initial commit of ebook 5609HEADmain

5 files changed, 2144 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/5609.txt b/5609.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3b10ddc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/5609.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2128 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Corporation of London: Its Rights and Privileges
+by William Ferneley Allen
+
+Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
+copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing
+this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
+
+This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
+Gutenberg file.  Please do not remove it.  Do not change or edit the
+header without written permission.
+
+Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
+eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file.  Included is
+important information about your specific rights and restrictions in
+how the file may be used.  You can also find out about how to make a
+donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
+
+
+**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
+
+**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
+
+*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
+
+
+Title: The Corporation of London: Its Rights and Privileges
+
+Author: William Ferneley Allen
+
+Release Date: May, 2004  [EBook #5609]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on July 21, 2002]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE CORPORATION OF LONDON: ITS RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES ***
+
+
+
+
+This eBook was produced by Eric Hutton, email bookman@rmplc.co.uk
+
+
+
+The Corporation of London: its rights and privileges.
+
+by William Ferneley Allen,
+
+sheriff of London and Middlesex, and alderman of the ward of Cheap.
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+Some apology is necessary on the part of one whose acquaintance with
+civic affairs is of such recent date, for presuming to stand forth as
+the champion of the fights and privileges of the City of London.
+No man of common spirit, however, could tamely submit to the insulting
+charges and coarse insinuations with which the Corporation has long
+been assailed by malevolent or ignorant individuals.  That the civic
+system is free from spot or blemish, no one in his senses would
+pretend to assert.  But it may honestly and truly be asserted that the
+Court of Aldermen have both the power and the inclination to amend
+whatever is defective, and to introduce whatever reforms are
+desirable, without the irritating and officious interference of the
+imperial legislature.  The system may not be perfect, for it is of
+human origin; but its administrators are men of upright character,
+practically conversant with the requirements of trade, and animated by
+am earnest desire to promote the interests of their fellow-citizens.
+Why, then, are they not intrusted with the honourable task of
+gradually improving the machinery of the civic government, and of
+completing the good work they have long since spontaneously
+inaugurated?  It might, perhaps, have been better had this pamphlet
+never taken form and substance.  A feeble advocate endangers, and
+oftentimes loses, the best possible cause; but still, out of the
+fulness of the heart the mouth will speak, and pour forth sentiments
+and feelings that no longer brook control.  This, at least, is the only
+excuse that can be offered for troubling the public with the opinions
+of a comparative novice.
+
+7, LEADENHALL STREET, July 26th, 1858.
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+INTRODUCTORY SKETCH.
+
+London under the Romans
+Gilds
+Burghs
+Charter of William the Conqueror
+Reflections
+Subsequent Charters
+City divided into Wards
+Civic Hospitality
+The Quo Warranto Case
+Restoration of the Charter
+
+
+PART I.
+
+THE CORPORATION AS IT IS.
+
+The Municipal Constitution
+The Lord Mayor
+The Aldermen
+The Court of Common Council
+The Citizens
+The Livery Companies
+The Sheriffs
+
+The Law Courts
+Public Charities
+Conservancy of the Thames
+The Metage Dues
+
+
+PART II.
+
+THE CIVIC REFORM BILL.
+
+The Commission of Inquiry
+The New Wards
+Aldermen and Common-Councilmen
+City Expenditure
+City Receipts
+Removal of Restrictions
+
+
+THE CORPORATION OF LONDON,
+
+&c.
+
+INTRODUCTORY SKETCH.
+
+London under the Romans--Gilds--Burghs--Charter of William the
+Conqueror--Reflections--Subsequent Charters--City divided into
+Wards--Civic Hospitality--The Quo Warranto Case--Restoration of the
+Charter.
+
+The first historical notice of the City of London occurs in that
+portion of the Annals of Tacitus which treats of the insurrection of
+Boadicea.  At that time it was a place much frequented by merchants,
+attracted partly by the natural advantages of the site, and partly by
+the vicinity of the Roman camp at Islington.  It is stated that 70,000
+persons, of both sexes and of all ages, were massacred by that fierce
+heroine in London and at St. Albans; but it must not be supposed that
+the ordinary  population of those two towns could have formed so large
+an aggregate.  It is far more probable that numbers of old men, women,
+and children flocked thither from the neighbourhood, in the hope of
+escaping from the violence and rapine of the patriot army.  Their
+expectations,  however, were disappointed, as the Roman general deemed
+it more prudent to evacuate an untenable post, than to risk the
+dominion of the entire island on the event of a battle fought under
+adverse circumstances.  At the same time the slaughter of the
+inhabitants justifies  the inference that they were foreigners rather
+than natives, some being traders from Gaul, but the majority either
+Roman colonists or the followers and hangers-on of the stationary
+camp.  Indeed, it may be gathered from the description of Tacitus, that
+these traders were chiefly commissariat contractors and brokers or
+money-changers.  The Romans do not appear to have evinced a high order
+of commercial instinct, nor to have looked upon the development of
+trade as one of the chief objects of government.  Their mission was to
+overrun other nations, and to prevent them from indulging in
+internecine  warfare.  To them mankind are therefore indebted for the
+preservation of whatever civilization was then extant, and for
+stopping the retrogressive course of the human race.  This was
+particularly observable in their conquest of Greece and the kingdoms
+of Asia Minor, where incessant quarrels between rival cities and
+principalities had checked the progress of the arts, sciences, and
+literature.  Content to conquer in battle, and, as the just reward of
+their superior prowess, to impose tribute and a governor, they seldom
+interfered with local customs and usages.  Perhaps one great secret of
+their marvellous success was this systematic abstinence from
+intermeddling with the local administrations.  The principle of
+self-government  was never more fully appreciated than by this
+remarkable people, who, sending forth consuls, vice-consuls,  and
+prefects, yet left to the conquered the management of  their own
+affairs and the guardianship of their own interests.  Not even in the
+most corrupt days of the empire was it attempted to absorb the
+patronage of every department and province for the benefit of a few,
+under the pretext of imparting greater vigour to the administration of
+public affairs by centralization.  It was not deemed wise or necessary
+to constitute central boards for the direction of matters with which
+not a single member might, possibly, be acquainted.  They did not aim
+at an ideal perfection, but were satisfied with doing what was
+practicable, and with a large average of general prosperity.  To each
+civitas--corresponding to our phrase of "city and county"--was
+assigned the regulation of its own domestic policy, by means of annual
+magistrates, a chosen senate, and the general assembly of the free
+inhabitants.  Through this wise policy of non-interference, the City of
+London rapidly acquired wealth and importance, and before the
+evacuation of the island by the Romans, had attained a position of
+considerable grandeur.  The civic institutions of the Saxons were,
+indeed, admirably suited for the adaptation of the municipal customs
+bequeathed to them by their predecessors, and which became developed
+to their full proportions through the greater amount of individual
+liberty that prevailed among the Germanic races.
+
+Of the purely Teutonic institutions, one of the most characteristic
+was that of Gilds.  Originally, a gild was nothing more than an
+association of ten families, for purposes of mutual protection and
+security.  By the custom of "frankpledge," every freeman at the age of
+fourteen was called upon to give securities for his good behaviour.
+Gilds were therefore formed, binding themselves to produce the
+offender if any breach of the peace was committed by one of their
+members, or to give redress to the injured party.  To carry out these
+objects a small fund was raised, to which every one contributed; and
+thence was derived the name of the association: "gildan," in Saxon,
+signifying to pay.  With a view to becoming better acquainted with one
+another, and to draw more closely the bands of friendship, convivial
+meetings were held at fixed periods, when a vast quantity of beer was
+quaffed in honour of the living, and to the memory of the dead.  In
+after-times this truly Saxon institution assumed greater proportions,
+and embraced both ecclesiastical and secular gilds.  Of the former it
+is unnecessary to make further mention, but the latter formed the germ
+of the present livery companies.  The earlier secular or mercantile
+gilds were associations of members of a particular trade or craft, for
+the purpose of maintaining and advancing the privileges of their
+peculiar calling.  The term was also applied to a district or "soke,"
+possessed of independent franchises, as in the case of the Portsoken
+Ward, which was anciently known as the Cnighten Gild.  A "soke," or
+soca, it may be incidentally observed, was the territory in which was
+exercised the soca, or the privilege of hearing causes and disputes,
+levying fines, and administering justice within certain limits.
+The practice of gildating or embodying the aggregate free population
+of a town was of considerably later date.  In France and in Flanders,
+corporations and communes, or commonalties, appear to have existed in
+the middle of the eleventh century, but the earliest mention of the
+Corporation of London occurs in the second year of the reign of
+Richard I.  Availing himself of the king's absence in the Holy Land,
+his brother John, Earl of Moreton, anxious to acquire the co-operation
+of the city of London in his traitorous designs upon the crown,
+convened a general assembly of the citizens, and confirmed their
+ancient rights and privileges by a formal deed or charter.  It was
+then, for the first time, that the commonalty of the city was
+regularly and officially recognized as a corporate body.  The
+distinctive rights of a town corporation were the election of a
+council presided over by a mayor or bailiff, a common seal, a bell to
+convoke the citizens, and local jurisdiction.
+
+But although it was not before the reign of Richard I. that the
+citizens of London were formed into a body corporate, they had
+enjoyed, as the inhabitants of a free burgh, the immunities and many
+essential privileges of a corporation, from the time of Edward the
+Confessor, if not of Alfred.  Without stopping to discuss the etymology
+of the word "burgh," it may suffice to observe that at the period of
+the Conquest by far the greater part of the cities and towns of
+England were the private property of the king, or of some spiritual or
+secular lord, on whom they had been conferred by royal grant.  These
+burghs, as they were called, were said to be held in demesne, and paid
+to their superior certain tolls, duties, and customs, levied on goods
+exposed for sale at markets and fairs.  The inhabitants were actually
+little better than villeins or serfs, and were entirely at the mercy
+of their feudal lord.  Immense, therefore, were the advantages
+possessed by the free burghs, such as London, which governed
+themselves, and compounded for all dues by the payment of a fixed
+annual sum.  These annual contributions were styled the "farm," and,
+when perpetual, the burghs so compounding were said to be held at
+fee-farm of the king in capite, as was the case with London.  One of
+the chief privileges implied by this tenure was that of exercising an
+independent jurisdiction, both civil and criminal, administered by
+magistrates chosen by the burgesses.  It is supposed that criminal law
+was originally dispensed in the free gilds into which the city was
+divided, under the presidency of an alderman.  These divisions were
+afterwards called wards, and were analogous to the corresponding
+division of the shire into hundreds.  In each ward was held a
+court-leet, or ward-mote, dating from the time of Alfred, though the
+actual institution of wards by that name is no later than the reign of
+Edward I. Civil causes, in London at least, were tried before a
+peculiar tribunal, the president of which was probably the portreve,
+or, in minor causes, an alderman.
+
+The Norman Conquest naturally suspended for a time all these
+privileges, and reduced all free towns to the level of burghs in
+demesne.  Desirous, however, to secure the good will of the citizens,
+William hastened to assure them of his protection, and to confirm
+their prescriptive rights and immunities.  Thus ran the gracious
+expression of the royal pleasure:--"William the king greets William
+the bishop, and Godfrey the portreve, and all the burghers within
+London, French and English, friendly.  And I make known to you that I
+will that ye be law-worthy, as ye were in the days of King Edward.
+And I will, that each child be his father's heir after his father's
+days. And I will not suffer that any man command you any wrong.
+God keep you."
+
+The import of this charter was to make the citizens "free tenants,"
+reserving to the king the seigniory, or proprietary title.  The epithet
+"law-worthy" is equivalent to a declaration that they were freemen,
+for in the feudal ages none other were entitled to the forms of law;
+while the right of heirship apparently exempted them from the rule of
+primogeniture which prevailed among the Norman conquerors;--it is
+probable, however, that this exemption did not long hold good.
+In other respects the citizens of London continued to be governed by
+their own laws and usages, administered by their own magistrates after
+the ancient and established forms.  A nucleus of liberty was thus
+preserved amidst the tyrannical usurpations of the Norman barons, and
+the bold burgesses many a time stoutly resisted the encroachments that
+were attempted to be made on their hereditary rights.  At all periods
+of English history, indeed, have the citizens of London stepped
+forward as the champions of freedom, and shown themselves the
+incorruptible guardians of the public interests.  Never at any time,
+however, was there greater necessity for a sturdy bulwark against the
+growing power of the oligarchy than at the present moment.  Little by
+little--or, rather, by rapid strides--does the Government seek to get
+within its grasp the control of every department of the commonwealth.
