Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-11-28
LONDON'S LORD MAYOR.
ELECTED WITH SOME TALK AND A
 GREAT DEAL OF CEREMONY.

Choosing the Future Lord Mayor at the
 Guildha1l-A Great Amount of Rowing
 and Scraping-A Candy Procession-Tak-
 ing the Oath.
 The lord mayor is elected from the twenty six aldermen or heads of the wards into | which the city is divided by the votes of the l livery; that is, of the members of the several guilds of the city. He is elected at the Guildhall, on the feast of St. Michael, the | archangel. Few more interesting ceremonies are to be seen in England A wooden screen is erected outside the Guildhall, with many doorways in it. At each Is stationed the beadle of guild, who is expected to know | all the liverymen of his company, and so to prevent unauthorized persons from entering. The floor of the Guildhall is strewn with sweet herbs, perhaps the last surviving in- stance of the medieval method of carpeting a hall The twenty-six aldermen come in, all in scarlet gowns. The recorder, ,-or law officer of the city, rises, bows to the lord mayor and the assembled hverymen, and makes little speech, declaring how from the time of King John they have had grants of certain rights | of election.
 MAKING THF SELECTION.
 | The lord mayor and aldermen then go out; another law officer, the common sergeant, re- peats what the recorder has already said, and | tells the liverymen that they must name two for the office of lord mayor, of whom the | lord mayor and aldermen will select one. | Two names are then chosen, and are carried to the aldermen by the heads of some of the chief guilds One is selected, and thereupon the lord mayor and the aldermen return to the Guildhall and sit down, the chosen future lord mayor sitting on the left of the actual l lord mayor. The recorder again rises and | reads the two names and the one selected and asks the lverymen if it is their free cleo tion, 'Yea or No.n They shout "Yea,n and the sword bearer thereupon takes off the fur tippet of the lord mayor to be, and puts a 1 a chain around his neck.
 On the sth of November there is another meeting in the Guildhall. The old lord mayor rises and gives the new one his seat. The chamberlain of the city then approaches with three solemn bows, and hands to the new lord mayor a jeweled scepter, the com mon seal of the city and an ancient purse. The sword bearer next advances, and, bow ing three times, each time with increasing reverence, gives the lord mayor elect the | great two handed sword of state, which symbolizes justice and legal supremacy. The crer, with bows equal in number and profundity to those of the sword bearer, next approaches and presents the mace. The aldermen and sheriffs then congratulate their new chief, who proceeds to sign cer- tain documents, and among them a receipt for the city plate. Last of all, he is pre- sented with the keys of the standard weights and measures, deposited in his custody. The meeting then breaks up, and the old lord mayor goes back to the Mansion house, his official residence, for the last time
 LORD MAYORS DAY.
 The next day, the 9th of November is known in London as Lord Mayors day, be- cause on that morning the new lord mayor takes office in the Guildhall. He drives thence through the ward of which be is al derman, and proceeds in gaudy procession tc the courts of law within the bounds ot Westminster. Before his coach are running footmen, and there is long procession ot ! the carriages of the alderman and oi the heads of the several guilds, and oi the main body of his own guild, al : in their best official gown. The ban ners of the guilds, their beadles and pa
 geants, which vary according to each lorC may yor's taste, make up a wonderful show which, as it winds in and out the narrow streets of the city, enlivens them with bril- : liant color. Though often decried because il obstructs business for one day, should the
 progress O1 uOdSiA t1I1lSS dpo41Su ULie CuSLOLl , it would be regretted by all who have wit , messed it.
 The lord mayor is presented to the lorc
 chief justice of England, takes an oath o fidelity, and calls on the judges of the severa divisions of the high court of justice and in , vites them to dinner. The judges always re ply somewhat haughtily that some of then will attend, and the lord mayor then return to the city, in which for a year he is to be tn greatest person, obliged to givo place onl, when the queen herself comes.-Normal \. Moore in The Century.
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