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Retrospective Gleanings. The right of electing the mayor was

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THE inauguration of the chief magistrate of the City of London is attended with much solid festivity, and sometimes with considerable show; yet the manner in which LORD MAYOR'S DAY, as it is popularly called, is now observed, is not by any means comparable with the splendid pomp and symbolic pageantry that accompanied its celebration in former ages.

Whilst under the dominion of "Im

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perial Rome," London was governed by a præfect-in the Saxon times by a portreve, and after the coming of the Normans by a portreve and provost jointly. The appellation of Mayor was first bestowed on Henry Fitz-Alwyn, or FitzLeofstan, goldsmith, a descendant of the celebrated Duke Ailwyn, alderman of all England, (and kinsman to King Edgar,) who founded Romsey Abbey. This gentleman continued to hold the office till his decease, about twenty-four years afterwards; and in the following year (anno 1214) King John, as a means of conciliating the good-will of the citizens, granted to the "Barons of the city," as they were called in the charter, the privilege of choosing a mayor out of their own body, annually, or at their own pleasure to " continue him in that situation from year to year." It was requisite, however, to render this choice effective, that the new mayor should be presented to the king, or in his absence to his justice; but this condition having occasioned great expense and inconve nience, the citizens, in the 37th of Henry VIII. obtained a new charter, empowering them to present their mayor to the "Barons of the Exchequer at Westminster," when the king should not be there; and before those judges he Edward III. in the year 1354, granted to the city the right of having gold and silver maces carried be fore their principal officers; and it was probably at this period that their magistrate was first entitled Lord Mayor, a conjecture which receives corroboration, from the circumstance of that officer being rated as an Earl, under the levies of the Capitation Tax, in 1379, at the same time the Aldermen were rated as Burons.

is still sworn.

formerly resident in the citizens at
large when assembled in general Folk-
mote; yet this having been productive
of great disturbances, gave rise to the
more confined mode of election by dele-
gates chosen out of each ward. This
method (with some variations at different
periods) continued till the year 1475,
when by an act of common council, the
choice of both mayor and sheriffs was
vested in the mayor, aldermen, and
common council, and the masters, war-
dens, and livery of the city companies,
in which it still remains. The right
has been confirmed to them by an act of
parliament. The election is made an-
nually on Michaelmas Day, in Guild-
hall, and whoever is chosen Lord Mayor
must have previously served the office of
sheriff. He must also be free of one

of the twelve principal city companies,
or become so before he can be sworn.
His power is
very extensive, and his su-
premacy does not cease even on the
death of the sovereign, and when this
happens, "he is considered as the prin-
cipal officer in the kingdom, and takes
his place accordingly in the privy coun-
cil until the new king be proclaimed."
A memorable instance of this dignity
may be seen in the invitation sent by the
privy council of James of Scotland,
after the demise of Queen Elizabeth, in
which the name of Sir Robert Lee, the
then Lord Mayor, stands foremost on
the list, before all the great officers of
state, and the nobility. Since the alter-
ation of the style, the Lord Mayor has
been first sworn into office on the 8th of
November, at Guildhall, and on the
next day (the 9th) at Westminster. The
procession made on this last occasion is
what is termed the Lord Mayor's Show.

The original processions both in going to and returning from Westminster, were by land; but in the year 1453, the custom of going thither by water, which is still continued, was introduced by Sir John Norman, who at his own charge, built a magnificent barge for the purpose, and his example was emulated by the twelve principal city companies, who all built costly barges on this occasion. Fabian says that the watermen of the Thames were so highly pleased with the Lord Mayor, through the advantage which they reaped in consequence, that they composed a song in his praise, beginning thus :— "Row thy boat Norman,

Row thy boat Lemman."

Long after this the processions by land were rendered extremely attractive through the variety and gorgeousness of

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the different pageants, which were introduced as well at the cost of the corporation as of the more affluent companies. Stow informs us that, in his memory great part of Leadenhall was appropriated for the purpose of painting and depositing the pageants for the use of the city," and a considerable number of artificers was kept employed to decorate them, and to invent and furnish the machinery. But it should be remembered that these expenses were not all incurred in honour of the Lord Mayor, the city being at that time accustomed to make pompous shows on various occasions, as coronations, visits of sovereigns, victories, &c. Some of the pageants were entirely of a dramatic cast, and appropriate speeches were assigned to the different characters. This was particularly the case at the inauguration of Sir Woolstone Dixie, who was chosen mayor in 1585, and whose show displayed a pageant wherein London was represented by "a beautiful girl gorgeously apparelled," seated under a canopy adorned with the royal arms" in beaten gold," attended by several nymphs, among whom was

