Bismarck weekly tribune., 1888-12-28
L0ND0N'S LORD MAYOR.
ELECTED WITH SOME TALK AND A
GREAT DEAL OF CEREMONY.
Choosing the Future Lord Mayor .t tho
Guildhall-A Great Amount Of Bowine
and scraping-A Gaudy Procession-Tak.
ing the Oath.

~AA0 VIVA A4Aoy Va 40 0A0SV00 AAOu tu0 OWc1Uy.
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 IL.
stance Of the medieval method of carpeting
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 liverymen, and makes little
speech, declaring how from the time of King
John they have had grants Of certain rights
of election.
MAKING THE SELECTION.
The lord mayor and aldermen then 20 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 Guildhal and sit down, the chosen future
lord mayor sitting on the left of the actual
lord mayor The recorder again rises and
reads the two names and the one selected.
and asks the liverymen if it is their free elec.
tion, "Yea or No." They shout sYea,n and
the sword bearer thereupon takes off the fur
tippet of the lord mayor to be, and puts
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 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 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 GER
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 he is al
derman, and proceeds in gaudy procession to
the courts of law within the bounds of
Westminster Before his coach are running
footmen, and there is a long procession of
the carriages of the alderman and of
the heads of the several guilds, and of
the main body of his own guild, all
in their best official gown The ban.
ners of the guilds, their beadles and pa
geants, which vary according to each lord
mayors taste, make up 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 it
obstructs business for one day, should the
progress of modern times abolish the custom.
it would be regretted by all who have wit
messed it.
The lord mayor is presented to the lord
chief justice of England, takes an oath of
fidelity, and calls on the judges of the several
divisions of the high court of justice and in
vites them to dinner. The judges always re-
ply somewhat haughtily that some of them
will attend, and the lord mayor then returns
to the city, in which for year he is to be the
greatest person, obliged to give place only
when the queen herself comes Norman
Moore in The Century.