Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1907-01-23
A MAN OF PRIVILEGE
toNooN's LORD MAYOR A PERSON.
AGE OF PoMP AND POWER.

~t noAocr or the isGb md
Mighty once Was Elected an ffso
and Proved Popular Dick Whit
nnFton ana other Ancient worthsc-.
The most impressive thin. about the
mayoralty OF London Is itr great an
uquity. In Saxon and Norman times
London was an independent state. and
the chief magistrate-the portreeve. or
the bailin-was an absolute ruler The
first mayor WAS elected IN 1889. and he
was so popular that he retained the
office for twenty-four years. The first
lord mayors pageant was In the reign
OF Henry VIII. aud in It he figured as
chief butler to Anne Boleyn.
Through the long intervening years
the lord mayor has retained many OF
bis prerogatiyes rs n ruler. Most peo-
pie have no idea how extensive his
privileges are.
lie has his own chaplain Gin oiden
days. Ike the monarch. ne had his
jester. too. and badges OF royalty are
attached to his ofice-tte scepter. the
swords Of Justice and mercy and the
mace. He has right OF precedence I'm
the city before all the royal family.
soldiers In any number cannot march
through the city without his consent.
He has the right OF private audience
with the king. He has the privilege
or direct entrance without question at
royal ievees. lie can mt any time dis
solve the city courts. even that OF the
common council. by removing the
sword and mace from the table He
IS lord OF the river Thames. OF the con-
servancy. and he controls the city
purse.
The majesty OF his state Is pretty
considerable too. The city gives him n
sum Of 10000 10 expend. His palace
the Mansion House. is furnished with
plate and ornaments worth 100000
He has splendid retinue OF servants
including sword bearer mace bearer
and seven trumpeters. whose liveries
cost some $1,000 annually. He gives
n yearly banquet. which costs thou
sands of pounds. and employs an army
OF 100 walters, cooks and carvers.
Best OF ali. he has the power to raise
vast sums of money for charitable pur-
poses. In the last quarter Of century
the lord mayors Of London have raised
nearly 100000 for the relief OF vari-
Gus people I'm distress.
Another feature which makes the
lord mayoralty attractive is its glamour
OF romance. More often than not the
king Of the city is self made man.
Dick Wilmington started out as an
apprentice. as many other lord mayors
have done. The mayor Of 1Gl1 came to
London i'm rags I'm carriers cart. The
wealthy mayor OF 141S had been n
founding. As recently as 1900 we had
a lord mayor OF London who began life
as bricklayer's laborer.
When men of this character are ex-
allied TO the seats OF the mighty they
are apt TO do freakish things at times.
The laborer mayor instanced above
had son who fell from n high ladder
and was killed, and the mayor on being
brought TO the spot broke through the
crowd. eNclaiming. See that the poor
fellows watch is safer
Another self made lord mayor gave
Charles III. a taste OF his quality.
Charles dlned with him I'm the city. and
the wine passed so freely that the
guests grew noisy and the mayor IA
miliar. Charles therefore stole away
10 his coach in Guildhall yard, but the
bibulous mayor pursued his majesty
and. catching him by the hand. cried
out, with monstrous oath. Sir, you
shall stay and TAX t'other bottler And
the merry monarch actually turned
back and saw the fun to finish.
The temerity OF this mayor seems all
the more remarkable In view OF the
Stuart kings tyrannous dealings with
the city. He imprisoned twenty Of the
principal citizens because they refused
him loan on bad security. He fined
the mayor and aldermen $4,000 on the
pretext OF a triflng city riot and $780,
600 for pretended acknowledgement OF
estates.
The mayors themselves, however.
could fine readily enough on occasion.
For example, his worship OF the year
14T9 had one of his sheriffs fined 200
about $1,000 of our money! for kneel-
Ing too close to him while ut prayers in
St HaCrS.
Yet another lord mayor QS32) made
an amusing blunder of speech at n din
ner TO judges and leaders OF the bar.
"See before YOU" he exclaimed mag
niloquently. the examples Of myself,
the chief magistrate OF this great en-
pire. and the chief justice of England
cf Of III
the highest offices of the state and both
sprung from the very dregs Of the peo-
pier
These mayoral banQuets. by the way.
have always been wonderful affairs.
In the year of George HIS marriage
there We're placed on the tables IA
different dishes. excluding dessert.
Forty-five years later OSO6) no fewer
than seven OF this monarch's sons were
guests at mayoral dinner The Guild
hall banquet to the prince regent and
the allied sovereigns before the battle
OF Waterloo was served on plate val
ued at over 100000 and cost f25. 900.
All this, however. is hardly romance
We must revert to Sir Richard Whit
SYN iVi mat OH INlCl'dIu really ulu
hear the bells of Bow telling him to
"turn again." and he did marry his
wealthy masters daughter, and he did
become thrice lord mayor of London.
But. alas, he had no cat!
There Is story Of Sir Richard which
makes good foil to the above Of tie
laborer mayor King Henry V. was
dining with him In the city when S.,
Richard caused a fire to be ligb.e.l anS
threw into II bonds to the value OF