+To-day, the East-India Company is abolished, for the sake of the
+"better government of India;" to-morrow, the Corporation is to be
+"reformed," for the "better government" of the City; the day after,
+some other long-established institution will be swept away.
+There is nothing so repugnant to a ministry as whatever savours of
+self-government; for how.  in that case can the "Dowbs" be provided
+for? So long as the citizens manage their own affairs, there is no
+patronage at the disposal of ministers to bestow on a faithful or a
+wavering partisan.  Young "honourables" and other needy scions of the
+governing classes have little ambition to undertake civic duties,
+while they are only onerous and expensive.  Let the wedge be first
+applied.  Let "reform" worm its way into the constitution of the
+Corporation, and then by degrees the whole edifice may gradually be
+subverted.  Stipendiary magistracies and paid offices of any kind,
+if not too laborious, are always acceptable for sons, nephews, cousins,
+and influential supporters.  The danger from this quarter is in truth
+greater than when Norman William had the island prostrate at his feet,
+and when the liberties of the City hung upon his word.  That word went
+forth to save and to preserve.  The stern warrior respected the rights
+of the industrious burgesses, and by his wisdom paved the way for the
+future greatness of the metropolis.  But theoretical and doctrinaire
+statesmen are willing to risk all for the sake of consistency to
+certain arbitrary first principles, which do not apply to the spirit
+of the British people.
+
+The charter of William the Conqueror, the reader will have remarked,
+alludes in a very general manner to the liberties and privileges
+enjoyed by the City.  The first detailed and specific notice of their
+character occurs in the charter of Henry I.  In the early part of his
+reign, being anxious to fix himself securely in his seat, the usurper
+conveyed, or confirmed, a grant to the citizens to hold Middlesex to
+farm for the yearly rental of 300 pounds; to appoint their own sheriff
+and their own justiciar; to be exempt from various burdensome and
+vexatious taxes in force in other parts of the kingdom; to be free
+from all denominations of tolls, customs, passage, and lestage,
+throughout the kingdom and along the seaboard; and to possess many
+other equally important privileges.  This valuable charter was renewed
+by King Stephen, during whose stormy and troubled reign the metropolis
+enjoyed a degree of prosperity unknown to the rest of the kingdom.
+The comparative peace and security which distinguished the happy lot of
+the citizens of London, have been justly attributed to the maintenance
+of their ancient institutions, which may be said to have grown out of
+the habits, requirements, thoughts, and feelings characteristic of the
+Anglo-Saxon race.  Nor were the Londoners unconscious of their power,
+or ungrateful to their benefactor.  It was chiefly through their
+influence and exertions that the empress was finally driven out of the
+kingdom, and Stephen established on the throne.  Henry II. confirmed
+the purport of preceding charters, and added some further immunities,
+concluding with the declaration that their ancient customs and
+liberties were to be held as of inheritance from the king and his
+heirs.  They became, therefore, the property of the citizens, and were
+bequeathed from father to son, as a cherished heirloom.  It is true
+that under Richard I. they were exposed to some extortion, for which
+they received ample amends during the reign of his weak and inglorious
+successor.  Not only did they obtain five different charters
+confirmatory of their ancient privileges, together with the
+restoration of the sheriffwick, usurped by the last three monarchs,
+but also the first formal recognition of the mayoralty.  These favours,
+however, did not render them untrue to the general interests of the
+nation, or betray them into a corrupt acquiescence with the absolute
+tendencies of the Crown.  At that time, as at all others, while duly
+reverencing the royal prerogatives, they resolutely opposed themselves
+to the undue aggrandizement of the kingly power at the expense of the
+other estates of the realm.  It was within the precincts of the City,
+at the metropolitan church of St. Paul's, that the articles of Magma
+Charta were first proposed and accepted by acclamation, the citizens
+binding themselves by oath to defend and enforce them with their
+lives.  Nor was it for themselves alone that they were prepared to shed
+their blood.  Their solicitude extended to all other cities and towns
+throughout the kingdom, for the preservation of whose free customs and
+immunities they expressly stipulated.  During the long feeble reign of
+Henry III., no fewer than ten charters were granted to the citizens of
+London.  In the thirty-first year of that monarch, the mayor and
+commonalty of the City of London are mentioned for the first time as a
+corporate body, possessing a common seal.
+
+The reign of Edward I. was rendered memorable for the convocation of
+the first parliament of the freely-elected representatives of the
+people, for the purpose of voting the supplies necessary for the
+conduct of public affairs.  Previously to this, grants of money were
+usually obtained through the personal influence of the barons over the
+cities and towns held in demesne.  The burgesses, however, did not sit
+with the knights of shires, but apart by themselves, and, through
+loyalty or obsequiousness, assessed themselves in a contribution
+nearly one third greater than that granted by the barons and knights.
+The convenient precedent was not overlooked, and it became henceforth
+customary to expect the like liberality from subsequent parliaments.
+At this period, also, the principal divisions of the city were first
+denominated wards; these wards were presided over by an alderman,
+assisted by a council chosen by the inhabitants of each division.  In
+the twelfth year of his reign, Edward, incensed by what he considered
+the disrespectful conduct of the civic magistrates, disfranchised the
+city, and governed it for twelve years through means of a custos.
+The experiment, however, did not answer, and the king was glad to
+restore the liberties of the City on payment of a heavy fine.
+At a later period, the mayor and sheriffs successfully resisted a
+second attempt to infringe on the privileges of the citizens.
+Under the second Edward, London continued to maintain its ascendancy
+over all the other cities in the kingdom, and it was now for the first
+time authentically ordained, that no person should be held to enjoy
+civic freedom unless he were a member of some trade or "mystery,"
+or admitted by full assent of the commonalty assembled.
+
+Two remarkable incidents marked the reign of Edward III. in connection
+with the City of London; the Lord Mayor was now constituted, by royal
+charter, one of the judges of oyer and terminer and gaol-delivery at
+Newgate.  The ancient trading gilds also became developed into the
+present livery companies, so called, because a peculiar uniform was
+chosen by each.  They were then likewise denominated crafts or mysteries,
+their president being styled a warden; the title of alderman being now
+reserved for the chief magistrates of wards.  It may, too, be worthy
+of note that, in the 28th year of this reign the city serjeants
+received permission, when engaged in their official duties, and on
+great ceremonial occasions, to bear maces of gold or silver, with the
+royal or other arms thereon.  We are told that this was considered a
+most flattering distinction, and that the mace-bearer, by virtue of
+his office, was deemed an esquire.
+
+So gladly did our valiant and victorious kings of the olden times
+avail themselves of every opportunity to do honour to the liberality,
+courage, and fidelity of the wealthy and intelligent burgesses of
+London.
+
+After various unsuccessful attempts to establish a representative form
+of government, it was at length decided, in the seventh year of
+Richard II., at a special convocation of the whole community of
+citizens, that there should be both a deliberative and an elective
+assembly.  The latter, of course, consisted of the aggregate body of
+citizens, anciently designated immensa communitas, or folkmote, who
+were annually to elect four persons at the wardmote for each ward to
+represent the commonalty on all occasions of a deliberative nature.
+During the early part of this reign the City of London had no reason
+to complain of any lack of royal favour.  Afterwards, however, Richard
+was guilty of many attempts at extortion, and even seized upon the
+franchises of the City, on the pretext of a riot, notwithstanding that
+the first charter of his grandfather, Edward III., had debarred such
+forfeiture as the consequence of individual misconduct.  These acts of
+oppression very naturally and justly alienated the attachment of the
+Londoners, and prepared them to give a hearty welcome to Bolingbroke.
+This good-feeling was maintained throughout the reign of Henry IV., who
+testified his gratitude by the grant of several valuable privileges.
+A like cordial understanding between the citizens and their sovereign
+existed under Henry V., and the City, in consequence, increased in
+opulence, population, and influence.  Guildhall was built, and the
+streets were lighted at night by public lanterns.  The halcyon days,
+however, of the City of London must be referred to the reign of the
+fourth Edward.  The citizens never wavered in their attachment to his
+fortunes, nor did that gay and gallant monarch ever exhibit any
+coldness of feeling--at least, towards their fair dames.  Of Richard III.
+it is unnecessary to speak, and even of Henry VII there is little
+to be said, save that he never omitted an opportunity of fleecing the
+citizens and replenishing his exchequer.
+
+Under Henry VIII. the City of London earned the honourable distinction
+of being the only body of men in the realm who dared to resist the
+king's systematic abuse of the royal power.  Henry had revived the
+unconstitutional practice of imposing taxes without the consent of the
+Commons; but the citizens opposed his illegal demands with such
+resolution that he was compelled to desist for the time and to proceed
+with greater caution for the future.  Another distinguishing feature of
+this reign was the profuse extravagance of the citizens on ceremonial
+occasions.  The chronicles of the period teem with marvellous
+descriptions of the pomp and pageantry displayed whenever a royal or
+illustrious personage honoured the City with a visit.  In modern times
+this semi-barbarous love of ostentation has been superseded by a
+genial and dignified hospitality, that has tended in no slight degree
+to increase the fame and influence of that important quarter of the
+metropolis.  Each successive sovereign of this great empire has
+accepted with grateful pride the magnificent demonstrations of loyalty
+tendered by the faithful burgesses.  Foreign potentates and ambassadors
+have equally deemed it an honour to receive the congratulations of
+these princely traders at their sumptuous banquets, celebrated
+throughout the world.  The ministers of the day feel their position to
+be insecure until it has been ratified by the acclamations of the
+citizens, and the hospitable attentions of the civic magistrates.
+Statesmen and warriors, poets and historians, men of thought and men
+of action, are all stimulated to exertion by the honourable hope of
+being distinguished by the burgesses of London, and enrolled in the
+lists of freemen.  On such occasions the city magnates hold high
+festival, and by their graceful hospitality inspire every breast with
+generous sympathy.  Formal and priggish persons are said to exist who
+object to the cost of such entertainments, and, in the spirit of
+Judas, ask why, instead of purchasing these dainty cates, the money is
+not distributed among the poor.  Is it possible that they do not
+perceive that every farthing spent on these stately banquets finds its
+way into general circulation, benefiting almost every branch of trade,
+and giving employment to thousands of artisans? To hear them speak,
+one would suppose that the cook and the butler alone profited by such
+occasions, whereas it is strictly and literally true that not a single
+gala takes place in the City without the circulating medium
+percolating through every warehouse, magazine, shop, and stall within
+the Bills of Mortality.  Independently of this consideration, these
+civic feasts are symbols of those great old Saxon institutions which
+have made England the home and guardian of liberty.  Our hearty and
+large-souled ancestors never dreamed of weighing every miserable coin,
+or of stinting the measure of their generous wines or foaming ale.
+They gave not less to the poor because they delighted to honour the
+brave and good, or to greet one another in the loving cup.  Unlike the
+coldly intellectual reformers and theorists of the present day, they
+did not consider the gaol and the workhouse as the only asylums for
+poverty.  They were men of feeling and kindly impulse, not of abstract
+principles.  They gave their cheerful alms to the mendicants, and
+spread a bounteous board for their neighbours.  Fools that they were!
+How is it that they did not recognize the mendicant to be an impostor
+and a drone, or bethink them that the money with which they feasted
+their neighbour might have purchased a field? It was because they were
+warm-hearted, warm-blooded men, and not mere calculating machines.
+They were glorious creatures, with thews and sinews, and they made
+their country great and powerful among the nations of the world; but
+they never paused to denounce the cost of a dinner, or to grudge a
+flowing bowl to their kinsfolk and neighbours.  Besides, our Pharisees
+of reform conveniently forget that the copious banquets at which they
+turn up their envious eyes are mostly defrayed from private funds.
