ing to monastic establishments, but since the suppression of the religious houses they had passed under
the domination of the Crown. S. Ives, which had
been constituted a borough by Philip and Mary, was
in the hands of Paulet, Marquis of Winchester,
who could be relied upon. For the same reason
Callington was given two members in 1584, as this
also was held by the Paulets. The fear of ecclesiastical influence is conspicuous in numerous instances.
Camelford is two miles distant from a church, and
the only chapel in it was confiscated and demolished.
Saltash was another churchless place; it belonged to
the parish of S. Stephen's, two miles distant, and had
in it no other place of worship than a municipal
chapel. Grampound was at a like distance from its
parish church, S. Creed; Tregony was planted at
the junction of several parishes; Mitchell divided
between two equidistant churches two miles away.
Another remarkable feature in these boroughs is that
they rapidly slipped away from the influence of the
Crown, and fell under the control of great landlords.
Founded for the servile support of the Throne, they
became a prey, not even to Duchy tenants, but to
private owners, and resolved into saleable commodities, that passed rapidly from hand to hand. In 1783
it was noticed that seven peers directed or influenced
the return of twenty members; eleven commoners
controlled the election of twenty-one; and the people
one only, that of S. Ives. It was a recognised thing
that the man who held six boroughs in his hand, that
is to say, who could return twelve members to support the Ministry, could demand and obtain a peer-
Page:A Book of the West (vol. 2).djvu/294
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228
NEWQUAY