THE CHILTERN HUNDREDS. 27 



out and sang at church each Sunday during the contest 

 the 57th Psahii, 5th verse, New Version, " O God, my 

 heart is fixed, 'tis Befit,'' tlie last word being bawled out 

 with great emphasis. After this the Borough was thrown 

 open to the Three Hundreds of Aylesbury, and so con- 

 tinued until the Reform Bill of 1880, when the old 

 Borough was abolished and its boundaries enlarged ; it 

 is now called the Aylesbury or Mid-Bucks Division of 

 the County. 



I often meet with people who fail to understand the 

 meaning of a Member of Parliament accepting the 

 Stewardship of the " Chiltern Hundreds," the form, of 

 course, by which a member vacates his seat. The 

 Chiltern Hundreds are the Hundreds that cover and 

 abut on the Chiltern Hills, and consist of the Three 

 Hundreds of Aylesbury, the Hundred of Burn ham, the 

 Hundred of Stoke, and the Hundred of Desborough. 

 These Hills were mostly covered by beech-trees and 

 thick scrub, and three of the great London roads to the 

 north pass over the hills and through the thick woods, 

 which used to be at one time infested by robbers and dan- 

 gerous characters, and people journeying to the Metropolis 

 were molested, robbed, and sometimes murdered by 

 lawless gangs. As early as in the days of the Henrys 

 and Edwards, the Crown appointed certain Knights as 

 Stewards of these Hundreds, who had the modest salary 

 of forty shillings a year, that they with their retainers 

 should protect all travellers on their way. It was held 

 more as an office of honour than one of gain, and, as it 

 was a service held under the Crown, any one appointed 

 as one of the Stewards, if he was a Member of Parlia- 



