146 On the Self-Government of Small Manorial Communities 
Even when the general establishment of feudality had compelled 
the towns to submit themselves to some paramount lord, he usually 
found it politic to respect the ancient privileges of their inhabitants; 
or, if temporarily suspended, they were recovered at the first 
favourable opportunity. It was not so easy to oppress a collected 
body of citizens, as the scattered and dispirited cultivators of the 
soil. The monarchs, moreover, found in the towns efficient allies 
in those contests in which they were so frequently engaged during 
the middle ages with their powerful vassals; and they repaid the 
assistance of the citizens by confirming and extending their ancient 
franchises, under the form of royal or imperial charters of incor- 
poration. By an extension of the royal prerogative, springing 
from the same obvious motive, many towns or manors which 
possessed no special charter, grant, or corporation, claimed and 
enjoyed analogous privileges of self-government, as having anciently 
formed part of the royal demesnes. 
It is remarkable how little attention has hitherto been paid to 
this very important element of our constitutional history. Even 
in the case of many of the larger cities and towns, whose charters 
of incorporation have been repeatedly confirmed and renewed by 
successive sovereigns, little is known, or has at all events been 
communicated to the public, of the early history and character of 
their municipal privileges. The very title deeds of these privileges, 
and the records of the proceedings of their courts, corporations, or 
governing bodies, have been imperfectly preserved, and in the 
majority of instances, it would appear, are irrecoverably lost. Their 
ancient customs and usages have been allowed to fall into desuetude, 
and few memorials remain of their former existence, unless in the 
case of some parliamentary franchise, or other privilege to which a 
pecuniary or party value was attached. 
This very general neglect of the ancient municipal constitutions 
of our towns was remarkably brought out by the replies forwarded 
in the year 1831 to queries circulated by the Record Commission 
among them, requesting information as to what documents relating 
to these matters were in the custody of their municipal officers. 
From the replies it appeared that in very few out of some hundred 
