Stranica 115 [115]
OCR
THE CITY GOVERNMENT 9 3 the Clerk and the Remembrancer. There are also legal officers, such as the Solicitor, the Recorder, the Serjeant, and others. Besides all these, the great body of the citizens is represented by the Common Council ; and with it there is a rival body, the Livery, or members of the companies. We must examine all these names and find out the curious light they throw on the origin of the city government. _ As I mentioned in the first chapter, some writers have taken great pains to prove that this municipality grew out of institutions planted in London by the Romans. We have seen how short a time such a place as Roman London existed, namely, at most from about 360 A.D. to 410 A.D., or about half a century. The advocates of a Roman origin for the municipality have to make the most of the Roman period: and we have all seen books written by antiquaries
