice But for what Time the Discharge shall be will notwithstanding that Order be absolutely at the Discretion of the Common-Hall Some would infer from the Words be shall be yearly eligible that the Person who is excused by the Mayor and Aldermen on paying his Fine shall not be eligible till another Year Whereas 1. It must be remembred that the Excuce of which they are made the Judges is not from holding but tho he should hold he is subject to the Penalty if he does not in due time oblige himself to hold 2. The yearly Eligible may be in every Year after that Order when the Penalty should happen to be incurred Accordingly the Order speaks only of the Discharge of Persons to be chosen and without such an Interpretation as this of yearly could not be taken to extend to Persons actually chosen Or else it may be for every Year following his Default according to the usual Entries that such a Man was chosen Sheriff for the Year ensuing Besides by the express Words the Party is Eligible as if he had never been chosen And therefore he must remain Eligible as if he had never paid his Fine which follows the Choice This will be yet more evident if we compare this with the Act of Common-Council 19 H. 8. repeated in Substance by that 34 Eliz. with only necessary Alterations and by this 7 Car. 1. For it will appear to have been the Intention of this as well as of former Orders as indeed it is of most Laws to oblige Men to their Duty by exacting the Penalty not to take the Penalty to excuse from their Duty much less thereby to exempt from Penalties when the Offence shall be repeated And it is observable that the Order 19 H. 8. has not the word Yearly which gives colour to a Dispute it declaring That such Person shall be Eligible notwithstanding his paying the Penalty 3. If there had been any intention of exempting the Offender for a Year upon suffering the Penalty it would certainly have been in the Negative that he should not be eligible till the next Year Which indeed would have been no very wise Provision and as will appear directly contrary to the Preamble and declar'd Intention of that very Order But for certain whatever Power may have been entrusted with the Common-Council they cannot according to the known Rule of Law set aside the City's common Law-Right of chusing any Person capacitated for the Service without a Clause in the Negative that is to say that they shall not chuse a Person discharg'd by the Mayor Aldermen and Common-Council upon paying his Fine till another Year Tho as it will appear it signifies nothing to the Merits of the Cause what the Mayor Aldermen and Common-Council have done for
drawing to themselves Jurisdiction or Authority from a greater and higher Court in being and full exercice of Authority and of which they make but a small part yet what is call'd Argumentum ad Hominem is never to be neglected For to prove that those very Arguments in which Men place their Strength make directly against them is to disarm if not convince them To this end it may be of Service to shew what Provisions had formerly been made in this Matter and what has been omitted by the Vindicator out of the Order 7 C. 1. agreeing with those former Provisions In the 24 th of E. 3. a publick Act or Ordinance had been made which taking notice That many sufficient Persons us'd to absent themselves out of the City to avoid the Office of Sheriff by means whereof Persons less sufficient were chosen thro their Default to the great Mischief of them and to the Desolation of the City and so following to the great Jeopardy of the Franchises of the same Disfranchises such Absenters and allows of no Excuce unless they swear with six Vouchers that they did not absent themselves for that Purpose This was manifestly made in Common-Hall For one Evidence of which it is to be observâ—d that it was on the Feast of St. Matthew which had been the usual Day for such Elections till the Day was altered 19 H. 8. And it is observable that tho the Common-Council 19 H. 8. as some would think to colour their Authority to alter the Day and Penalty say it was ordain'd and establish'd by the Mayor Aldermen and Commons in their Common-Council 24 E. 3. yet it is plain it was the Common-Council of all those who assembled at that Day for the Election And the Common-Council 18 H. 8. voting that antient Act to be put in execution in the Case of one Hynde and of all other such Offenders calls it according to the Stile it had at the making An Ordinance made by Walter Turk Mayor Simon Franceys and others with the Assent of the whole City It will further appear that whatever Councils may before the time of that old Act have been summon'd to particular Purposes no Common-Council separate from them that used to assemble in the Common-Hall was ever settled as a standing Council of any considerable Authority before that time This publick Act of the whole City having therefore absolutely required all sufficient Persons chosen Sheriffs to serve upon pain of Disfranchisement and allowing of no Excuce but Insufficiency in Estate all Acts of Common-Council allowing any less or other Court to discharge sufficient Persons chosen or to exempt 'em from being chosen must be void in themselves And according to what the City has declared in its fullest Authority is the assuming a Power not only to injure those Persons who thro the Default of others serve before their turn Which is a stretch beyond the Exercice of a Dispensing Power by the most Arbitrary of our Kings But as it tends to the Desolation of the City and hazards the loss of its Franchises is beyond and contrary to any Power that they can pretend to for the making By-Laws which can be only for the Benefit of the City But in truth it will appear that Common-Councils after this solemn Declaration of the Sense of the City only took care to inforce the Substance of what was then enacted expressing what shall be adjudged Sufficiency and making other Penalties more likely to be effectual than the Bugbear of Disfranchisement can be with a wealthy Citizen who