antient franchise, his brother citizens were exempted from all toll, &c. for their goods throughout England; with a perseverance and integrity becoming the cause, asserted in his own person, the claim which every freeman had to the same privilege, and obtained the following certificate from the lord mayor and court of aldermen for that purpose: "TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME. WĘ Sir William Calvert, Knt. lord mayor of the city of London, and the aldermen of the same city, send greeting. KNOW YE, that among other, the liberties, free customs, and privileges, by the charters of the late kings, Henry II. Henry III. Edward III. and other kings of England, to the citizens of the city aforesaid granted, and by the authority of divers parliaments, ratified, approved and confirmed, it appeareth, that all the citizens of London, and their goods, are, and ought to be quit and free from all tolls, lastage, passage, package, pontage, pavage, and murage through the whole realm of England, and the ports of the sea, and through the whole dominions of the same, as well on this side, as beyond the seas: and that if any man shall take any toll or custom of the citizens of London, the citizens of London may take of the borough or town, where any toll or other custom shall be so taken, as much as the said citizens have given for toll, and are thereby indemnified; and that if any man within the realm of England, or in any of the dominions of the said kings, on this side, or beyond the seas, or in any of the ports of the sea, on this side, or beyond the seas, shall take any toll or other custom of the ci tizens of London, the sheriffs of the said city of London, for default of justice in that behalf, their goods may take at London, and also that the said citizens through the whole realm and dominions aforesaid, freely and without any lett of the said kings, or any of their officers or ministers, as well by sea as by land, concerning their goods and merchan dizes, in any place or port, may traffic and as to them shall seem good, quit of all custom, toll or pavage, and also may abide in any place within the said realm for doing their said business, as in time past they have been accustomed to do;

and

and farther it is forbidden upon forfeiture, that none should presume from thenceforth to molest, or otherwise disquiet or vex the said citizens, contrary to the liberties to them as aforesaid granted; Wherefore we pray, and friendly intreat you on the behalf of Richard Holland, who is a citizen and freeman of this city, that you will not in any wise molest him in his person, nor in his goods, nor, in as much as in you is, suffer the same to be done by any others, and that if you have taken any thing from the said Richard Holland, his attorney, factor, assignee, or any of them; you make thereof restitution unto him, his attorney, factor, assignee, or some of them, without delay, according to justice, lest we, for want of justice on your part to be performed, should be urged to inflict the penalties of the charters aforesaid on you, or some of you, or to prosecute some other hard course against you, which we hope you will in your wisdoms prevent. In witness whereof we, the lord mayor, and aldermen of the city of London, have caused the great seal of the mayoralty of the said city to be affixed to these presents.

"Dated at London, the 10th of October, in the 23d year of the reign of our sovereign lord George the Second, by the grace of God, king of Great Britain, France and Ireland, defender of the faith, and in the year of our Lord 1749.

MAN*."

The peace of the metropolis was, however, very much disturbed by the election contest for the city of Westminster, between Lord Trentham and Sir George Vandeput. But the close of the year was productive of a cause in which the whole body of masters and journeymen in the city of London, were very materially concerned: the cause was tried in the lord mayor's court, between a club of journeymen free-painters, plaintiffs, and Mr. Row, citizen, and master

As a farther testimony of Mr. Holland's spirited endeavours to preserve the ancient franchises of the city, he, in the year 1754, obtained a verdict in the court of King's Bench against the collectors of toll in Smithfield, during the time of Bartholomew Fair, on fifteen issues, with costs of suit; no attempt being made by any person to oppose him.

painter,

painter, defendant, for employing a non-freeman to work for him in the city. The defendant pleaded and made it appear by evidence, that the summer bufinefs of the city of London cannot possibly be done without the assistance of at least an equal number of non-freemen; that no freeman was ever refused, or could sometimes be got on any terms. To which the counfel for the plaintiffs replied with a very learned argument, upon a by-law by the city, in the reign of queen Anne. After which, the jury went out at two o'clock in the afternoon, returned twice without agreeing on the verdict: and being sent out again, and continuing a long time, the court ordered them to be locked up in the room without fire, candle, or any sustenance, by a sworn officer who was appointed to attend them. They remained in this situation till six next morning, when they brought in a verdict for the plaintiffs.

