84" MrNUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE Appendix Do these observations apply in like manner to the appointment of mnyors, and ( A.) other corporate officers?— Always. ; ^ j Are the appointments of corporate officers submitted to any court of D Oyer ~ Mr hundred, or general assemby of the citizens, for their approval ?— I never knew it. J3. M'Mahon. Is any such court, in point of fact, now held ?— I think not; I know not. Is any officer now chosen as common speaker, or president of the court of ( 5 D'Oyer hundred?— No. Have you ever known petitions of individuals claiming the franchise of the city of Limerick in the right of birth, marriage, or servitude, submitted to the court of D'Oyer hundred ?— Never. Have you known those petitions presented to the council ?— Frequently of late years. Are they always decided upon there?— They have always decided upon them there. Have you ever known the prayer of any of those petitions acquiesced in by the council ?— Never in any instance. Contemporary with those refusals to admit persons entitled in right of birth, ser- vitude and marriage, have you known any admissions of freemen on the part of the corporation of the city of Limerick?— I have. Have those admissions been numerous?— I cannot exactly say whether those admissions, contemporary with the petitions to which I now allude, have been numerous. By whom were the names of those honorary freemen suggested to the common council?— My recollection does not charge me that the names of any persons were proposed by any one but by the present and late Lord Gort. Are you aware of petitions having been presented on the part of Mr. Russell, Mr. Boyes, Mr. Ban ington, and a variety of other persons of respectability in point of property and character of the city of Limerick, claiming their privileges as of right?— I am. Those petitions were rejected ?— They were not complied with. Have you known, on one occasion, the band of the city of Limerick militia ad- mitted to the freedom of the city of Limerick, about the time those petitions were refused?—! know that a great part of the staff of the Limerick regiment of militia were admitted freemen of the city of Limerick, but I cannot call it to my recol- lection that I was upon all occasions present when such admissions took place. Have you ever known any demand made by the common council of the citv of Limerick, for an account of the receipts of the chamberlain of the city revenues ?— No. How many years have you been acquainted with the common council of the city of Limerick?— About thirty. And during that interval of time, you never knew, in any one instance, a statement of the revenues of the city of Limerick laid before the council ?— I never did. Did you ever hear any thing of the appointment of a committee of accounts ?—• I know that there are a few of the common council that are designated a committee- of accounts, but what their operations are I could never find out. It appearing upon the face of the corporation book, that the committee of accounts report from time to time with regard to the expenditure of the corporation ; can you inform the Committee whether they have ever reported upon the receipts of the cor- poration?'— I have never known such a report. How are the committee of accounts appointed?— I do not know, but I should suppose at the nomination of Lord Gort. You served the office of sheriff?— I did. As sheriff, were you acquainted with the mode of forming the grand jury panel?— I was. How are the grand juries of the city of Limerick constituted ?— In the time of the late Lord Gort, I served the office of sheriff twice, and 1 made out a list of the grand jury, which at the instance of the late Lord Gort, I sent to him for his perusal, and he then made what alterations or additions he conceived right or proper, according to his own feelings, and returned it to me, and I then made the return. Are the Committee to understand, that, as far as your knowledge goes, a control was exercised by the late Lord Gort, with respect to the formation of the grand juries of the city of Limerick?— Decidedly. Are the grand juries of the city of Limerick taken indifferently from the most respectable and the most wealthy inhabitants of the city, or are there any other qualifications