is above his Trade or any need of the Privileges of the City Wherefore the Common-Council 19 H. 8. having alter'd the Day of Election to a more convenient Day than the Feast of St. Matthew which was too near the Day on which Sheriffs were to be presented at the Exchequer making almost the same recital with the Act 24 E. 3. provides That if the Person chosen shall make Default he shall pay 200 l. to the Vse of the Commonalty of the City 100 l. of which shall be given to him who next serves thro his Default But expresly declares That every Person so making Default at all times be eligible unto the said Room and Office of Sheriffwick the said former Act or any ☞ thing therein contained to the contrary or the paiment of the said 200 l. for such Default notwithstanding Thus the by-By-Laws in this Matter stood till 13 Eliz. when an Order of Common-Council was made expresly affirming or confirming all former Acts of Common-Council and Decrees of Court herein Where Decrees of Court may well be taken to include the Decrees of the Common-Hall pronounc'd on the Hustings and consequently that 24 E. 3. as to the requiring Persons chosen to hold without any Excuce but Insufficiency stands affirm'd 13 Eliz. That of the 13 th of Eliz. continued the same Penalty as 19 H. 8. but made nothing under 2000 l. to be a sufficient Qualification Yet that as well as the Order 19 H. 8. stood in need of some amendment Wherefore 34 Eliz. it was prudently provided 1. That the Day of Election being within too few Days of the Time for presenting the Sheriffs at the Exchequer should be put back to the 24 th of June 2. There being no sufficient Means of securing the City before-hand that they might depend on a Person 's standing a Bond was required for that purpose 3. The Penalty proving over-mild it was rais'd from 200 l. to 400 Marks and if the Person chosen were an Alderman to 600 Marks 4. It was not express'd 19 H. 8. what Estate should qualify a Person for the Service and the Qualification required 13 Eliz. became insufficient wherefore the Order 34 Eliz. requir'd 5000 l. Upon these Accounts it repeal'd all former Orders about this Matter that a more effectual one might take place But then it must be agreed that till the 34 th of Eliz. there was no manner of colour to imagine that paying a Fine could discharge any Man without Consent of the Common-Hall And as it has appeared already that 7 Car. 1. made no Alteration herein or plac'd any Power of discharging or exempting where it had not been before Neither did that 37 Eliz. which that 7 C. 1. transcribes as to this Matter But notwithstanding the requisite Alterations made 34 Eliz. the Expensiveness of Shrievalties and Mens backwardness to hold occasioned the Provision 7 Car. 1. which has given Ground tho no true Colour for the present Dispute That Act repeals all former Acts of Common-Council but does not pretend to repeal any Act of Common-Hall So that all the Obligation which lay upon Citizens to be concluded by their own Consent publickly and solemnly declared 24 E. 3. still remains unshaken Nor does the Act 7 C. 1. repeal former Acts of Common-Council as too severely keeping Men to their Duty but for that the same have not taken so good Effect as might be wished by
this appearing to have been an Antient Burrough the right of being represented in Parliament was such an Incident as no discontinuance could sever 4. Nothing appears to the contrary but that from the Time that this Common-Council receiv'd its Settlement whenever that was they have been chosen by the Inhabitants in the several Wards free and unfree tho directly contrary to the Charters which place the Rights of the â—ity in the Freemen And thus it continued till the Mayoralty of that prudent Magistrate Sir Thomas Stamp When it was declared That it is and antiently hath been the Right and Privilege of the Freemen of the said City only being Housholders paying Scot and bearing Lot and or none other whatsoeâ—er in their several and respective Wards from time to time as often as there was or should be occasion to nominate Aldermen and elect Common-Council-men for the same respective Wards There is not in that Act the least intimation that there ever was a Custom for the Freemen to chuse exclusive of all others And yet the Sense of the Common-Council was that such Right remained notwithstanding the long Disuse and the usurpation of Foreigners with the Permission of the Freemen 2. Among Resolutions of Judges directly to the present Point I may very well use that which is cited on the other Side 40 41 Eliz. According to which it is to be presum'd that Common Assent has placed the Elections of Sheriffs in the Livery-men but the Claim or Exercice of Authority to discharge or exempt a Person chosen can have no Foundation in Law unless transferred from the Electors to others by the express Common Assent of the Electors or at least such as is presumable to have been very long since given for which Presumption I challenge any Man to shew the least Ground But there is another Resolution of Judges of yet greater Authority that 40 and 41 Eliz. being extrajudicial upon a Case put at Serjeants-Inn Whereas I shall shew a formal Judgment that Common Assent to be of any Force in such Case ought to be express and not by Implication The Judgment follows in these words 3 d. It was agreed by Coke Chief Justice and the whole Court in this Case of Colchester concerning their Corporation that if there be a popular Election of the Mayor and Aldermen in Corporate Towns and this happens to breed Confusion amongst 'em this may be altered by their Agreement and by the common Assent of all to have their Elections by a fewer Number but not otherwise But if by their Charter they are to be elected by them all then this is not to be altered but by and with the general Assent of the whole Town and so by this means to take away Confusion This is so plain that it needs no Comment only that it must not be objected that this speaks only of Elections not the discharging of Persons chosen or