s
banquet the King and Queen attend the first year after their coronation;
it is given at the expense of the City, and it generally costs from
eight to ten thousand pounds; but when the City entertained the Prince
of Wales, afterwards George IV., and the allied Sovereigns in 1814, it
cost twenty thousand pounds. On all other Lord Mayor's days the expense
is borne by the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs, the former paying half, and
the latter one-fourth each; the Mayor's half generally averaging from
twelve to fourteen hundred pounds.

"The next morning the new Lord Mayor enters upon the duties of his
office. From ten to twelve he is engaged in giving audience to various
applications; at twelve he enters the justice-room, where he is often
detained until four in the afternoon, and this is his daily employment.
His lordship holds his first Court of Aldermen previous to any other
court, to which he goes in full state; the same week he holds his first
Court of Common Council, also in state. He attends the first sessions of
the Central Criminal Court at Justice Hall, in the Old Bailey; being the
Chief Commissioner, he takes precedence of all the judges, and sits in a
chair in the centre of the Bench, the swordbearer placing the sword of
justice behind it; this seat is never occupied in the absence of the
Lord Mayor, except by an alderman who has passed the chair. The Court is
opened at ten o'clock on Monday; the judges come on Wednesday; the Lord
Mayor takes the chair for an hour, and then retires till five o'clock,
when he entertains the judges at dinner in the Court-house, which is
expected to be done every day during the sitting of the Court, which
takes place every month, and lasts about eight days; the Lord Mayor and
the sheriffs dividing the expenses of the table between them.

"Plough Monday is the next grand day, when the Lord Mayor receives the
inquest of every ward in the City, who make a presentment of the
election of all ward officers in the City, who are elected on St.
Thomas's Day, December 21st, and also of any nuisances or grievances of
which the citizens may have to complain, which are referred to the Court
of Aldermen, who sit in judgment on these matters on the next Court day.
In former times, on the first Sunday in Epiphany, the Lord Mayor,
Aldermen, and Corporation, went in state to the Church of St. Lawrence,
Guildhall, and there received the sacrament, but this custom has of late
years been omitted.

"If