"The pleasant Thames-a sweet and dainty one,"

together with magnanimity, loyalty, the country, the soldier, the sailor, and science. The whole was led by a "Moor mounted on the back of a lazarn," who thus opened the same in an address to the chief magistrate :

"From where the sun doth settle in his wain,
And yokes his horses to his fiery car,
And in his course gives life to Ceres' corn-
Even from the torrid zone, behold I come,
A stranger, strangely mounted as you see,
Seated upon a lusty lazarn's back,

To offer to your Honour (good my Lord!)
This emblem thus in show significant
Of lovely London! rich and fortunate:
Fam'd through the world for peace and happi-

ness!"

Sir John Shaw, who was Lord Mayor in 1501, revived the more ancient custom of riding to Westminster on horseback, but this practice was finally discontinued in Queen Anne's time, Sir Gilbert Heathcote being the last Lord Mayor who rode thither, in 1711. Sir Humphrey Edwin, whom Dean Swift has immortalized in his Tale of a Tub, is noted for having gone to a conventicle while mayor, in 1698, in his formalities, and with all the insignia of his office. This indiscreet conduct is supposed to have had considerable influence in the framing of a proviso in the statute, 6th Geo. I. c. iv., which declares that "any mayor, bailiff, or other magistrate, convicted of being present at any place of

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worship other than the Church of England, in the peculiar habit of his office, or attending with the ensigns thereof, shall be adjudged incapable to bear any public office or employment whatsoever." appears that on one or two occasions, as during a plague, &c. when the Barons of the Exchequer have been absent from London, the Lord Mayor has been sworn into office on Tower Hill, by the Constable of the Tower.

Of the costume of the Lord Mayor on these particular occasions anciently, we can only judge from accounts of it on other grand festivities, as it did not appear then as now, to have settled on any decisive habit; and indeed in old prints of Mayors, each is dressed differently. In 1432, the Lord Mayor and his brethren met Henry VI. on his return from France, on horseback, "clothed in crimson velvet, a great velvet hat furred, a girdle of gold about his middle, and a jewel of gold about his neck, trilling down behind him, with his three huntsmen on three great coursérs following him, in suits of red, all spangled with silver." Hentzner, in 1598, describes the then Lord Mayor, at the proclaiming of Bartholomew Fair, to have been dressed in his scarlet gown, and about his neck a golden chain, to which hung a golden fleece, besides a rich collar. Nor were the Lord Mayor's Feasts near this period, though certainly not equal to modern times, devoid of considerable splendour; Sir Richard Gresham, in 1531, had one hundred and eleven messes of meat; the guests (freemen) entertained at Guildhall were two hundred and seventy-three, and the wardens of the different companies, reckoning two to a company, were one hundred and twenty, making together three hundred and ninety-three, exclusively of many others.

Among his privileges, the Lord Mayor is, as head of the city, principal in all commissions of felony, and Chief Judge for the sessions of gaol delivery at Newgate, Conservator of the Rivers Thames and Medway, and also Chief Butler to the King at his Coronation.

THE FIRST PARLIAMENTARY SPEECH OF A BRITISH KING ON RECORD.

THIS was delivered Ann. Dom. 1106, by Henry I. to the great barons of the realm, whom he had summoned by roya mandate to London.

He had supplanted his brother, Robert of Normandy, in his right to the English crown, and being apprehensive of that injured relative's vengeance he endeavoured, by

the most artful insinuations, to engage the barons and other nobles in his interest.

"My friends and faithful subjects, both foreigners and natives, you all know very well that my brother Robert was both called by God and elected King of Jerusalem, which he might have happily governed, and how shamefully he refused that rule, for which he justly deserves God's anger and reproof. You know also, in many other instances, his pride and brutality: because he is a man that delights in war and bloodshed, I know that he thinks you a parcel of contemptible fellows; he calls you a set of gluttons and drunkards, whom he hopes to tread under his feet. I, truly, a meek, humble, and peaceable king, will preserve and cherish you in your ancient liberties, which I have formally sworn to perform; will hearken to your wise counsel with patience, and will govern you justly after the example of the best of princes. If you desire it I will strengthen this promise with a written charter, and all those laws which the holy King Edward, by the inspiration of God, so wisely enacted, I will swear to keep inviolate. If you, my brethren, will stand by me faithfully, we shall easily repulse the strongest efforts that the cruellest enemy can make against me and these kingdoms. If I am only supported by the valour and power of the English nation, all the threats of the Normans will no longer seem for

midable to me."

