These are very large subjects indeed, and I cannot now undertake to grapple with them. I am glad to say that my valued friend, Mr. Lewellinn Jewitt, has _seisin_ of them both; and that he is preparing for publication an exhaustive treatise on “The Corporation Plate and Insignia of Office of all the Cities and Corporate Towns of Great Britain.” I propose merely to gossip a bit about MUNICIPAL INSIGNIA OF OFFICE; to make a few remarks as to what they mean, under what authority they are, or have been assumed; and to bring under your notice a few examples. Under the term MUNICIPAL INSIGNIA I include _Rods_ or _Wands_ of office; _Maces_, both great and small; _Swords_ of _Honour_ or _State_; _Caps_ of _Estate_ or _Maintenance_; _Chains_ and _Badges_, both of Mayors’ and of other officials; _Rings_ and _Robes_; _Halberts_, _Horns_, and _Constables’ Staves_. “Few people,” writes Mr. Llewellinn Jewitt, “have even the most remote idea of the amount of artistic wealth, of antiquarian treasure, and of historical relics possessed by and lying hidden away in the strongholds and chests of the various corporate bodies of this kingdom. The corporations ... are rich beyond compare in works in the precious metals, in emblems of state and civic dignity, in relics of mediæval pageantry, in badges and insignia of various offices, and in seals and records of different periods.” The neglect with which these treasures have been treated is astounding. The reformed corporations of 1837 despised Municipal Pageantry; many actually sold their insignia for the best prices they would fetch, as “relics of the barbarous ages,” to use the words of a mayor of the town of Maidenhead. Others discarded the use of their insignia, and their existence was almost forgotten. A reaction, however, set slowly in. The Great Exhibition of 1851 caused some places, Nottingham for one, to provide their mayors with chains, in order to attend at the opening. Other places were induced to buy new, or furbish up old insignia on the occasions of Royal visits. During the International Exhibition of 1862 a loan collection, but on a small scale, was formed, to which several corporations contributed their maces and other objects.