THE FALMOUTH MANTJSOEIPT, 205 



charges £5 a year or more for keeping the accounts for the lords, 

 not for the town's people to see and inspect, as is the just 

 practice of all other parishes ; and my curiosity being great, and 

 never being able to git Q^^i) a sight of such their book of accounts, 

 opportunity offering, I got possession of such their book, 

 (^^tSnUyno^too^P"'"') which could not be known to be such by anything 

 of its contents but the title, which book is safely lodged in 

 Arwenack House, with Mr. HaU, for your perusal ; and wherein 

 you will see one of the lords, making himself overseer of the 

 poor, charges no less then £27 in one article for sundry and 

 promiscuous expenees, so that nothing appears to sujaport such 

 charge, you and your tenants rated to the poor, what these lords 

 please, and none to appeal to but themselves, who made the rate ; 

 and, giving no account of the money collected, they have your 

 estate at their discretion to raise money upon it as they please ; 

 which grievance I have strugled with for many years, at very 

 great expence, in hopes of redress, from the County Sessions ; 

 but as the Charter imports an exclusive clause to the County 

 Justices medling, and they not entering into the saloo C?%lyfso) 

 for Sir Peter's rights at the close of the Charter, I could have 

 no relief from the County Sessions, and was ujDon carrying the 

 merits into the King's Bench, when my sister dyed. 



When Mr. Corker had debauch'd Mr. Quarme's fidelity 

 from Sir Peter's interest, he perswaded Sir Peter to come into 

 and sign (s^^^g^to) a body of By Laws, for the better government 

 of the town ; and being to be sign'd by the judges. Sir Peter 

 attended my Lord Chief Justice Holt thereon, who declar'd to the 

 following effect. That the King^s power did not extend to the 

 granting by Charter to ye infringing any man's right, much 

 less could any Corporation under pretence of By Laws do it 

 and that as to his and the rest of Judges signing such By Laws 

 gives them not any real weight to the infringement of any 

 man's right, and that Sir Peter need not apprehend any danger 

 to his estate from such his signing. 



One of these By Laws importing, that aU new comers into 

 the Corporation should pay a ffine to the Mayor for Licence to 

 open shop windows, they forthwith put it in practice, with 

 severity, (^slcuri"y ) and continued it many years (as they still do) 

 without my observing it j until I heard of a crying instance in 



