France or England, he appeared in a surcoat, with a shield, and his horse in a caparison, all black, with white feathers on them, so that it must have been from the covering of his armour, that he was so called. Yet in the field of battle, and on all other occasions, his surcoat, or guipon, was emblazoned with the arms of England labelled. The terrible effort of his prowess seems to have given another meaning to his epithet; for Froissart, having described the battle of Poictiers, in 1356, adds, "thus, did Edward the Black Prince, now, doubly dyed black by the terror of his arms."

1CH DIEN.

A writer in the Quarterly Review, says, the story of the Black Prince adopting the plume of feathers from the helmet of the king of Bohemia, who fell at Crecy, is evidently erroneous.

The plume was a device which young Edward assumed from that monarch's banner, not his helmet.

SEMPER EADEM.

Semper Eadem, i. e. always the same, was first used as the motto of the arms of England, Dec. 13th, 1702.

ARGYLE MOTTO.

Vix ea nostra voco, or, "I cannot call these my own," is the motto of the dukes of Argyle; and is said to have originated thus: one of those chiefs, whose lady was a great favourite at court, was complimented on his fine family of children, “rix ea nostra voco," exclaimed Argyll.

BISHOP OF OSNABURGH.

This bishopric, which was held by the late duke of York, is an alternative between the Roman Catholics and Protestants, and was made so at the treaty of Westphalia, in 1648. On that occasion, the house of Brunswick, made some great sacrifices for the sake of a general peace, in consideration of which, the See of Osnaburgh was given, to be held alternately by the Brunswick family, and others of the German empire. But although this bishopric is alternately hereditary in our royal family, it is not so with regard to its Roman Catholic bishops; for they are chosen out of different families by a chapter of 25 canons. When they have a popish bishop, he is a suffragan to the archbishop of Cologne; but the Protestant bishop, who is a temporal prince indeed, has little to demonstrate him an ecclesiastic, but the title. The bishopric is 45 miles long, and 25 broad, and is in one of the fruitfullest parts of Westphalia.

DUKE OF CORNWALL.

In a parliament held in 1337, king Edward 3d, created prince Edward, his eldest son, duke of Cornwall, being the first in England that bore the title of duke. He was vested with the dukedom by a wreath on his head, a ring on his finger, and a silver verge in his hand; since which time, the eldest son of the king of England, is born duke of Cornwall; the title of prince of Wales, being given some days after.

quitaine by Edward 3d to the Black Prince, the King appears on a throne of marble, ornamented with a frame of gilt; but both his ar mour, and that of his son, are steel, with gilt knee and elbow caps. grant is in the Cottonian Library, marked Nero DVII.

BATH AND WELLS.

His late majesty had somewhat of a twang of the northern dia lect, which he imbibed from his preceptor, lord Bute; and so had the late bishop of Bath and Wells, and which was the origin of those sees being united. It is said, that both of them being vacant at the same time, his majesty graciously offered to Dr B- -s the choice of the two On the occasion, his lordship replied, that he was extremely obliged to his majesty, and should prefer Bath From his lordship's peculiar expression of the word, and the emphasis he laid upon it, the king understood him to say, baith, i e. (in the northern dialect) both! Upon which, his majesty, understanding him to mean both, and taking into consideration the learned prelate's talents and virtues, and the poverty of the sees separately, immediately issued his conge de liere, for the inauguration of the worthy prelate into the united sees of Bath and Wells, very much to his lordship's astonishment as well as satisfaction.

ALDERMAN.

Formerly one of the three degrees of nobility among the Saxons. Athelm was the first, Thane the lowest, and Alderman the same as earl among the Danes, and answering to our earl or count at present. It was also used in the time of king Edgar, for a judge or justice; in which sense Alwin is called aldermannus totius Angliæ. But now aldermen are associates to the chief civil magistrates of a city, or town corporate. The number of these magistrates is not limited, but more or less according to the magnitude of the place. Those of London were first appointed in 1242, and are twenty-six in number, each having one of the wards of the city committed to his care. Their office is for life; so that when one of them dies, or resigns, a wardmote is called, who return two persons, one of whom the lord mayor and aldermen choose to supply the vacancy.* By the charter of the city of London, all the aldermen who have been lord mayors, together with the three eldest ones not arrived at that dignity, are justices of the peace.

