SURVIVAL OF INSTITUTIONS 311 



same costume as that once worn by the body-guard 

 of Henry VII. 1 



Two similar examples may be added : 



(a) At the coronation of English sovereigns two 

 gentlemen of the Privy Council, chosen " on account 

 of their appearance," and created knights for the 

 occasion, are appointed by the Lord Chamberlain to 

 represent the Dukes of Aquitaine and Normandy. 



(b) The First Officer of the Crown was formerly 

 the Lord High Steward, which title having, in the 

 course of time, become purely honorary, was 

 hereditary in the family of the Earls of Leicester. 

 The post is now in abeyance, but, on the coronation 

 of a sovereign, or, on the occasion of a peer being 

 placed upon his trial, this dignity is conferred upon 

 some important person nominated solely for the 

 occasion. It is not only in ceremonial which, 

 according to Viollet, is the museum of history that 

 reduced institutions, which are completely useless, 

 are tenaciously maintained ; it is the same with 

 judicial and religious institutions. A few examples 

 will suffice to show that this is so : 



(a) In its primitive form, the Assembly of the 

 People included the whole army, and was 

 necessarily held in some large open space. 

 The custom survived the necessity of the 

 choice of some such spot, and up to the 

 sixteenth century, whenever a new Emperor 

 was proclaimed in Germany, it was the 



1 H. Spencer, Morals, Science and Art. 



