1609, special articles were agreed upon between the Lords and said Committee, the general articles of plantations being received by the City, and 20,000l., whereof 5000l. should go,' and so forth. Then they go on to say that they have spent more, and they refer to the articles in the undertaking.

This is a long document; and I will read to your lordships those points which are important. They state this, "and that the Corporation of the said City of London never undertook the said plantation, or as to the use of the said City disbursed any money thereabouts." Now I beg your lordships' attention to this; because if my learned friend says any thing about the City of London, it is perfectly plain what the City of London had to do with it; "but that their name was only used for the better transaction of that business, and only as a means to forward the plantation and raise monies by and from the several companies." This is the statement of the City very soon after the matter had taken place. Then it goes on:-“The said new corporation of Governor and Assistants of London was erected, and to them and their successors were the premises granted by the letters patent of 29th March, 1613, to the end that they might distribute the same to the several Companies of the said City, that had borne and were to undergo the charge of the said plantation. And in pur

suance of said intentions, said Society having a license from the then king, granted divers great quantities of said lands to the twelve chief Companies of London, and retained in their own hands such things as were not properly divisible for the defraying the general works of the plantation in and about such works, in hope to have in future enjoyed some benefit of their great cost. There was expended by said Society and Companies above 130,000l. besides many thousand pounds laid out by their tenants, whereupon they built the city of Londonderry:" and so on.

We have, therefore, the acts and declarations of these parties so far. We have the acts of the Irish Society, plainly shewing that they were trustees for the Companies; we have the declarations of the City of London, that the Irish Society was formed for the express purpose of being trustees for the

Companies, and that the City of London had nothing to do with it, except to manage it on behalf of the Companies; so that the lands so divided and those not divided, were both held in trust for the Companies.

My Lords, in consequence of this petition to the House of Commons, the House of Commons came to a resolution reciting those facts,-reciting the fact of the grant and the division of the land, the money advanced by the Companies, and the part retained in the hands of the trustees, because it was not divisible; and then they go on, and recite those proceedings in the Star Chamber, and in the Court of Exchequer. They also heard Counsel at the bar; and the king himself appeared by Counsel at the bar; and the House of Commons came to the resolution, that those proceedings in the Star Chamber had been illegal; and that those Companies ought to hold the lands which had been granted to them; and that the Irish Society ought to hold the lands which had been undisturbed by the Crown; and the king acquiesced. But nothing was done during the reign of King Charles the First. Oliver Cromwell granted a fresh charter; but that charter, of course, was held not to confer any right upon the Restoration; and the charter under which the parties now hold is the charter of King Charles the Second, which was granted immediately after the restoration of that king. I was going to read to your lordships from the Proceedings of the Court of Aldermen what took place in the year 1650; it is in the Report of the Court of Aldermen, page 19; the date is the 30th of April, 1650. Mr. JACOBS.-Is it in the answer?

Sir W. FOLLETT. I believe it is. This was in 1650, which was during the time of the Commonwealth. Mr. Alderman Fitzwilliam and Mr. Alderman Newell, appointed to treat, &c. &c. [reads the passage to the words " building the said towns, and planting the said lands."] This is again a declaration of the City of London.

Lord Commissioner BOSANQUET.-Who are we?

Sir W. FOLLETT.-This is a Report of the Court of Aldermen the Court of Aldermen resolved, that a Committee from the Court of Aldermen should meet the persons chosen by the

Company, and skilfully make their report to this Court in writing; and then certain aldermen are appointed to meet the Companies; and then comes this joint Report: "And that the said town, lands, and fishings, and customs, were enjoyed for many years in virtue of the grant," &c. &c. [reads the Report to the words" into the Repertory."] That is the Report of the Court of Aldermen.

