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day the 26th, the house and fome buildings adjoining, were again. fhook with fo much violence, as to be almost demolished; a large wood pump was thrown down in the garden behind the houfe; the court, and part of a road in front, are full of cracks, fome very deep. The land on both fides the river is the property of Walter Acton Mofeley, Efq; who, we hear, has fuftained a damage of 6 or 700 1.

On Friday the 28th, the Rev. Mr. Fletcher, Vicar of Madeley, preached a fermon upon the ground on this melancholy occafion, to a crouded audience of upwards of one thousand people, and in a molt pathetic difcourfe expatiated on the works of Divine Providence, and concluded, recommending to his hearers to prepare for the laft great and awful day, and hoped that the prefent dreadful, fcene would prove a fufficient warning

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St. James's, March 26. This day the Right Hon. the Lord-Mayor, attended by Mr. Serjeant Glynn, Recorder, Alderman Bull, Mr.Sheriff Lewes, the City-Remembrancer, Common - Serjeant, Town Clerk, eight of the Livery, and the rest of the city officers, went to St. James's, where the Recorder read to his Majesty the following addrefs, petition and remonftrance, from the city of London:

To the King's most excellent Majefty.

The humble Aldrefs, Petition, and Remonftrance of the Lord-Mayor, VOL. XV'.

Aldermen, and Livery of the City of London, in Common-Hall affembled.

Moft gracious Sovereign,

W

TE your Majesty's most duti ful and loyal fubjects, the Lord-Mayor, Aldermen, and Livery of the city of London, beg leave to approach the throne with the refpect becoming a free people, zealously

attached to the laws and conftitution of their country, and the parliamentary right of your Majefty to the crown or thefe realms.

We defire, with all humility, in the grief and anguish of our hearts, to fubmit to your Majefty, that the many grievances and injuries we have fuffered from your miniters, ftill remain unredrefled; nor has the public juttice of the kingdom received the leaft fatisfaction for the frequent atrocious violations of the laws, which have been committed in your reign by your miniters, with a daring contempt of every principle, human and divine. Your people have, with the deepest concern, obferved, that their for mer humble petitions and remonftrances were received with a neglect and difregard, very hardly brooked by the high fpirit of a great and powerful nation; but the hopes of redrefs ftill encouraging us to perfevere, we again fuppli. cate your Majefty to listen to the voice of your aggrieved fubjects, in vindication of your own and the nation's honour, against your defpotic and corrupt minifters, who have perverted the fountains of public juftice, and undermined the foundations of our excellent conttitution. Our reprefentatives, who were chofen to be the guardians of our rights, have invaded our mot [P]

facred

facred privileges. The right of be- To which Addrefs, Petition, and Re

can

ing reprefented in parliament, is the inherent, unalienable privilege, as well as peculiar glory of the free born inhabitants of this country and a perfon qualified according to law, a magistrate of this city, was duly elected a knight of the hire for the county of Middlefex, by a great majority of legal votes, yet has been excluded from the House of Commons, by a refolution of that Houfe; and a didate, who had only a few votes, declared the reprefentative of the electors of the faid county against their confent, Through the like corrupt influence of the fame minifters, the chief magiftrate, and one of the aldermen of this city, were imprisoned for not obeying the illegal mandates of an arbitrary Houfe of Commons, and violating the folemn oaths they had taken for the prefervation of the liberties and franchifes of the capital of your Majesty's dominions. We recal to your Majefty's remembrance with horror, that unparalleled act of tyranny, the erafing a judicial record, in order to flop the course of justice, to introduce a fyftem of power against right, and to tear up by the roots, truth and law from

the earth.

We, therefore, your remonftrants, again fupplicate your Majefty to employ the only remedy now left by the conftitution, the exercife of that falutary power with which you are entrusted by law, the diffolving of the prefent parliament, and the removal of thofe evil counsellors who advised the meafures fo generally odious to the nation; and your Majefty, as the true guardian of our rights, fhall ever reign in the hearts of a grateful people.

