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of Chester aforesaid, in the county of the same city. And the said Coroner and Attorney of our said sovereign Lord the now King, for our said Lord the now King, further saith, that the said several letters patent of the said late King Henry the Seventh, and the said letters patent of the said late Queen Elizabeth, confirming the same, were, and each of them was, and did remain and continue in full force, strength, and effect, before and until and at the time of the judgment herein after next mentioned being given against the said Mayor and Citizens, (that is to say,) at the city of Chester aforesaid, in the county of the same city. And the said Coroner and Attorney of our said Lord the now King, for our said Lord the now [353] King, further says, that after the granting of the said letters patent of the said late King Henry the Seventh, and the said late Queen Elizabeth, hereinbefore-mentioned, (to wit,) on Friday next after the morrow of the Holy Trinity, in the thirty fifth year of the reign of the said sovereign Lord Charles the Second, late King of England, etc. Sir Robert Sawyer, Knt. then Attorney General of the said late sovereign Lord King Charles the Second, who for the said late sovereign Lord the King prosecuted in that behalf, came in his proper person in the court of the said late sovereign Lord the King, before the said late King himself, at Westminster, in the county of Middlesex, and for the said late sovereign Lord King Charles the Second, brought into the said court of the said late King Charles the Second, before the said late King himself then and there, a certain information against the said Mayor and Citizens, by the name of the Mayor and Citizens of the city of Chester, by which said information, the said Attorney-General of the said late King gave the said court there to understand and be informed, that the said Mayor and Citizens of the said city of Chester, by the space of one month then last past, and longer, had used and did then use, and claimed to have and use without any warrant or royal grant within the said city, and the liberties and precincts of the same city, divers liberties, privileges, and franchises in the said information mentioned, that is to say, to be in themselves one body corporate and politic in law, fact, and name, by the name of the Mayor and Citizens of the city of Chester, and by the same name to plead and be impleaded, answer and be answered unto; and also to have Sheriffs of the said city, and county of the said city, and to nominate and choose from amongst themselves two persons to be Sheriffs of the said city, and of the county of the same city, and to execute and return all writs, bills, and precepts of our said Lord the said late King, touching the administration and execution of justice within the same city, and county of the same city, and to do and execute all and singular other things within the said city, and county of the said city, which to the office of Sheriff appertained, without any commission or other letters patent from the said Lord the late King in that behalf obtained, or to be obtained; and also that the Mayor and Recorder of the said city, and the Aldermen who had been Mayors of the said city, were jointly and severally Justices of the said Lord the said late King, to keep the peace within the same city, and to hold sessions of the peace and pleas of the crown within the same city, and to inquire, hear, and determine all manner of felonies, riots, routs, and unlawful assemblies within the same city, of their own proper authority, without any commission or other authority from the said late Lord the King in that behalf granted or obtained: all and singular which liberties, privileges, and franchises the said Mayor and Citizens of the said city, for all the time aforesaid, against the said Lord the late King, had usurped, and did then usurp, in contempt of the said Lord the late King, and to the great injury and prejudice of his Royal prerogative: and there-[354]-upon the said Attorney-General of the said Lord the late King, for the said Lord the late King, prayed the advice of the court there in the premises, and that due process of law might issue in that behalf against the said Mayor and Citizens, to answer to the said Lord the late King, to shew by what warrant they claimed to have and exercise the liberties, privileges, and franchises aforesaid, etc. And the said Coroner and Attorney of our said Lord the now King, for our said Lord the now King, further saith, that such proceedings were thereupon had in the same court, that afterwards, (to wit,) in the term of Saint Hilary, in the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth years of the reign of the said late King Charles the Second, for the default of the said Mayor and Citizens in not appearing in the said court of the said Lord the late King, before the King himself, to answer to the said Lord the late King, touching and concerning the premises; it was then and there, by