any other Incident For if even in the Case of Elections where there is a Necessity to restrain the Numbers of Electors to avoid Confusion this Restraint will not bind without a general Assent much less can it be pretended that where Elections can be and are duly made it shall be in the Power of others to defeat or vacate the Election and put the Electors in danger of wanting sufficient Men to serve or of Confusion by Elections often repeated when the Power of doing this was never parted with in express Terms or so much as by Implication 4. But that the Common-Hall have never parted with this or if they had are restored to it may very easily appear if we consider 1. That the Right of chusing what qualified Persons they please or amoving or discharging 'em at pleasure is not only vested in 'em by common Law confirmed by Charters and Acts of Parliament but has been exercised by the Common-Hall not only before the supposed Settlement of the present Common-Council and the Livery Common-Hall but after and that in Instances very remarkable and fully expressive of their Authority And if there had been any Discontinuance their adhering to their Choice of Sir Christopher Lethieulier and Sir John Houblon and obliging them to hold after they had fined according to a known Term in Law would work a Remitter by which they would be restor'd to their best Right which is so favour'd in Law that if one who has been disseis'd of Land enter under a Lease from the Disseisor he shall be adjudg'd to be in Possession upon his former Right 2. That whereas the Vindicator will have a supposed Custom for the Mayor Aldermen and Common-Council to discharge or exempt to have been confirmed by the late Act restoring the City Charter it restores to the Mayor Commonalty and Citizens all their Rights which they lawfully had at the recording or giving the Judgment But surely a Custom of so late Days as this is take it with the greatest colour of Pretension especially when the Custom is of such a Nature that whatever Entries may have been in the Books of the Common-Council the Common-Hall's unanimous Choice of any other Person may be well taken to have been the only legal Discharge as it plainly was so late as 1 Eliz. cannot come within the meaning of those words and that to the Prejudice of a Right which Magna Charta and so many other Charters and Statutes and some of them not very Antient have vested in the Electors Wherefore the lawful Custom in this Matter used by the Common-Hall from the beginning till within the Time of Queen Elizabeth and of which they were possess'd at the making the Statute 2 W. M. is indisputably restored and confirmed by that Statute And if all this cannot fix a Right in the Common-Hall I must needs think the Rights of English-men very precarious Which leads me to the higher Controversy where the Vindicator supposes that if there has been no former By-Law or Practice directly in this Point yet the Common-Council may exercise such a Power by a Right inherent in them as the City's Legislators who were not only prior in time to the Livery Common-Hall but gave being to 'em in the Time of E. 4. and can controul their Acts. Not here to insist upon the plain Consequence of these Assertions that if what the Vindicator holds be true the Common-Council may not only place Elections of Sheriffs in themselves but of all other Officers and even of Members of Parliament and Common-Council Men and make themselves a Body of perpetual Continuance supplying Vacancies by the Choice of the Survivers and so by one single Act of a Common-Council overthrow all the Rights of the City to leave this Reflection to be improv'd by others I shall prove that the present Common-Hall is by Law chiefly entrusted with executing the Powers given by Common Law and Charters confirmed by divers Parliaments to the Body of Freemen Where I shall shew 1. That the Rights and
Liberties of the City rested in the whole Body of the Freemen and the whole Body of them have regularly voted in making Laws for the Benefit and Government of the City before they had any Charters and since 2. That whoever are legally possess'd of the publick Common-Hall are intituled to all the Authority which the whole Body ever had especially in those Matters wherein the present Possessors exercise Authority and that the Livery-men have this Right 3. That a Representation of the Commons by the Mysteries was settled in the Council-Chamber with Authority to make by-By-Laws before any Common-Council of the present Form had such Authority And however that the Authority of that Council was soon taken away by Act of Common-Hall and lodg'd for some time in the Representation by the Mysteries 4. That whoever are intituled to the Council-Chamber that Council is a meer Creature and Committee of the Common-Hall by it entrusted with the dispatch of some things and for preparing others for its ease And whatever Power they have about Circumstances cannot by their Act deprive the Common-Hall of any Right 5. That there is no colour to believe that the Common-Hall as now compos'd received its Being or Authority from such Common-Council as now acts or from any thing but the general Consent of the Freemen express'd in some Act of Common-Hall before the Time of E. 4. or imply'd in the long submission of the rest of the Freemen before that Time or since 1. As I before observ'd the Confessor's Law derives the City's Laws Rights Dignities and Royal Customs from its first Foundation I may add that it says in every County there ought to be a Folkmote on the first of the Kalends of October there to provide who shall be Sheriff and who shall be their Heretochs and there to hear their just Precepts by the Counsel and Assent of the Peers and Judgment of the Folkmote That London had such a Folkmote and the Judgment of that Folkmote extended to the making By-Laws before the Time of the Confessor appears by the following Instance In the Time of King Athelstan above 120 Years before the reputed Conquest Laws had been made at Gratelie Exeter and