+The sheriffs, for instance, derive no aid from public moneys; their own
+fortunes provide the means for handsomely entertaining friends and
+strangers, and for dispensing open-handed charity.  The Lord Mayor
+himself almost invariably draws upon his own resources to a large
+amount, in order to maintain the ancient reputation and actual present
+influence of the City of London.  Demolish Gog and Magog, put down the
+civic banquets, break up and melt down the weighty and many-linked
+chains of solid gold round the neck of my lord mayor and the sheriffs,
+strip off the aldermen's gowns, make a bonfire of the gilded
+carriages, wring, if you will, the necks of both swans and cygnets.
+It is all vanity and vexation.  Man is an intellectual animal: he wants
+none of these gewgaws.  Alas! Wisdom may cry aloud in the streets, but
+no one will heed her words if she speaks beyond his comprehension.
+In theory, these Pecksniffs of retrenchment might possibly be correct
+if mankind had attained the same degree of marble indifference with
+themselves.  In the mean time, while we are honest and true, it is good
+to be merry and wise.
+
+Passing lightly over the intervening reigns, we now arrive at that of
+James I., who granted three very valuable charters to the Corporation
+of London.  The first alludes to the immemorial right of the mayor and
+commonalty to the conservancy of the Thames, and to the metage of all
+coals, grain, salt, fruit, vegetables, and other merchandise sold by
+measure, delivered at the port of London.  Of the exact nature of these
+privileges and of their beneficial operation, so far as public
+interests are concerned, we shall have occasion to speak hereafter,
+merely premising in this place that they have been enjoyed "from time
+whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contrary." The second
+charter, after confirming former liberties, enlarges the limits of the
+civic jurisdiction and ordains that the mayor, recorder, and two
+aldermen, shall be justices of oyer and terminer.  The third one is
+simply an amplification of the preceding two, and clears up various
+doubts as to the weighing and measuring of coals: both offices are
+granted or confirmed.
+
+The tyrannical and oppressive treatment of the citizens of London by
+Charles I. is too well known to need more than a passing allusion.
+Not only did he imprison the aldermen for refusing to act dishonourably
+towards their fellow-citizens; not only did he make illegal demands
+and impose arbitrary fines, but he even deprived them of the right of
+petition and remonstrance.  Such despotic conduct could not do
+otherwise than alienate the affection of those who had previously
+displayed many proofs of their loyalty to the Crown and attachment to
+the royal person.  The City consequently made common cause with the
+Parliament, freely expending both blood and treasure in defence of the
+national freedom.  Who has mot read with kindling cheeks how the bold
+'prentices, armed only with spears, withstood a furious charge of the
+fiery Rupert at the head of his gallant cavaliers?  But though prepared
+to resist the abuse of the royal prerogative, the citizens were not
+disposed to transfer their allegiance to a usurper, who, in the name
+of liberty, trampled liberty under foot.  Accordingly we find them
+consistently opposed to the military absolutism of Cromwell, and among
+the first to co-operate with Monk in effecting the restoration to the
+throne of the royal line of Stuart.
+
+The Stuarts, however, like the Bourbons, were incapable of benefiting
+by the lessons of adversity.  It was not long before "the merry
+monarch" was involved in most unmirthful disputes with the citizens,
+whom he endeavoured to deprive of their ancient right to elect their
+own sheriffs.  For the moment he partially succeeded, and, encouraged
+by this success, formed the design of seizing the charters of every
+corporate borough in the kingdom.  The chief difficulty rested with
+London: if that could be overcome, the smaller cities would fall an
+easy prey.  The law officers of the Crown were accordingly instructed
+to make out a case to sanction the forfeiture of the city charters.
+A double pretext was soon invented.  It was stated that nine years
+before, the Common Council had levied a new scale of tolls on the
+public markets rebuilt after the great fire, and at a more recent
+period had printed a libellous petition impugning the king's justice.
+On these slender pleas a writ of quo warranto was taken out against
+the City, and the judges, under the undoubted influence of the Court,
+pronounced sentence of forfeiture, although a charter of the 7th
+Richard II. expressly provides against any forfeiture of the City's
+liberties notwithstanding any abuse of them whatsoever.  This
+exhibition of violence so terrified the other corporations of the
+kingdom, that most of them at once tendered the surrender of their
+franchises, with the ignominious hope of obtaining better terms for
+themselves.  James II. walked in the steps of his brother, and showed
+even greater determination to destroy the liberties of the nation.
+The disaffection of his subjects and the landing of the Prince of Orange
+warned him, when too late, that he had gone too far.  Anxious to make
+friends in his hour of extremest peril, he despatched the infamous
+Jefferies to Guildhall to announce the restoration of the ancient
+privileges of the City.  But the citizens were not thus to be cajoled.
+No sooner had the king set out to join his forces, than the Court of
+Aldermen declared themselves in favour of the Prince of Orange, as the
+champion of civil and religious freedom.  The Lord Mayor, the aldermen,
+and fifty common councillors, had a seat and voice in the convention
+which pronounced the deposition of James, and the elevation to the
+throne of William and Mary.  The first act of the nation was to
+establish and perpetuate a constitutional form of government, and this
+was accomplished by passing the famous statute known as the Bill of
+Rights.  Experience had proved the vital importance of placing the
+privileges of the City of London beyond the caprice of the sovereign
+and the possibility of a coup d'etat.  It was therefore declared by
+Parliament that the judgment passed on the quo warranto of Charles II.
+was unjust and illegal, and that all the proceedings in the case were
+informal and void.  It was further enacted, "that the mayor,
+commonalty, and citizens, should for ever thereafter remain a body
+corporate and politic, without any seizure or forejudger, or being
+thereof excluded or ousted, upon any pretence of forfeiture or
+misdemeanour whatsoever, theretofore or thereafter to be done,
+committed, or suffered." The constitution of the corporation was
+nevertheless subsequently violated by the statute of 11 Geo. I., which
+conferred on the livery the elective franchises exercised in common
+hall.  By a still more recent act, 12 & 13 Victoria, the right of
+voting in the election of aldermen and common councilmen has been
+further extended and enlarged.  It was then enacted that that privilege
+should belong to every freeman of the City rated at 10 pounds per annum
+to the police or any other rate, and registered among the voters for the
+city of London at elections of members to serve in Parliament.  Still
+greater innovations are now in contemplation, in violation of law and
+usage, and in defiance of prescriptive right, royal charters, and
+parliamentary statutes.
+
+Audax omnia perpeti, Gens humana ruit per vetitum nefas.*
+
+* The materials for this slight sketch have been gathered from
+Norton's "History and Franchises of the City of London;" Dr. Brady's
+learned dissertation on Boroughs; and Herbert's "History of the Twelve
+Livery Companies."
+
+
+
+PART I.
+
+THE CORPORATION AS IT IS.
+
+The Municipal Constitution--Lord Mayor--Aldermen--Court of Common
+Council--Citizens--The Livery Companies--Sheriffs--Law Courts--Public
+Charities--Conservancy of the Thames--Metage Dues.
+
+In the preceding hasty sketch it has been attempted to trace the rise
+of London from being the bazaar to a Roman camp to its present
+position as the capital of the commercial world.  It is now worth while
+to glance at the nature of the municipal institutions through which it
+has attained such a proud ascendancy.*
+
+* The authority chiefly consulted for the following statements is
+Pulling's "Practical Treatise on the Laws, Customs, Usages, and
+Regulations of the City and Port of London."
+
+Strictly speaking, London cannot be said to possess any original
+charter, or specific definition of its rights and franchises.  Those
+conferred since the Conquest, without exception, allude directly or
+indirectly to preceding documents of a similar nature.  In fact the
+customs and usages of the City grew out of the ancient Saxon
+institutions, grafted, as they were, on the Roman municipal stock.
+The City of London represents a county, and as such is divided into
+hundreds, called wards; each having its own wardmote, presided over by
+its own alderman.  The Lord Mayor, the Court of Aldermen, and the
+Court of Common Council, together with the incorporated guilds which
+elect the civic magistrates, form the municipal constitution.
+
+In ancient times the chief civic magistrate was styled the Reve,
+or Portreve, but in 1207 John changed this title to that of Mayor.
+The appellation of Lord was first prefixed in the fourth charter of
+Edward III., when the honour of having gold or silver maces borne
+before him was conferred on the "Lord Mayor," who ranked moreover as
+an earl.  His duties are multiplex and ubiquitous.  In his own person
+he represents all the rights and privileges of the Corporation.  He is
+said to hold the same relation to the City as the Crown does to the
+rest of the kingdom.  He is chief butler at the coronation of the
+sovereign, lord-lieutenant of the county of London, clerk of the
+markets, gauger of wine and oil, meter of coals and grain, salt and
+fruit, conservator of the Thames, admiral of the port, justice of gaol
+delivery for Newgate, chairman of every committee he attends, and
+subject to many other burdens.  The election of Lord Mayor takes place
+on the 29th September, when the livery usually nominate the two senior
+aldermen who have not passed the chair; of these the senior is generally
+chosen by the Court of Aldermen.  The chain of office is then placed
+round his neck, and he himself presented to the Lord Chancellor.
+He does not, however, immediately enter upon his important duties,
+but remains in a chrysalis form, under the title of Lord Mayor elect,
+until the 8th of November, when he takes the oath of office, at the
+Guildhall, and on the following day is presented to the Barons of the
+Exchequer, at Westminster, for the confirmation of the Crown.
+The annual salary is 8,000 pounds, which rarely suffices to meet the
+incessant demands on the Lord Mayor's charity and hospitality.
+He is expected to contribute to every charitable institution within
+his jurisdiction, and to a great many beyond it, and to head every
+subscription for praiseworthy purposes.  His private alms also amount
+to a very large sum, and his hospitality is proverbial.
+He represents, in short, the best phase of the old feudal baron,
+or rather of the Saxon eorl, exercising a paternal and beneficient
+supervision over all who reside within the limits of his authority.
+
+The Aldermen.
+
+Among the Anglo-Saxons the title of alderman was regarded as one of
+the most honourable distinctions to which a freeman could aspire.
+After a time, however, it was conferred with somewhat too liberal
+courtesy on nearly every individual vested with authority.
+The presidents of district guilds were especially known by this
+designation, which they afterwards monopolized when the guilds became
+raised into wards or hundreds of the city.  The aldermen then partially
+recovered their former dignity, and in the charter of Henry I. are
+mentioned as barons.  The position and authority of an alderman, though
+they have much declined since the olden times, are still a reasonable
+object of ambition.  He is a justice of the peace, as well as the
+presiding officer of his ward, and, by virtue of his office, a member
+of the Court of Common Council; but it is rather in their collective
+than their individual capacity that their power and usefulness are
+most conspicuous.  Independently of their judicial duties, the Court of
+Aldermen constitute the executive department of the Corporation; with
+them rests the cognizance of the return of every civic officer elected
+at a wardmote court, and also of the election of common-councillors.
+They swear in brokers and other officers, and investigate the validity
+of claims to civic freedom.  For the proper discharge of these and
+similar duties, they are singularly adapted through their local
+knowledge, which is likewise of material service to her Majesty's
+judges at the Central Criminal Court.  This circumstance further
+renders them most efficient as city magistrates,--far more so,
+indeed, than any police or stipendiary magistrate could ever hope to be.
+Personally acquainted with the inhabitants of their respective
+wards, they are in a position to obtain peculiar and authentic
+information as to the characters, habits, and motives of witnesses,
+accusers, and accused.  Their devotion to public business is wholly
+disinterested, for there are no pecuniary emoluments attached to the
+office, which has truly little to recommend it, save as being a sphere
+of active utility, and as a gratifying token of the good-will of one's
+fellow-citizens.  The proper style of the Court is the "Court of the
+Mayor and Aldermen in the Inner Chamber." It consists of the Lord
+Mayor or his deputy--an alderman who has passed the chair--and not
+less than twelve other aldermen.  The proceedings of the Court are
+entered in journals called "Repertories," which are kept in the
+muniment-room.  The Recorder, the Steward of Southwark, the Clerk to
+the Lord Mayor, the keepers, governors, chaplains, and surgeons of the
+different prisons, and other officers of the Corporation, are elected
+by this Court, which, for assiduity, intelligence, and
+incorruptibility, yields to no body of men in the kingdom.
+
+Court of Common Council.