The hardship of the defendant's case induced the masters of the several handicrafts, &c. to petition the common council for liberty to employ foreigners under certain restrictions. This produced a counter petition from the journeymen, on which occasion there seemed to be a majority for the journeymen: but the consideration of those petitions was put off till their next meeting; and on the eighth of the ensuing February, a committee of six aldermen, and ten commoners, met in the old council chamber, to hear and examine the disputes between the masters and journeymen freemen; a day was appointed, and thirty masters and thirty journeymen were allowed to attend the said committee: and after several adjournments, the committee made their report on the 21st day of June, 1750, in which they said, that they had come to the following resolutions:

1. That the matters complained of by the several petitioners, require some regulation.

2. That the present method of proceedings against persous employing non-freemen required regulation.

3. That the court of lord mayor and aldermen be empowered upon application, to give leave to employ any number of non-freemen to work in the city, under certain restrictions: and,

4. That

4. That no freeman of this city shall be liable to the penalty inflicted by the act of common council, made and passed the 4th of July, 1712, if it be proved that the defendant did, immediately before setting such foreigner to work, use his best endeavours to procure a journeyman, be. ing a freeman, to work with him, and could not procure any such freeman, being a fit and proper person to be employed by him in his work *.

This cause, however, was not finally adjusted till the 22d of November following; when a court of common council being called, after a debate of near four hours, the following resolutions were unanimously agreed to:

"That after the 1st day of December, 1750, the court of lord mayor and aldermen might grant a licence to a free master, who has used his best endeavours, and cannot procure a sufficient number of fit and able free journeymen to carry on his business, to employ such number of foreigners, for or during such time or times, and under such restrictions, as to the said court shall seem fit and necessary.

"That on any Tuesday, on which no court of lord mayor and aldermen shall be holden, the power above-mentioned, so that the same do not exceed the space of six weeks, shall be vested in the lord mayor for the time being.

"That no licence shall be granted to any freeman to employ any foreigner, unless he has one apprentice at least, or has had one apprentice within twelve calendar months next before his application for such licence.

* At this common council, a petition was presented by a physician, named Dr. Crow, and several other eminent citizens, for the lease of a piece of ground on Windmill Hill, denominated the Foundry, in order to build an hospital for the reception of lunatics; the petition being granted, St. Luke's Hospital for Incurables was first founded, facing the north-west corner of Moorfields. The spot on which it was built, is now occupied by the corner and adjoining houses of Providence Row, near the City Road, Finsbury Square. The Foundry was afterwards occupied by the Reverend John Wesley, as a chapel, to which use it was appropriated, till the erection of the present spacious place of worship in the neighbourhood, facing the road.

"That

"That no freeman shall be enabled to employ any foreigner by virtue of this licence, until he has registered the christian and surname, and place of abode, of the said foreigner, and in what business he is to be employed, with the town-clerk of the city for the time being, who is to enter the same in a book to be kept for that purpose, he being paid two shillings and six pence for every licence so to be registered: which book any freeman of the city shall have liberty to inspect, gratis, every day, between twelve o'clock at noon, and two in the afternoon, (Sundays excepted:) and if any person registered by virtue of this licence, shall leave his master's service, or be discharged the same, the townclerk is, upon application, to insert and enter in the licence, and register, another person's name in the room of the person discharged, for the remaining term of the licence, without any fee.

And lastly," That the court of lord mayor and aldermen have a power to revoke or call in any licence, though the time limited be not expired."

On the 8th of March, at half-past five in the morning, the sky being very clear and serene, and the air very warm, the inhabitants of London, and to a great extent round the city, were alarmed by the shock of an earthquake, that came with great violence, especially about Grosvenor Square. This was preceded about five o'clock by a continual, though a confused lightning, till within a minute or two of its being felt, when a noise was heard resembling the roaring of a great piece of ordnance, fired at a considerable distance, and then instantly the houses reeled, first sinking, as it were, to the south, and then to the north, and with a quick return into the centre. The top of one of the piers on the north side of Westminster Abbey, fell down, with the iron and lead that had fastened it. Several houses fell in; and many chimnies were damaged. Another shock had been felt during the preceding month.

Westminster Bridge was opened this year for passengers, and an act of parliament passed, "enabling the commissioners to open and widen the road from the Stones End, at