of London, who had, and hath, I presume, within his jurisdiction, even in the Royal Presence, an Ensign of Royalty preceding him, instead of bearing on his own shoulder, a badge of servitude.

"This, however, must be understood with some restriction; for in the Heraldic Account* which lies before me, of the Procession of King Edward VI. from the Tower to his Coronation at Westminster, the Lord Mayor in that ceremonial, is found exactly in the situation of a Serjeant at Arms, supporting the principal officer of Arms, consonant with the orders of Thomas of Lancaster; for he there goes on the left hand of Garter, carrying a Mace, as he still continues to do in the procession to the Coronation itself, the old form of proceeding from the Tower, having been considered virtually as a part of that ceremonial. The distinction necessary to be made, seems to be, that the Lord Mayor in such circumstances is placed in a different view from what is implied in the grant of King Edward III.; for in the procession, and in all parts of it, the Lord Mayor appears individually, and is not at the head of the City of London, as a corporate body; whereas the privileges pointed at in the reign of King Edward III. should seem to relate to those occasions, where the King is to be received in the City by the Lord Mayor, with all his appendages of Magistracy about him.

"In a subordinate line of Serjeantry, each Sheriff of London, had in the time of Henry III., two Serjeants, for the purpose of attachments; which number was from necessity, I presume, enlarged to sixteen by King Edward IV. (Anno 1471,) and each Serjeant was allowed

See Leland's Collectanea," vol. ii. p. 311. edit. ult.

台糖

a Yeoman under him:* these are called Serjeants at Mace."

SERJEANT AT ARMS, ATTENDANT ON THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

The Speaker's Serjeant was anciently considered as an especial servant of the King, as may be gathered from the terms of his appointment, which runs thus; -"to the place or office of one of our Serjeants at Arms in ordinary, to attend upon our Royal person, when there is no Parliament; and at the time of every Parliament, to attend upon the Speaker of the House of Commons, with the wages of 3s. by the day, and of 2s. 6d. by the day, for board-wages." The attendance of this officer upon the King has, however, been dispensed with from time immemorial.

"The care of the House lies upon this Serjeant, as to the provision of necessaries, &c. and the appointment of proper subordinate officers, such as the House-keeper, Deliverer of the Votes, Door-keeper, &c. lies in his department, and it is no secret that those places are not, generally speaking, free gifts. For the contingent necessaries, the Serjeant delivers in bills at the Exche

quer.

"This Serjeant attends upon the Speaker, and precedes him with the Mace upon his shoulder whenever

1 * Brydall's "Camera Regis," p. 60.

The King's Serjeants are sometimes called Serjeants at Mace, in Ceremonials.-Vide Leland's "Collectanea," vol. iv. 298. edit. ult. The ancient oath of the Sheriffs' Serjeants may be seen in Strype's Stow. B. v. p.172.

he goes to Parliament, to the King, or to Church, in State. Formerly, when the Speaker went on horseback to the House of Commons, the Serjeant seems to have preceded him on foot; for I find in the Journals, of the 23rd year of Queen Elizabeth, that upon a motion to the House, the Serjeant, in regard to the infirmities and pains in his feet, was licensed to 'ride upon a footcloth nag. Since coaches came into general use, the Serjeant appropriated to the Lord Chancellor, the Speaker, and the Lord Mayor respectively, go with them, when the state coach is used, sitting upon stools facing one of the windows, with the head of the Mace projecting out of it; but anciently, when coaches were first introduced, the Speaker's Mace was carried in the boot of his coach. It is also to be presumed that the Speaker rode there with it; for it was not a situation that carried any indignity at the time, as we find that even the Marshals of France, in the reign of Henry IV. rode in the boot of the King's coach.

"When a Speaker is chosen by the House of Commons, at the commencement of a Parliament, and proceeds to the House of Peers for the approbation of the King, the Serjeant, a little inclining to the right hand, precedes the new Speaker, with the Mace resting on the elbow of his right arm, to imply that the Speaker is not yet fully confirmed in his office. His train when going to the King is likewise not borne. On the return to the House of Commons, the Speaker's train is borne, and the Mace is carried on the Serjeants' right shoulder,

* Skinner's Life of "General Monk," p 203, 2nd edit. + Matthews's "Life and Death of Hen. IV." p. 102. edit.

to shew that the Speaker having been approved, is in full possession of his post."*

The fees of the Speaker's Serjeant, when empowered to execute the orders of the House of Commons, in respect to attachments, detentions of offenders, &c. are as follow:

PARLIAMENTARY ANECDOTES OF JAMES THE FIRST'S REIGN. SEVERE PUNISHMENT OF A MEMBER

FOR FREE SPEAKING.

The high and arbitrary notions of Kingly preroga tive entertained by the Stuarts, conjoined with the papistical bigotry of James the Second, was the cause of the deserved expulsion of that infatuated race from the throne. They set up, in fact, the despotical suggestions of their own will as a paramount authority to the laws, and would have governed, or rather misgoverned, the nation altogether without the intervention of Parliament, if the "want of supplies" had not occasionally forced them upon a different course, and reduced them to pay some little deference to the principles of the Constitution.

On the 20th of January, 1621, James the First

* Vide Pegge's " Curialia,” P. v.

assembled his third Parliament for the avowed purpose of obtaining aid for the recovery of the Palatinate by the sword, his son-in-law, the Elector Frederick, having been obliged to seek refuge in Holland, after his defeat by the Austrians at the Battle of Prague, on November the 8th, 1620.

In his opening speech the King, with reference to the abrupt dissolution of his two first Parliaments, commenced thus :

"In multiloquio non deest peccatum, saith the wisest man that ever was; and this experience I have found in mine own person," &c. " but it pleased God, seeing some vanity in me, to send back my words as wine spit in my own face, so as I may truly say, I have piped unto you, and you have not danced: I have mourned and you have not lamented." As he proceeds he tells them," it is a vain thing for a Parliament to press to be popular ;" and afterwards, in allusion to the years which had elapsed since he had required a subsidy, this Scottish Solomon makes the following strange comparison.

"The time since my supply hath been as the time of Women with Child, Qua decem tulerint fastidia menses, who, after ten months' longings are delivered of their burthens; but I have travailed ten years, and therefore full time to be delivered of my wants."

Those wants were soon afterwards partially relieved by the grant of two entire subsidies, but immediately afterwards the House of Commons began to question many of the acts of government, and particularly those resulting from the arbitrary exercise of the