Winresfeld or rather the Laws made at Gratelie were ratified at the two other Places all the wise Men not being able to meet at the first These Laws are not only received by the Earls or rather Companions and Townsmen or Citizens of London but they make considerable Additions to them for the Good of the City Their Act or Judgment is called the Constitution which the Bishops and Head-boroughs who belong to the Court of London have made or published and which the Earls or rather Companions or Companies and Townsmen have confirm'd by Oath in their Free-Gild There among other things they provide that no Thief above 12 Years old found guilty by Inquisition or upon Trial shall be spared And that he who was rob'd having receiv'd his Capital or Principal the King should have half the Society should share the rest with the Lord of whom he held Book-Land or Bishops-Land It provides for a Common Stock for the Good of all and that all in common shall inquire into the disposal of it It settles Decennaries or Tythings and that there shall be one over 'em who shall summon them for their common Profit and take an Account what they send when they are to contribute or be taxed and what when they receive Money by Order of all the Citizens upon their treating together With other Particulars which I need not mention this being enough to shew their Authority at Common Law before the reputed Conquest Then which was above 750 Years since they had their Guildhall and as the Confessor's Law shews their Court of the Hustings which in that Law is spoken of as an antient Court and all things of Moment seem to have been transacted there till the Numbers of Freemen so encreased that they could not all meet in the Hall but were forc'd to keep their Folkmotes in the open Air at St. Paul's Cross where was a very wide Field before there were Buildings to the Water-side I shall not detain the Reader with the many Presidents of their Assemblies there upon all emergent Occasions but must observe that as late as 19 E. 2. they prescribed to a Right of holding Assemblies there I shall give but one Instance how early the Aldermen with those who called themselves the more discreet of the City would have usurp'd upon the Rights of the Commons in their Guildhall or Folkmote in the open Air. At the end of H. 3 's Reign the Citizens according to Custom had met in Guildhall for the Election of a Mayor the Aldermen and more discreet of the City would have chosen Philip the Taylor the Commonalty contradicted it with great Noise and chose one Hervey and placed him in the Chair Upon this the Aldermen and their Party complain to the King that they were over-run by the Commonalty The People follow'd them with great Noise to the Disturbance of the King who lay upon his Death-bed and cried that they were the Commons and to them belong'd the Election of a Mayor The others said they were the Head and the People but the Members the King's Council put them off till next Day and bid Hervey not to come to Court with more than ten in his Company However he summoned all the Citizens except those who adhered to the Aldermen And next Day a vast Number of Horse and Foot came to Westminster The King's Council finding they could not agree threatned to amove Hervey and put a Custos over them To avoid which they agreed that five should be chosen of each side to settle who should be Mayor However this being in Diminution of the Right of the Commons took no effect H. 3. dying the Archbishop the Earl of Glocester and others of the Nobility came into the City where they caused E. 1. to be proclaimed King and then went into Guildhall where a Common Hall was then assembled and enquiring about the Business of the Mayor the Aldermen told them the Matter was left to Arbitration The Earl of Glocester not valuing this bids them hold a Folkmote the next Day at St. Paul's Cross and he should be the Mayor to whose Election the major Part of the City should assent The great Men going into the Church with the Aldermen perswaded them to yield upon which Hervey was declared Mayor before all the People And thus were they in full Possession of their Right 1 E. 1. That this People who had the Right to carry Elections and other Matters in Guild-hall or their Folkmote in the open Air were the Freemen appears by the Words of some of their Charters declaratory of their antient Right Many of which are granted to the Citizens which the Charter pass'd in Parliament 1 E. 3. explains
of Freemen of the City where it provides that they shall not be impleaded or troubled at the Exchequer or elsewhere by Bill except it be by those things which touch the King and his Heirs And how careful the City has been to keep Foreigners from partaking in the Privileges of Freemen appears from the Act of Common-Hall return'd under the Common Seal into Parliament 12 E. 2. and there confirmed whereby it is provided that if Foreigners be of any Mystery they shall not be admitted into the Liberty of the City without Sureties of six honest Men of the Mystery for their indempnifying the City and if they be of no Mystery they shall not be admitted without the Assent of the Commonalty of the City That the Freemen of the Mysteries had their several Gilds or Halls where the Society or Fraternity met not to mention more Authorities appears by a Charter of E. 3. reciting one of E. 1. which recites H. 2 d's granting to the Weavers of London their Gild to hold in London with all Liberties and Customs which they had in the time of Henry his Grandfather which was H. 1. and that no Man unless by them should within the City meddle with their Ministry unless he be in their Gild. As therefore the Gild was that Company or the Hall where the Men of that Mystery met the Common Guildhall was where all the Mysteries or Companies met 2. That whosoever are legally entituled to the Common Hall are entituled to all the Authority which the whole Body ever had especially in those things wherein the present Possessors exercise any Authority though they are not the whole Body of Men