England's Metropolis

We first hear of Loudon in any important sense as a city of Roman Britain. The inconiing ot' the Saxon conquerors is followed by nearly 200 years of' nnbrcken silenre, and it is this long period which has caused some historiaus to asyume, rather than prove, tha.t Roman London had altogether ceascd to exist. But vhou the light of history is again shed upon this part of the uewly made England there is much to show that Londou had, to a large extent, preserved her independence as a placo of commerce and civio organization. The Saxou settlemeuts appear all round her, and perhaps the little village of Charing, within a mile of her vralls, affords the most significant testimony to the Saxon settlenients round London rather than in Londou. The Saxon conquerors appear as political masters of Loudon and introduced into her municipal life the folkmoot, which originally met in the open air on a piece of land uear Paul 's Cross' aud which is perhaps rèpresented by the Comraon hall of the citizens of London of the present day : oauy Tentonic customs which lis imbcdded iu the municipal usages of mediseval tiim s, many Democratie iunovatious in municipal institutious which api biongbont the early years cf Pk i i rule, when the ■'conm.cn people" over tod over again assertcd tbeir right lo take part in the uaunitjpal. electicns ui.d transactions of il:e ri; y. Bat botii ilie settlements rotiud Lci_clo:i and the political loru-hip over London do not appear to have made London a iáaxon city and its municipal institutions of iiuxon origin. The lex mercatoria of Roman London seems uever to havo quite died out. in the court of the merchants there were always professional lawyers, aud perhaps the most remarkable survival of Roman institutions in Britain is the practico of the old order of sergeants at law, who assembled in the nave of thé old St. Paul's cathedral, each sergeant having been allotted a special pillar in the cathedral at his appointment, where he met his clients in legal consultation, hearing the facts of the case, taking notes of the evidence or pacing up and down. This is the exact parallel to the assembling of the Roman jurisperiti at early morn in the forum to consult with their clients and cannot be explained except by the theory of direct continuance of practice f rom Roman times. -