GUNPOWDER TREASON.

ON January 30, 1606, Sir Everard Digby, Robert Winter, John Grant, and Thomas Bates, were executed at the west end of St. Paul's Church; and Guy Fawkes was executed with Thomas Winter, Ambrose Rockwood, and Robert Keyes, within the Old Palace Yard, Westminster, and near the Parliament House, January 31, 1606. Besides the above-mentioned culprits, the Lords Mordaunt and Stourton, two Catholic lords, were. fined £1,000. each, and £10,000. afterwards, by the Star-chamber, upon farther discovery of their villanies, and because their absence from parliament had begotten a suspicion of their being deep in the conspiracy; moreover it was proved that they had advanced considerable sums for carrying on the above work. The Earl of Northumberland was fined £30,000. and detained for several years a prisoner in the

Tower.

J. R. S.

CHRIST'S HOSPITAL.

(For the Mirror.)

THE following is a copy of the speech that was addressed to his Majesty, by the senior scholar of the grammarschool, in Christ's Hospital, on Lord Mayor's Day, 1761.

"Most august and gracious sovereign, from the condescension and goodness which your majesty displays towards even the meanest of your subjects, we are emboldened to hope you will accept the tribute of obedience and duty which we poor orphans, are permitted to present you.

"Educated and supported by the munificence of a charity, founded, enlarged, and protected by your royal predecessors, with the warmest gratitude we acknowledge our inexpressible obligations to its bounty, and the distinguished happiness we have hitherto enjoyed under the constant patronage of former princes. May this ever be our boast and our glory! Nor can we think we shall prefer our prayer in vain, whilst with earnest but humble supplications, we implore the patronage and protection of your majesty.

"To our ardent petition for your princely favours, may we presume, dread sovereign, to add our most respectful congratulations on your auspicious marriage with your royal consort. Strangers to the disquietude which often dwells within the circle of a crown, long may your majesties experience the heartfelt satisfaction of domestic life; in the uninterrupted possession of every endearment of the most tender union, every blessing of conjugal affection, every comfort of parental felicity. And may a race of princes, your illustrious issue and descendants, formed by the example, and inheriting the virtues of their great and good progenitor, continue to sway the British sceptre to the latest posterity."

As soon as he had finished, the boys in a grand chorus chanted "God save the King, Amen." After this the senior scholar delivered two copies of the speech to the King and Queen. J. G. B.

GIVING WARNING.

A GENTLEMAN, unfortunately linked for life to one who made him feel the weight of his chain, was one day told by the maid that she was going to give her mistress warning, as she kept scolding her from morning till night.— “ Ah, happy girl!" said the master, "I wish I could give her warning too!"

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THE Cut is but a mere vignette illustra tion of the sanguinary history of the Tower of London. It represents the north, or inside view, of the Traitor's Gate, beneath St. Thomas's Tower, which stands over the moat, near the middle part of the southern wall. The Gate communicates with the river Thames by a passage beneath the wharf, forming the principal entrance to the Tower from the river, and through which, in former times, it was customary to convey state delinquents to the fortress.

The very place has an air of interest ing melancholy in its associations: in common terms, it even smells of blood; and it is no stretch of romance to ima gine the arrival of the boat, with its heavily-plashing oar breaking the deathlike silence of the arched channel in the distance of the Engraving. The illstarred captives who have passed through this gate to their "prison lodging' likewise increase the gloom of the scene. Among its records, we may mention one in the reign of Queen Mary; when, upon the rising of Sir Thomas Wyatt, the Princess Elizabeth, Mary's sister, underwent a strict and severe confine. ment in the Tower of above two months' duration, on suspicion of being implicated in that attempt; but Wyatt, with his dying breath, when on the scaffold,

solemnly absolved her from any knowledge of his design. Elizabeth was conveyed by water to the Tower, and compelled to enter at the Traitor's Gate, where, on setting her foot upon the steps, she exclaimed, with that spirit and dignity which ennobled her character-"Here landeth as true a subject, being a prisoner, as ever landed at these stairs; and before thee, O God, I speak it."

Elizabeth is said to have been confined in the Bell Tower, so named from the alarm-bell of the garrison being placed in a wooden turret on its summit.