+
+But however distinguished may be the civic position, however great the
+moral influence, of the Lord Mayor and the Court of Aldermen, the
+controlling power is, after all, centred in the Common Council.  At a
+very remote period the freemen of the City were accustomed to meet in
+general assembly, and to act as one body.  As their numbers increased,
+the many inconveniences of such a mode of proceeding soon became
+manifest; and so early as the reign of the first Edward
+representatives began to be chosen from each ward for the despatch of
+real business.  At first the guilds, or trading companies, claimed the
+right of election as their exclusive privilege, and consequently
+excited the jealousy of the mass of the inhabitants.  It was therefore
+arranged that the men of each guild or "mystery" should choose their
+own delegates from among themselves, and this was the more easily
+accomplished, as at that time each craft occupied a separate quarter,
+as is still the custom in the East.  This arrangement, however, was of
+brief duration, and a more permanent settlement was effected in the
+reign of Richard II.  It was then agreed that every ward should
+annually elect four of the most efficient persons in the ward to sit
+in the Common Council for the following year, and whose names should
+be presented to the mayor --that high functionary being charged to
+accept no more than eight members of any one "mystery" for the whole
+city.  As the wards varied in extent and population, it was further
+agreed that the larger wards should return six councillors, and the
+smaller four or two, according to their sufficiency.  The number of the
+Common Council was then fixed at 96 members, but gradually increased
+to the present number of 206, who are chosen as follows:-
+
+Bassishaw and Lime Street each return 4; Dowgate, Candlewick,
+Cordwainers, Cornhill, Queenhithe, Vintry, and Walbrook, 6; Bread
+Street, Bridge, Billingsgate, Broad Street, Cheap, Coleman Street,
+Cripplegate Within, and Cripplegate Without, Tower, Langbourn, Castle
+Baynard, Aldersgate, Aldgate, and Portsoken, 8; Bishopsgate and
+Farringdon-within, 14; and Farringdon-without, 16.  These true
+representatives of the citizens constitute the Court of Common
+Council, under the style and title of "Court of the Lord Mayor,
+Aldermen, and Commoners of the City of London in Common Council
+assembled." It requires the presence of the Lord Mayor, or his
+deputy--an alderman who has passed the chair--two aldermen and
+thirty-eight common councilmen, to make a quorum.  There are usually
+twelve ordinary meetings in the year, and on an average thirteen
+extraordinary meetings, convened for special purposes by a requisition
+to the Lord Mayor signed by seven members.  The proceedings are
+conducted as nearly as possible according to the routine of the House
+of Commons, and embrace a vast variety of subjects of local and
+sometimes national importance.  The Court has a double function
+--legislative and executive.  In the former capacity it enacts by-laws
+for the better government of the Corporation, in conformity with
+immemorial usage confirmed by 15 Edward III., and again more recently
+and fully by the Municipal Corporations Act.  The charter of Edward III.
+authorizes the mayor and aldermen, with the assent of the commonalty,
+"where any customs theretofore used and obtained proved hard or
+defective, or any matters newly arising within the City needed
+amendment, and no remedy had been previously provided, to apply and
+ordain a convenient remedy, as often as it should seem expedient; so
+that the same were agreeable to good faith and reason, for the common
+advantage of the citizens, and other liege subjects sojourning with
+them, and useful to king and people." Vested with such powers as
+these, the Corporation of London are clearly competent to introduce
+whatever reforms circumstances may render desirable.  As practical men
+of business, the Court of Common Council may fairly be supposed to be
+the best judges as to the nature of the amendments to be made, and the
+right time of making them.  Persons engaged in commercial pursuits are
+not usually obstructive, or opposed to useful innovations.  On the
+contrary, being wedded to no theories, they are constantly impelled to
+change, and to act upon each emergency as it arises.  The past history
+of the City of London is one long illustration of this position,--it
+is an uninterrupted series of reforms, many of them rather beneficial
+to the nation at large than to the Corporation itself.  On what grounds,
+then, is it justifiable to supersede this salutary internal action of
+the Corporation, and to exercise the arbitrary power of the
+legislature to enforce crude and inapplicable innovations?
+This interference with the self-government of the City is, in fact,
+a vote of censure on the duly elected representatives of the citizens,
+with whom the majority of the citizens themselves are, however,
+perfectly satisfied.  But, in truth, that "self-government" is the
+head and front of their offence, for is it not a stumbling-block to
+ministerial and oligarchical influence?  In addition to the power of
+enacting by-laws, the Common Council superintend the disposal of the
+funds of the Corporation; and without their previous consent no larger
+sum than 100 pounds can be paid for any purpose whatsoever.
+Their executive functions are also considerable.  Upon this court
+depends the responsibility of electing the common serjeant, the town
+clerk, the two judges, and officers of the Sheriffs' Court, the clerk
+of the peace, the coroner, the remembrancer, the commissioner of the
+city police, and various other officers of inferior note and standing.
+
+The Citizens.
+
+The "complete" citizen may be defined as a ten-pound householder,
+paying scot and bearing lot.  The freedom of the City is not, however,
+attainable by simple residence.  It is to be acquired only by three
+modes--by patrimony, by apprenticeship, or by redemption.  A royal
+charter, even, is insufficient to make the grantee free of the City.
+The freedom of the City is not confined to the male sex.  Freewomen
+are called free sisters, but cannot transmit their freedom, which is,
+moreover, suspended during coverture.  Freedom by service is acquired
+by a seven years' apprenticeship to a freeman or freewoman, the
+indenture being enrolled at the Chamberlain's office within twelve
+months of its execution.  The apprentice need not necessarily be
+articled to a member of any guild, fraternity, or trading company, but
+he must not be the son of an alien.  Freedom by redemption, or
+purchase, is of a threefold nature:--1st.  It may take the form of a
+fine for any breach of the apprenticeship indentures; 2nd.  It is
+often bestowed as an honorary distinction on individuals eminent for
+their public services; and 3rd.  Admission to the freedom of the City
+is by presentment by persons entitled to confer that privilege.  It is
+imperative on all persons elected to a corporate office, or "occupying
+premises and carrying on any trade, business, or profession, within
+the City and its liberties," to become free of the City.  This is done
+by the payment of the fees of the officers and of 5 pounds to the
+Corporation.  The advantages of the freedom, though not so great in
+the present day as in ancient times, are still considerable.  Besides
+being a bond of union and mutual protection, it entitles its possessor
+to a vote at the elections of the aldermen and the common council of
+the ward.  Only freemen can act as brokers, or, indeed, carry on any
+trade within the boundaries of the City.
+
+The Companies.
+
+As the City of London waxed mighty and opulent, proportionate was the
+increase of the wealth and importance of its component parts.  The
+humble guilds or crafts gradually developed themselves into large and
+influential trading companies, to belong to which was deemed an honour
+not beneath the consideration of royalty.  Edward III., for instance,
+did not disdain to be enrolled in the Worshipful Company of Linen
+Armourers, now Merchant Tailors; and his example was followed by his
+successor, Richard II. The example, indeed, was contagious, for in the
+reign of the latter monarch the company in question could boast of the
+fellowship of four royal dukes, ten earls, ten barons, and five
+bishops.  The custom has come down to our own times, and the proudest
+names in the aristocracy are recorded in the books of the City
+companies.  The presidents of these crafts or mysteries were styled
+Wardens, who were assisted by a small number of delegates of the guild
+in presenting to the City Chamberlain all defaults against the rules
+and ordinances of the mystery.  These companies were not all equally
+regarded by either the sovereign or the citizens.  Towards the close of
+the reign of Edward II. the more important companies separated from
+the less wealthy; and this distinction was soon so far recognized,
+that precedency was given to the following twelve companies:-
+1. Mercers; 2.  Grocers; 3.  Drapers; 4.  Fishmongers; 5.  Goldsmiths;
+6. Skinners; 7.  Merchant Tailors; 8.  Haberdashers; 9.  Salters; 10.
+Ironmongers; 11.  Vintners; 12.  Cloth workers.  In these companies the
+freemen from early times have been of two classes; the upper, entitled
+to wear the "livery" or uniform of the company; and the lower,
+consisting mostly of workmen.  The representatives of the companies
+were chosen from the former, and are mentioned in the charters as
+probi homines.  In the fifteenth year of Edward IV. the Common Council
+enacted, that the masters, wardens, and probi homines of the several
+mysteries should repair to the Guildhall in their last liveries, for
+the purpose of electing the Lord Mayor, sheriffs, and other civic
+officers; and that the members of the Common Council should be the
+only other persons present.  This court now consists of the Lord Mayor
+or his deputy--an alderman who has passed the chair--four aldermen,
+and the liverymen of the companies who are also freemen.  Their office
+is to elect the Lord Mayor, sheriffs, chamberlain, bridge-master, and
+auditors of the City and Bridge-house accounts, and the four ale-conners.
+The official style of the court is, "A Meeting or Assembly of the Mayor,
+Aldermen, and Liverymen of the several Companies of the City of London
+in Common Hall assembled." The franchise is confined to liverymen of a
+year's standing, who have paid their livery fines in full, without
+receiving any drawback or allowance.  The mode of proceeding is by a
+show of hands, but a poll may be demanded by any of the candidates, or
+by two electors.
+
+The Sheriffs.
+
+The office of Sheriff has somewhat fallen from its ancient "high
+estate." According to Stow, they were formerly "the mayor's eyes,
+seeing and supporting part of the case, which the person of the mayor
+is not alone sufficient to bear." In olden times the sheriffs were
+always conjoined with the mayor and aldermen in proclamations
+requiring them to preserve the peace of the City.  From a very remote
+period the right of electing these officers belonged to the citizens,
+and later charters acknowledge and confirm the privilege.  Henry I.
+granted to them to hold Middlesex to farm, for 300 pounds a year, and
+to appoint their own sheriff; while the second charter of John confirms
+to them the sheriffwick of London and Middlesex at the rent or farm of
+300 pounds, "blank sterling money," and declares that they "shall make
+amongst themselves sheriffs whom they will, and remove them when they
+will." In those times this was a very important privilege, for the
+sheriff, or shire-reve, as the king's bailiff, was possessed of
+extraordinary powers, which he usually exercised in a very corrupt and
+oppressive manner.  The sheriffs of London are the sheriff of
+Middlesex; in the former capacity they are addressed in the plural, in
+the latter in the singular.  Though shorn of its beams, the office of
+Sheriff is still a highly honourable one, nor are the duties light or
+unimportant which devolve upon these functionaries.  The honour,
+moreover, is as costly as it is onerous; not only do the sheriffs
+receive no salary, but they are conventionally expected to disburse
+several thousand pounds in charities and hospitality.  The inspection
+of the city gaols occupies no small portion of their time, nor do they
+enjoy much intermission from the incessant demands for eleemosynary
+aid.  That an office so costly and troublesome should be an object of
+competition, is certainly a striking proof of the disinterested and
+patriotic spirit of the citizens of London.
+
+The Law Courts.
+
+With characteristic love of fair play, our ancestors laid it down as a
+leading principle, that "justice should be administered at every man's
+own door, in the presence of his neighbours." It is, indeed, a primary
+element of good government, that the dispensation of justice should be
+prompt and inexpensive, and without favour of persons.  With the
+exception of the City of London, however, and a few other privileged
+places, the local tribunals were gradually superseded through the
+centralizing action of the superior courts.  But even in London the
+civic franchises have been seriously diminished through the ruling of
+those courts that the privilege claimed by the citizens to be sued
+only before their own local tribunals is confined to real, and does
+not extend to transitory actions.
+
+The highest court of civic judicature was the Hustings Court, so
+called from the Saxon word hustings, signifying the "house of things,"
+or causes.  It was presided over by the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, but
+the proceedings were actually conducted, and judgment pronounced, by
+the Recorder.  All real and mixed cases, saving ejectment, fell within
+the province of this court, which was held at Guildhall on every
+alternate Tuesday.  This court, however, though not formally abolished,
+does not now sit, and all the business formerly transacted at it is
+transferred to the Lord Mayor Court and the City Small Debts Court.
