Here it is proper to mention, that by a Charter of I
HEN, IV. that King grants to the Citizens of London ,
the Keeping as well of the Gates of Newgate and Ludgate,
as of all other Gates and Posterns of the Said City; when
this Grant has been urged as a Proof, that the Gates,
and Newgate in particular, belong to the City, the An-
swer has been, That under this Grant they claim nothing
more than the bare Custody of the Gates, and yet the City
have taken upon them to pull down all the City Gates but
this of Newgate ; and, besides selling the Materials, they
have converted their respective Scites into Freehold Estates,
which they have lett upon Leases, reserving to the City
large Fines and Ground-Rents; and, doubtless, they
would have acted in the same Manner by Newgate, it
they had not had something farther in View.

The unhappy Situation of the County of Middlesex is
such as almost to environ the City of London , and one of
the Consequences of this Situation is that the numerous
Poor, which from the most remote Parts of the Kingdom,
are attracted to the Metropolis, though the City have the
Benefit of their Labour as having their Residence mostly
in the circumjacent Parishes, become legally settled there,
and so become a Burthen on the County. Hence the Dif-
ference between the Poor's Rate, in the City and Suburb
Parishes. And in all the Improvements which of late
Years have been made of the City Estates by building, the
Citizens, have constantly had an Eye to the Accommo-
dation of Merchants and other principal Traders, and
seem to have forgot that as well the Poor as the Rich
need Houses to dwell in,

Thus far then it is evident that there is not the least
Colour of a Reason for Imposing on the County any Part
of the Burchen of rebuilding the Goal of Newgate : it
remains now to shew how little the City are intituled, in
this Respect, to the Aid of the Public.}

By the Several Sums above Shewn to have been received
by the Citizens, it appears that they have been possessed
of at Least two Funds, amounting to near a Million, Sterling,
[..]
out or which, if they [..]
rebuilt their Goal long ago [..] Aid of Parliament,
or any Contribution of the County; and if they are not at
present very able to do it, it must be owing to some
Reasons which the Public are Strangers to. In 1721, the
Offices sold by the City were estimated at 152,000l. by
one of their favourite Historians. The Revenues of the
City are immense, and a very few Years will put it in the
actual Possession and Receipt of such Estates as must yield
an Income much more than adequate to all the Expences
of its Government, as the Sources of these Revenues are,
in general, Royal Grants, many of them under the ex-
press Condition of well governing the City, they are en-
joyed by the Citizens, in their political and corporate
Capacity. The Revenues arising from these Grants cannot
be considered as Matters of Private Emolument, or the
Right of Individuals; in Reason and Justice they are
destinated fro public purposes, such as the Erection and
Repair of Gaols, Bridges , and other public Edifices; and,
till these Resources fail, which it is hardly possible they
should ever do, it is humbly apprehended that in respect
of a Prison so peculiarly their own as this of Newgate has
been shewn to be, the Citizens have the least Pretence
of Claim to the Bounty of the Public.

For what Purpose this was introduced into the Case, it is
very difficult to guess.-But the County will make the best
use they can of it.

The City are advised, that they ar intitled to the Free-
hold of all the Gates and Posterns of the City, and the Scites
thereof, Newgate not exceptedWhether under a Char-
ter of I Hen. IV. or any other Authority is immaterial-
And, admit that they have at a very great Expence, far ex-
ceeding the Value of the Materials, and of the Fines, and
Quit-Rents reserved upon the Leases, pulled them al
down, except Newgate, in order to Accommodate the
Public, by opening and enlarging the Streets-And it is
truly said, that they would have done the same by Newgate
if the Erecting a NewGoal, in a more convenient Situation,
had not been too great a Work for them If the Par-
liament should be disposed to attend to their humble Appli-
cation, they mean still to do it.

To this unhappy Situation the Landholders of the adjacent
Parishes owe the almost incredible Improvements of their
Estates.-Let them not therefore murmur, if there should
be some slight Inconveniences in such a Situation.And
let the Rich and Powerful County of Middlesex remember,
that to this unhappy Situation, they owe all their Conse-
quence.A Circumstance which alone furnishes more than
a Colour of Reason for their assisting the City of London
upon this Occasion, i they had much less to do with New-
gate than they appear to have.

From the Facts above stated, it is most evident that out
of one, and that the largest of these two Funds, the City
Could not have built the Goal of Newgate , it being an ap-
[..]
Pretence to say, they ought to have rebuilt it.

The City Offices are thrown in as a third FundBut
unfortunately for that Argument, these Offices are a
Charge upon the City's Revenues. Upon the most exact
Computation, the City receives 1000l. per Annum from
the Sale of Offices, and they pay their Officers 3000l.-
There remains but one other Argument to Shew, that the
City are not intitled to the Aid of the Public, and that
the County will not choose to use-If they are not intitled
to the Aid of the Public, it must be because they are in-
titled to the Aid of the County of Middlesex .

From the Accounts which have been called for, it will
appear, whether the City's Revenues are so immense as
they are represented, and whether they have been con-
sidered as Matters of private Emolument, or the Right of
Individuals, or whether they have not been distined, as
in the Opinion of the County of Middlesex , in Reason
and Justice they ought to be for public Purposes, and ac-
cording to the Condition of their Grants, for well
governing the City.

The Meaning of the present Application to Parliament,
is to be enabled to apply a Part of their Revenues to one of
those public Purposes, for which the County of Middlesex
say, they are destinated for the Purpose of erecting a Goal.

[..] And if the Person of Newgate instead of being [..]
[..] the Prison or the City o London in any recpect what
soever, is peculiarly the Prison of the County of Middlesex
in some Respects, for Instance, for its Debtors; and if
it be their Prison in common with the City of London ,
in all other Respects, surely the County of Middlesex
will not refuse to co-operate with the City of London in so
public a Purpose, that the City of London and County of
Middlesex , may no longer be without a proper Place of
Confinement, where in there may be some Attention had,
both to the Health and Morals of the Prisoners.

The City of London have no private Views to answer by
this Application.-They trust that private Views shall not
be suffered to defeat it.