in
the same month, the Archbishop of Canterbury gives a similar state
dinner to the Lord Mayor, aldermen, sheriffs, and the bishops, at
Lambeth Palace." In June the Lord Mayor used to attend the anniversary
of the Charity Schools in St. Paul's in state, and in the evening to
preside at the public dinner, but this has of late been discontinued.

"On Midsummer Day, the Lord Mayor holds a common hall for the election
of sheriffs for the ensuing year; and on the 3rd of September, the Lord
Mayor, aldermen, and sheriffs used to go in state to proclaim
Bartholomew Fair, now a thing of the past. They called at the gaol of
Newgate on their way, and the governor brought out a cup of wine, from
which the Lord Mayor drank.

"On St. Matthias' Day (21st September) the Lord Mayor attends Christ's
Hospital, to hear a sermon, when a little Latin oration is made by the
two senior scholars, who afterwards carry round a glove, and collect
money enough to pay their first year's expenses at college. Then the
beadles of the various hospitals of which the Lord Mayor is governor
deliver up their staves of office, which are returned if no fault is to
be attributed to them; and this is done to denote the Mayor's right to
remove them at his will, or upon just cause assigned, although elected
by their respective governors."

On the 28th of September, the Lord Mayor swears in the sheriffs at
Guildhall, a public breakfast having been first given by them at the
hall of the Company to which the senior sheriff belongs. On the 30th of
September, the Lord Mayor proceeds with the sheriffs to Westminster, in
state; and the sheriffs are again sworn into office before the Barons of
the Exchequer. The senior alderman below the chair (the next in rotation
for Lord Mayor) cuts some sticks, delivers six horse-shoes, and counts
sixty-one hob-nails, as suit and service for some lands held by the City
under the Crown. The Barons are then invited to the banquet given by the
sheriffs on their return to the City, at which the Lord Mayor presides
in state.

"The patronage of the Lord Mayor consists in the appointment of a
chaplain, who receives a full set of canonicals, lives and boards in the
Mansion House, has a suite of rooms and a servant at command, rides in
the state carriage, and attends the Lord Mayor whenever required. He is
presented to the King at the first levee, and receives a purse of fifty
guineas from the Court of Aldermen, and a like sum from the C