respect of the same, be, and are hereby vested in the said Governor and Assistants, London, of the new Plantation in Ulster, within the realm of Ireland, and their successors; and shall be held and enjoyed by them, against the said Bishop of Derry, and his successors, and all persons claiming by, from, or under them, or any of them; and for a full and ample compensation to the said Bishop, and his successors, Bishops of Derry, BE IT ENACTED, by the authority aforesaid, that the said Bishop and his successors, Bishops of Derry, for ever hereafter, shall have and receive, and shall be seized in the right of their said bishopric, of and in one annuity, or rent-charge, of £250 per annum*, to commence from the feast-day of the Annunciation of the blessed Virgin Mary, 1704, payable quarterly, at the four most usual feasts, or quarterly days of payment in the year: that is to say, the feasts of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, St. Michael the Archangel, the Birth of our Lord God, and the Annunciation of the blessed Virgin Mary, by even and equal portions, at the Mansion-house belonging to the said Bishop of Derry, situate in Londonderry aforesaid, issuing out of, and chargeable and charged upon, all and every the premises herein before mentioned, and all other the messuages, lands, tenements, fishings, tythes of fishings, and all other the estate whatsoever, of the said Governor and Assistants, London, of the new Plantation in Ulster, within the realm of Ireland, situated, lying, and being in the said province of Ulster, in the said kingdom of Ireland. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that when, and as often as, the said yearly rent of £250, or any part thereof, shall be behind and unpaid, by the space of thirty days next over or after any of the said feast days whereon the same ought to be paid as aforesaid, that then it shall and may be lawful to and for the said Lord Bishop, and

* This sum is still paid by the Socfety to the Bishop of Derry.

his successors, Bishops of Derry, into all, or any of the premises charged or chargeable with the said rent, to enter and distrain, and the distress then and there found, to take and carry away; and in case the arrears then due, together with all the costs and charges of taking and keeping such distress, shall not, within five days after the taking the said distress, be fully paid and satisfied, it shall and may be lawful, to and for the said Lord Bishop of Derry, and his successors, Bishops of Derry, to sell and dispose of the goods and chattels so distrained, and thereout pay all the said arrears then due, and the costs and charges of such distress and sale, for non-payment thereof, rendering the overplus to the owner or owners of the goods and chattels so distrained; and in case no distress, or not sufficient distress shall be found, that then it shall and may be lawful, to and for the said Lord Bishop of Derry, to enter into and upon all and every or any part of the said premises, charged as aforesaid, and to hold the same, and to take and receive the rents, issues, and profits thereof, to his and their own use, until thereout and thereby he and they shall be fully paid and satisfied for all arrears of the said rent, together with all damages, costs, and charges, which he or they shall be put to, by reason of such entry, for non-payment of the same; AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, by the authority aforesaid, that the fee and inheritance of, and in one large mansion-house, with the scite of the same, commonly called the Bishop's House, with the gardens, orchards, stables, out-houses, and all other the appurtenances thereunto belonging, now enjoyed by the said Charles, Lord Bishop of Derry, under a certain rent, payable to the said Society, and situate in, or near, the said city of Londonderry, or liberties thereof, from and after the determination of a lease thereof, now in being, purchased by the said Charles, now Lord Bishop of Derry, shall be and are hereby vested in the said Lord Bishop of Derry, and his successors, Bishops of Derry, for ever, and shall for ever hereafter be held and

enjoyed during the said term, by him, the said Charles, Lord Bishop of Derry, his executors, administrators, and assigns, and from the determination of the said term, by the said Lord Bishop and his successors, free from all payments to, or claims or demands of or from the said Society and their successors; saving, nevertheless, to the Queen's most excellent Majesty, and to all and every other person and persons, bodies politic and corporative, their heirs and successors respectively, (other than the said Charles, Lord Bishop of Derry, and his successors, and the said Society, and their successors) all such right, title, interest, claim, and demand whatsoever, in, to, or out of the said premises, as they, or any of them, have or hath or might claim, in, to, or out of the said lands, tenements, fishings, and premises, or any part thereof, as if this act had never been made."

