£2 L O N 
ing on the ftrength of the lord-mayor's right to appoint, 
North, the perlon drank to, attended the court of alder¬ 
men home time before the day of-election, and entered 
into bond to ferve the office; and the lord-mayor ifl'ueJ 
his precept for holding the court on Midfummer-day, for 
confirming the appointment of North, and clcEUng the other 
flieriff. This new form of the precept occalioned much 
confufion among the companies; feme fummoning their 
members to meet and choofe fheriffs, See. as formerly ; 
fome for confirmation and election ; and fome for choofing 
city-officers generally. On the day previous to the elec¬ 
tion, the opinion of the recorder being taken in the court 
of aldermen on the right of election, he declared, that it 
was veiled in the commonalty, and that the fheriffs were 
judges of the poll, if there was one; in which opinion the 
court unanimoufiy concurred. But, on Midl'uminer-day, 
the common crier, by direction of their mayor, proclaim¬ 
ing, “You gentlemen of the livery, attend your confir¬ 
mation,” the hail refounded with, “ No confirmation.” 
After a long and violent difpute, the mayor and aldermen 
retired, and left the livery at liberty to proceed to the 
election ; when Papillion and Dubois had a confiderable 
majority on the (how of hands; but a poll was demanded 
and granted. At feven in the evening, the lord-mayor 
returned, and made an attempt to adjourn the court; but 
the fheriffs continued to take the poll till nine o’clock, 
when they adjourned it. The lord-mayor, difliking the 
proceedings of the fheriffs, made complaint to the king 
and council, of his having been grofsly infulted; in con- 
fequence of which, the lord-mayor, with the aldermen and 
fheriffs, were ordered to attend the privy-council on the 
Monday following; when, being feverally examined con¬ 
cerning the difturbance, the two iheriffs, Pilkington and 
Shute, with alderman Cornith, were committed prifoners 
to the Tower; and, at the fame time, orders were given 
to the attorney-general to profecute, with the utmolt fe- 
verity, all who fhould be found to have been promoters 
and encouragers of the late tumult. 
On the enfuing Friday, the prifoners were, by a writ 
of habeas corpus, admitted to bail; and on the iff of July, 
they called a common-hall ; where, in defiance of the 
lord-mayor’s order to the recorder to adjourn the hall Co 
the 7th, they proceeded in the poll, and declared Papillion 
and Dubois duly elected. This fo irritated the lord- 
mayor, that he and his party met at Guildhall on the 14th, 
when his lordfhip produced an order of council to begin 
ail the proceedings anew. This order was vigoroufiy op- 
pofed by many of the molt eminent citizens, as an innova¬ 
tion of their rights and privileges ; the lord-mayor, however, 
declared North duly elected by him, without the fanftion 
of the common-hall, and proceeded to poll for the other: 
but, as none of thofe who had voted for Papillion and 
Dubois-at the former election would vote at this, to give it 
a fanftion, Box, another candidate, put up by the court, 
was eleefted without oppolition. Box, however, finding 
his election could not be legally justified, declined f'erving 
the office; on which Mr. Peter Birch was chofen, and, 
with North, fworn in before the lord mayor; while Pa- 
pillion and Dubois were left to feek their remedy at law. 
Thefe arbitrary proceedings fufficiently evinced the 
determination of the court to carry their point by any 
means; and, the citizens being equally refolute in fup- 
porting their privileges, a more decifive blow was medi¬ 
tated/by which the king would become matter, not only 
af the city of London, but alfo of every corporation. 
Accordingly, in Michaelmas term, a writ of quo warranto 
was hiked again ft the city, to try the validity of its char¬ 
ter; in which it was affected that the liberties and privi¬ 
leges of the city were ufurped. 
Notwithltanding all the arguments ufed by the citizens 
to fupport their conduft, and refill this infringement on 
their dear-bought liberties and privileges, yet the miniftry 
were determined, at all events, to crufh them. Accord¬ 
ingly, in Trinity term, 1683, the quo warranto being ar¬ 
gued and determined, jullice Jones pronounced the fol- 
D ON. 
lowing fentence: “That a city might forfeit its charter j 
that the malverfations of the common-council were afts 
of the whole city; and that the points fet forth in the 
pleadings were jiift grounds for the forfeiting of a char¬ 
ter. Upon which premifes the conclufion feemed to be, 
that, therefore, the city of London had forfeited its 
charter.” 
