"BAILIFF.--In the court of the Greek emperors there was a grand _bajulos_, first tutor of the emperor's children. The superintendent of foreign merchants seems also to have been called _bajulos_; and, as he was appointed by the Venetians, this title (balio) was transferred to the Venetian ambassador. From Greece, the official _bajulos_ (_ballivus_, _bailli_, in France; _bailiff_, in England,) was introduced into the south of Europe, and denoted a superintendent; hence the eight _ballivi_ of the knights of St. John, which constitute its supreme council. In France, the royal bailiffs were commanders of the militia, administrators or stewards of the domains, _and judges of their districts_. In the course of time, only the first duty remained to the bailiff; hence he was _bailli d'épée_, _and laws were administered in his name by a lawyer, as his deputy, lieutenant de robe_. The seigniories, with which high courts were connected, employed bailiffs, who thus constituted, almost everywhere, _the lowest order of judges_. From the courts of the nobility, the appellation passed to the royal courts; from thence to the parliaments. In the greater bailiwicks of cities of importance, Henry II. established a collegial constitution under the name of _presidial courts_.... _The name of bailiff was introduced into England with William I._ The counties were also called _bailiwicks_, (_ballivæ_,) while the subdivisions were called _hundreds_; but, as the courts of the hundreds have long since ceased, the English bailiffs are only a kind of subordinate officers of justice, like the French _huissiers_. These correspond very nearly to the officers called _constables_ in the United States. Every sheriff has some of them under him, for whom he is answerable. In some cities the highest municipal officer yet bears this name, as the high bailiff of Westminster. In London, the Lord Mayor is at the same time bailiff, (which title he bore before the present became usual,) _and administers, in this quality, the criminal jurisdiction of the city, in the court of old Bailey_, where there are, annually, eight sittings of the court, for the city of London and the county of Middlesex. _Usually, the recorder of London supplies his place as judge._ In some instances the term _bailiff_, in England, is applied to the chief magistrates of towns, or to the commanders of particular castles, as that of Dover. The term _baillie_, in Scotland, is applied to a judicial police-officer, having powers very similar to those of justices of peace in the United States."--_Encyclopædia Americana._]