The flagons which have become associated with this font are, as their plate-marks show, of later origin, and the association, therefore, was only temporary, and might without doubt be dissevered. They are, in fact, tankards made and intended to be used at the festal board, and not for sacramental wine. The designs in high relief on these tankards is sufficient evidence of this, for they depict bacchanalian scenes of the most realistic nature. It is possible that it was these flagons, which were thought to be indissoluble from the font, which caused the whole set to be put aside by Queen Victoria. The flagons are of German origin, made in Hamburg, and though their date is uncertain, may rightly be ascribed to the Hanoverian dynasty. Amongst the ecclesiastical plate is a very handsome golden alms dish and flagon made for William and Mary, the plate-marks on which show they were made in 1691-92. The alms dish is more than two feet in diameter, and has in the centre in high relief a fine representation of the Last Supper. Below this is a panel on which is displayed the cypher of William and Mary, surmounted by a royal crown. Round the wide rim, also in high relief, are four winged cherubs, and between these golden foliage, garlands, and fruit. The flagon stands about a foot and a half high, and has a handle and cover. The body is covered with boldly embossed cherubs’ faces, foliage, and festoons of roses and fruit. The cypher of William and Mary, surmounted by a royal crown, is on the front of the flagon. These two pieces of ecclesiastical plate have the privilege of replacing much older plate three times a year on the altar of the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula within the Tower. These three occasions are Easter Sunday, Whit Sunday, and Christmas Day. On these three days the Keeper of the Jewel House hands them over to the Tower authorities for the period of morning service, and then, reclaiming them, replaces them with the Regalia. The altar plate, which the alms dish and flagon of William and Mary replace on these three occasions, dates to the reigns of Charles I and Charles II. This older set of plate, though quite plain, is in the eyes of connoisseurs more impressive than the more ornate and finely designed insignia of the later reign. The origin of this curious routine is lost in antiquity. It may, however, have been ordered so as to emphasize the arrival of a new dynasty and the death of the old; thus with large and resplendent plate to outshine the smaller and plainer vessels of the Stuarts. But the origin, be what it may, the custom has become established, and will without doubt continue year by year as long as the Tower stands, and England is England. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER VI THE REGAL EMBLEMS