who used to assemble as long as they are a large Part of that Body may appear 1. In that the Folkmote in the open Air and that in Guildhall were antiently taken to be of the same Nature Accordingly I find a Writ to the Mayor Sheriffs and whole Commonalty of the City requiring them to swear Allegiance in their Hustings or at Paul's Cross 2. Guildhall has time out of mind been the Common-Hall of the Citizens and the Assemblies there have of all times before the first supposed Settlement of the Livery Common-Hall and since been accounted the Assembly of all the Commonalty as some Entries have it of all the City as others And if the whole City can regularly act together it is absurd to imagine that its Acts can be controled by a small part of the Great Body 3. The chief Power of making By-Laws for the Benefit of a City or Burrough is an Incident to the having a Gild or Common-Hall Accordingly in the Reign of H. 2. the Archbishop of York by the Counsel of his Barons granted to the Men of Beverlay in Yorkshire their Hanse that there they may treat of their Statutes for the Honour of God and St. John and the Canons and for the bettering the whole Town with the same kind of Liberty as they of York have in their Hanse H. 2. confirming this grants to the Men of Beverlay free Burgage according to the free Laws and Customs of the Burgesses of York and their Gild of Merchants So that Gild is the same with Hanse and Hanse as Bertius tells us in the old German Tongue signifies a League or Council According to this in a Case which I shall have another Occasion to mention the turning out of the Council of the Citizens was the turning out of the Gild and that was plainly a Disfranchisement 4 Such of the Commons as have from time to time assembled in the Common-Hall have with others been a true Common-Council of the City and acted as such since their Numbers have been restrained as well as before It must be observed that the City had or made a Common-Council before any such Restraint which is plainly intimated in Magna Charta 17 of K. John which mentioning a Common-Council of the Kingdom whether only for Aids belonging to Tenure of the Crown or such a Common-Council as the Cities Boroughs and Villages were at in Person or by Representation which D. Brady at last yields need not here be determined adds In like manner let it be concerning the City of London that is that the Cities Aids shall be taxed in its Common-Council Sutably to this 11 H. 3. a Tallage was assessed in the City by the Will of all the Barons or Citizens And thus the Commonalty of London in the time of Edw. 1. plead that the Citizens and their Heirs and Successors may for the Necessity or Profit of the City among themselves by their common Assent assess and raise Tallages without troubling the King So Ipswich not to name other Burroughs had its Common-Council of the Town c. And 25 H. 3. I find the Choice of Sheriffs in London by the Common Counsel and Assent of the honest Men of the City The Hustings I find to be the Court of these honest Men there they joined with the Mayor and Aldermen in the Grants of City-Land were Judges at Trials and Parties in the making By-Laws Prosecutions for Offences against the Rights of the City were in their Name And Quo Warranto's upon supposed Abuses of their Liberties were brought against them And therefore they not being represented by the Common-Council now using that Name those two great Ornaments of their Profession the late and present Chief Justices of the Common Pleas maintained with the Strength inseperable from their Arguments that no Act of the present Common-Council could be a Forfeiture of the City-Charter Indeed as the Clerks generally favoured the Prerogative often exercised by the Chair with the Advice of private Cabals I find a Mayor 47 H. 3. blamed for making the Aldermen and great Men useless while he did nothing without the Assent of the Commonalty That they acted as a Council and exercised a judicial Power at the Hustings after that time I might shew by numerous Instances but shall here content my self with one 3 E. 1. which was in the Judgment against Hervey above-mentioned who though he was the Darling of the People when he was chosen Chief Magistrate was soon overcome with the Infection of the Chair Some time after his Mayoralty the Mayor and Citizens having met in Guildhall for trying Common Pleas a Dispute arose before all the People between Hervey and the then Mayor and it seems Hervey's Party there was then the strongest for the Mayor found himself obliged to withdraw and make Complaint to the King The next Day the Mayor and Citizens returning to Guildhall to finish the Pleas depending before them a Roll was shewn and read before all the People containing several notorious Articles of Hervey's Presumptions one of which was that in the time of his Mayoralty he acted contrary to the Ordinances made by the Aldermen and discreet Men of the City Another was that he used
the Common Seal which was in his Custody without the Assent of the Aldermen and others which others as I could shew were to be particularly chosen by the Common-Hall for that purpose For these Offences among others against the whole Commonalty of the City and contrary to his Oath he was judicially degraded from his Aldermanship and for ever incapacitated to be of the Council of the Citizens which was plainly a depriving him of his former Right of voting in Gildhall and indeed a Disfranchisement as it turn'd him out of the Gild. And thus I find Privileges in Canterbury granted to all the Burgesses of the Gild of Merchants 5. The present Possession of the Common-Hall is or must be agreed to be a legal Possession and therefore in all things which they have not parted with the Possessors are the legal Successors to them who exercised Power in greater Numbers 6. Even when those Numbers could regularly meet they were concluded by such a Number as came upon general Notice though the Number which met were very small according to the Resolution 33 Eliz. in the Case of the