The National Register.
London, England, 1820-05-22 00:00:00

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 on occasion of the
demise of the Crown. As it was the acknowledged
duty of the Steward to govern the kingdom during peace
and war immediately under the King. and to controul
the abuse of power in the judicial sersar.ta of the Crown,
so it cannot be doubted but that a greater shisre of
power devolved upon him during the interval between
the decease of one King, and the Coronation of a suc-
cessor. This may be inferred, indeed, from 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 ditty still performed by the High Stew-
ard • but the function to which 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 used to sit judicially in the White
Hall of the King's Palace of Weatioinsier, near the
Chapel, to receive the petitions of State Officers, and
of certain of the Nobility and Gentry who, by the
tenure of their respective estates, are holm(' to perforin
services of different kinds at the Coronations of the
Kings and Queens of England. These petitions, or
claims, the Steward had power to examine, and if sup-
potted by documents and 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,
respecting 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 formally granted by the Crown,
was that of performing some defined service by the per-
son of the tenant to the person of the King. This
sereice was sometimes a military one, but more com-
monly official; and its time of perfurmance was fre-
quently the day of the Sovereign's Coronation, when
he also received- the homage and fealty of those other
tenants, who held their lands by these forms of submis-
sion. Tenure on the condition above defined, was ho.
'mutable front its certainty, and from
11 m the requirerl ser-
vice being due to the ay-JI person alone; hence, it
was called magnums serviliuns, or grand sergeauty. Thus,
if the Crown hath granted a manor or estate to any one,
on the condition he shall carry a sword or sceptre, at
the Coronations of the Kings and Queens of England,
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 under
the degree of Knighthood (they are indeed a branch or
mode of Knight service); nor by a minor, or female
tenant; for these a deputy of sufficient rank is appointed
—with the sovereign's license. It may be well to note,
in conclusion, that these services are to be considered
as the tent or fine due for the enjoyment of the lands
to Which they are attached; and therefore, though the
tenants are sometimes said to claim the service, they
must be understood in reality as claiming the continu-
ance of the estates, by appearing to fulfil the couditions
on which they are granted.
The High Stewardship of England belonged of old to
the Karla of Leicester, who were serascaile regis de feado,
or hereditary Stewards. It was first holden by the
family ot Grentemaisnel, with the Lordship of Hinckley
in the county of Leicester, and became connected with
the Earldom of Leicester by the niarriae of an LeireSi
of the Lord of Hinckley; it afterwards descended to the
illustrious house of Dc Montfort; and on the attaiiider
of the last Earl, Siniou de Alontlort, the Stewardship,
with the Earldom of Leicester, was granted by Henry
111. to Edmund his younger son, from is .ioin it passed
in descent to John of Gaunt, King of Castile and Leon,
who was admitted to the full enjoyment of its privileges
at the Coronation of his nephew Richard Ib. Ile WaS
succeeded by bis son Henry of Lolinglooke, who after-
wards became King of England, when the ofii a merged
in the Crown. From ibis tine nor 11.111;b hale bveu
rchevect from ilie-cointssi?. and .Mialallce of a hereditary
high Steweril, which is mild have the auto-
en,ey of u Tudor or a S!thitl, cod tit. ollicc has Obi), been
VifilLed jri iialC lasi/Mc public sulcuuuty, when the
vatic:is,: of it was indispensable. In the late reigns also
the pi esiikiley of the Court of Claims has been usually
giten to Commissioners appoibied by the Sovereign,
with power loth) all such acts with ree ,rd to this Colin,
as the High Stewards of England hail be. ri used to do
in former times.

COURT OF CLAIMS.
Thursday the (list meeting of the Court of Claims
was held in the Paiutcd Chamber :fat the Mouse of
Lords, in tilittlit Oct to his Majesty's Pro laniatiots.
At t‘t eke otliark, several of the Lords -l;tniimis-
sroners hat mg :isseitilded, the Earl of ILorimby, Lipid
President of the C 1111 l look ilia Chair, hat log on
Ins right hand his Royal the Duke of IL:howlice,
told on his kit li:s thatl;nyal Hitt:hots!, the 1)oke of Woo-
• cester. Silence has.ng been proektintctl thy Cotentin'.
SIMI was no:lad, and was read by the Cleik of the
Crtmli Among 111.: t.141:111 Wade, W6tC lin-st. of