tion, that fines, and also all the lands conveyed to the companies or demised to their farmers, might be recovered if the Attorney-General thought fit to sue for them. Steps were early taken for the execution of the decree, and proceedings were commenced against the twelve companies. In these circumstances a negotiation for money took place between the Crown and the city. The city pressed by the impending fine and forfeiture and by other charges made against them, offered a composition of 100,000l. The Crown endeavoured to obtain more, and the city, acting or professing to act only for the companies, and in concurrence with them, offered to give up all the fishings, and all the lands held by the Society, or by the companies, and all arrears of rent; and at length, after a protracted negotiation, the fine was ultimately compromised, and the city agreed to surrender the lands, fishings, and customs in Ireland, and to pay a sum of 12,000l. Proceedings to repeal the letters patent were thereupon made available by consent or default; but afterwards, in other political circumstances, the city endeavoured to obtain relief from this oppression, and to make available, before the House of Commons, those arguments which had failed before the Court of Star Chamber. The House of Commons then advancing to the ascendancy which it soon afterwards obtained, took upon itself to pass resolutions, declaring its opinion on the judgment of the Star Chamber, and declaring its opinion of the conduct of the city and of the companies respecting the plantation. The proceeding appears to have ended in the King's expressing himself to be willing to restore the plantation to its former footing, and it was proposed to confirm the rights of the companies by act of parliament, but civil war supervened, and it was under the power of Cromwell that the charter and the estates derived under it were first pretended to be renewed. VOL. VII. Tt I have 1838. The SKINNERS' Company v. The IRISH Society. 1838. The SKINNERS' Company บ. The IRISH I have thought it right to refer to these proceedings, which were dwelt upon in the argument, as affording evidence of facts or conclusions material to be now considered, and I have read all the documents referred to; but I am of opinion, that allegations and admissions used for the purpose of defence against attempted extortion under the form of legal proceedings, or for the purpose of obtaining justice irregularly, when regularly it could not be had, ought not to be used as evidence of the rights of the parties, if the same allegations are not otherwise proved; and, undoubtedly, some of the allegations now referred to are otherwise proved. Regard must be had to such proof, but independently of such other proof, and of fair inference from the facts otherwise proved, I conceive that the allegations and admissions which were made in the Star Chamber, or in the treaty which arose out of the sentence there, or in the proceedings which took place before the House of Commons, ought not in any degree to influence my judgment. Soon after the restoration, on the 10th of April, 1662, King Charles II. granted the charter, under which the Irish Society now exists, and from which the subsisting titles to the lands and estates thereby granted are derived. This charter recites the charter of James, the grants made by the Society which was constituted under that charter, and that the Society retained in its own hands "such part of the tenements and hereditaments as were not properly divisible for defraying the charge of the general operation of the plantation;" it further recites, the repeal of the charter, the promise made by King Charles I. to restore the same, and that it appeared that the Society and other companies of the city had expended very great sums of money in building and planting of the county of Londonderry and Coleraine, and and then proceeds to express that the present grant was made, to the intent that the Society or some other Society by the present letters patent to be created, and the companies of the city of London, and their respective assigns and under-tenants might, according to their former several rights and interests therein, be restored to all the estates vested in them by force of the former letters patent; and to the intent that there might be a new Society of the new plantation in Ulster, and a new incorporation of the city of Derry, and for the further and better settling and planting of the said county, towns, and places with trade and inhabitants. This grant, therefore, is expressly made for the purpose of restoring the rights derived under the former charter; for restoring the rights and interests of the companies of London; and for further and better settling and planting the county, &c., with trade and inhabitants. The lapse of forty-nine years, and the change of circumstances, made it necessary that there should be some differences between the clauses in the charters of 1613 and 1662, and other differences may have been suggested by former experience, or by the present views and situations of the parties. They are sufficient to shew that the charter of Charles was framed with considerable care and attention, and was not a mere transcript of the charter of James. In the charter of James, no mention was made of the companies; but the city and the Society acting under the charter of James, had made conveyances to the companies, and had levied money for the general purposes of the plantation on the companies, and the intention of the charter of Charles was to restore the Irish Society, and also the companies of the city of London, to their former rights; and after making due allowance Tt 2 for 1838. The SKINNERS' Company บ. The IRISH 1838. The SKINNERS' Company v. The IRISH for all the differences which occur, the charter of Charles appears to me to be, substantially, as it was avowedly, a restoration of the charter of James. The two charters are alike in their general purview:-in their general object: in the means adopted to carry that object into effect, and in the powers conferred for that purpose. Under the new charter, new conveyances were made to the companies, and the Irish Society has ever since continued in the exclusive possession of the town lands, ferries, and fisheries, and has managed or let the same, and received and applied the rents thereof by its own authority. It has applied portions of the rents for purposes alleged to be public or charitable, and has, from time to time, stated a surplus, to be in its hands, and has paid certain sums, in respect of that surplus, to the twelve companies in equal shares. On one occasion, when money was wanting, the Society applied, not to the city of London, as in the early period of its history, for further levies, but to the companies for voluntary contributions i and on another occasion, in which it became necessary to make a statement respecting the timber, it represented itself to be intrusted for the companies, and seised of a considerable salmon fishery, and other estates in the county of Londonderry, in trust for the companies of the city, over and besides the several proportions of lands which had been granted. The Society have on other occasions stated themselves to be "trustees" for the companies; and there is an instance in which one is rather surprised to find them refusing to render any account to the city, and stating themselves to be accountable only to the twelve chief companies of London, to which all the surplus funds under their management not disposed of in the performance of the duties which the charter imposed upon them, were regularly transferred and paid. It does not, however, appear to me to be necessary to pursue further the history of the conduct and transactions of the Society. The Society have vested in them, under a Royal Charter, a very considerable property, in which they have not, collectively or individually as members of the Society, any beneficial interest, and in respect of which they are invested with great powers, and have important duties to perform; in a sense, therefore, they are trustees. The property is part of that which was granted for the purposes of the plantation, and the powers possessed by the Society, as well as the duties with which it is charged, have all of them reference to the plantation. Now the objects of the plantation, and the intents and purposes thereof were of a nature partly public and political, and partly private, regarding only the interests of particular undertakers, whether corporate bodies or individuals. When the Crown treated only with individuals, and made grants to them, it imposed only conditions which were annexed to the enjoyment of the property bestowed, and the right of the Crown to enforce the conditions constituted the security which it held for the public and political objects which were contemplated. But when it treated with the city of London, the case seems to have been varied, not by any change in the conditions imposed upon particular undertakers, but by the grant of powers and privileges which could not be bestowed on particular undertakers, and were intended to effect more important objects, to afford special means of enforcing the conditions which affected all, and special encouragements to undertakers, both in their particular Tt 3 1838. The SKINNERS' Company v. The IRISH Society. |