+In ancient times, the registration of deeds, wills, and titles to land,
+belonged also to this court, and the record in the Hustings of a sale
+or purchase of lands was deemed a sufficient voucher.  It has been
+suggested that, as the necessity of a proper system of registration of
+the sale or mortgage of real property is becoming daily more evident,
+the machinery for accomplishing that purpose is afforded by the Court
+of Hustings, so far, at least, as the City is concerned.  Practically,
+the most important court, however, at the present day, is the Lord
+Mayor's Court, or Court of Aldermen of the Outer Chamber.  As in the
+Hustings Court, the actual judge is the Recorder, though the Lord
+Mayor and Aldermen are supposed to preside.  In some respects, this
+court is one of equity, with the advantage over the Court of Chancery
+of being at the same time more expeditious, quite as equitable, and
+far less expensive.  As a court of common law, it takes cognizance of
+all personal and mixed actions, without exception, and in its
+operations and bearings is altogether a striking example of the
+benefits incidental to local self-government.  The Sheriffs' Court of
+the City of London for the recovery of small debts is also admirably
+adapted to the requirements of a free commercial people, and is of
+inestimable value to the small tradesmen of London.
+
+Public Charities.
+
+The monastic institutions in Roman Catholic countries provide for, and
+thereby foster, a large amount of idle and reckless habits.  Previous
+to the Reformation, this was certainly the case in England.  Not only
+the sick, the maimed, and the accidentally necessitous were fed and
+clothed,--the same indiscriminating charity was extended to those far
+less worthy of the sympathy of their fellow-creatures.  On the
+suppression of conventual establishments, it would have fared badly
+with the deserving poor in London had not the Corporation stepped
+forward to help them.  At present, the princely sum of 10,000 pounds
+is annually disbursed from the corporate funds in contributions to
+various hospitals, asylums, schools, dispensaries, and local
+charities; but even this large sum of money would be inadequate to the
+purpose, were it not supplemented by the individual munificence of the
+citizens.  The Lord Mayor, the Sheriffs, the Aldermen, and the other
+civic dignitaries vie with one another in an open-handed liberality,
+which asks no other condition than that the recipient shall actually
+stand in need of aid, and be worthy of relief and assistance.  It is
+much to be feared, however, that with the declining influence of the
+Corporation, the stream of private charity will also dry up.
+The continued payment of the 10,000 pounds a year may, indeed, be
+secured by Act of Parliament; but no Act of Parliament can alter human
+nature.  Proud of their position as the chosen delegates and
+representatives of their fellow-citizens, among whom they and their
+fathers have lived for generations, the City potentates have, of their
+abundance, contributed lavishly and without stint to every local
+institution deserving of sympathy and support.  And not only these,
+but the livery companies likewise have given lordly amounts to
+charitable establishments both within and without the City liberties,
+and have founded schools in many distant parts of the kingdom.
+But if the Corporation is to be "reformed" after the manner of
+Sir George Grey and his coadjutors--if the esprit de corps, which is
+now so beneficially and beneficently exhibited, is to be suppressed,
+what reasonable hope remains that men who have been arbitrarily
+deprived of all real interest in City matters will still devote their
+time, their energies, and their fortunes to purposes which only
+remunerate them with toil, anxiety, and personal discomfort?
+The inevitable tendency of the proposed Bill is to reduce the entire
+administration of the City to a dull, heartless routine.  Step by step
+the continental system of home government is being insinuated into
+this hitherto free country. Yet a few years of unchecked progress in
+that direction, and it will be proposed to appoint crown officers to
+preside over county and town, city and borough.  The approaches to
+absolute power, under the less alarming title of centralization,
+though insidious, have long been apparent to all who study the
+workings of system-mongers.  Unless a vigorous stand be now made
+against these continued encroachments of ministerial and oligarchical
+influence, the middle classes will, ere long, have to content
+themselves with being literally a "nation of shopkeepers," without any
+object of honourable ambition in view, without any hope of obtaining
+distinction and eminence in the annals of their country, and reduced
+to the one narrow pursuit of "making money." Are the free burgesses of
+London prepared thus to sacrifice their birthright to gratify the whim
+or envy of a Whig ex-minister?
+
+Conservancy of the Thames.
+
+To the disciples of the modern doctrine that ancient charters were
+given only to be abolished, and parliamentary statutes enacted only to
+be repealed, it is idle to state that the first charter of James I.
+acknowledged that the conservation of the water of the Thames had been
+held time out of mind by the mayor and commonalty.  Those, however, who
+still reverence the ancient landmarks, and regard with respect the
+honest feelings and manly wisdom of their ancestors, will not treat so
+lightly claims derived from immemorial usage and prescriptive right.
+>From time, then, "whereof the memory of man runneth not to the
+contrary," the conservancy of the Thames has been one of the duties
+and privileges of the mayoralty of the City of London.  The
+jurisdiction of the Thames conservator extends from Staines Bridge to
+Yendall or Yenleet, and from Colemouth Creek to Cockham Wood in the
+Medway, including every bank, shore, and wharf within those limits.
+The duties of the office are to remove all wears and other
+obstructions, to prevent the construction of piers or wharfs
+calculated to impede the navigation of the river, to protect the
+fisheries, and generally to take care that neither the channel nor the
+banks suffer injury through the malice or heedlessness of individuals,
+or from accidental causes.  This department of the corporate
+administration is at present intrusted to the Navigation Committee,
+annually selected from the Court of Common Council, who make
+periodical excursions on the river, and judge with their own eyes as
+to what is desirable to be done or avoided.  No doubt these functions
+could be discharged by a government officer, the friend or relative of
+a man of parliamentary influence, and equally without doubt this
+consideration is likely to carry more weight in the House of Commons
+than any claims derived from immemorial usage and centuries of
+beneficial operation.
+
+The Metage Dues.
+
+The same charter of James I. which confirmed the ancient right of the
+mayor and commonalty of London to the conservation of the water of the
+Thames, declares that the citizens are equally, and on the same
+grounds, entitled to exercise the office of measuring all coals,
+cereals, fruits, vegetables, salt, and other merchandise sold by
+measure, brought to the port of London.  In the beginning, this
+privilege arose out of the necessity of ascertaining the exact
+quantity of these articles actually imported into the City, in order
+fairly to collect the king's customs.  It has since been found mutually
+beneficial to all parties that all measurable goods should be meted
+out by sworn meters, carefully selected for their responsible duties,
+and over whom is maintained a constant and jealous supervision.  The
+Court of Common Council appoint ten "corn-meters in trust," who are
+placed over 150 deputy meters, chosen by the Corn and Coal and Finance
+Committee, and sworn in the Lord Mayor's Court to do their duty
+without fear or favour.  There are also a few other officers connected
+with this very important branch of the civic regulations as to trade,
+to whom, however, it is unnecessary further to allude than as an
+illustration of the useful and practical precautions adopted by the
+Corporation to secure strict fairness of dealing between buyer and
+seller.  The fruit-meters are four in number, who appoint their own
+deputies, and are equally bound to impartiality.  There are likewise
+twenty-one deputy oyster-meters, one salt-meter and several deputies,
+and a fruit-shifter and a salt-shifter.  It is now proposed to deprive
+the Corporation of the funds realized by these metage dues.  The
+principle of free trade is to be carried out to an extent that will
+exclude honesty as an essential ingredient in commercial transactions.
+Everything, we are told, finds its own level.  Every man is the best
+guardian of his own interests.  Neither seller nor buyer will submit
+to be wronged by the other.  It is contrary to the modern system of
+trade to interfere between dealers and purchasers; they are quite
+competent to take care of themselves, and are quite ready to dispense
+with the intervention of a third party.  Besides, there is no
+necessity to do away with sworn meters, payable by the job according
+to a fixed scale.  The only alteration that is required is the
+confiscation of the right of the Corporation to derive any profit from
+their labours.  This doctrine of confiscation is a convenient one, but
+it is somewhat inconsistent with the outcry that has so recently been
+raised because Lord Canning was supposed to have confiscated the
+rights of certain farmers of the revenue in India; for that is the
+exact position of a talookdar.  Now the Corporation farms, and has
+from time out of mind farmed, the revenue arising from these various
+sources.  The sovereign is the seignior of the City, and therefore
+entitled in the first instance to all customs, duties, revenues, and
+imposts levied within its precincts.  But on various grounds, and by
+various means,--such as petition, purchase, composition, and
+extraordinary services--the citizens of London have at various times
+obtained the remission or enjoyment of these different sources of
+income.  The metage dues are therefore as much their property as an
+hereditary estate is that of its acknowledged proprietor.  Their title
+to these dues is of considerably longer standing than that of his
+Grace the Duke of Bedford to Woburn Abbey, and those of so many lay
+impropriators of church property.  If royal charters and Acts of
+Parliament are of no greater value than waste paper, there is of
+course nothing more to be said on the subject.  There is nothing,
+then, to oppose as a barrier to any act of spoliation.  Blackstone,
+indeed, says that Parliament is omnipotent to bind or to loose, and
+competent to annul charters and to repeal its own statutes.  It is
+certainly no new thing for Parliament to stultify itself, but it is
+also certain that the Legislature will better consult its reputation
+by occasionally repressing its eagerness to cancel the proceedings of
+its predecessors, and by abstaining from too frequent indulgence in
+acts of confiscation.
+
+The coal duties, however, demand a fuller consideration than any other
+department of City finance.  The first charter of Richard II. confirmed
+to the Corporation of London "the custody" of the persons and property
+of all orphans.  According to ancient custom, the citizens could
+dispose by will of only one-third of their personal estate, the
+remaining two-thirds being paid into the Court of Orphans in trust for
+their children.  A very large sum of money was at times thus invested,
+to the no small advantage of all parties concerned in the arrangement.
+But in the seventeenth century the Corporation became involved in debt
+to this fund, and to private individuals, to the extent of
+three-quarters of a million sterling.  This state of bankruptcy was by
+no means the result of imprudence or ostentatious extravagance.
+During the Rebellion the City had been despoiled by both parties under
+various pretexts.  After the Restoration the great fire consumed a vast
+amount of city property and necessitated a ruinous outlay in the
+reconstruction of entire streets.  To this was added the shutting up of
+the Exchequer by Charles II., and the seizure of the charter when the
+City refused any longer to provide the means for his selfish and
+disgraceful prodigality.  A better era, however, was inaugurated by the
+accession of William and Mary, in the fifth and sixth of whose reign
+an Act was passed for raising what was called an "Orphans' Fund."
+The estates of the Corporation were charged with the annual payment of
+8,000 pounds towards the liquidation of their debt, and for the same
+purpose a duty of 2,000 pounds a year on the personal property of the
+citizens was paid till 1795.  To meet these heavy charges a duty of
+fourpence per chaldron was levied on coals and culm imported into
+London, and also an additional duty of sixpence per chaldron for fifty
+years.  By this means the debt of 750,000 pounds was finally
+discharged in 1782, but another debt had been contracted by the
+Corporation being called upon to contribute to public improvements
+beyond the just limits of their jurisdiction.  By the year 1823 no
+less a sum than 846,300 pounds had been expended in this manner out of
+the Orphans' Fund, and in the l0th of George IV. a further sum of
+1,000,000 pounds was charged upon the fund to defray the expenses for
+improving the approaches to London Bridge. Under William IV., however,
+the coal duties were fixed at one shilling per ton in lieu of metage,
+and an additional one penny per ton was allowed for the expenses of
+the market.  This statute extends to a circle measured by a radius of
+twenty miles from the General Post-office, and up to the present time
+has been productive of much good to the general interests of the
+entire metropolis.  A duty upon coals is naturally unpopular, and it
+would be difficult to devise one that was otherwise.  It is always
+easy to raise a popular clamour against taxes that press upon matters
+of first necessity, but in what other way is the public exchequer to
+be replenished?  It will not suffice to tax objects of luxury alone,
+and with regard to the coal duty it is very improbable that the poor
+would benefit in the slightest degree by its repeal.  The utmost
+reduction in the price of coals that could be expected, would be a
+little more than a halfpenny per hundredweight, and this difference is
+far more likely to find its way into the pocket of the vender than
+into that of the needy purchaser.  There is, moreover, another
+trifling consideration to be taken into account before the abolition
+of these duties be decided upon.  Relying on the respect usually paid
+to property in this country, and confiding in the good faith of the
+House of Commons, the Corporation have mortgaged these duties in order
+to raise a very large sum of money.  It was not for any purposes of
+civic ostentation, or indeed for any purely civic object, that they
+were induced to incur this heavy obligation.  Cannon Street, the Model
+Prison at Holloway, the admirable improvements and enlargements of the
+Gaol of Newgate, attest the disinterested application of the funds
+thus obtained. But how is faith to be kept with their creditors, if
+their property be snatched from their hands, and with it all means of
+making repayment? If the Legislature deem it just and expedient to
+deprive the Corporation of one of their chief sources of revenue, they
+are bound to release them from all obligations incurred through the
+possession of those sources.  It is not disputed that the Corporation
+were justified in raising money upon these securities.  If, therefore,
+the securities be arbitrarily confiscated by Parliament, it is to
+Parliament alone that the holders of those securities must look for
+redress.  But whence are funds to be obtained for future improvements?
