By E. 0. P. Bouverie, F.S.A. 297 



years have not been at the borough. Mr. Wilkins said it made 

 no odds. I voted for them when Wilkins named them." 



Sargeant said he " did remember of several voting against the 

 wishes of the high steward." Declines to say whether he had an 

 annuity or was bound in a bond to the high steward. When asked if 

 he had received anything from Mr. Estcourt : A. " I never knew Mr. 

 Estcourt give me anything in his life. Mr. Estcourt named 

 the members." Q. " Did you go to court without knowing whom 

 you were to vote for ? " A. " Lord bless ye ! In Mr. Wilkins' time 

 we voted for the persons he put up ? " Q. " Were you to do the same 

 with respect to the persons Mr. Estcourt put up ?" A. "Yes, we 

 thought it our duty to do so." Q. " Did Colonel Kingscote mention 

 Col bourn's name to you ? " A. " Yes and I said if it was agreeable 

 to Mr. Estcourt I never should be against it." 



W. Jefferies applied to Hanks, a burgess, and said he hoped 

 they would show their consequence and choose members who were 

 present at being chosen. Hanks said " I have nothing to do with 

 that, that is as my master likes." I said " Who do you mean ? 

 It is of no consequence to you whether they are Foxites, Pittites, 

 or what, it is a matter of indifference. If Mr. Wilkins consents 

 you choose them." He said "Yes." I said "I thought they had 



■ conferred great honour on Mr. Wilkins and that they had made 

 him very rich, and that now they had an opportunity of making 

 themselves very rich if they knew their consequence." 



Bishop was recalled to speak to the existence of bonds in several 

 cases of the burgesses. Q. "What were these bonds for ? " A. 

 " For choosing Wilkins high steward, and choosing in members 

 such as Wilkins should bring." 



I merely cite this evidence, not to show that the committee 

 arrived at a wrong decision, but to show you the kind of story 

 which probably would have to be told and would be told, without 



I any undue amount of blushing, in the case of many boroughs 



i which then had the'privilege of returning members to parliament. 



> Now admittedly Mr. Estcourt returned the members, and I 

 i cannot but think that the voters who had the right of returning 

 j the members were very unlikely to have chosen Mr. Estcourt to 



VOL. XXXVI. — NO. CXII. X 