Thefe unjuft and arbitrary proceedings greatly alarmed 
the citizens; a court of common-council was Summoned 
to deliberate on what meafures were to be reforted to, in 
which the court-party prevailed fo far as to procure an 
aft of fubmiffion, which amounted to a voluntary furren- 
der of the city’s liberties, fince it deprived them of the 
means of having the judgment reverfed. The lord-mayor, 
with a deputation from the court, attended the king at 
Windfor, on the 18th of June, to acknowledge their mif- 
government, folicit pardon, and beg for his n^ajefty’s com¬ 
mands and directions. Conditions were then propofed to 
them by tlie lord-keeper, and they were told that immediate 
compliance with them was the only way to flop entering 
up the judgment of the court, but that, on their fubmiffion, 
this meafure fhould be abandoned. In the common- 
council called to receive the report of this deputation, 
the queftion for fubmiffion was carried by a majority of 
eighteen ; but, after the king had thus compelled thecitizens 
to fubmit to terms of his own propofing, on pretence that 
they had not tendered him a formal fubmiffion, he ordered 
the judgment upon the quo warranto to be entered up. This 
was no foonerdone, than, by a commiffion under the great 
feal, the office of mayor was granted to fir William Prit¬ 
chard, the prefent lord-mayor, and the office of fheriffs 
to Peter Daniel and Samuel Dalhwood, during his ina- 
jefty’s pleaf'ure. At the fame time, fir George Treby, the 
recorder, was removed in favour of Thomas Jerner, who 
was knighted on the occafion. Eight of the aldermen, in 
the country or whig intereft, were degraded, and the re¬ 
maining lixteen made juftices of the peace. Soon after, 
eight new aldermen w-ere appointed; and, on the noth of 
Oftober, the king, in virtue of his affumed power, con- 
ftituted fir Henry Tulfe (one of the informers againft al¬ 
derman Pilkington) lord-mayor during his pleafure. The 
charter was not reltored till the following reign. 
It was in or about the year 1683 that the ufeful con¬ 
veyance of letters and parcels by the penny-pofi was firft 
fet up in London ahd its fuburbs, by a private under¬ 
taker, named Murray, an uphoifterer by trade; who af¬ 
terwards affigned the fame to one Dockwra, who carried 
it on fuccefstully for a number of years, until the govern¬ 
ment laid claim to the projeft, as being connefted with 
the general poft-office, which was a part of the crown-re¬ 
venue; and a yearly penfion of two hundred pounds was 
fettled on Mr. Dockwra for his life. 
In 1685, the manufaftures and population of London 
received a confiderable increafe in the refugees who fled 
from France in confequence of the revocation ofthe ediftof 
Nantes. The number of induftrious artifans thus forced 
from their homes is ftated to have amounted to eight hun¬ 
dred thoufand, a great proportion of whom fettled in the 
fuburbs of London, particularly about Spitalfields, Soho, 
and St. Giles’s, where their descendants ftill refide. To 
them London is indebted for either a knowledge of, or 
improvements in, the manufaftures of filks, linen, paper, 
glafs, hats, watches, cutlery, toys, &c. many of which are 
now brought to a ftate of unrivalled perfeftion. It is an 
obfervation worthy of attention, that thefe refugees have 
continued to fpeak the French language ofthe time at which 
their anceftors left France, and Jiave preferved much of the 
native charafterand manners to this day. Their church- 
fervice is ftill, though proteftant of the calviniftical per- 
fuafion, performed in French ; and leveral of their preachers 
have been much admired, ar.d regularly followed by thofe 
who vvifhed to improve themfeives in the French language. 
The defeendants of thefe refugee-families, almoft to the 
prefent day, have been very anxious to preserve the French 
language among them, by fending their children to the 
different 