SHERIFF.

The title sheriff is a corruption from Shire Reeve, as Borougheeve is from Borough Reeve. He is a kind of superior constable, through whom all writs are issued.

LORD MAYOR.

Mayor for formerly major, i. e. the chief magistrate in a town; because a minor is never elected to the civic chair.

The Lord Mayor of London, as the chief magistrate is called, is, properly speaking, only Mayor of London, and Lord of Finsbury. This latter title was conferred, on the gift of the manor of Finsbury, by Richard 2d, in consequence of Sir William Walworth, (then mayor of London) killing Wat Tyler in Smithfield.

SECRETARY OF STATE.

This office originated in the reign of Henry 8th, when Thomas Cromwell, secretary to cardinal Wolsey, and who was afterwards created lord Cromwell, was made by him secretary of state.

This is not the case now, each ward returning its own Alderman.

TELLER OF THE EXCHEQUER.

The mode of keeping accounts, by tallies, or cleft pieces of wood, in which the notches are cut upon one piece conformable to the other, one kept by the creditor, and the other by the debtor, is still prac. ticed in many places of Britain. A tally continues to be given by the Exchequer, to those who pay money there upon loans; hence the origin of the Teller of the Exchequer, one who tells, or numbers up the notches, and also of the phrase, to tally, to fit, to suit, or to answer exactly.

POET LAUREAT.

This appendage to the court, was formerly called the King's Versifier, and may be traced as far back as 1251, at which period his stipend was 100 shillings per annum. In the History of English Poetry, Mr. Warton observes, that in the reign of Edward the Fourth, the first mention is made of the more dignified appellation of Laureat, which was originally bestowed on John Kay. This ingenious writer is of opinion, the title arose from the degrees taken in the University of Oxford, on which occasion a wreath of laurel was presented to the new graduate, who was styled Poeta Laureatus.

KING'S COCK-CROWER!

This officer, which was formerly about the court, was as useful as the master of the hawks. The cock crower's business was to go the rounds as a watchman does, and to crow like a cock; but on the accession of George the Third, the cock ceased to crow, his majesty thinking the custom more honoured in the breach, than the observ

ance.

WARDEN OF THE CINQUE PORTS.

The word cinque, is French for five, and is one of those words which was not eradicated when the English language was substituted for the French in legislative proceedings.* The Cinque Ports are as follows: Dover, Deal, Rye, Winchelsea, and Hythe,† a moiety of the dues of which ports, is a sinecure, held by the first lord of the treasury, who has also the title of Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports.

BELLMAN.

This officer was first appointed in London, 1556. They were to ring their bells at night, and cry "take care of your fire and candle, be charitable to the poor, and pray for the dead!"

JULIAN THE APOSTATE.

The emperor Julian was denominated the Apostate, from having professed Christianity before he ascended the throne, and afterwards relapsing to Paganism. He died in the 32d year of his age, in a battle with the Persians.

KNIGHT'S TEMPLARS.

The Knight's Templars, were an order of knights, instituted by Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, about the year 1100, for the defence of that city and the temple, as well as of the pilgrims that travelled

See English Language in Courts of Law, &c.

+ There are also four branch ports.

thither; and were afterwards dispersed through all the kingdoms of Christendom. They were enriched by vast donations of the superstitious world, having no less than sixteen thousand lordships, besides other lands, conferred upon them; and neglecting to observe the first institution of their order, and being charged with the most detested crimes, particularly sodomy, and denying our Saviour; all the princes of Europe, with the concurrence of the pope, agreed to imprison their persons, and seize all their lands and effects at once, and abolish their order. Their revenues being afterwards transferred to the Knight's Hospitallers; but whether their immense riches, and their insolent behaviour, were not the grand motives for suppressing this order, is much doubted; for none of the crimes they were charged with, were proved against the English Templars; and the confessions of those in France, were extorted by torture. The English Templars were only sent into other monasteries. Their principal residence in England, was the Temple, in Fleet Street, London; where, in the church there, lie the remains, marked out by their effigies, numbers of these once domineering crusading heroes. They were abolished by pope Clement the First.