+It would be well if the "faithful Commons" would take the trouble to
+find a satisfactory answer to this obvious inquiry before they finally
+decide on ruining the City of London.
+
+
+
+PART II.
+
+THE CIVIC REFORM BILL.
+
+The Commission of Inquiry--The New Wards--Aldermen and Common
+Councilmen--City Expenditure--City Receipts and Removal of
+Restrictions.
+
+The Commission of Inquiry.
+
+In the year 1834 a commission was appointed "to inquire into the
+existing state of the municipal corporations, and to collect
+information respecting their defects." These commissioners applied
+themselves to the discharge of their somewhat invidious duties with
+both earnestness and impartiality, and in their Report, published in
+1837, acknowledged the superior excellence of the London Corporation
+as compared with other corporate bodies. They readily admitted that
+the Common Council possessed the necessary powers to effect whatever
+reforms might have become necessary through the lapse of time. They
+also bore witness that the Corporation had already of itself corrected
+much that was amiss in its constitution, and that its history
+furnished "honourable testimonials to the vigilance, good sense, and
+justice of its legislative body." On these grounds the Imperial
+Legislature expressly exempted the City of London from the action of
+the Municipal Corporations Act, and left it in the undisputed
+enjoyment of its ancient franchises--which, moreover, are declared by
+2 William & Mary not to be liable to confiscation.  A period of twenty
+years then passed away without any cause of complaint having occurred
+to justify the interference of Government, until some disputes arose
+on the subject of the City markets, and the conservancy of the Thames.
+Sir George Grey at once availed himself of this pretext to appoint a
+commission to investigate "the existing state of the Corporation of
+the City of London, and to collect information respecting its
+constitution, order, and government." These commissioners, unlike
+their predecessors, exhibited from the commencement of their
+proceedings a strong bias and feeling of hostility against the
+Corporation. The witnesses they called before them were, with scarcely
+an exception, the avowed enemies of the existing state of things, and
+prepared to convert trifling blemishes into radical and monstrous
+defects. And yet even these did not agree among themselves, or assign
+any sound reasons to render compulsory innovations expedient or
+justifiable.  The general tenor of their evidence, indeed, was actually
+in favour of the Corporation, when due allowance is made for the
+spirit by which they were actuated.  Nevertheless, it was upon the
+report of this one-sided and unconstitutional commission that the late
+ministry founded their Bill for "the better Regulation of the
+Corporation of the City of London." They had arrived at a foregone
+conclusion, and asked for only the shadow of an excuse to mask their
+preconcerted designs against the chief and last stronghold of
+self-government.  The fate of the Corporation was clearly doomed from
+the hour the House of Commons sanctioned the appointment of a
+prejudiced and illegal tribunal.
+
+The New Wards.
+
+The first clause of the proposed Bill directs a new division of the
+City, and recommends that it be redistributed into sixteen wards,
+instead of twenty-five as heretofore.  No reason is assigned for this
+innovation, beyond an allusion to the fact that no other city--not
+even Liverpool--possesses more than that number of divisions or
+departments.  The object of the Government was evidently to abase and
+humiliate the City of London, and to reduce it to the level of the
+provincial municipalities.  It is alleged, that while the metropolis
+has extended far and wide in every direction, the boundaries of the
+City have remained unchanged, so that they now inclose barely 1/108th
+part of the entire metropolitan area.  The population also does not
+embrace 1/20th part of the inhabitants of the aggregate of villages
+and boroughs collectively known as London.  An undue importance,
+therefore, has been ascribed to that small portion which constitutes
+the City proper, to the prejudice of the more populous districts,
+which inclose it on every side.  This overrated influence is now to be
+diminished in good earnest, and henceforth the sole criterion of
+importance is to be the number of men, women, and children existing
+within a certain area.  Intelligence, wealth, enterprise, industry,
+commercial reputation, and ancient rights are to be regarded as of
+little value when compared with the register of births and marriages.
+So, the City of London is to be divided into sixteen wards, that it
+may learn not to lift up its head above other corporations.  The
+division is, of course, to be effected by the inevitable barrister of
+seven years' standing--the modern type of all that is wise, good,
+intelligent, and incorruptible.  It matters not that these gentlemen
+may and must be totally unacquainted with local peculiarities and
+requirements.  There may be ward charities, and ward bequests, which
+will create confusion and perplexity under any new arrangement.
+The inhabitants, too, of one ward may have strong personal objections
+to be transferred to another.  They may dislike the disrupture of old
+family ties and connections, and cling fondly to the traditions and
+associations of their youth.  Such considerations as these, however,
+have no weight with red-tapists, who believe in the infallibility of
+precedents, and apply one measure and one standard to all things.
+
+The only plausible objection that can be urged against the existing
+distribution of the wards is their inequality as to extent and
+population; but even if like portions of territory were set apart for
+each ward, the number of the inhabitants and their influence will vary
+according to circumstances far beyond the control of any barrister, be
+he of twice seven years' standing.  Besides, though unequal as to area
+and inmates, the wards are fairly enough represented; for, while the
+Lime Street Ward returns only four members to the Common Council,
+Bishopsgate sends fourteen, and Farringdon Without sixteen.  This,
+after all, is surely the point most worthy of attention.  The object is
+not so much to obtain an equality of districts as an equality of
+representation.  It is of no consequence that Cornhill be twice as
+populous as Bassishaw, if it return twice the number of
+representatives, for in that case the disparity at once ceases to
+exist.  Sir George Grey, however, is partial to arithmetical equality.
+There must be sixteen wards and ninety-six Common-Councilmen, or six
+to each ward.  Not that there is anything novel or original in this
+suggestion.  Sir George merely purposes to revert to the arrangements
+which prevailed in the reign of Richard II.--a period few students of
+history would select as an illustration of the happiest and most
+constitutional balance of power throughout all departments of the
+commonwealth.  No proof is adduced that this parcelment of the City was
+attended with the best possible results, to justify its restoration in
+the present century, after so long an interval and such elemental
+changes of the social and commercial system.  It is quite possible, and
+not at all unlikely, that in the time of the second Richard ninety-six
+Common-Councilmen may have been amply sufficient to discharge all the
+duties that devolved upon them.  But it does not thence follow that
+that same number will now suffice.  If it is proposed by Sir George
+Grey to establish the civic administration on the broadest, safest,
+and least assailable foundation, it is scarcely consistent to begin by
+narrowing that basis.  It is generally believed that it is more
+difficult to corrupt or influence a large number of persons than a
+small one.  In the multitude of counsellors there is strength of will,
+integrity of purpose, and variety of knowledge.  There is less
+opportunity for jobbing among two hundred than among one hundred
+individuals, The smaller number is certainly more likely to come to a
+mutual understanding among themselves, and to apportion to each member
+his share of the loaves and fishes.  On this head no better evidence
+need be adduced than the report of the commissioners of 1855, by no
+means too favourably disposed towards the Corporation.  It is in the
+following terms that they speak of the City, and of the advantages
+incidental to a large representation:-"The antiquity, extent, and
+importance of its privileges, the long series of its charters, the
+large amount of its revenues, its metropolitan position, and its
+historical associations, combine to give it a character different from
+that of any other municipal borough.  It may be added, that the
+continued predominance of the popular element in the formation of its
+governing body furnished a reason in 1835 for excepting it from the
+Municipal Corporations Act; seeing that one of the principal defects
+which that Act was intended to remedy was the practical exclusion of
+the principle of popular election from the government of the borough,
+and the accumulation of power in the hands of a small body of persons.
+The commissioners state, in their general report of 1835:--'The most
+common and most striking defect in the constitution of the municipal
+corporations of England and Wales is, that the corporate bodies exist
+independently of the communities among which they are found.  The
+corporations look upon themselves, and are considered by the
+inhabitants, as separate and exclusive bodies; they have powers and
+privileges within towns and cities from which they are named, but in
+most places all identity of interest between the corporation and the
+inhabitants has disappeared.' From the defect described in this
+passage, the Corporation of London has for many years been exempt.
+The manner in which the Common Council is elected has produced, to a
+great extent, an identity of interests between the governing municipal
+body and the existing municipal community, and has secured to the
+latter a council representing their general opinions and feelings.
+The Municipal Commissioners particularly advert to the Common Council
+of London, as distinguishing that corporation from the close
+corporations which then prevailed throughout the country."
+
+It is difficult to imagine a better reason for upholding the existing
+order of things than this very report of the commissioners.  They admit
+that there is an identity of interests between the governing and the
+governed, between the representatives and their constituents, between
+the stewards and those for whom they act.  No higher commendation can
+be desired.  The system is described as giving satisfaction to all
+concerned in its operation, and as being free from the great defect
+which vitiated the municipal arrangements of other cities.  The
+administrative power is not accumulated in the hands of a few, but is
+freely intrusted to an ample number of representatives chosen by
+popular election, and liable to removal at the expiration of a year.
+The fact that the votes of the citizens are usually given to their
+representatives of many years' standing, is an indisputable proof that
+the latter do not neglect their duty, or overlook the identity of
+interests that exists between the governing body and the municipal
+community.  And yet, in the teeth of this report, and in defiance of
+this good accord, the very defect is to be introduced which was
+reprobated in other corporations.  The administrative power is to be
+vested in the hands of a comparatively small governing body, and an
+opportunity afforded for those practices which were considered so
+objectionable elsewhere.
+
+It is perhaps hardly worthy of remark that the selection of the
+persons to be appointed to set out the new wards should rest with the
+Secretary of State.  Were it not for the constant augmentation of
+patronage afforded by each innovation, very little would ever be heard
+about reform of any kind.  But every change, every act of abolition,
+affords am irresistible opportunity for providing for poor relations
+and importunate constituents.  The Secretary of State, therefore,
+reserves to himself the choice of the "fit person or persons," which
+might more decently have been left to the citizens themselves.  It is
+true the latter have not been altogether forgotten, and will not be
+altogether passed over.  To them is to be assigned the privilege of
+paying five guineas a day to each of these "fit persons," as a
+recompense for their exertions in introducing confusion and perplexity
+where order and contentment now prevail.
+
+Aldermen and Common-Councilmen.
+
+The contemplated reduction of the governing body of the City is based
+upon a specious theory, which will soon be found to be utterly
+untenable.  It is pretended that if the Courts of Aldermen and of
+Common Council were rendered more exclusive, it would be considered a
+greater distinction to belong to them, and that consequently a more
+wealthy and influential class of individuals would seek to be elected.
+In the first place, the exclusiveness sought to be established in the
+Corporation of London is the very blot which the Municipal Act was
+intended to remove from other corporate bodies.  What was in them a
+blemish, is to be engrafted as a beauty into the City of London.
+But granting that a certain degree of exclusiveness may be not only
+unobjectionable, but even desirable, is it so very certain that
+opulent bankers and men of high standing in the commercial world will
+be thereby induced to offer themselves as candidates for civic
+offices? Have they themselves offered any suggestion to this effect,
+or asked for any such motive to do their duty as free-born citizens?