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monftrance, bis Majesty was pleafed to return the following anfwer:

"I have the fatisfaction to think "that my people don't doubt of my readiness to attend to their "complaints, or of my ardent de"fire to promote their happiness, "which I cannot more effectually "do, than by refifting every at"tempt to fow groundless jealou"fies among them.

"Your petition is fo void of "foundation, and is befides con"ceived in fuch difrefpectful terms, "that I am convinced you do not feriously imagine it can be com plied with."

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The humble Petition of the united company of merchants of England trading to the Eaft-Indies. Sheweth,

your petitioners ob

Tferve, with the greateft con

cern, that fome of the most material articles of the propofitions which they humbly prefented to this Honourable Houfe, on the fecond day of March laft, are fubftantially rejected by the refolutions of this Houfe on the twenty-seventh of this month.

They humbly conceive, that after the loan which they prefumed to request from Parliament, (not lefs for the credit of the public than their own) fhall be fully discharged, it feems unreasonable to require any further terms on account of the faid loan.

That the limitation of the Company's

8

pany's dividend to feven per cent. after the discharge of the faid loan, until their bond debt fhall be reduced to one million five hundred thousand pounds, appears to your petitioners a limitation not founded upon any just calculation of the Company's commercial profits; nor can it with reafon be alledged, that it is neceffary either to their credit, or that of the public, that they should be fo reftrained, as the additional dividend of one per cent, contained in the Company's propofitions, though an object of confiderable confequence to the proprietors, could be no material delay to the reduction of their bond

debt.

Your petitioners humbly fubmit to this Honourable Houfe, that the hardship of this limitation is exceedingly aggravated by a confideration of the great loffes which they, as proprietors, have fuftained, and the expences they have incurred in acquiring and fecuring the territorial revenues in India, at the rifk of their whole capital, while the public have reaped fuch great advantages; more efpecially as they have received repeated affurances from their late chairman, that the intentions of the chancellor of the exchequer were totally different in this refpect. Upon the faith of thefe affurances, the propofals which have been made the ground of the faid restrictive refolutions, were offered by the Company to Parliament; reftrictions which they cannot but confider as peculiarly hard upon men who have already fuffered

fo much.

Your petitioners moft humbly beg leave to reprefent to this Honourable Houfe, that the refolution limiting the Company to a term

"

not exceeding fix years, for the poffeffion of their territories in India, appears to be altogether arbitrary, as it may be construed into a conclufive decifion against the Company, refpecting those territorial poffeffions, to which they humbly infift they have an undoubted right; a right against which no decifion exifts, nor any formal claim has ever been made.

That the Company, with all due deference and humility, beg leave to reprefent to this Honourable Houfe, that they cannot acquiefce in the refolution, whereby threefourth parts of the furplus neat profits of the Company at home, above the fum of eight per cent. per ann. upon their capital stock, fhould be paid into the Exchequer for the ufe of the public; and the remaining be applied either in further reducing the Company's bond debt, or for compofing a fund, to be fet apart for the ufe of the Company, in cafe of extraordinary emergencies; because fuch difpofal of their property, otherwife than by their own confent, by a general defcription, comprehending their trade as well as revenues, does not appear warranted even by the largest pretenfions that have been formed agaiaft them. And they most humbly reprefent, that when your petitioners offered a participation in a different proportion of the faid furplus, it was in the full affurance that they might freely enjoy the re

mainder.

