Palace and Hovel; Or, Phases of London LifeKirwan, Daniel Joseph
History
Palace and Hovel; Or, Phases of London Life
Kirwan, Daniel Joseph
London (England) -- Description and travel; London (England) -- Social life and customs
To show how the people of England tolerate the most outrageous humbugs
on the face of the earth, I will give some of the items in regard to
the cost of the Lord Mayor's coach. When the coach was built, one
hundred and thirteen years ago, each alderman in the city subscribed
£60 towards its construction; then each alderman who was afterward
sworn into office, was forced to contribute £60 on taking the oath.
And each Lord Mayor also gave £100 on entering his office, to keep the
coach in order. In 1768 the entire expense of keeping the coach fell
on the Lord Mayor, who had to pay £300 during that year, and twenty
years after its construction, the coach cost in 1787, £355 to keep it
in order for that twelve months. During seven years of this present
century, the cost for repairs was per annum--£115, and in 1812 it was
newly lined and gilt for the benefit of the gaping London crowds, at
an expense of £600, and a new seat cloth was furnished for £90; and
again in 1821, this costly vehicle devoured the bread which ought to
have been eaten by the starving poor, to the tune of £206 for another
relining. In 1812 a carriage-making firm agreed to keep the coach in
order for ten years at an expense to the city of £48 a year, which
offer was accepted. The real amount of money swallowed up in this old
lumbering vehicle is incalculable. Six horses are required to draw
it, valued at £200 a piece, and the coach weighs 7,600 pounds. A Lord
Mayor, when well fed and taken care of, weighs, I believe, about 312
pounds. The harnesses for each of the six horses weighs 106 pounds, or
636 pounds in all.
The State Coach belonging to the Speaker of the House of Commons, was
built for Oliver Cromwell, and is drawn by two horses.
[Sidenote: JONATHAN WILD'S SKELETON.]
The two sheriffs of London have also State Coaches, burnished and
blazoned with gold, and hung with silks and velvets, and although they
only receive £1,000 for their year's services, the expense of state
coaches, horses, liveries, and drivers, never falls below 2,500 guineas
for their term. They are not allowed to serve if they swear themselves
to be worth over £15,000, or $75,000.
The ceremony of installing a London sheriff I am afraid would make a
New York Sheriff howl, and much profanity would result were the ancient
ceremonies to become necessary at the City Hall of New York. I give the
curious form of installation of a Sheriff of London.
[Illustration: JONATHAN WILD'S SKELETON.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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