+Nothing of the kind.  It is pure assumption to assert that when the
+honour is more difficult of attainment it will become an object of
+ambition to the mighty men on 'Change.  The witnesses who gave evidence
+on this head before the commissioners were unanimous as to the cause
+that keeps our princely merchants aloof from the civic arena: it is
+want of time.  One and all declared that they could not spare the time
+from their own pursuits and engagements.  Private interests have more
+weight with them than those of a public nature; they wish no harm to
+their fellow-citizens, but will not sacrifice their own comfort or
+profits to toil for their benefit.  Indeed, it is by no means manifest
+that bankers and merchants are the fittest persons to administer the
+affairs of the City.  As a rule, their homes are as remote as possible
+from the scene of their daily labours.  They know nothing whatever of
+their neighbours, and care no more for one ward than for another, all
+being equally indifferent to them.  They are bound together by no
+common ties, nor have they any local or traditional sympathies.  It is,
+therefore, very doubtful that their presence among the aldermen, or in
+the Court of Common Council, would prove at all beneficial to the
+City, or likely to enhance their own personal reputation.  And if, as
+they themselves allege, they have hitherto been deterred from
+undertaking civic duties by the pressure of private affairs, there is
+no ground for the hypothesis that they will henceforth have more
+leisure to devote themselves to promoting the welfare of their
+neighbours.  In truth, the office of alderman is no sinecure.  He is not
+merely a very stout gentleman, wearing a blue gown, and guzzling
+enormous quantities of turtle-soup.  That caricature is of a piece with
+the old fable of the lean Frenchman, starving upon frogs, and capable
+only of dancing and grimacing.  An alderman of the City of London has
+most onerous duties to discharge, for which he expects no other
+remuneration than the approval of his own conscience and the respect
+of his fellow-citizens.
+
+It is matter of public notoriety, that in the year 1834 the
+Corporation cheerfully complied with the requisitions of the
+Government with regard to the business of the Central Criminal Court.
+The number of sessions and of courts was increased, prison
+accommodation considerably enlarged, and other arrangements made with
+the utmost liberality in order to facilitate the administration of
+justice.  By the Act passed in that year, it was specially provided
+that the aldermen of London should be members of the commission, which
+should be presided over by the Lord Mayor.  The local knowledge
+possessed by these magistrates has enabled them on very many occasions
+to render important service to the judges in apportioning the
+punishment due to offenders.  At the same time they acquired, on their
+part, a practical knowledge of the administration of law.  The result
+of this training displayed itself in the soundness of their
+magisterial decisions, and the correctness of their application of
+criminal law.  Six aldermen are placed on the rota for each month, and
+compelled to attend at the Old Bailey, unless they can furnish a
+sufficient excuse for their absence.  If the number of aldermen be
+reduced to sixteen, it is not easy to perceive how this important
+branch of their duties is to be adequately discharged.  In addition to
+their compulsory attendance at the Central Criminal Court, the
+aldermen are called upon to exercise various other magisterial
+functions, including the inspection and management of prisons.  They
+have likewise to attend at the London Quarter Sessions; the special
+sessions for hearing appeals; the special sessions for licenses; the
+petty sessions; the special sessions; the Southwark Quarter Sessions,
+and the annual meetings and adjournments.  Even this enumeration of
+duties, however, is no equivalent indication of the work to be gone
+through, the whole of which is done gratuitously and without
+expectation of reward.  It is proposed, indeed, that the Court of Mayor
+and Aldermen of the City of London in the Inner Chamber shall retain
+the power of appointing the Recorder and certain other officers, and
+of exercising a supervision over the internal discipline of prisons,
+and in relation to charities and other trusts, but in most other
+respects their privileges and jurisdiction are to terminate.
+
+On some points the Common Council are to be exalted at the expense of
+the Court of Aldermen.  They are to administer the money and funds of
+the City, subject to the audit of three persons annually elected, an
+abstract of whose statement is to be laid before Parliament.  The
+Corporation are therefore deemed unworthy or incompetent to manage
+their own finances.  Men of business are told that their ignorance is
+so crass, or their honesty so doubtful, that the Legislature is
+compelled to keep a watchful eye on their expenditure.  The proposition
+is as absurd as it is insulting and uncalled for.  The Corporation are
+further to have no power to sell, mortgage, or lease their own
+estates.  It may, perchance, be true, that in former times less regard
+was paid to the discovery of secure and profitable investments than
+suits the more grasping spirit of the present times.  It may also be
+that greater extravagance was occasionally exhibited than would now be
+either justifiable or tolerable.  But on neither of these grounds was
+it fitting to affix such a stigma, to pass such a vote of censure, on
+the existing governing body.  Many economical reforms have of late
+years been spontaneously introduced, and an unmistakable tendency
+shown to make such further retrenchments as might be consistent with
+the efficiency of the public service.  No doubt the expenses attendant
+on the collection of the City's income are susceptible of reduction,
+nor would it be amiss if the heavy outlay connected with the civic
+government were lightened of some of its items.  Still, these are mere
+questions of detail, and might fairly be left to the good taste,
+judgment, and discretion of the municipal magistrates.  The steps
+already taken by the Common Council clearly evince their desire to
+keep pace with the liberalism of the age.  Since the year 1835,
+the sum of at least 100,000 pounds has been offered on the altar of
+public opinion by the gradual abolition of the fines and fees which
+restricted the freedom of the City.  In the same spirit they sacrificed
+the street tolls, which annually produced upwards of 5,000 pounds,
+as soon as they had redeemed the mortgage which enabled them to lay out
+the new street running north from Farringdon Street.  They have also
+courted publicity, by admitting to their deliberations the reporters
+of the public press, and by publishing minutes of their proceedings
+and detailed statements of the receipt and expenditure of public
+moneys. In these and many similar ways they have manifested their
+anxiety to act in strict good faith towards their constituents,
+and to do the utmost in their power to promote the welfare of the
+City of London. No allegations, indeed, have been made against their
+scrupulously honourable administration of the funds intrusted to
+their stewardship. Their integrity has never been impugned by their
+bitterest enemies--the charges that have been brought forward reflect
+only upon their judgment.  They are accused of lavishing untold sums
+upon idle pageantry and luxurious entertainments, while they have
+neglected to improve the great thoroughfares, to cleanse the river,
+and generally to embellish the metropolis and ameliorate the sanitary
+condition of its inhabitants.  It is worth while to consider how much
+of truth lies in these accusations.
+
+City Expenditure.
+
+There is no denying that at the first blush it does appear that an
+unnecessarily large amount of money is laid out annually on festivities.
+For instance, in the year 1855 upwards of 14,000 pounds were expended
+on the entertainments given to the Emperor of the French, the King of
+Sardinia, and the Prefect of the Seine.  On minor occasions also very
+considerable sums are lost in like manner to the City treasury.
+But this apparent extravagance is not without its advantages.
+This generous hospitality has rendered the Corporation of London
+famous throughout the civilized world, and given it a fabulous
+influence among the nations of the Continent.  The chief magistrate
+of the City is looked upon as only inferior to the sovereign, and far
+above all other princes and potentates.  Thus, in a popular French
+play the principal personage is made to exclaim in an enthusiasm of
+ambition --"Yes, I will make myself great; I shall yet be count,
+marquis, duke, perhaps lord mayor." The credit acquired by the City
+has been reflected upon the whole nation, and there are none so mean
+as not to have heard of the wealth, magnificence, and genial hospitality
+of the free-born citizens of the metropolis of the British empire.
+
+With regard to thoroughfares, it has already been stated that the
+street tolls were mortgaged for some years, in order to raise the
+requisite funds for carrying out Farringdon Street to the northern
+boundary of the City.  More recently an enormous debt has been incurred
+in the construction of Cannon Street.  Half a million sterling has been
+sunk in the attempt to erect a handsome street, which should take off
+from Cheapside a portion of the exodus to London Bridge, and at the
+same time furnish a noble example of street architecture.  In a
+pecuniary point of view the experiment has not thus far proved
+successful, but the very errors of the Corporation are on a grand and
+magnificent scale.  Upwards of another half-million has gone to the
+construction of the new cattle-market at Islington and the model prison
+at Holloway.  Newgate, also, is being enlarged and improved, and it is
+proposed to build a lunatic asylum on some lands recently purchased
+for the purpose in the neighbourhood of Croydon.  A very large sum is
+annually expended in street improvements, besides a contribution of
+nearly 12,000 pounds a year to a metropolitan fund for objects not
+comprised within the liberties of the City.  The Corporation also pays
+11,000 pounds per annum towards the maintenance of the police force,
+though in other metropolitan districts this proportion of the expenses
+is debited to the Consolidated Fund.  Of the charitable donations and
+subscriptions of the Corporation it is needless to speak, for their
+fame has gone forth throughout the world.  The City of London School
+was built at a cost of 20,000 pounds, and year by year receives
+substantial support and encouragement.  The education and maintenance
+of a hundred orphan children are provided for at another establishment;
+nor is there any charitable institution worthy of support that is not
+assisted with ungrudging liberality.
+
+The conservancy of the Thames is another of the responsible duties of
+the Corporation.  For all purposes of navigation the river is admirably
+adapted by nature, and improved by the thoughtful vigilance of its
+conservators.  As a navigable river the Thames is actually in a better
+condition at the present day than at any period of its past history, a
+remark that cannot be applied to any other tidal river in the world.
+As for the filthy and polluted character of its waters, that at least
+cannot be laid to the charge of the Corporation.  So far back as the
+year 1842 the City authorities issued a commission to survey and
+report upon the state of the Thames, and in accordance with the report
+of those gentlemen proceeded to take measures for embanking the river
+so as to prevent the deposit of mud on the banks, to deepen the
+channel, and to improve the wharfage.  Strange to say, these spirited
+proceedings in the interest of the entire metropolis drew down upon
+the Corporation the wrath of the "Woods and Forests." The foul
+fermenting accumulations of putrescent matter which send forth the
+pestilential exhalations that engender so much disease, are declared
+to be the property of the Crown, as "seised of the ground and soil of
+the coasts and shores of the sea, and of all the navigable rivers
+within the flux and reflux of the tide throughout the kingdom."
+Thanks, therefore, to this precious prerogative of the Crown, her
+Majesty's lieges have for the last fifteen years continued to be
+poisoned "by virtue of the common law," while the Corporation have
+been punished by the infliction of a suit in Chancery for seeking to
+cleanse the river and purify the atmosphere, without first invoking
+the wisdom of the "Woods and Forests."
+
+If the crown lawyers be correct, it will follow that the entire
+seaboard of Great Britain and Ireland is the actual property of the
+Crown, as well as all lands reclaimed from the sea, and that all other
+manorial rights are purely imaginary and unfounded.
+
+Hitherto the tonnage rates levied on vessels in the port of London
+are admitted to have been as moderate as was consistent with the due
+maintenance of the port.  The citizens, being themselves engaged in
+trade, have always been interested in holding out inducements for the
+shipping of all nations to frequent their port, and have thus
+systematically reduced the tonnage dues to the lowest possible scale.
+The Government, however, looking only to the actual amount of revenue
+to be obtained, intimate the probability of a future augmentation of
+these dues.  The effect of even a trifling increase will naturally be
+to divert a portion of the trade to other ports, and to inflict a
+proportionate amount of injury on the port of London.  Such will be the
+first fruits of Government interference, such the inevitable result of
+superseding customs and usages which have grown out of the character
+of the Anglo-Saxon race.
+
+City Receipts.
+
+It has already been stated that in order to carry out street
+improvements and the construction of public buildings, the Corporation
+has incurred a very considerable amount of debt.  These pecuniary
+obligations, however, were not rashly undertaken.  There was excellent
+security to offer for their gradual but certain redemption; nor is it
+anywhere affirmed that the governing body exceeded their powers, or
+evinced a want of proper caution and foresight.  The money raised was
+applied to just and legitimate purposes, and secured on revenues
+enjoyed from time immemorial, the usufruct of which might fairly be
+deemed perpetual.  Prescriptive right, however, is no barrier to
+reformers greedy of patronage, whose only thought is to buy cheap
+popularity by yielding to vulgar prejudices at the expense of their
+neighbours.  It is thus proposed to abolish all metage dues, to deprive
+the Corporation of their portion of the coal duties, to remove all
+restrictions upon brokers, and to sanction the establishment of
+additional markets within the prescribed distance of seven miles.
