SUEEEY. ]99 



The two Sheriffs are elected by the Livery on Midsummer Day, and their 

 oiEce, though one of distinction, is costly, for, like their chief, they are expected 

 to give annually a number of dinners. The Eecorder of London is the chief City 

 judge and official " orator ; " the Common Serjeant presides in the City of London 

 Court ; an Assistant Judge in the Lord Mayor's Court. A Chamberlain acts as 

 City Treasurer. 



Most of the great companies date from the thirteenth or fourteenth century, 

 though they spring, no doubt, from the guilds of Saxon times. Originally they 

 were associations of persons carrying on the same trade ; but they are so no 

 longer, and only the Apothecaries, the Goldsmiths, the Gunmakers, and the 

 Stationers are still charged with the exercise of certain functions connected 

 with the trade they profess to represent. Out of a total of 79 companies, 73 

 enjoy the distinction of being " Livery Companies ; " that is, the liverymen 

 belonging to them are members of the Common Hall. An order of precedence 

 is rigidly enforced by these companies, at the head of which march the Mercers, 

 Grocers, Drapers, Fishmongers, Goldsmiths, Skinners, Merchant Taylors, Haber- 

 dashers, Salters, Ironmongers, Vintners, and Clothworkers. Much has been 

 fabled about the enoi-mous income of these companies, and there can be no doubt 

 that they expend large sums in feasting. It must be said to their credit, at the 

 same time, that all of them support charitable institutions, that several amongst 

 them maintain excellent schools, and that if they do feast, they do so at their 

 own expense. 



Surrey. — A large portion of this county, with three-fourths of its inhabitants, is 

 included in the metropolis, and nearly the whole of the remainder of its population 

 is more or less dependent upon London for its existence. The surface of the 

 county, with its alternation of hill and dale, is beautifully diversified. The chalk 

 range of the Downs intersects it through its entire length, forming a bold escarp- 

 ment towards the fertile valley of the Thames, and merging to the soutliM^ard 

 into the Weald, not yet altogether deprived of the woods for which it was 

 famous in former times. The Thames bounds the county on the north, and 

 the tributaries which it receives within its limits, including the Wey, Mole, 

 and Wandle, rise to the south of the Downs, through natural gaps in which 

 they take their course to the northward. The views commanded from the 

 Downs and from the hills in the Weald are amongst the most charming in the 

 neighbourhood of London, that from Leith Hill extending over a wild woodland 

 scenery to the English Channel, whilst Box Hill, near Dorking, possesses features 

 of a more cultivated cast. The Downs are likewise of some strategical importance 

 with reference to the metropolis, to the south of which they form a natural 

 rampart. In the case of an invasion it is believed by military men that the fate 

 of London will depend upon the results of a battle to be fought in the neighbour- 

 hood of the " passes " which lead through them at Reigate and Dorking, and 

 propositions have been freely made to enhance their natural strength by a chain 

 of detached forts. Considerable portions of Surrey consist of barren heaths and 



