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magnitude of the place. Those of London were first appointed in 1242, and are twenty-six in number, each having one of the wards of the city committed to his care. Their office is for life; so that when one of them dies, or resigns, a wardmote is called, who return two persons, one of whom the lord mayor and aldermen choose to supply the vacancy.* By the charter of the city of London, all the aldermen who have been lord mayors, together with the three eldest ones not arrived at that dignity, are justices of the peace.

SHERIFF.

The title sheriff is a corruption from Shire Reeve, from the Saxon, meaning the Reeve or Governor of the Shire. He is the chief civil officer in each county, and is entrusted with the execution of the laws and the preservation of the peace, for which purpose he has at his disposal the whole civil force of the county. He is a kind of superior constable, through whom all writs are issued.

LORD MAYOR.

Mayor, formerly major, i. e., the first or senior Alderman. The Lord Mayor of London, as the chief magistrate is called, is, properly speaking, only Mayor of London and Lord of Finsbury. This latter title was conferred, on the gift of the manor of Finsbury, by Richard II., in consequence of Sir William Walworth (then mayor of London) killing Wat Tyler in Smithfield.

SECRETARY OF STATE.

This office is comparatively modern in point of importance. There was only one until the reign of Henry VIII., who added another. Queen Anne appointed one for Scotch affairs, but this office was not of long duration: one for the American departments was appointed by George III., but abolished in 1782. At present there are three Secretaries of State. 1. The Secretary for the Home Department. 2. The Colonial Secretary. 3. The Secretary for Foreign Affairs.

TELLER OF THE EXCHEQUER.

The mode of keeping accounts by tallies, or cleft pieces of wood, in which the notches are cut upon one piece conformable to the other, one kept by the creditor, and the other with the debtor, is still practised in many places of Britain. A tally continues to be given by the Exchequer to those who pay money there upon loans; hence the origin of the Teller of the Exchequer, one who tells or numbers up the notches, and also of the phrase, to tally, to fit, to suit, or to answer exactly.

*This is not the case now, each ward returning its own Alderman,

POET LAUREATE.

This appendage to the court was formerly called the King's Versifier, and may be traced as far back as 1251, at which period his stipend was 100 shillings per annum. In the History of English Poetry, Mr. Warton observes, that in the reign of Edward IV., the first mention is made of the more dignified appellation of Laureate, which was originally bestowed on John Kay. This ingenious writer is of opinion, the title arose from the degrees taken in the University of Oxford, on which occasion a wreath of laurel was presented to the new graduate, who was styled Poeta Laureatus.

KING'S COCK-CROWER!

This officer, which was formerly about the court, was as useful as the master of the hawks. The cock-crower's business was to go the rounds as a watchman does, and to crow like a cock; but on the accession of George III. the cock ceased to crow, his majesty thinking the custom more honoured in the breach than the observance.

LORD WARDEN OF THE CINQUE PORTS.

The Cinque Ports were originally as follows, viz. :—Dover, Sandwich, Hastings, Hythe, and Romney; but three more were afterwards added, viz., Winchelsea, Rye, and Seaford. The Constable of Dover Castle was created Warden of the Cinque Ports by William the Conqueror. The Lord Warden has the authority of Admiral in the Cinque Ports and their dependencies, with power to hold a Court of Admiralty, and Courts of Law and Equity.

BELLMAN.

This officer was first appointed in London, 1556. They were to ring their bells at night, and cry, “Take care of your fire and candle, be charitable to the poor, and pray for the dead."

JULIAN THE APOSTATE.

The Emperor Julian was denominated the Apostate, from having professed Christianity before he ascended the throne, and afterwards relapsing to Paganism. He died in the 32nd year of his age, in a battle with the Persians.

KNIGHTHOOD.

The order of knighthood in ancient times added a lustre to the highest degree of nobility, and was esteemed even by kings and princes themselves. The ceremony of creating a knight was

generally performed in the Royal palace, and robes of different colours were given to the intended objects of that Royal mark of distinction. Among the Close Rolls is a writ from Henry III. to the Sheriff of Southampton, ordering him to allow Thomas Esturmy, his Majesty's valet, a scarlet robe with a cloak of fine linen, and another robe of green or brown, and a saddle and a pair of reins, and a cloak for wet weather, and a couch and a pair of linen sheets, it being usual for the person who was to be knighted, to watch all the previous night in the church, and the couch was given him to rest on.

KNIGHTS TEMPLARS.

The Knights Templars were an order of knights instituted by Baldwin, King of Jerusalem, about the year 1100, for the defence of that city and the temple, as well as of the pilgrims that travelled thither; and were afterwards dispersed through all the kingdoms of Christendom. They were enriched by vast donations of the superstitious world, having no less than sixteen thousand lordships, besides other lands, conferred upon them; and neglecting to observe the first institution of their order, and being charged with the most detested crimes, particularly sodomy, and denying our Saviour-all the princes of Europe, with the concurrence of the Pope, agreed to imprison their persons, and seize all their lands and effects at once, and abolish their order, their revenues being afterwards transferred to the Knights' Hospitallers; but whether their immense riches, and their insolent behaviour, were not the grand motives for suppressing this order, is much doubted; for none of the crimes they were charged with, were proved against the English Templars, and the confessions of those in France were extorted by torture. The English Templars were only sent into other monasteries. Their principal residence in England was the Temple in Fleet-Street, London; where, in the church there, lie the remains, marked out by their effigies, numbers of these once domineering crusading heroes. They were abolished by Pope Clement I.

