The National Register.
London, England, 1820-05-21 00:00:00

No. 1,242.—V0L. XIII.]

CORONATION.

The great authority which is attached to the exalted
office of Lord High Steward of England, is scarcely at
any time more fully displayed than co occasion of the
demise of the Crown. As it was the acknowledged
duty of the Steward to govern the kingdom during peace
and war i 1111 l ted:ately under the King, and to controul
the abuse of power in the judicial servains of the Crown,
so it cannot be doubted but that a greater share of
ixwwer devolved upon him during the interval between
the decease of one King, acid the Coronation of a suc-
cessor. This may be inferred, indeed, (rum his walking
next before the King in the procession to the church
where the Coronation is performed, bearing, as its tem-
porary guardian, the crown of St. Edward. This is
one part of the duty still performed by. the High Stew-
ard ; nt the function to u lrich our principal attention
will be directed, is that which the Coronation imposes.
At this time the High Stewards of England, by virtue
of their office, were u-:.tl to sit judicially in the White
Hall of tile King's Palace of Westminster, near the
• Chapel, to receive the petitions of Stale Officers, and
of certain of the Nobility and Gentry who, by the
tenure of their respective estates, are honod to perform
services of ditlarem kinds at the
_Coronations of the

Kings and Queens of England. These petitions, or
claims, the Steward had power to examine, and if sup-
ported by documents aid precedents, to allow them ;
or to reject, if wanting in the requisite proof—hence
the tribunal is called the Court of Claims. For the
the better understanding of the decisions of this Court,
eespectiug the services to be described, a few words may
be premised of the kind of tenure on which these ser-
vices are founded. Among the different conditions
upon which lands were forausaly ;ranted by the Crown,
was that of performing some defined service by the per-
son of the tenant to the person or the King. Tit; s
service was sometimes a military one, but more com-
monly official; and its time of p affirmance was fre-
quently the day of the Sot ereign's Coronation, when
he also received the homage and fealty of those inner
tenants, who held their lands by these ffirms of submis-
sion. Temire on the condition above defined, ho-
nourable from its certainty, and from the required ser-
vice being due to the Royal person alone; hence, it
was called magus"; serreiten, or grand sergeanty. Thus,
if the Crown hails Knotted a manor or estate to airy one,
on the condition he shall carry a sword or sceptre, at
the Coronations of the Kings and Queens of Englatol,
such estate is said to be holden in grand sergeanty, by
the service of carrying such Royal ensign. As another
mark of the honour attributed to the services of this
kind, we find they cannot be performed by any wider
the degree of Knighthood (they are indeed a blanch or
anode of Knight service); nor by a minor, or female
Laraot ; for these a deputy of sufficient rank is appointed
—with the sovereign's license. It may be veil to !Joie,
iu conclusion, that these services are to he considered
as the rent or fine due for the enjoyment of the lands
to which they are attached; and inere,ore, though tile
tenants are sometimes said to claim the sen ice, they
'Lust be understood in reality as claiming the continu-
ance of the estates, by appeariog to fulfil toe cuuditions
can whi.:ll they are granted.
The High Stewardship of England ! elute:ea of old to
the Earls of Leicester, who were senescultz tei4is tie jiudo,
or hereditary Stemmas. It was first holden by the
family of Grentemaisne I, with the Lordship if 11 rock ley
iu the county of Leicester, and became connected with
the E Adorn of Leicester by the nr.rriaLe of all !wires,
id' the Lord of Mickley; it afterwardi descended to the
illustrious house of De Vendor.; and on the anaitoder
a the last Earl, Smarm de Montfort, tire Stewardship,
-with the Earldom of Leicester, was granted by Henry
to Ed und his r son, from is how it passed
in descent to John cilGrutit, King of Castile and Leon,
who was admitted to the toll enj .yment of its privileges
et the Coronation of Its nephew Richard 11. He was
succeeded by his son H, cart of Bolingbroke, who after-
wards became King 01 Erse land, when the office merged
in the Cron it. From this tithe our limp hare been
relieved from the cc 1111 l sels and assisatoce of a hereditary
High Steward, which would have ill-suited the auto-
cracy of a Tudor or a St strut, and tla office has only been
granted for the time or s • public sob tunny, when the
exercise of it is as tedispensalde. In the late reigi.s also
the presidency in the Court of Claims has been usualry
given to Commissioirers appointed i.y the !sin r eig ,
with pow.r to do atl such acts with regard to Mt, Court,
as the flight Stewards of England had been used to du
in forum owe..

COURT OF CLAIMS.
Thursday tile List attertire o; site Court of Claims
was held Ita the Pau d Cli:titll,er at the noose o:
lams, iu Idle:di/lice to his Nlajt•t;y's Prt,Claltiation.
At let the o'clock, teteral of the lawsCwsittlia-
slope's hat n µ asstshlthd, the Earl of Harrowby, Lout
President of itie 4P:lc the Chair, hat tog nu
his right hand his Royal lIIt t.lless die Duke of Clasence,
end oil his left his Hughtiess the Duke of Glou-
cester. Silence has ;Itg been proclaimed the Coltun:,s•
3,41 n was oi.ctitd, and was raid by the Clerk of the
truwn Antoil; the wade, Were those of