ANCIENT INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN.

HE proceedings which followed the reception of the charter of John are upon record, and exhibit a curious and interesting spectacle of the ancient burgesses of a town assembling themselves together for the purpose of solemnly recognizing the charter of their privileges, and erecting themselves into an incorporated community-an incorporation which has continued through the mutations and changes of time, now upwards of 600 years.

The charter given by John is as follows:

THE CHARTER OF KING JOHN.

"John, by the Grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy, Aquitain, and Earl of Anjou: To all, &c. Know ye, that we have granted, and by this our present charter have congrmed, to the Burgesses of Ipswich, our Borough of Ipswich, with all its appurtenances and liberties, and all its free customs, to be holden of us and our heirs, to them and their heirs hereditary: paying by the year the right and accustomed farm at our Exchequer, at Michaelmas term by the hand of the Provost of Ips

wich; and one hundred shillings sterling over and above what they used to pay at the said term.

"We have also granted to them, that all the Burgesses of Ipswich may be quit of Toll, Portage, Stallage, Passage, Pontage, and all other customs throughout our land and sea ports.

"We have also granted to them, that none of them shall plead out of the Borough of Ipswich, of any plea, other than the pleas of Foreign tenures, excepting our own officers. And that they may have a Merchant's Guild, and their own house; and that no one be lodged, nor shall any body take any thing by force within the borough, and that they may have their own lands and their own pledges, and all their own just dues from whomsoever they be owing. And as to their tenures and lands that are within the borough, right shall be done them according to the customs of the borough of Ipswich and our free boroughs. And as to the dues that were at Ipswich, and the pledges then made, the pleas may be holden at Ipswich. And that no one of them shall have judgment against him for money, but according to the law of our free borough.

"We forbid also, that no man throughout our land take from the men of Ipswich any Toll or Stallage, or any other Custom, on the forfeiture of ten pounds.

"Wherefore, we will and firmly command, that the said Burgesses will have and hold in peace, all the aforesaid liberties and free customs, as other free Burgesses, of our free Boroughs of England have had, or have them; saving in all things our citizens of London and their liberties and free customs.

"Moreover, we will and grant, that our said Burgesses, by our Common Council of their town, may choose two of the more lawful and discreet men of their town, and present them to our chief justice at the Exchequer, who may well and faithfully keep the

government of the Borough of Ipswich aforesaid; and may not be removed as long as they behave well in that Bailiffwick, except by the Common Council of the aforesaid Burgesses.

"We will also, that in the same Borough, four of the more lawful and discreet men of the borough, be chosen by the Common Council, out of the burgesses aforesaid, to keep the Pleas of the Crown, and other things that appertain to us and our crown, on the same borough, and to see that the Governors of that borough behave justly and lawfully towards the poor, as well as the rich.

"Witness, &c. Given at Gold Cliff, 25th May, in the first year of our reign." (1199.)

The proceedings taken to carry out this Charter were preserved in a Roll, called the Bailiffs' Roll, and from thence transferred to the Domesday Book of the town, as follows:

"This is the Transcript of the Roll made in Ipswich, in the second year of the reign of king John, upon the state and government of the same town as is contained in the said Roll, which is in the Common Chest of the town aforesaid, and which thus begins :

"In the Roll concerning the manner and form of electing Bailiffs and Coroners in Ipswich according to the form of the Charter of the Lord King John, that is to say,-On Thursday, next after the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, the whole town of the Borough of Ipswich assembled in the burialground of St. Mary at the Tower, to elect two Bailiffs and four Coroners in the same borough, according to the form of the Charter of the same Lord the King; which the same King hath lately granted to the Burgesses of the borough aforesaid.* At which day the

*The Charter was given in May. These proceedings took place in June.

same Burgesses with unanimous assent and consent have elected two good and lawful men of the said town, that is to say, John Fitz Norman and William de Belines, who have been sworn to keep the Bailiwick of the aforesaid borough, and that they will well and faithfully treat as well the poor as the rich.

"Also on the same day they have unanimously elected four Coroners, that is to say, John Fitz Norman, William de Belines, Philip de Porta, and Roger Lew, who have been sworn to hold the pleas of the crown, and to do other the things which pertain to the crown in the same borough, and to see that the aforesaid Bailiffs justly and lawfully treat as well the poor as the rich.

"Also on the same day it is ordained by the Common Council of the same town that hereafter there shall be in the said borough twelve Capital Portmen sworn, in manner as they are in other free boroughs of England, and that they shall have full power for themselves and the whole town to govern and maintain the aforesaid borough, and all the liberties of the same borough; and to render the judgments of the town, and also to ordain and do all things in the same borough which ought to be done for the state and honour of the town aforesaid; and hereupon it is directed by the Bailiffs and Coroners aforesaid, that the whole town assemble in the burial-ground aforesaid on Sunday after the Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul next coming, to elect the aforesaid twelve Capital Portmen according to the form of the same ordinance. On Sunday* next after the Feast of the

*Much of the public business of early times was transacted on Sundays, and in church-yards, in order that by the people flocking to church on that day, witnesses to the proceedings might be numerous. Charters for the bestowal of land were often witnessed in the church-porch, rents paid, &c. In Drury's History of Hawstead, may by found several curious instances of the custom.

Apostles Peter and Paul, in the year abovesaid, the whole town of Ipswich have assembled before the Bailiffs and Coroners of the same town to elect twelve Capital Portmen in the same town as was before ordained, and the aforesaid Bailiffs and Coroners by the assent of the town do elect four good and lawful men of every parish of the said town, who are sworn to elect twelve Capital Portmen, of the most fit, discreet, and wealthy of the said town to ordain for the state of the town as is aforesaid; and the said [persons so] sworn from the parishes come and elect for themselves and the whole town, these twelve names underwritten, that is to say, John Fitz Norman, William de Belines, Philip de Porta, Roger Lew, Peter Everard, William Goscalk, Amisius Bolle, John de St. George, John de Mayster, Saher Fitz Thurston, Robert Panys, and Andrew Peper, who are sworn before the whole town aforesaid, that well and faithfully they will keep and govern the borough of Ipswich, and according to their power will maintain all the liberties which have now of late been granted to the Burgesses of the same borough by the Charter of the said Lord the King; and also all other the liberties and free customs of the town aforesaid, and will justly render the judgments of the courts of the same town, without having respect to any manner of person. And moreover we will ordain and do all other things which are needful to be done for the state and honour of the said town, and justly and lawfully will treat as well the poor as the rich.

"The same day, as soon as the aforesaid twelve Capital Portmen were sworn in form aforesaid, they caused the whole of the aforesaid townsfolk to stretch their hands towards the Book,* and with one voice

The Gospels.