The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-05-03

Allowing that the stewardship of the
Cniltern Hundreds is neither more or
less than convenient subterfuge, at
least it serves useful object; and that
is more than can be truly said for some
immemorial make believes, as, for ex-
ample, those two immortal myths to
which the corporation of the city of
London cling with the tenacity of a
mussel to a low-water rock. There are
the Chiltern Hills, and the Hundreds of
Stoke of DeSborough, and of Boden-
ham, and anyone so inclined may 90
and look at them. But where are the
Forge" in the county of Middlesex,
and the "Moors," in Shropshire, which
estates the city holds of the crown at a
quit rent of six horse-shoes, sixty-one
nails and two knives? Regularly every
year the corporation pay their quit rent
with solemnly farcical Formally. They
pay it to the Queen remembrancer, in
q room of the high court of justice, not
wthstanding that every one in the
world, the mnemonic official included,
is profoundly ignorant of the where
abouts of the property. All the same,
on rent day,the Queen remembrancer
assisted by his clerk, who gets re-
ward of four yards of fine cloth for the
job-stands at little table, upon which
are spread neat little billet of twigs
| that would do credit to Wcst-end toy
| shop-laid lengthwise upon little
chopping- board ilanked with six horse
shoes-very old and large and flat
shoes of some ancient knightly charger,
perhaps those of the beast which bore
Sir William Walworth, when, as
Froissart has it, he drew kind
of scimetar' and felled Wat Taylor
to the ground-and siXty-one nails
and two knives. 1t is the duty
of the city solicitor, acting on behalf OF
his clients the corporation, to chop the
twigs and count up the horse-shoes,
nails and knives, and of some other
official persons to offer to render up the
accounts Of the estate. The chopping
and counting are always duly per
formed but, of course, the accounts are
not presented, because, we believe, there
are no estates to account for. Some an
cient, long since retired common coun-
Gilman vaguely rememembers having
heard, when he was boy, of an eX-
tremely old man, whose grandfather
kept shoeing forge at the bottom OF
Milford Lane, in the Strand; that the
forge had been in the family for more
than century, and that sthere was
something wrong with the title He
supposes this may be the property for
which the city does service to the crown,
and he thinks it a pity, therefore, that
all the trace of the forge has passed
away, and all knowledge of its site
clean forgotten. Again, at some re-
mote period, the city may have let, or
rather underlet, the "Moors" to some
one; but no rent has been paid for that
messuage for the past three hundred
years. The Shropshire landlords are,
and ever have been, and ever will be
ready to go to law on the slightest pro-
vocation in support of their titles, and
the city does not claim of them square
inch of soil, any more than the crown
claims of the city, beyond the quit
rent of the two knives, which the old
title-deed explains, may be one good
and the other bad. Thus it follows
that, even if the quit rent were not
paid, all the queens horses and all the
queens men, including the royal re-
membrancer himself-whose memory
does not extend to universally forgotten
items Of topography-could not call the
bailiffs in. 1t would be as easy to dis
train on sunset, or put up a rainbow
to auction by order of the sheriff. LON
do" Telegraph.