Vestry of St. Saviour's in Southwark 7. Though it may be proved that the great Barons in Parliament were antiently only those who held by Baronies or were created in Parliament yet those who have been made Peers by Patent or Writ succeed to the same Jurisdiction as they are possessed of the same House which the Lords formerly had 8. A Corporation by one Name is entituled to the prescriptional Rights which that City or Town had by another Name And thus it was held that though the Town of Colchester was incorporated by the Name of Bayliffs and Commonalty the Mayor and Commonalty might prescribe to the antient Customs of that Town That the Livery-men have such a Right to the Common-Hall appears by their long Possession for which according to the Resolutions of Judges before-mentioned we are to presume that there had been the express Assent of the Body of Freemen or of such of them as met upon a general Summons If I shew an Act of Common-Hall as antient as the Time of E. 3. for the Mysteries to chuse such as should represent the Commons which I shall have Occasion to shew under the next Head if we find that they had been represented in Common-Hall by the Mysteries before that Time and downwards to this Day and no Act of Common-Council or Common-Hall will appear to have first settled the Right of Elections in the Livery-men of the Mysteries then it will be evident that tho Originally the Mysteries might have been represented by such as they should chuse from time to time It is to be presumed that they agreed to be represented by the Livery-men as a standing Representative 8 E. 2. above 30 Years before the Pretence to any Act of Common-Council or Common-Hall which may be thought to restrain the Freemen from the exercice of the Power originally vested in them I find a Writ to prohibit the Multitude from meeting to chuse a Mayor and Sheriffs alledging that such Elections for Times past us'd to be made by the more discreet Men of the City especially summon'd But then lest this special Summons should seem at the Discretion of the Mayor and Aldermen it forbids all to meet unless specially summon'd or at the Time bound to come And a Proclamation which was publish'd in the City in pursuance of that Writ says That no Man upon pain of Imprisonment shall come to any Election but Mayor Sheriff Alderman and other good People of the chief of the City who by the Mysteries are especially summon'd to come thither or to whom it belongs to be there These Representatives of the Mysteries according to what I have before observed of the legal Possession of the Common-Hall are to be supposed to have been the Livery-men and none others but because the Partiality of the Masters and Wardens might occasion the not summoning some of the Livery-men therefore there is Liberty left for them who had Right to come though not summoned That they and none others had this Right will further appear when I come to prove that no Act can be found from whence their Right exclusive of others is or could be derived or so much as occasioned 3. That a Representation of the Commons by the Mysteries was settled in the Council-Chamber with Authority to make by-By-laws by- before any Common-Council of the present Form had any such Authority And however that the very Being of a Council of the present Form was soon taken away by Act of Common-Hall and a Representation by the Mysteries settled in their Places with greater Authority will appear very evidently I must agree that 20 E. 3. it was ordered by the Common-Hall That every Alderman at the holding of his Wardmote yearly should cause 8 6 or 4 of the ablest and wisest of his Ward to be chosen to treat of the Affairs concerning the Commonalty of the City But upon this it is observable 1. That though according to the Lord Coke the Wardmote is of the Nature of an Hundred Court that is in relation to the Districts or Divisions of the City and chiefly as to the Returns of Juries but in Relation to the present Debate it is more fully of the Nature of a Court Leet where all Resiants are obliged to attend and upon the Account of Resiancy are to bear Offices and contribute in several things together with the Citizens who in this Respect are as the Barons or Free-Tenents of a Mannor Wherefore this Order does not restrain Foreigners from being Electors or elected 2. This is not said to be appointed for the Common-Council of the City but in truth the Common-Hall as they were before then continued the only Common-Council Nor taking the Original Entry of that Order to import more than Affairs does the treating of the Affairs concerning the Commonalty in this Place imply more than such Affairs as concern them according to their Divisions by Wards in the Choice of Constables or the like or the assessing of Aids and Tallages for which Purpose I find certain Numbers in every Ward appointed very antiently before there is the least Pretence of the Settlement of any other Common-Council besides the Common-Hall But it is far from appearing that the Men of the Wards appointed to treat of Affairs 20 E. 3. were to treat of such as concerned the Commonalty as divided or acting by Mysteries Or however if the treating of Affairs extends to all the Affairs of the City it can here imply no more than treating of them by way of Advice to that supreme Power in the City which made them what they were and divested it self of no Authority nor indeed could any form of Words have passed away the Authority of that much less of succeeding Common-Halls And it is certain that antiently whatever Power the Common-Hall placed elsewhere they never thought
