of the City, on the
ground that the masters of the livery companies enjoyed no peculiar right
to serve on such occasions, and after some deliberation the commissioners
declined to interfere, inasmuch as the power of nominating the twelve
citizens rested absolutely with the Court of Aldermen.(1652) The lord
mayor and swordbearer were resplendent at the coronation ceremony in new
crimson and damask gowns, whilst the city's plate--again lent for the
occasion--added lustre to the banquet.(1653)

CHAPTER XXXII.

(M844)

The Convention having been converted by a formal Act into a true
parliament (23 Feb.),(1654) one of the first motions put to the House was
that a special committee should be appointed to consider the violations of
the liberties and franchises of all the corporations of the kingdom, "and
particularly of the city of London." The motion was lost by a majority of
24.(1655) The House nevertheless resolved to bring in a Bill for repealing
the Corporation Act, and ten days later (5 March) the Grand Committee of
Grievances reported to the House its opinion (1) that the rights of the
city of London in the election of sheriffs in the year 1682 were invaded
and that such invasion was illegal and a grievance, and (2) that the
judgment given upon the _Quo Warranto_ against the city was illegal and a
grievance. The committee's opinion on these two points (among others) was
endorsed by the House, and on the 16th March it ordered a Bill to be
brought in to restore all corporations to the state and condition they
were in on the 29th May, 1660, and to confirm the liberties and franchises
which at that time they respectively held and enjoyed.(1656)

(M845)

A special committee appointed (5 March) to investigate the nature of the
city's grievances, and to discover who were the authors and advisers of
them, presented, on the 29th May, a long report to the House,(1657) giving
the whole story of the election of sheriffs in June, 1682, and of
Pritchard's election to the mayoralty in the following September; of the
fines that had been imposed on Pilkington, Shute, Bethell, Cornish and
others for so-called riots whilst engaged in asserting the rights of the
citizens; of Papillon having been cast in damages to the amount of L10,000
at the suit of Pritchard, and of other matters which led up to the
proceedings under the _Quo Warranto_, when, as the committee had
discovered, two of the justices of the King's Bench--Pem