* * * * * "Yesterday conformable to an ancient ridiculous custom, came on the Election, at Wandsworth, for a Mayor of Garratt. The candidates were two--Sir _George Cooke_, Greengrocer and Inhabitant of Lambeth: and Sir _Harry Dimsdale_, a Muffin Baker. Sir _George_ set off from his house in the morning, surrounded by all the appendages of grandeur, and placed in an open landau, drawn by six beautiful horses, with postillions on the first four, elegantly attired in red. A coach and four preceded him all the way in equal style. "After he had arrived at the entrance of Wandsworth, his horses were taken out by the mob, and he was drawn by them to the Hustings, where he joined his opponent, who was little short of Sir _George_ in point of _etiquette_. After a long preamble from each party, promising unremitting attention to the duties of the office, the honours of the day were conferred on Sir George Cooke."--(_Times, Aug. 25, 1796._) * * * * * "Garrat Election.--Most of the Morning Prints of yesterday misstated this business. It was Sir _Harry Dimsdale_, and not Sir _George_ Cooke, who was returned. Those who supported Sir George, did not even put him in nomination. He was drawn there, it is true, but he made no stand: he gave up the contest, and Sir Harry was crowned with a green bough, and the horses taken from his carriage by the populace, who drew him in triumph to the Bull, at East Sheen, to dinner, where above six hundred people sat down to a plentiful dinner. After dinner, it was proposed that Sir Harry should go, on Friday, in State, to the Royal Circus, in St. George's Fields, and this motion being carried, we understand the Muffin Knight will actually be there this evening."--(_Times, Aug. 26, 1796._) This was the last of these mock elections--and we may well pause for a while, and examine this curious institution--unique in its way--not thoroughly well-known--and whose origin, even, is in dispute. Not far from Wandsworth, on the road to Tooting, is found the hamlet of Garrett, or Garrat, which, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, appears to have consisted of a single house, called "the Garvett." This was, at the time of its destruction, about the year 1760, in the possession of the Broderick family, and its grounds were then let to a market gardener. Lyson's, writing in 1792, says the hamlet consisted of about 50 houses--but it grew until it became incorporated into Wandsworth, and its site is still known by "Garret Lane," "Garret Green," "Garret Hill," &c.