Page:The English Reports v1 1900.pdf/981

that the judgment should be affirmed; and the record remitted. (Jour. vol. 26. p. 174.)^[1]

King James I. by letters patent under the great seal of Ireland, dated the 25th of March, in the 11th year of his reign, constituted the town of Newtown, in the county of Down, in Ireland, to be a free borough and body corporate, consisting of a Provost, twelve free Burgesses, and the Commonalty; with power to the Provost and free Burgesses, to elect two members to serve in the parliament of Ireland; and ordained, that the free [312] Burgesses should continue in their offices during their lives, unless they should, for misbehaviour or other reasonable cause, be amoved from their offices; and they were to be amoveable by the Provost and the majority of Burgesses accordingly; and when any of them should die, or be amoved, the Provost and the rest of the free Burgesses should elect others, out of the best inhabitants of the said borough, to be free Burgesses in their stead.

This borough and others who had the like charter, having met with difficulties and inconveniencies in electing proper persons out of the inhabitants of the town to be free Burgesses, and having therefore frequently elected into that office others, who were not inhabitants of the town, and doubts and questions arising thereupon, which were likely to disturb the peace of those boroughs; for preventing thereof, an act of parliament was, 21 Geo. II. passed in Ireland, reciting, amongst other things, that many of the boroughs (not being cities) who sent members to parliament, had been hitherto obliged, for want of Protestant inhabitants resident within their precincts, to elect into the office of Burgesses and other offices, persons who did not inhabit or could not be resident within their precincts; and that it had been questioned, whether persons who were not inhabitants, could, within the letter of the charters, be elected into, or act as Burgesses within such boroughs; and that it continued impracticable, in most of the said boroughs, to find Protestant inhabitants who, on account of their circumstances, were fit to be trusted in such offices; and that many suits and controversies might and were likely to arise, touching the legality of the elections of persons who were not inhabitants, and the peace and good government of such corporations might thereby be interrupted, and great mischief ensue, if not timely prevented: for remedy and prevention whereof, and for the more effectual quiet and establishment of corporations, and securing the rights and privileges of persons who had been, or should be elected into any of the said offices or franchises, it was enacted and declared, that no person who had been or should be, in all other respects, duly elected and admitted into any of the said offices or franchises, in any town corporate, or borough, (not being a city,) should be ousted of any such office or franchise, or be any ways sued, prosecuted, or molested, for or by reason only of his not being an inhabitant of, or resident within such town corporate or borough at the time of his election; but that it should be lawful for all and every person and persons who had been, or thereafter should, in other respects, be duly elected and admitted into any of the said offices or franchises, to hold, exercise, and enjoy such office or franchise, as fully and effectually, to all intents and purposes, as if such person or persons was or were inhabitants of, or resident within such town corporate or borough at the time of his or their election.