Records I find Ward and Gild or Company synonymous 2. Having trac'd this Common-Council to its weak and infant State we may consider it as possessed of a Power of making By-Laws But then we must observe that this will bear no Comparison to the Possession which the Livery-men have of the Common-Hall which has been exclusive of all others Whereas all the Possession which the present Common-Council have had of the Common-Chamber has been only as a Committee entrusted by a greater Court having Continuance and acting with Supream Authority Besides it has been resolved by the Judges That a By-Law to make a Monopoly and a Prescription of such a Nature to induce a sole Trade or Traffick to a Company or Person and to exclude all others is against Law Which is easily applicable to the Common-Council's engrossing the Power of the Common-Hall It would be endless to heap Authorities which might be brought to evince that the Common-Council has no colour of Pretence to make By-Laws of such a Nature as they now insist upon But I cannot pass by the Resolution in the Case of the Chamberlain of London in an Action brought by him for a Penalty raised by a By-Law All such Ordinances Constitutions or By-Laws are allowed by the Law as are made for the true and due Execution of the Laws or Statutes of the Realm or for the good Government and Order of the Body-corporate And all others which are contrary or repugnant to the Laws or Statutes of the Realm are void and of no effect To apply this to the Case in Question for the Common-Council to vacate an Election made in Common-Hall or to exempt any Person from being chosen is not for the good Government and Order of the Body-corporate and besides is directly contrary or repugnant to the Laws and Statutes of the Realm which have fixed the Election of any sufficient Citizen in the Livery Common-Hall and have provided it with Authority to oblige them to hold And therefore any By-Law made in the Common-Council contrary to this Right is void Nay and thus they themselves have judg'd but lately in the like Case In the Mayoralty or Sir John Fleet he acquainted the Common-Council that 40 or 50 foreign Merchants would pay 400 l. a-piece to the use of the Orphans if they might be admitted to the Freedom of the City and have an Act of Common-Council to exempt 'em from bearing chargeable Offices After several long Debates this Project though of apparent Advantage to the City was laid aside the Common-Council declaring it was not in their Power to restrain the Right of the Common-Hall to chuse any sufficient Citizen The Opinion of the Learned Judg Bracton is very applicable to this Matter where speaking of the English Laws he says Which since they were approved by the Consent of those who use them and confirmed by the Oaths of Kings cannot be changed or destroyed without the common Consent and Counsel of those by whose Counsel and Consent they were promulged But they may be changed for the better because that is not destroyed which is made better With such a Limitation we may allow the Common-Council to act for the Ease of the Common Hall in relation to Times Places and other Circumstances for the better Execution of the Laws and Customs of the City But that the Power of making By-Laws exercised by the Common-Council is controlable by the Common-Hall will besides what I have already observed appear by the Charter 15 E. 3. which is the only Charter expresly affirming the City's Power of making By Laws Moreover we have granted that if any Customs in the City of London newly arising where a Remedy was not before ordain'd want Amendment the said Mayor and Aldermen and their Heirs and Successors with the Assent of the Commonalty of the same City remedy convenient consonant to good Faith and Manners for the common Vtility of the Citizens of the said City and other our Liege People flocking to the same may apply and ordain as often and when it shall seem expedient to ' em Provided ☜ nevertheless That such kind of Ordinance be of Utility to us and our People and consonant to good Faith and Reason as abovesaid According to this Charter 1. The Power of making By-Laws relates to Amendments for the common Utility of the Citizens 2. Those Amendments cannot sap or weaken any antient Constitution or Custom 3. They are to be made with the Assent of the Commonalty of the City Neither of which can be pretended in the Matter in question And since as is said in the Chamberlain's Case Corporations cannot make Ordinances or Constitutions without Custom or the King's Charter unless for things which concern the Publick Good as Reparations of Churches or High-ways and the like but the Power now claimed is neither of that Kind nor is there Legal Custom or Consent or Charter for it I need raise no Consequence upon it To conclude this Point if this Common-Hall legally succeeds the Common-Hall which appointed this Committee and the Committee may be set aside at the Pleasure of the Common-Hall if since the raising this Committee and that of late days the Mayor Aldermen and Common-Council have acted together as one Court If farther as in the Case of Rowlet before-mentioned they have acted with a Superior Authority in those very things wherein the Mayor Aldermen and Common-Council have exercised Authority by themselves if most of these Premises hold especially if all do there can be no Question but by-By-Laws and other Acts of the Common-Council are controlable by the Common-Hall and then it would be very strange to imagine that it should be in the Power of the Common-Council to take away or abridg any Right of its Superior from whence it came and in which it is contain'd I shall not so much question the Judgment or Memory of my Readers as to repeat the Proofs of every one of these Premises But I would desire 'em to remember the Instances of Disfranchisements by Common-Hall before any standing Rule for ' em This Power I must confess the Common-Council have pretended to and as if they not only had it but had it without delegation have fansied they could delegate it to others Accordingly I find an Act of Common-Council impow'ring the Mayor and Aldermen to Disfranchise upon competent Proof by Oath before them of any Citizen's Trespass Act Disobedience or Offence against the City and the Liberties Franchises and free Customs and Privileges of the same Which would be a very dangerous Weapon in the Hands of Aldermen who by Act of Parliament obtain'd by Surprize and contrary to the Sense of the City declared more than once and ratified by former Parliaments have their Stations in effect for their Lives But as it appears by the Resolution in Baggs's Case the above-mention'd Act of Common-Council is void in Law no such Power having been derived to them by the express
