of the sheriffs. "If anything was to be got
by the office," he said, with a stern moral
sense, an instinct of honour which has still a
stronghold in Guildhall, "if anything was to
be got, we should 'ave everybody after it. It
would give rise to jobs."

It was stated frequently in the course of
debate as one ground of complaint, that
gentlemen received no notice of intention to
propose them to the rank of sheriff, and that
the election which ought to be made by the
Livery of London, since the Livery did not
attend, was made notoriously by men hired
at two shillings or half-a-crown a day, to hold
up their hands according to directions. It
was said, on behalf of one of the petitioners,
that he had indeed been warned privately
of the impending fate, and was promised
that he should not be elected if he would
consent to pay a certain sum, considerably
smaller than his fine. He refused, considering
this way of sheriff-making by a prætorian
guard got up for the occasion, to be a practice
of the most pernicious kind, which affected
seriously the honour of the City. Another
speaker read an address formerly delivered
by the esteemed Judge Jeffries, in which he
spoke of the practice of creating unwilling
men one after another into sheriffs, for the
sake of their fines, as a familiar habit well
known to his hearers under the name of
"going a birding for sheriffs." The main
topic of declamation, however, and the
pressure of opinion in the honourable Court
at which I had the pleasure to be present,
was against all reduction of dinners, or
increase of allowance to sheriffs. They had
prospered in the City, and owed a debt of
dinner to the City; and any alteration in the
existing practice on those heads would lead
immediately to the grossest jobbery.

There were the under-sheriffs: lawyers,
members of the Court, "kept a pretty sharp
look-out upon their office." As a noble alderman
said, in a facetious speech over the brass
railing, there were connected with it "pretty
pickings," and the office "didn't used to be
despised." Such fine old Saxon expressions
as are marked here in inverted commas, I
should say, gave nerve and power to the
whole discussion of the honourable Court. It
is well known that a great deal of what is
called vulgar in the language of the present
day consists in a retention of some forms of
speech used by our ancestors. Vulgarity of
diction is, in fact, antiquity of diction; and I
do not hesitate to declare my opinion, that it
adds much to the distinctive antiquarian
character of the debates in the City Parliament.
Again, in the noblest language of
the world, in Greek, there is no letter h: the
honourable Court knows this; and, modelling
its practice on its veneration for the past,
honourable members commonly say 'ouse for
house, and 'at for hat, and so forth. This is
extremely interesting, and the light— if it be
an independent fact— the light it throws upon
the comma used as aspirate in the Greek
language, is important.

To the original motion there was an amendment
proposed by the City Euclid, which was
lost eventually, and a new amendment was
proposed, to put a stop at once to all inquiry
which might have for its object the better
remuneration of the sheriffs. Said one, it is
their privilege to provide dinners; said
another, in a fervent speech, "Sheriffs are
called the eyes of the community. If so,
then treat them as becomes the noblest
feature in the human countenance." (Hear,
hear.) If that means, put them in spectacles,
the advice surely was needless. For they
already ride in gorgeous coaches, and are made
a leading feature in the Lord Mayor's Show.

This interesting discussion— in which the
word dinner was to be found in all corners,
floating (like Murat's white crest) conspicuous
above the tide of war— this discussion occupied
much time; the second amendment, declining
to pay for dinners, which it was the privilege
of sheriffs to provide, was carried with but
few dissentients— base men, no doubt, who
dine on legs of mutton in their parlours, and
are content to get a slice of pudding after it
direct from the hands of the manufacturer in
a domestic way, and pay for it in the shape
of housekeeping allowance. Brains below
marrow pudding; hearts that never palpitated
at the sight of turtle!

This matter being settled, a question arose
whether the Court should at once proceed
to an important election which had procured
an unusual attendance of members, or whether
members should be detained while they
disposed of Corn, Commerce, and other questions
that stood earlier upon the list, and some of
which might occupy much time. For the
convenience of members, it was resolved to
release those wlio did not wish to be detained,
by proceeding forthwith to the election of a
City Smith. What may be the important
functions of a City Smith, I did not know;
but I perceived that there were seven or
eight candidates in eager competition for the
office. The great question was at last decided;
and the great question, Who shall be City
Smith? having been settled, members breathed
freely, and took up their hats; and, as the
afternoon was far advanced, two-thirds of the
assembly thronged to the door and dispersed;
probably in search of dinner.

The next piece of business was a mere
petition from merchants, pointing out the
heavy pressure of certain clumsy arrangements
connected with City dues, which tend,
they said, to drive trade out of the port
of London; and comparing the bad position
of a merchant in the port of London, with the
better position of the merchants trading into
Liverpool, and other ports. This petition
being read, was despatched without discussion.
Trade and commerce are dull topics. Other
matters were despatched also; and a deputation
of gentlemen then came to the bar in