The Sun.
London, England, 1851-10-15 00:00:00

GENTLEMAN'S.

Sylvanus Urban appears this month in the charac-
ter of a reformer, and demands a thorough reform and
revision of the Prerogative-office at Doctors' Com-
mons, a demand in which we cordially concur. The
necessity of such reform will be best proved by per-
mitting Sylvanus to tell his own story in his own
words, premising that the occasion of his complaint
arose out of the impediments thrown in bis way
whilst endeavouring to ascertain who was the Sir
Miles hobart of the Parliament of 3d Charles 1., who
locked the door of the House of Commons and put
the key in bis pocket in order to prevent the de-
parture of the Speaker and the entrance of the Black
Rod. Mr. Urban, after mentioning a slight dis-
crepancy of dates, says—
" flow to reconcile this discrepancy we cannot tell;
and in the present state of the Prerogative•oflice, where
every inquiry is hedged round with impediments and
fees, it is quite impossible to ascertain. There is no
office in the kingdom the regulations of which are so
utterly prohibitory of all literary inquiry as this. We
went thither to endeavour to clear up this difficulty, and
having paid the customary chilling fee, turned to the
volume of the calendar applicable to the period in ques-
tion. That volume contains references to all the ad-
ministrations granted between 1631 and 1633, both in-
clusive, arranged in the order in which they were
granted, not alphabetically, but merely by the initial
letter of the surname of the deceased, and without any-
thing to indicate the dates of the respective grants.
After some search we found a reference to one which
related to Miles Hobart,' not Sir Miles Hobart.' We
pointed out the circumstance to the attendant, and con-
cluding that this entry referred to the administration of
the 26th June, we requested to see it, supposing that
the calendar had omitted the customary designation of
knighthood. That turned out to be the fact, but the ad-
ministration alluded to was not the grant of the 26th
June, 1632, but one granted on the 11th June, 1633.
It was not, therefore, the one which wo wanted, and if
the catalogue had stated its date we should not have re-
ferred to it. In the margin of the minute of this grant
was a reference to another grant, which the attendant
turned to, but still that was not the one we wanted.
Again, we searched tha calendar, and found a ,reference
to another grant which was entered as relating to Sir
Miles Hobart:' that was turned to; it was the one we
wanted; the book was laid open before us, but we were
told that we could not consult it without the payment of
another fee of one shilling.'
" ' Why so?'
"We were reminded that we bad seen two grants
already, and were informed that an extra fee was pay-
able on the sight of every third. ' But those we have
Seen already,' we remarked, have been referred to in
mistake.' Undoubtedly,' was the answer; 'if you had
found what you want you would not desire to look fur-
ther; but such mistakes take up our time, and give us
trouble. If you were searching in the name of Smith,
our whole time might be occupied in turning from
grant to grant before we found the right one.'
"' That would be the consequence of your calendars
not being properly framed. The mistake, in this in-
stance is not ours but yours. If your calendar had stated
the dates of the grants we have seen, we should not have
referred to them. Do you make inquirers pay for that
which is the consequence of your calendar being im-
perfect?'
" Our protest was in vain. In vain also did we point
out that the search was merely for a literary purpose.
It made no difference. Nothing is known in the Prero-
gative-office but the strict rule of a shilling for every
third.' So we paid our second shilling, and inspected
the grant of 26th June, 1632. It clearly refers to Sir
Miles the Member for Great Marlow, and yet it stands
dated 'vicesimo sexto Junii, 1632,' three days before his
death. _ _

--;-We inquired if there wore any papers in the office
by which the accuracy of the date could be tested.
Several gentlemen (all of them very obliging) seemed to
think there were not; another gave reasons for thinking
that there must be, but there would be a fee of half-a-
crown for a search for them.' This, with all tsthe at-
tendant uncertainties, and possibly further contingent
fees if the papers were found, and all to enable us to
clear up what is apparently a mistake in their own books,
was a little too bad, and we walked' away, musing how
long :t will bo before indignant common sense will be
aroused to visit this snug little den of old-fashioned
sinecure extortion with the rough besom of a whole-
sale reformation. This office now stands pre-eminent
amongst public offices as that one in which there is no
concern for literature, no appreciation of the historical
uses of the documents of which the registrars are the
appointed keepers, no proper calendars, no feeling or
regard for the public character and credit of that church
with which they are connected, or for anything save the
one shilling for every third.' "

THE 161014 TH. Edited by Albert Smith; witk
Illustrations by John Leech.
An admirable number, by far the best that has yet
appeared of this mirth-exciting periodical. The
parody of Mr. Samuel Warren's ravings in the
" Lily and the Bee" is admirable, and the " Lays of
Loyal Vegetarians" are first-rate. Commend us,
however, to the following as the " gem" of the
Month :

. THE FOREIGNERS LAY OF LONDON.
Byron's " Bride of Abydos," Canto I.
Know ye the town where policemen and navvies,
Are emblems of deeds that aro done in their clime!
Where the noise of the clocks, and the cries of the tabbies,
E'er rouse you to madness o'er roofs as they climb.
Know ye that Smithfield, abounding in kine,
Where the dirt ever blossoms, and beams never shine?
Know ye the land where their coffee is beans?
Their milk chalk and brains, and their tea is but greens,
Where they polish their apples and all other fruit,
And the voice of the muffin-man never is mute?
Where the tints of your nose, and the chimney-pot high,
In colour not varied with blackness may vie,
And the soot that falls on you is deepest in dye?
'Tis the town of the North, and of great Exhibitions,
Of pickpockets, thieves, and of base impositions!
Can you smile as you ride, when you know all the while,
That the cabman will charge you five shillings a mile!
Oh, false as the bills of an actor's " farewell,, '
Aie the heigte that they !ear, 4nd the Ilea that they tell.