Now upon this, which your lordships will observe is a proceeding on the part of the City of London, that is, on the part of the Mayor and Aldermen, directing some of their Aldermen to meet a Committee of the Companies for the purpose of making a report-a report is made; and this report states, that the Irish Society was appointed for the purpose of taking the lands for the benefit of the Companies of London. They then go on to state the fact of the proceedings in the Star Chamber; they record the application to the king, and they state the effect of it :-that an application was made, and that by the government at that time a fresh charter was granted to the Irish Society, so that matters remained upon this remonstrance to the government, precisely as they had done before the proceedings at the Star Chamber. But the document is valuable, not only as shewing the proceedings upon the reversal of the decree of the Star Chamber, but as shewing the understanding of every body at that time; and I think we shall shew that they have been consistent throughout; we can find no trace of any thing to the contrary in any part of the proceedings. This charter was acted upon during the time of the Commonwealth. Upon the restoration of King Charles the Second, it was thought right to grant a new charter, and that charter, of course, takes no notice of the charter in the time of the Commonwealth. That charter is set out in the printed book; and with the exception of the recital, that charter may save your lordships the trouble of looking at the charter of King James the First, because, as far as regards the creating of the county of Londonderry, incorporating the town of Londonderry, the creating of the Irish Society, and the power given to the Irish Society, it is the same as the charter of King James the First; and it proceeds like that again to grant all the lands to the

Irish Society, in the same way as had been done by the charter of King James the First; and then having regranted those lands to the Irish Society, the Irish Society again hold the lands without any express declaration of trust in the charter: but, again, no doubt can be entertained that they were trustees for the Companies of London; and they proceeded again in the same way, because they again made the feoffments to the different Companies of London, according to the divisions of the portions pointed out by the act of Common Council in the early part of the reign of King James the First. The properties granted to the Companies were again conveyed to them by feoffinents, and the part that was indivisible remained again in the hands of the Irish Society; and things were put in the same position as under the charter of King James the First; and with the same point unquestioned, that they were trustees for the benefit of the Companies entitled to the benefit of this grant.

I believe I have stated to your lordships the substance of that charter before. I do not think it necessary to trouble your lordships by reading the words of it;-but the first thing that takes place immediately after that charter, is the act of the Irish Society again acknowledging themselves to be trustees for the grant of those lands in holding the property and in dividing the profits. But there is not only that, but I will show your lordships now what has taken place since the grant of the charter of King Charles. They refer in the schedule of their Answer to a certain Case which was submitted by them to the Council in Ireland. I am reminded to state to your lordships, that the dividends have been regularly going on; and now they pay some dividend, but they claim the right of holding a certain part. When I say now, I mean up to the time when they asserted these rights; they paid the dividends up to the last four years, when they set up this claim. They have paid none since.

Now I was going to call your lordships' attention to this case, stated by the Society in the year 1715: they say this:"The said lands granted by letters patent to the Society," &c. &c. [reads the Case.] Then here is the opinion which they set

up:-"I am of opinion that the Society have nothing to do with the government of the corporation of Coleraine," &c. &c. [reads the Opinion.] That is the opinion which they set out. Now whether it was the law or no, as regards the opinion, it is clear that the statement they made was that they were trustees of that property on behalf of the Companies. The extent to which they were liab e was another matter.

It may be worth while to call your lordships' attention to the peculiar mode in which they have thought fit to disburse money for defending the rights of the Corporation of Coleraine; for your lordships will observe, that within the last two or three years they have thought fit to expend money in election expenses of one of the Governors of that Society, who had an ambition to get into Parliament, and to represent the borough of Coleraine. They thought fit to advance a part of the funds of the Companies to pay the expenses of that election; and they defend it in their answer upon the ground, that, although directed to secure the return of that gentleman, they were indirectly defending the rights of the freemen of Coleraine. But what I have just read was their statement in 1715. There are other opinions set out. Amongst others, the Common Serjeant of the City of London: he says, "I am of opinion that the Society have" [reads the Opinion.] So far, at least, my learned friend will not dispute the law of that opinion. They claim to-day that they have that right. The Common Serjeant of the City of London was of opinion in the year 1715, that they were trustees for the Companies; and the opinion of this city officer was, that they had no right whatever to do any thing with that money except as trustees for the Companies.

I believe, in point of date, I might have called your lordships' attention to an earlier admission in an answer in Chancery. It was as early as January 18th, 1683; it was an answer of the Irish Society to a bill filed by the Bishop of Derry. They disown any encroachment upon the fishing belonging to the complainant. This is a bill relating to the fisheries of the river, which are a part of the indivisible property in dispute. Here is a statement in the year 1683, that