London in the Eighteenth Century (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from London in the Eighteenth Century With the accession of the House of Brunswick the necessity of writing a continuous narrative of events in London practically ceases. The Constitution of the City is fixed; there will be no more alterations for a hundred years and more; the points which arise for dispute are of minor importance (such as the question whether the law costs of Aldermen in lawsuits are to be paid out of the City Chest); there will be no more suppressions of the Charter; no more praying the King to grant, out of his great benevolence, a new one; there will be no more putting up, or pulling down, of Mayors and Sheriffs by the King; the rights, privileges, and liberties of the City are secure; and with them those of all other cities in the realm, and those of cities yet unborn. In religion, toleration at least is won; complete equality has yet to be won. But, on the whole, the old battles are fought out and victory is won. Even George the Third, in his most ambitious dreams of extended prerogative, left the City undisturbed. The struggle for liberty is not, it is true, completed; the House of Commons has not yet become the voice of the people. But the enemy of liberty is no longer either King or Baron: it is a compact body, part in the Lords, part in the Commons - representing few, indeed, of the old noble houses, which are mostly extinct, but chiefly formed of landowners who, during the last two hundred years, have grown into strength and influence by the growth of their estates, and have become a new aristocracy, not in the least resembling the old class which has passed away. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.