tomb in St. Paul's
church, there to hear a _De profundis_ on the day when the new mayor took
his oath of office before the Barons of the Exchequer.(83)

(M56)

As regards the port-reeve--the _port-gerefa_, _i.e._, reeve of the port or
town of London(84)--the nature and extent of his duties and authority, much
uncertainty exists. Whilst, in many respects, his position in a borough
was analogous no doubt to the shire-reeve or sheriff of a county, there
were, on the other hand, duties belonging to and exercised by the one
which were not exercised by the other. Thus, for instance, the port-reeve,
unlike the sheriff, exercised no judicial functions in a criminal court,
nor presided over court-leets in the city as the sheriff did in his county
by _turn_, the latter being held independently by the alderman of each
ward.(85)

(M57) (M58) (M59)

In the next place the charter brings prominently to our notice the fact
that there was already existing within the City's walls a strong Norman
element, existing side by side with the older English burgesses, which the
Conqueror did well not to ignore. The descendants of the foreign merchants
from France and Normandy, for whose protection Ethelred had legislated
more than half a century before, had continued to carry on their
commercial intercourse with the Londoners, and were looking forward to a
freer interchange of merchandise now that the two countries were under one
sovereign. Their expectation was justified. No sooner had London submitted
to the Norman Conqueror than, we are told, "many of the citizens of Rouen
and Caen passed over thither, preferring to be dwellers in that city,
inasmuch as it was fitter for their trading, and better stored with the
merchandise in which they were wont to traffic."(86) But by far the most
important clause in the charter is that which places the citizens of
London in the same position respecting the law of the land as they enjoyed
in the days of their late king, Edward the Confessor. Here there is
distinct evidence that the Conqueror had come "neither to destroy, nor to
found, but to continue."(87) The charter granted nothing new; it only
ratified and set the royal seal(88) to the rights and privileges of the
citizens already in existence.

(M60)

It is recorded that William granted another charter to the citizens of
London, vesting in them the City and Sheriffwick of London, and this
charter the citizens proffered as evidence of their rights