5th April, 1705.-The Society resolved to establish a free school in Coleraine.

8th May, 1706.-The Society went in a body to congratulate his Excellency the Earl of Pembroke, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, on his appointment, and to invite him, as usual on such occasions, to dine.

1707.—It appears by the proceedings of the Society about this time, that when disputes arose between any of the twelve chief Companies, it was usual for the Society to withhold their dividends, and hear the matters of controversy by their clerks before the Society.

During the last twenty years, the fisheries had been let for £1600 a year.

n

16th April, 1708.-The Corporation of Londonderry sent an address to the Society, to be presented through them to her Majesty, expressing their loyalty to her government. In this address, they stated themselves to be a branch of the city of London. The secretary was ordered to wait upon the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, with the address, and intreat the

favor of his Lordship's advice, concerning the presenting the same to her Majesty.

27th April.-The Deputy Governor informed the Society, that he, and several other members of the Society, had been introduced to the Queen, and presented the address of the Corporation of Derry, which had been graciously received, and that the secretary had taken care to procure the same to be published in the Gazette.

24th February. It was ordered, that the Earl of Wharton, Lord Lieutenant, should be congratulated, as usual, on his appointment.

15th September, 1709.-The Corporation of Coleraine solicited the Society to encourage the establishment of a linen manufacture in that town, as a means of increasing the trade and prosperity thereof; but the Society doubted whether such an undertaking was practicable and consistent with the constitution of the Society to encourage.

26th November, 1711.-Counsel were consulted, as to the propriety of applying to parliament to obtain a reversal of the judgment against the Society's first charter, who advised the measure not to be attempted.

13th December.-The Corporation of Coleraine transmitted copies of several acts or orders of their Common Council, attested by their Chamberlain.

7th January.-Alderman Tomkins was appointed receiver of rents in Londonderry.

1712.-At this period it was customary for addresses from Londonderry and Coleraine to the throne to be transmitted to the Society for presentation.

24th July.-A memorial or representation to the twelve chief Companies was made, suggesting the importance of preserving a growth of young timber on their proportions.

16th August. The Society prepared a statement, setting forth their rights to the woods on the Plantation, and the necessity there was, in order to promote the interests of the

twelve chief Companies, that the growth of timber on the various proportions should be in future kept up, so that staves and other things might be supplied for the fishings, the tenant having been usually allowed thirty thousand every year for casks for the salmon fishery; which statement, with all the reasons set forth, was sent to each of the Companies, except the Haberdashers, who had conveyed their proportion to Lady Beresford.

31st December.-A letter was received from the Corporation of Coleraine, nominating and recommending Richard Jackson and William Jackson, two of their Aldermen, to be chosen Burgesses, to represent the Society's town of Coleraine in parliament; the Society approved of this measure, and accordingly resolved, that the said persons should be recommended by the Society to the said Corporation.

3d January.-The Society directed letters to be written to the Corporations of Londonderry and Coleraine, requiring them to promote the interest of Mr. Secretary Dawson, to be one of the Knights of the shire, for the Society's county of Londonderry, and to make known such the Society's desire and recommendation in favour of Mr. Dawson to all the freeholders.

29th January.-An address to the Queen was transmitted from the Corporation of Coleraine, to be presented by the Society.

29th April, 1713.-In the Society's letter book of this period, is inserted a letter from Mr. Church of Coleraine, relative to the election of Corporation officers, of which the following is an extract: "These were the particulars for which we thought it necessary that a Court of Common Council should be called; but, finding our Mayor averse thereto, thirteen of our members met according to a former act of Court, viz. That upon application of twelve members to the Mayor, desiring a Court of Common Council, and he refusing, it shall be deemed a misdemeanor in the said Mayor; but, notwithstanding, that these thirteen members did write