enancy of the City of London is in commission. The Lord Mayor,
being the Chief Commissioner, issues a new commission, whenever he
pleases, by application to the Lord Chancellor, through the Secretary of
State. He names in the commission all the aldermen and deputies of the
City of London, the directors of the Bank, the members for the City, and
such of his immediate friends and relations as he pleases. The
commission, being under the Great Seal, gives all the parties named
therein the right to be styled esquires, and the name once in the
commission remains, unless removed for any valid reason.

"The Lord Mayor enjoys the right of private audience with the Crown; and
when an audience is wished for, it is usual to make the request through
the Remembrancer, but not necessary. When Alderman Wilson was Lord
Mayor, he used to apply by letter to the Lord Chamberlain. In attending
levees or drawing-rooms, the Lord Mayor has the privilege of the
_entree_, and, in consideration of the important duties he has to
perform in the City, and to save his time, he is allowed to drive direct
into the Ambassadors' Court at St. James's, without going round by
Constitution Hill. He is summoned as a Privy Councillor on the death of
the King; and the Tower pass-word is sent to him regularly, signed by
the sovereign.

"He has the uncontrolled conservancy of the river Thames and the waters
of the Medway, from London Bridge to Rochester down the river, and from
London Bridge to Oxford up the river. He holds Courts of Conservancy
whenever he sees it necessary, and summons juries in Kent, from London
and Middlesex, who are compelled to go on the river in boats to view and
make presentments. In the mayoralty of Alderman Wilson, these courts
were held in the state barge, on the water, at the spot with which the
inquiry was connected, for the convenience of the witnesses attending
from the villages near. It is usual for him to visit Oxford once in
fourteen, and Rochester once in seven years.[9]

"Alderman Wilson, in 1839, was the last Lord Mayor (says Fairholt, whose
book was published in 1843) who visited the western boundary; and he, at
the request of the Court of Aldermen, made Windsor the principal seat of
the festivities, going no farther than Cliefden, and visiting Magna
Charta island on his return. Alderman Pirie was the last who visited the
eastern boundary, the whole party staying two days at Rochester. The
Lord Mayor is privileged by the C