These last pleaded, that, since the foundation of the monarchy, no
corporation had ever yet been exposed to forfeiture, and the thing
itself implied an absurdity: that a corporation, as such, was incapable
of all crime or offence; and none were answerable for any iniquity but
the persons themselves who committed it: that the members, in choosing
magistrates, had intrusted them with legal powers only; and where the
magistrates exceeded these powers, their acts were void, but could never
involve the body itself in any criminal imputation: that such had
ever been the practice of England, except at the reformation, when the
monasteries were abolished; but this was an extraordinary case; and it
was even thought necessary to ratify afterwards the whole transaction
by act of parliament: that corporate bodies, framed for public good, and
calculated for perpetual duration, ought not to be annihilated for the
temporary faults of their members, who might themselves, without hurting
the community, be questioned for their offences: that even a private
estate, if entailed, could not be forfeited to the crown on account of
treason committed by the tenant for life; but, upon his demise, went to
the next in remainder: that the offences objected to the city, far from
deserving so severe a punishment, were not ever worthy of the smallest
reprehension: that all corporations were invested with the power of
making by-laws; and the smallest borough in England had ever been
allowed to carry the exercise of this power further than London had done
in the instance complained of: that the city having, at its own expense,
repaired the markets, which were built too on its own estate, might
as lawfully claim a small recompense from such as brought commodities
thither, as a man might require rent for a house of which he was
possessed: that those who disliked the condition might abstain from the
market; and whoever paid, had done it voluntarily: that it was an avowed
right of the subjects to petition; nor had the city in their address
abused this privilege, that the king himself had often declared, the
parliament often it is evident, could not be fully prosecuted but in
a parliamentary manner: that the impeachment of the Popish lords was
certainly obstructed by the frequent prorogations; as was also the
enacting of necessary laws, and providing for the defence of the
nation: that the loyalty of the city, no less than their regard to
self-preservation,