Dr. Gross's valuable contribution to the "Antiquary" (1885), treating of the affiliation of towns, is of a general character, and illustrated largely by continental examples; anyone, however, who wishes to grasp the full significance of mediaeval relationships as between town and town, will be well advised in consulting that succinct account. Here we must confine ourselves to English experience, in which the same traits appear, only more faintly. Before proceeding to this inquiry it may not be amiss to advert briefly to another aspect of the subject. We have said above that, in England, the monarch inclined to favour certain towns for his own purposes, and such towns were naturally of the highest precedence. If we turn to Liverpool, we shall find that in 1206 it received a visit from King John, who the following year issued letters patent of which the following is a translation: "John, by the grace of God King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou, to all his liegemen who would desire to have burgages at the town of Liverpool, greeting. Know ye that we have granted to all who may take burgages at Liverpool that they may have all the liberties and free customs in the town of Liverpool which any free borough on the sea has in our land; and therefore we command that securely, and in our peace, you may come to receive and occupy our burgages. And in testimony thereof we transmit to you these our letters patent. Witness, Simon de Pateshill, at Winchester, the 28th day of August in the ninth year of our reign." At a later period the people of Liverpool might not have thanked the Crown for facilitating the settlement of a large body of strangers in their midst. Everywhere burgesses were strongly opposed to the colonization of their towns by "upland men," less on sentimental grounds than from the fact that these "foreigners" frequently did not take steps to become naturalized and pay scot and lot towards communal expenses. Clearly this objection did not apply to Liverpool in this instance, and at that relatively early stage of its history the incorporation of a number of well-to-do and industrious immigrants might naturally have been hailed as a gain. It must have been so regarded by the King. Liverpool was the port of embarkation for troops sailing to Ireland, and is said to have owed its foundation to this circumstance in the days of Strongbow. The advantage of a numerous, loyal, and able-bodied population was seen in 1573, when the Earl of Essex passed through the place on his way to Ireland. It happened that he left behind him a detachment of soldiers, and the "motley coats" and "blue coats," having quarrelled, used their weapons on each other. With admirable promptitude, the Mayor summoned the trained bands, and the rest of the story may be told in the vivacious language of a contemporary: