Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-11-26
LONDONpS LORD MAYOR.
ELECTED WITH SOME TALK AND A
 GREAT DEAL OF CEREMONY.

Choosing the Future Lord Mayor at the
 GuiIdhan-A Great Amount of Rowing
 and Scraping-A Gaudy Procession-Tal-
 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 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 | hall. The twenty-six aldermen come in, all l in scarlet gowns. The recorder or law officer | of the city, rises, bows to the lord mayor and | the assembled iverymen, and makes a 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; l another law officer, the common sergeant, re- | beats 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 l 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 l c;f fho oft of fba lord mayor. The recorder again rises and reads the two names and the one selected, and asks the liverymen if 1t is their free cleo tion, ''Yea or No" They shout ''Yea," and the sword bearer thereupon takes off the fur tippet of the lord mayor to be, and puts | 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 ieweled scepter, the con- 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 crier, 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.
 l 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 he is al derman, and proceeds in gaudy procession tc the courts of law within the bounds o1
 Westminster. Before his coach are running ) footmen, and there is a long procession ot the carriages of the alderman and o1 ; the heads of the several guilds, and o the main body of his own guild, al
 in their best official gown. The ban ners of the guilds, their beadles and pa 7 geants, which vary according to each lorc
 mayors taste, make up a wonderful show 3 which, as it winds in and out the marrow l streets of the city, enlivens them with bril-
 liant color. Though often decried because i l obstructs business for one day, should tn
 progress of modern times abolish the custom 8 it would be regretted by all who have wit
 messed it.
 0 The lord mayor is presented to the lort l 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 t vites them to dinner. The judges always re u ply somewhat haughtily that some of then j. will attend, and the lord mayor then return
 to the city, in which for year he is to be th > greatest person, obliged to give place onl
 when the queen herself comes.-Norma n Moore in The Century.