KNIGHT'S HOSPITALLERS.

These knights to whom were assigned the estates of the Knight's Templars, derive their appellation from dedicating their services to the sick and wounded Christian soldiers in the holy wars; hence they were called Hospitallers, or Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. Like the templars, their principal estates and residence, were in England.

Jerusalem Square, with St. John of Jerusalem's Gate, derive their cognomens from these Knight's Hospitallers, who had their head quarters in this part of Clerkenwell. They had also a church here, which Stowe notices in his Survey of London. They were suppressed by Henry 8th, 1540.

ORDER OF THE BATH.

The antiquity of this order is very great; as it was derived from the ancient Franks by the Saxons, who with other customs introduced it into England. When the Franks conferred knighthood, they observed among other solemn rites, that of bathing before they performed their vigils; which rites continued to be practised in England; and from thence were termed Knights of the Bath. The first of this order, under the express appellation, was instituted by Henry 4th, on the 13th of October, 1399.-Maitland's London.

ORDER OF THE THISTLE.

This order was founded in 1540, by James 5th, of Scotland, who being honoured with the Order of the Garter, from his uncle, king Henry 8th, of England, with the Golden Fleece, from the emperor, and the Order of St. Michael from the king of France, resolved to be in the royal mode, and so made this order for himself and twelve knights, in imitation of Christ and his twelve apostles. Then celebrating all the festivals of these orders, he set up their arms and badges over the gate of his palace at Lithgow, joining St. Andrew with them.-Ibid.

נ'

ORDER OF ST. ANDREW.

Some Scotch writers, very fond of antiquity, not satisfied with the novelty of this institution, affect to call it the most ancient, as to its derivation. But for this they have no better warrant, than the dream of king Hangus, the Pict, to whom St. Andrew, making a midnight visit, promised him a sure victory over his foes, the Northumbrians; and the next day, St. Andrew's cross appearing in the air, he made his words good, and the Northumbrians were defeated. On this story, as they say, king Achaius, about the year 800, framed the Order of St. Andrew, 700 years before James 5th revived it. He also appointed the knights to wear the image of St. Andrew, upon a blue ribband, which continued till queen Ann changed it to

green.

ORDER OF THE GARTER,

Instituted by Edward the Third in the year 1350. Some say on acccount of good success in a skirmish, wherein the king's garter was used for a token; others say that the king, after his great success, dancing one night with his queen, and other ladies, took up a garter which one of them dropped, whereat, some of the lords smiling, the king called out Honi soit qui mal y pense-Evil to him that evil thinks; and said, that ere long he would make that garter of high reputation; and shortly after he instituted the order, in memorial of this event, and gave these words as the motto of the order. This origin, though frivolous, says Hume, is not unsuitable to the manners of the times; and it is indeed difficult by any other means to account either for the seemingly unmeaning terms of the motto, or for the peculiar badge of the garter, which seems to have no reference to any purpose either of military use or ornament. The probability is, that in order to promote the spirit of emulation and obedience, the king instituted the order of the garter, in imitation of some orders of a like nature, religious as well as military, which had been established in different parts of Europe. The number received into this order consisted of twenty-five persons, besides the sovereign; and as it has never been enlarged, this badge of distinction continues as honourable as at its first institution.

COLLAR OF SS.

This collar, which is worn on certain occasions by the Judges of the present day, is derived from Saints Simplicius and Faustinus, two Roman senators, who suffered martyrdom under Dioclesian. The religious society or confraternity of St. Simplicius wore silver collars of double SS; between which the collar contained twelve small pieces of silver, on which were engraven the twelve articles of the creed, together with a simple trefoil. The image of St. Simplicius hung at the collar, and from it seven plates, representing the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. This chain, or collar, was worn because these two brethren were martyred by a stone with a chain about their necks, and thus thrown into the Tiber. Sir John Fern says, that collars in the 15th century were worn as ensigns of rank, of which the fashions ascertained the degrees. They were usually formed of S S, having in the front centre a rose, or other device, and were made of gold or silver, according to the bearer. He says, that knights only wore collars of S S; but this is a mistake. the marriage of Prince Arthur, son of Henry 7th, in 1507, Sir Ni

At