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