Oxford-Arms in Warwick-lane Price 6 d. The Question Of the Resolution of the Judges 40 41 Eliz. Vid. 〈◊〉 de jure belli pacis Of by-By-Laws particularly that 7 C. 1. Vid. Vindic. Vid. inf Vid. inf Of by-By-Laws before 7 C. 1. In Archiv Civ Lib. Dunthorr f. 416. B. Lib. O. f. 10. a. The Act of Common-Hall 24 E. 3. In Arch. Civ Lib. O. f. 10. 18 H. 8. In Arch. Civ Lib. O. f. 53. Of the Act of Common-Counc 19 H. 8. In Arch. Civ Lon. 13 Eliz. The Act of Common-Council 13 Eliz. Of the Act of Common-Counc 34 Eliz. Com Council 7 C 1. Deucy Mayor This Part omitted by the Vindicator Of the Custom * In Arch. Civ Lond. lib. D. f. 76. b. Causton 's Case ‖ Solemniter vocatus * Depositus fuit à libertate de Aldermannia ‖ Posuit se in gratia Maj. Ald. Communitatis * Maj. Aldris coitat super hoc eodem die consultis Habitoque respectu ad impotentiam c. In Arch. Civ I. Lib. O. f. 10. A. 18. H. 8. Of several Elections and two Discharges by the Common Hall in one Day 2d Choice 3d Choice 4th Choice 5th Choice In Arch. Civ Journal Seym. 1.163 A. 21 H. 8. Ralph Rowlet 's Case Fol. 165. In Arch. Civ liâ— Q. f. 35. a. 33 â— VIII Richmond 's Case Note This was upon the Hustings in Guild-Hall Vid. Infra Of a Discharge in the Common-Hall 1 Eliz. * 4. Rep. f. 93. That if the By-Laws and Custom were on the Side of the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Common-Council Such By-Laws and Custom would be void in Law Lib. K. f. 120. temp H. 6. That for any to amove or discharge Sheriffs but the Electors is contrary to their Common Law-Right * Lambert 's Archaionomia f. 148. Fundata enim erat ad instar ad modum in memoriam maguae Trojae usque in hodiernum diem c. †Vid. Rot. Cart. 1 E. 3. m. 45. n. 76. By I nspex 1 R. 2. m. 31. n. 22. 2 E. 4. pars 5. m. 23. ‖ Placita coram Rege apud Ebor 1 E. 3. * Journal Seym. f. 385. h. 25 H. 8. ‖ Vid. Bir. Cor. sub effiâ—ie Claudil A. 3. Coronatio Regis Athelredi An. 989. H 1. An. 11 co * Lib. E. f. 174. a 2 E. 3 coram Rege Vid. Mitton's c. 4. rep Tho. the King even before he makes a Sheriff grant away the Office of County Clerk the King's Grant is void because it is an Incident to the Sheriff's Office †Vid. Selden's Tit. of Honour f. 587. 15 Johannis omnes milites Ballivae tuae qui sum moniti fuerunt ad nos c. Rot. Claus 38. H. 3. m. 7. n. 12. d. Omnes de Ballivâ tuâ qui tenent 20 horat terrae c. ‖ Lib. C. f. 111. n. 32. E. 1. * Vid. Grot. de veritate Religionis Christianae †Vid. this in the printed Charters p. 13. and in several Inspeximus's * A 〈◊〉 place for Great Councils in the open Air. Hence call'd Pratum Concilii Vid. Rot. Cart. 7 R. 2. m. 8. n. 11. A Charter of Cnute's with the Advice of his Redgynen wisemen ‖ Rot. Cart. 1 R. 2. m. 31. n. 37. 7 R. â— n. 37. †Rot. Cart. 2 E. 4. pars 5. m. 23. * Vid. Lib. Q. Arch. Civ L. ‖ 7 H. 4. c. 1. Lib. Dunthorn f. 442. a. 6. H. 5. †Mora questione inter Dominos de Consilio Regis mittebatur c. ‖ Quòd inter ceteras libertates Civibus L. concessus ac in diversis Parl. Ratificat c. Vid. Infra A Question whether the CoÌ„mon Hall could barr themselves of this Right * Survey of Hobbs 's Leviathan ‖ Grot. de Jure Belli pacis lib. 4. c. 12. Not parted with by Implication from a suppos'd Custom 4. Rep. 1 H. IV. f. 1. * Rot. Parl. 2 H. IV. n. 30. Vid. Journals of the House of Lords Jan. 1689. Jan. 14. 1689. Of Rights of Boroughs not loss'd by discontinuance Vid. The Resolutions sup ‖ Vid. Pryn 's 4 th Register of Writs p. 1176. (b) Prâ—n 's 4 th Reg. p. 900. 28 E. 1. 1 E. 2. 2 E. 2. none since till late days (c) lb. p â—05 26 E. 1. not before or since tell ut sâ—pra (d) lb p. 1â—5â— 26 E. 1 〈…〉 (e) P. 1180. 26 E. 1. not before or since till 8 J. 1. * Vid. Inspex Rot. Cart. 7. R. 2. m. 8. n. 11. †Cart. Antiq. in Tur. Lond. Litera P. n. ◠‖ Cart. Orig. Bib. Cotton Of the Choice of Common-Council Men. Vid. Act of Com. Council Anno 1692. f. 2. Of Resolutions of Juâ—â—es to this Point Bulstrod f. 71. Corp. of Colchester Vid. 1 st Inst f. 347. Lit. Sect. 695. Stat. 2. W. M. Sess 1. C. 8. The higher Controversy rais'd by the Vindicator P. 1 2 3. Of the Authority of the Common-Hall Of the Rights and Liberties belonging to the Body of Freemen (a) Lambert 's Archionomia f. 148. (b) That is their Earl or other chief Commander (c) His Reign began Ann. 924. ended 940. (d) Vid. Corpus Legum in Bibliothecâ Cottonianâ sub Eâ—fiâ— Claudii D. f. 14. c. (e) Hoc est constitutum quod Episcopi Prepositi qui Londinensi Curiae pertinent eâ—ixerunt jure jurando confirmaverunt in suo Fridegildo Comites villani in adjectione judiciorum quae apud Grate leiam c. (f) Excipiatur imprimis captale repetentis dividatur postea superplus c. (g) Diximus ut unusquisque nostrum ponat unum denarium ad nostrum commodum c. (h) Et habeamus nobis omnes eam inquisitionem (i) Fraternities by Tens (k) Quando ipli gildare debebunt (l) Et quid recipiant si nobis Pecunia surgat à nostro communi locutione * Vid. Leges Sancti Edw. Declaring they shall be held weekly every Monday and so in Charters after thaâ— time †Mic. 19 E. 2. coram Rege Rot. 22. Lib. de antiquis Legibus in Archiv Civ f. 132. a. A. 1272 * Rot. Par. 12 E. 2. m. 2. par 2. †Et si non sint de certo mysterio tune in libertatem non admittantur sine assensu communitatis civit illius ‖ Rot. cart 1 E. 3. m. 33. n. 68. * Ib. Et quod nullus nisi petillos incromittat infra civir de cor ministerio nisi fit in eor gilda †In Arch. Civ lib. de antiq leg de A. 1270. 54 H. 3. in Hustingo vestro vel ad crucem c. * Rot. de 18 E. 1. A Grant of a Message prope communem aulam in civitate Lond. ‖ In Arch. civ Lib. Dunthorn f. 416. The Ordinance 20 E. 3. De assensu totius communitatis in Gihaldâ †Lib. X. f. 73. 13 Eliz. congregatio Majoris Ald. totius civitatis in Gihaldâ * Cartae antiq in Tur. Lond R. n. 18. †Suam