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credit which this Horable Houfe has fixed, appears to your petitioners to be fubverfive of all their rights and privileges, by denying the difpofal of their own property, after all their creditors hall be fully fecured according to law; that rather than fubmit to fuch conditions, (as proceeding from their own confent expreffed or implied) they beg leave moft humbly to declare to this Honourable House their defire, that any claims against the poffeffions of the Company that can be fuppofed to give rife to fuch reftrictions, may receive a legal decifion, from which, whatever may be the event, they will at least have the fatisfaction of knowing what they may call their

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Meffage from the Committee, appointed by the General Court of the EastIndia Company, to take the most ffectual Meafures for oppofing a Bill now depending in Parliament, entitled, "A Bill for establishing certain Regulations for the better Management of the Affairs of the East-India Company, as well in India as in Europe," to be laid before the Court of Commen-Council,

To the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor,
Aldermen, and Commons of the
City of London, in Common-Council
affembled.

HE Committee appointed by

THE

the General-Court of the Eat-India Company, to take the moft vigorous and effective meafures for oppofing a bill now depending in parliament, entitled,

A bill for eftablishing certain regulations for the better manage

ment of the affairs of the Eaft-India Company, as well in India as in Europe," have unanimously thought it their duty to apprize the city of London of the attack made upon the Company's charter-rights by the faid bill.

This bill (without regard to the public faith, or to the valuable confideration paid for the franchifes granted in the Company's feveral charters) is calculated totally to alter the constitution of the Company at home, and the adminiftration of its prefidencies abroad, in order to fubject all their affairs, both at home and abroad, to the immediate power and influence of the Crown.

This bill, if it fhould pafs into a law, will, without delinquency charged, or any specific ground of forfeiture affigned, disfranchise above twelve hundred freemen of the Company, who are to be deprived of any vote in the management, directly or indirectly, of any part of their own immediate property. The directors, who, by the till fubfifting charter, are elected annually, are to be taken from under the controul of their conftituents, and to be continued for a term of years.

By the first of these operations the proprietary being reduced to a

very fmall number, will be rendered more manageable for miniterial purposes; and by the fecond, the Directors, no longer annually refponfible to their conftituents, it is to be feared, will become lefs attentive to their trust, and more under the direction of the treasury, to whom they owe this prolongation of their power.

The whole government of the fettlements in India, which by its charter belongs of right to the Company, is by this bill taken from them, and in effect tranfferred to the Crown. A general prefidency is to be established over all their affairs. The firft nomination of the prefident and his counsellors is to be made in the Houfe of Commons, and the future vacancies are to be filled by the King.

The nomination of judges for India is alfo vefted in the Crown, although the charter of juftice has given the appointment of thofe who exercife judicature in India to the Company.

Notwithstanding that the Compand is thus deprived of its franchife in the choice of its fervants, by an unparalleled ftrain of injuftice and oppreffion, it is compelled to pay fuch falaries as minifters may think fit to direct to perfons in whofe appointments, approbation, or removal, the Company is to have no fhare.

It is not neceffary to explain to the city of London the confequence of this fabverfion of the Company's charter, and the fubjection of all its great concerns to the immediate authority of the Crown, nor to ftate with what facility thofe principles and those powers, which are ufed to

juftify and to effect the ruin of the Company's independence, may be applied to deftroy the independence of the city of London itself, and of every other corporate body in the kingdom.

The Company have never been called to answer for any abuse of the franchifes which are attempted thus violently to be taken away from them; much improper invective has been employed, but no fpecific accufation has been ftated. If they were not certain, that with merits evident to the world, they were able fully to refute the calumnies of their enemies, they would not think themselves worthy the fupport of a body, reprefenting the most illuftrious city in the world, whofe concurrence in oppofition to this bill they think it their duty to request.

The city of London have a common caufe in the prefervation of charter-rights and privileges, and a peculiar intereft in the profperity of the Company, which having the feat of its operations fixed in this great metropolis, has contributed in no mean degree to its opulence and power.

Whatever the fate of this application may be, they have the fatisfaction of knowing that they have not been wanting to guard against the danger, and in time to warn others againft an attempt which may be of the moft fatal confequence to the commerce, the laws, and the liberties of their country.

Signed by H. C. BOULTON, Chairman of the Committee.

EDWARD WHEELER.

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