The Express.
London, England, 1849-11-09 00:00:00

these to exalt him to their highest civic
homers—is an object of proper admiration. A Lord
Mayor may have many faults; connsated with his
coos there may be many things we could wish to see
remodelled; but the very fact that he is the Lord
Mayor should be, savingin exoehtiocal instances, auf-
fie:eat to mare ter the oongratulatioas of the
pu/die.
To the sew Lard Mayor, therefore, we wish a
prosperous and pleasant mayoralty—heartily joining
in the hozzu which greet him as he steps, for the first
time, into his state carriage, and rolls along in the
procession arrayed to do him honour.
A crowd will gaze on that procemion as it rolls
along Cheapside. The City Marshal, mistaken by
the countriy bumpkin for " F.M. the Duke of WEL-
LINGTON," prances at its head in all the glory of a
scarlet uniform. Then follows the "ancient knight
in brass armour,"—to wit, GRUNDY, the stalwart
dustman, mounted upon one of BARCLAY and PER-
KINS'S dray-horses, and held on by " his attendant
eaquires," 69 and 70 of the City division of patio,.
Next comes " the Lord Mayor's coach of state, drawn
by six cream-coloured steeds in superb caparisons"
—and hired for the occasion from AssLatsl
Amphitheatre. Out of the window of the con-
veyance sticks the mace, that universal emblem of
corporation dignity : from the other is dim layed the
sword, harmless in its scabbard, and looking more
Ike the wand of harlequin than the glittering steel of
a warrior. Inside, almost concealed by Mr. Sword-
bearer's fur cap,the Lord Mayor, in his robes and collar
of S.S., is indistinctly visible, uncomfortably squeezed,
in with the Recorder, Chaplain, Sword-bearer, mace,
and several civic functionaries privileged to rids in
his state coach. The late Lord Mayor follows next
in the array, endeavouring to look pleasant and to
show that he feels neither melancholy Nor regret at
being forced, as he terms it, to retire into the rcensea
of "private life.' Sir JANES BUMS, Bart., may
well do this. Then come the Sheriffs, in their
equipage', satisfied behind the enormous nosegays
which are stuck into their waistcoats. This is
the proosesion—the " Lord Mayor's Show,' as it is
homed—the astonishment of country cousins and the
admiration of the young apprentices. If it is a wet
they it looks d.rty and dismal; if the sun shines out it
shows the whole affair as it is, hacked and hired—and
vastly inferior to the analogous procession performed
at the Queen's Theatre in the opera of " Cinderella."
Might not the City pageant be turnei to batter
count than this annual display of tawdry finery, laid by
all the rest of the year to be aired on every successive
ninth day of November ? The " Lord Mayor's Show"
has degenerated, as everybody admits, into a most
miserable exhibition. It has no popular elements
about it ; the money that is spent on it has no encour-
aging influence on trade. Very different are these
Shows from the London Pegeants of two hundred
years ago ; most wretched is their contrest with the
IF'rocessions to which our French and Flemish neigh-
boars are accustomed on their state occasions even
now. There was a time when London knew how to
do these things quite as well as the people of Brussels,
who have so admirably retairrei the art. The annals
of the civic companies will show the ingenuity and
taste which was formerly displayed in celebrat-
ing "London Triumphs." In the Bodleian and
City Libraries are accounts of the pagelots
sad processions of the Drapers and other
great livery companies of London, which show that
in the 18th and 17th centuries the occasion of a L, rd
Mayor's Show was made an opportunity of encourag-
ing trade, assisting the poor, and of improving the
information of the people and the standard of the
public taste. To give a single instance, we may cite
the pageant of the Clothworkers'Company in honour of
the Lord Mayor of 1691. It consisted of several parts
—all entirely applicable to the Clothworkers. The
first was sn allegorical representation of London, the
neat of their trade. Then there was a pageant exhi-
biting the Gardens of Hesperides, with JASON carry-
ing off the Golden Fleece—emblematical of the mer-
chant who, by his vigour and enterprise, secured
the trade of the world. Then followed the
pageant of Apollo—himself allegorically con-
nected with the company as the Shepherd of
Ring ADMETUS, and as directing the chariots of
the sun, whose beams cherish both sheep and shep-
herd. Alter that was the " Trade Pageant," ex-
pressing " the whole art and mystery of the cloth-
workers by all manner of persons actually concerned
in all branches of the trade, as in carding, combing,
spinning, rolling, shearing of wool, &c. The chit f
figure was Jack of Newbury, the famous Berkshire
clothier, in his proper habit." The golden ram, the
company's crest, adorned the front of this pageant,
and around it " were many persons in rapid
and pastoral habits, dancing and rejoicing with thier
pipes and country music suited to their characters
l and to the joys of the occasion." The master, war-
en', assistants, liverymen, batchelors, apprentice',
end attendants joined in the procession, besides the
companies' pensioners, with new gowns and caps, andl
one 'hundred poor, the recipients of their bounty. 1
Such were the Lord Mayor's shows of old—very
l
different indeed from the tinsel exhibitions of these
degenerate times. If the show is to be retained, we
could wish to see it turned to similar useful accoun'.
And so with the Guildhall dinner which succeeds it.
The management of Iles festivity at present is any-
thing but calculated to enhance the public admiration
of the corporation. It might be conducted so as to
display to great advantage the hospitality, the dignity,
and the importance of the City. As now arrasged, it
only affords an opportunity to the corporation of gut-
tling and guzzling at the expense of individuals.
The Guildhall dinner on Lord Mayor's Day costs
from 3,0001. to 4,0001., and is paid for by the Lord
Mayor out of the sum assigned to him by the City,
and by the Sheriffs out of their private purses; the
Lord Mayor paying one half the cost, and the She-
riffs each one fourth.
But none of the arrangements for the dinner are in
the hands of those who pay for it. It is entirely mm
nsged by a committee of the Court of Common Coun-
cil. They contract for the entertainment, and issue the
tickets of invitation. And their invitations are prin-
cipally to themselves, as the following schedule, show-
ing the appropriation of the tickets, clearly shows:
To the Lord Mayor for his private friends l2O tickets.
To each sheriff, 60 tickets far ditto l2O ~
To each aldermen, one ticket for self, one for
lady, sad two for friends* 96 „
To 240 common councilmen, two tickets each for
self and lady 4BO ~
To stoat officers of state, amemeactors, and
judges
To Cite sneers of no state

Tota1..
The Guildhall bolds 800 comfortably, but can be
made to contain 900 if required. As 896 tickets are
appropriated all, except 50. to officers of the corpora-
tion for themselves end their private frieude, it is
obvious that the general public, the gnat merchants,
banking, and traders of the City, who are not directly

• Besides these, each alderman bag eight "coach orders,"
or ticks* which admit the bearer to a dinner, provided in
the Court of Exchequer, from which room then is *dh-
lion, after the ladies ben withdraws, to any put of tho on
ist whisk then may hippos to be Ma.