+Nothing is more easy than to pull down and destroy, but to fill up the
+vacancy thus created is a very different matter.  It requires no great
+amount of moral courage, or of power, to dry up the sources whence the
+corporate funds are derived, but far less easy will it be to obviate
+the consequences of a step so ill-judged.  It is one thing to demand
+the usual tale of bricks when the supply of straw is cut off, and
+another to obtain it.  In vain will the Government call upon the City
+to construct prisons and asylums, to widen the thoroughfares, to
+cleanse the river, to embellish the streets.  Such work as this can
+only be accomplished through the employment of large funds, and these
+will no longer be at the disposal of the Corporation.  In the first
+place it is proposed to take away "all such right of metage of any
+grain, fruit, wares, or merchandise as the Corporation is entitled to
+by custom, charter, or otherwise." In other words, 11,000 pounds a
+year of the income of the City is to be confiscated for nobody's
+benefit, but simply out of deference to a senseless clamour.  The
+officers employed in the collection of this revenue are to receive
+compensation out of a fund provided for the purpose by a duty of three
+farthings on every quarter of grain, seed, and pulse brought into the
+port of London. But nothing is said about compensating the Corporation
+by remitting their annual contribution to the expenses of the police
+force, and by defraying the same out of the Consolidated Fund.
+However, there is cause for gratitude that a still more serious loss
+is not yet to be inflicted upon the ways and means of the City.  The
+metage duty on coals which may belong to the Corporation after the
+year 1862, under 1 & 2 William IV., and 8 & 9 Victoria, is not to be
+affected by the present Bill; but he must be a confiding and
+unsuspecting individual who can trust to a long enjoyment of that
+source of income.  It is now commonly supposed that the Corporation
+receive the entire duty of thirteen pence per ton, whereas their
+actual share of the impost is only fourpence.  The remaining
+nine-pence are taken by the Metropolitan Board of Works, for the
+general benefit of the capital of the British empire.  Against this
+arrangement no valid objection can be urged, but it is at least unfair
+to throw the odium of the tax upon those who derive the smallest
+benefit from its proceeds.  It was upon the security of this revenue
+that the Corporation were enabled to raise the 580,000 pounds required
+for the construction of Cannon Street.  From the same hitherto secure
+source of income, two millions and a half sterling have been expended
+on City improvements since the reign of William and Mary.  But whence
+are means to be obtained for carrying out any enterprise of large
+utility if this revenue be confiscated?  It is, besides, not a little
+characteristic of the late, perhaps of every ministry, that not a word
+has been said about the surrender of the nine-pence per ton received
+by the Government.  The City alone is to be made the scape-goat--the
+least offending party is to be sacrificed to screen the real
+delinquents,--the Corporation is to be thrown overboard, that the
+ministerial vessel may be the more easily righted. Equally silent was
+Sir George Grey on the subject of compensation.  And yet, when it
+pleased the Legislature to take from the Duke of Richmond the duty of
+one shilling per chaldron on coals shipped in the Tyne for home
+consumption, which had been granted to the family by Charles II., it
+was deemed only just and equitable to make a reasonable compensation
+to his grace.  The duty at that time (1799) yielded some 21,000 pounds
+a year, and was commuted for a perpetual annuity of 19,000 pounds,
+payable out of the Consolidated Fund.  In like manner the Duke of Grafton
+was indemnified in 1806 for loss incurred through the resumption of
+the "prisage and butlerage" of wines; nor was Lord Gwydir permitted to
+suffer by the compulsory surrender of his lease in the mooring-chains.
+In the reign of William IV. the Crown claimed and received a
+compensation of 300,000 pounds for giving up the passing tolls, and
+the Corporation itself was awarded upwards of 160,000 pounds on the
+abolition of the "package and scavage" dues.  But if such zeal for
+retrenchment and economical reform fills the breasts of modern
+statesmen, how comes it that they have no qualms about retaining the
+duty of four shillings on every ton of tin extracted from Cornwall,
+and which swells the revenues of the duchy? In what respect, in short,
+is the tenure by which the duchy is held more sacred and inviolable
+than that which entitles the Corporation to the permanent possession
+of its various sources of income?  It were well that the advisers of
+the Crown first cleared away all obstructions and nuisances front
+their own precincts, before undertaking to cleanse the premises of
+their neighbours.  But it is far easier to preach than to practise,
+and to detect the failings of others than to correct one's own.
+
+Another "liberal" clause repeals any charter or grant which prevents
+the holding any new market within seven miles of the city.  The framers
+of the Bill appear to have overlooked, or laughed to scorn, the
+ancient common law of the land which prohibits the establishment of
+any fair or market within "a third part of twenty miles" from one
+already in existence.  This common-law right has been further specially
+confirmed, so far as the City of London is concerned, by an Act of
+Parliament in the reign of the third Edward.  But considerations of
+mere law cannot be expected to have much weight with those who have
+resolved upon setting at naught the eternal principles of justice and
+equity.  Little did the wolf care which way the stream ran, when once
+he had made up his mind to dine upon lamb.
+
+Yet one other proof of "liberality" before we close these desultory
+observations.  At present the Corporation exercises a watchful
+surveillance over all persons acting as brokers within the City of
+London.  No one, indeed, is permitted to carry on that highly
+responsible business without the previous sanction of the Court of
+Aldermen.  This restriction is admitted to have been most beneficial to
+the public, and the brokers themselves are fully sensible of its
+advantage to themselves by inspiring a reasonable confidence in their
+honour and respectability.  All this, however, is to be done away with.
+Government care for none of these things.  They prefer punishment to
+prevention.  Let every man do as seemeth good in his own eyes, provided
+only that he escape conviction for evildoing.  In that case the
+"majesty of the law" will be vindicated by the house of correction or
+the gallows.  Why then take any thought to check the downward step?
+That is the province of parents, masters, and pastors.  The wisdom of
+the Legislature cannot stoop to such elemental questions.  It is
+unworthy of the wise and illustrious senators of this great empire to
+take heed of such a vulgar consideration as commercial morality.
+This is a free country, wherein every man may freely live, providing
+for himself, and warring upon his kind.  Such throughout is the tone
+and the spirit of the proposed measure for the "better regulation"
+of the City of London.  If this is better, it is devoutly to be
+hoped that no future ministry will bring forward a Bill for the
+"best regulation." Every additional step in this direction can only be
+worse than its predecessor, for the goal to be attained is not only
+the ruin of civic influence, but the subversion of self-government
+throughout the realm.
+
+For the present, indeed, this precious Bill has been withdrawn; but
+let not a suspension of hostilities be construed into a conclusion of
+peace.  The question will certainly be brought before Parliament under
+a modified form in the ensuing Session, and it is then that the fate
+of the Corporation will be decided.
+
+Are the citizens of London--are the people of Great Britain--prepared
+to resign without a struggle the last of the glorious rights and
+privileges bequeathed to them by their Saxon ancestors?  Are they
+willing to exchange their old ancestral customs and usages for the
+dogmatic theories and arbitrary practices of continental systems?
+In short, will they consent to barter freedom for absolutism, the
+happiness and independence of the many for the aggrandizement of the
+few?  For that is the real question at issue, and one the answer to
+which cannot be much longer deferred.
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE CORPORATION OF LONDON: ITS RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES ***
+
+This file should be named 5609.txt or 5609.zip
+
+Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we usually do not
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance
+of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing.
+Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections,
+even years after the official publication date.
+
+Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til
+midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement.
+The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at
+Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month.  A
+preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment
+and editing by those who wish to do so.
+
+Most people start at our Web sites at:
+https://gutenberg.org or
+http://promo.net/pg
+
+These Web sites include award-winning information about Project
+Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new
+eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!).
+
+
+Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement
+can get to them as follows, and just download by date.  This is
+also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the
+indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an
+announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter.
+
+http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext04 or
+ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext04
+
+Or /etext03, 02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90
+
+Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want,
+as it appears in our Newsletters.
+
+
+Information about Project Gutenberg (one page)
+
+We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work.  The
+time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours
+to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright
+searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc.   Our
+projected audience is one hundred million readers.  If the value
+per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2
+million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text
+files per month:  1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+
+We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002
+If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total
+will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end.
+
+The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks!
+This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers,
+which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users.
+
+Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated):
+
+eBooks Year Month
+
+    1  1971 July
+   10  1991 January
+  100  1994 January
+ 1000  1997 August
+ 1500  1998 October
+ 2000  1999 December
+ 2500  2000 December
+ 3000  2001 November
+ 4000  2001 October/November
+ 6000  2002 December*
+ 9000  2003 November*
+10000  2004 January*
+
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created
+to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium.
+
+We need your donations more than ever!
+
+As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people
+and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut,
+Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois,
+Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts,
+Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New
+Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio,
+Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South
+Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West
+Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
+
+We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones
+that have responded.
+
+As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list
+will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states.
+Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state.
+
+In answer to various questions we have received on this:
+
+We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally
+request donations in all 50 states.  If your state is not listed and
+you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have,
+just ask.
+
+While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are
+not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting
+donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to
+donate.
+
+International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about
+how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made
+deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are
+ways.
+
+Donations by check or money order may be sent to:
+
+Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+PMB 113
+1739 University Ave.
+Oxford, MS 38655-4109
+
+Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment
+method other than by check or money order.
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by
+the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN
+[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154.  Donations are
+tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law.  As fund-raising
+requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be
+made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states.
+
+We need your donations more than ever!
+
+You can get up to date donation information online at:
+
+https://www.gutenberg.org/donation.html
+
+
+***
+
+If you can't reach Project Gutenberg,
+you can always email directly to:
+
+Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com>
+
+Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message.
+
+We would prefer to send you information by email.
+
+
+**The Legal Small Print**
+
+
+(Three Pages)
+
+***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START***
+Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers.
+They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with
+your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from
+someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our
+fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement
+disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how
+you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to.
+
+*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK
+By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
+eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept
+this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive
+a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by
+sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person
+you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical
+medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request.
+
+ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS
+This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks,
+is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart
+through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project").
+Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright
+on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and
+distribute it in the United States without permission and
+without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth
+below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook
+under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark.
+
+Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market
+any commercial products without permission.
+
+To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable
+efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain
+works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any
+medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other
+things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
+intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged
+disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer
+codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.
+
+LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES
+But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below,
+[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may
+receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims
+all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including
+legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR
+UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT,
+INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE
+OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE
+POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
+
+If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of
+receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any)
+you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that
+time to the person you received it from. If you received it
+on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and
+such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement
+copy. If you received it electronically, such person may
+choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to
+receive it electronically.
+
+THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS
+TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A
+PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+
+Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or
+the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the
+above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you
+may have other legal rights.
+
+INDEMNITY
+You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation,
+and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated
+with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
+texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including
+legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the
+following that you do or cause:  [1] distribution of this eBook,
+[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook,
+or [3] any Defect.
+
+DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm"
+You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by
+disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this
+"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg,
+or:
+
+[1]  Only give exact copies of it.  Among other things, this
+     requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the
+     eBook or this "small print!" statement.  You may however,
+     if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable
+     binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form,
+     including any form resulting from conversion by word
+     processing or hypertext software, but only so long as
+     *EITHER*:
+
+     [*]  The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and
+          does *not* contain characters other than those
+          intended by the author of the work, although tilde
+          (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may
+          be used to convey punctuation intended by the
+          author, and additional characters may be used to
+          indicate hypertext links; OR
+
+     [*]  The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at
+          no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent
+          form by the program that displays the eBook (as is
+          the case, for instance, with most word processors);
+          OR
+
+     [*]  You provide, or agree to also provide on request at
+          no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the
+          eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC
+          or other equivalent proprietary form).
+
+[2]  Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this
+     "Small Print!" statement.
+
+[3]  Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the
+     gross profits you derive calculated using the method you
+     already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  If you
+     don't derive profits, no royalty is due.  Royalties are
+     payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation"
+     the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were
+     legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent
+     periodic) tax return.  Please contact us beforehand to
+     let us know your plans and to work out the details.
+
+WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO?
+Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of
+public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed
+in machine readable form.
+
+The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time,
+public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses.
+Money should be paid to the:
+"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or
+software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at:
+hart@pobox.com
+
+[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only
+when distributed free of all fees.  Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by
+Michael S. Hart.  Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be
+used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be
+they hardware or software or any other related product without
+express permission.]
+
+*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END*
+
diff --git a/5609.zip b/5609.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4aebc1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/5609.zip
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..345c123
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #5609 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5609)