KNIGHTS HOSPITALLERS.

These Knights, to whom were assigned the estates of the Knights Templars, derive their appellation from dedicating their services to the sick and wounded Christian soldiers in the holy wars; hence they were called Hospitallers, or Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. Like the Templars, their principal estates and residence were in England.

Jerusalem Square, with St. John of Jerusalem's Gate, derive their cognomens from these Knights Hospitallers, who had their headquarters in this part of Clerkenwell. They had also a

church here, which Stow notices in his Survey of London. They were suppressed by Henry VIII., 1540.

ORDER OF THE BATH.

The antiquity of this order is very great, as it was derived from the ancient Franks by the Saxons, who, with other customs, introduced it into England. When the Franks conferred knighthood, they observed, among other solemn rites, that of bathing before they performed their vigils; which rites continued to be practised in England, and from thence were termed Knights of the Bath. The first of this order, under the express appellation, was instituted by Henry IV., on the 13th of October, 1399.

ORDER OF THE THISTLE.

This order was founded in 1540 by James V. of Scotland, who, being honoured with the Order of the Garter from his uncle, King Henry VIII. of England, with the Golden Fleece from the Emperor, and the Order of St. Michael from the King of France,TM resolved to be in the royal mode, and so made this order for himself and twelve knights, in imitation of Christ and his twelve apostles. Then celebrating all the festivals of these orders, he set up their arms and badges over the gate of his palace at Linlithgow, joining St. Andrew with them.

ORDER OF ST. ANDREW.

Some Scotch writers, very fond of antiquity, not satisfied with the novelty of this institution, affect to call it the most ancient, as to its derivation. But for this they have no better warrant than the dream of king Hungus, the Pict, to whom St. Andrew making a midnight visit, promised him a sure victory over his foes, the Northumbrians; and the next day, St. Andrew's cross appearing in the air, he made his words good, and the Northumbrians were defeated. On this story, as they say, king Achaius, about the year 800, framed the Order of St. Andrew, 700 years before James V. revived it. He also appointed the knights to wear the image of St. Andrew upon a blue ribbon, which continued till queen Anne changed it to green.

ORDER OF THE GARTER.

Instituted by Edward III. in the year 1350. Some say on account of good success in a skirmish, wherein the king's garter was used for a token; others say that the king, after his great success, dancing one night with his queen and other ladies, took up a garter which one of them dropped, whereat some of the lords smiling, the king called out, Honi soit qui mal y penseEvil to him that evil thinks; and said, that ere long he would make that garter of high reputation; and shortly after he instituted the order, in memorial of this event, and gave these words

as the motto of the order. This origin, though frivolous, says Hume, is not unsuitable to the manners of the times; and it is indeed difficult by any other means to account either for the seemingly unmeaning terms of the motto, or for the peculiar badge of the garter, which seems to have no reference to any purpose either of military use or ornament. The probability is, that in order to promote the spirit of emulation and obedience, the king instituted the order of the garter, in imitation of some orders of a like nature, religious as well as military, which had been established in different parts of Europe. The number received into this order consisted of twenty-five persons, besides the sovereign. Ladies were members of the fraternity as late as the reign of Edward IV. When queen Anne attended the thanksgiving at St. Paul's in 1702, and again in 1704, she wore the garter set with diamonds, as Sovereign of the order, tied round her left arm, and this precedent has been since followed.

COLLAR OF S S.

This collar, which is worn on certain occasions by the judges of the present day, is derived from Saints Simplicius and Faustinus, two Roman senators, who suffered martyrdom under Dioclesian, The religious society or confraternity of St. Simplicius wore silver collars of double SS; between which the collar contained twelve small pieces of silver, on which were engraven the twelve articles of the creed, together with a simple trefoil. The image of St. Simplicius hung at the collar, and from it seven plates, representing the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. This chain, or collar, was worn because these two brethren were martyred by a stone with a chain about their necks, and thus thrown into the Tiber. Sir John Fern says, that collars in the 15th century were worn as ensigns of rank, of which the fashions ascertained the degrees. They were usually formed of S S, having in the front centre a rose, or other device, and were made of gold or silver, according to the bearer. He says, that knights only wore collars of S S; but this is a mistake. At the marriage of Prince Arthur, son of Henry VII., in 1507, Sir Nicholas Vaux wore a collar of Esses, which weighed, as the goldsmiths that made it reported, 800 pound of nobles.* The collar worn by the judges is still a collar of S S divested of certain appendages.-See Notes and Queries, vol. iv. passim.

ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF CROWNS.

In Scripture there is frequent mention of crowns, and the use of them seems to have been very common among the Hebrews. The high priest wore a crown, which was a fillet of gold placed

*See Gold Coin.

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