The Tower above Traitor's Gate is "a large rectangular edifice, the outer line of which is strengthened by two circular towers, projecting from the south-east and south-west angles. These towers have been very little altered, and interiorly exhibit some interesting examples of the early pointed architecture of Henry the Third's reign. Within each tower are two little vaulted apartinents of a sexagonal form, and corresponding in dimensions, their greatest width being nine feet. The ribs of the vaulting rise from the capitals of small round columns. This Tower is now appropriated to the raising of water, and contains a steamengine, water-wheel, and other machinery.'

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Britton's Memoir of the Tower, sm. 8vo. 1830.

SPIRIT OF THE

Public Journals.

NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND.

By M. Thierry.

WE give the account of this memorable day in the words of our author, as we consider his description a fine specimen of historical writing; the facts and the manners being first drawn fresh from the well of contemporary writers, and then thrown together with that felicitous grouping, and that warm glow of imagination, which distinguish the higher historian from the mere chronicler or annalist.

"Upon that ground, which ever since has been known by a name borrowed from the battle, the Anglo-Saxon lines occupied a chain of little hills, fortified on all sides by a rampart of strong wooden piles and twisted branches. On the night of the 13th of October, 1066, William announced to his army, that on the day following he had determined to fight. Upon this the priests and monks, who with the hopes of plunder had changed their cassocks for steel coats, and followed the army in great numbers, resumed their religious duties, and whilst the knights and soldiers were preparing their arms and their horses, offered up prayers and sang litanies for the safety of the host. The little portion of time which remained was employed by the soldiers in the confession of their sins and receiving the sacrament. In the other army the night passed in a very different manner, the Saxons abandoning themselves to great revelry, shouting and singing their national ballads, crowding round their camp fires, and quaffing their horns full of beer and wine.

"When morning broke, in the Norman camp the Bishop of Bayeux, clothed in a steel hauberk which he wore beneath his rocquet, celebrated mass, and blessed the troops: he then threw himself upon a superb white horse, and with his lance in his hand drew up his squadron of cavalry. The Norman army was divided into three columns or lines. In the first were the men at arms belong ing to the counties of Boulogne and Ponthieu, along with the greater part of those soldiers who served for pay; the second consisted of the Bretons and Poitevins; and the third was formed of the best troops of Normandy, led by the duke in person. In front of each of these columns or battalia were drawn up several lines of footmen clothed in light armour, worn over a quilted cas

sock, and bearing either long bows or steel cross-bows. The duke rode a Spanish horse, with which a rich Norman had presented him, on his return from a pilgrimage to Sant Iago, in Galicia. He wore, suspended round his neck, the most holy of the relics upon which Harold had sworn; and a young Norman called Tonstain-le-Blanc carried at his side the standard which had been blessed by the pope. At the moment the soldiers were about to march, with a loud voice he thus addressed them :- Take care that you fight well, and to death if the day is ours, it will make our fortunes for us all. Whatever I gain, you shall gain; if this land is to be mine, it shall be yours also. know well that I am come here not only to claim my right, but to avenge our nation of the felony, perjury, and treasons of these English. Have they not murdered the Danes upon the night of St. Brice, slaying alike both women and men? Have they not decimated the companions of Alfred, my ancestor, and caused them to perish? Advance then, and with the aid of God let us revenge upon them all their misdeeds.'

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"The army moved forward, and soon found itself in view of the Saxon camp, which lay to the north-west of Hastings, and the priests and monks who had hitherto marched in the ranks, now left them in a body and took their station upon a neighbouring height, where they could offer up their prayers, and behold the battle undisturbed. At this moment, a Norman knight, named Taillefer, spurred his horse in front of the battle, and with a loud voice began the song of Charlemagne and Roland, chanting those valorous deeds which were then famous throughout France. As he sung, he played with his sword, casting it high in the air and catching it again with his right hand, whilst the Normans joined in the chorus, or shouted their cry of God aid us! God aid us! Arrived within bow shot, the archers began to discharge their arrows, and the cross-bowmen their quarrels, but the shots were for the most part blunted or thrown off by the high parapet which surrounded the Saxon intrenchments. The foot lancers and cavalry then advanced to the gates of the fortification and attempted to force them; but the Anglo-Saxons drawn up on foot around their standard, which was fixed in the earth, and forming a compact and solid mass behind their intrenchments, received their assailants with tremendous cuts of their steel axes, which were so heavy and sharp, that they broke the

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