advanced was early repaid, and the power which
remained, or which was considered to remain, was, like that of the
society, an entrusted power for the benefit of the plantation and
those interested in it. The Irish Society seems to have been little,
if anything, more than the representative or instrument of the city
for the purposes of the Plantation.'

I subjoin the text of the concluding part of the judgment in the
_Skinners' Case_, the report of which fills a very bulky volume:--

Lord Langdale said: 'The mistaken views which the society may have
subsequently taken of its own situation and duties (and I think that
such mistaken views have several times been taken) do not vary the
conclusion to be deduced from the charter and the circumstances
contemporary with the grant of the first charter. I am of opinion that
the powers granted to the society and the trusts reposed in them were
in part of a general and public nature, independent of the private
benefit of the companies of London, and were intended by the crown
to benefit Ireland and the city of London, by connecting the city
of Londonderry and the town of Coleraine and a considerable Irish
district with the city of London, and to promote the general purposes
of the Plantation, not only by securing the performance of the
conditions imposed on ordinary undertakers, but also by the exercise
of powers and the performance of trusts not within the scope of those
conditions. The charter of Charles II. expressly recites that the
property not actually divided was retained for the general operation
of the Plantation.'

CHAPTER XVIII.

TENANT-RIGHT IN DOWN.

If there are sermons in stones I ought to have learned something from
the ruins of the castle built by Sir Arthur Hill, the founder of the
house of Downshire, in which they show the chamber occupied by William
III. while his army was encamped at Blaris Moor. This was once a royal
fort, and among the most interesting memorials of the past are the
primitive gates, long laid aside from duty, the timber gradually
mouldering away from the huge nails, which once added to their massive
strength. Hillsborough was incorporated by Charles II., and sent two
members to parliament. The Hills rose rapidly in rank and influence.
In 1717, Trevor Hill, Esq., was created Viscount of Hillsborough and
Baron Hill. In 1756, Wills, the second viscount, was made Earl of
Hillsborough, and in 1789 he became Marquis of Downshire.

H