508 
LONDON. 
The magiftrates of thefe offices are appointed to hear 
and determine in a fummary way ; particularly in cafes 
relative to the cuftoms, excife, and (tamps ; the game- 
laws ; hawkers and pedlars; pawnbrokers; friendly fo- 
cieties; highways; hackney-coaches, carts, and other 
carriages ; quakers and others refilling to pay tithes; ap¬ 
peals of defaulters in parochial rates ; mifdemeanors com¬ 
mitted by perfons unlawfully pawning property not their 
own ; bakers for fliort weight, See. journeymen leaving 
-their fervices indifferent trades; labourers not complying 
with their agreements, and diforderly apprentices ; per¬ 
fons keeping diforderly houfes; nuifances againft different 
afts of parliament ; afts of vagrancy by fraudulent lot- 
tery-infurers ; gaming-houfes ; fortune-tellers; or perfons 
of ill-fame found in avenues to public places, with an in¬ 
tent to rob; watchinsf over the conduft of publicans; 
(wearing in ; charging and inftrufting parochial conlfa- 
bles and headbor.oughs from year to year, with regard to 
their duty ; iffuing warrants for privy fearches ; and in 
confidering the cafes of perfons charged with being dif¬ 
orderly perfons, or rogues and vagabonds, liable to be 
.punilhed under the aft of 17 Geo. II. c. 5, and fubfequent 
afts of parliament ; in making orders to parilh-officers, 
beadles, and conftables, in a variety of cafes; in parilh 
removals; in billeting foldiers ; in confidering the cafes 
of poor perfons applying for affiftance, or admiffion to 
work-houfes ; in granting certificates and orders to the 
wives of perfons ferving in the militia, and alfo in atteft- 
ing recruits for the army, and for examining perfons ac- 
cufed of treafon, murder, coinage, and uttering bale mo¬ 
ney ; arfon ; manflaughter; forgery; burglary; larceny; 
fedition ; felonies of various deferiptions ; confpiracies; 
frauds; riots; affaults, and mifdemeanors of different 
kinds.—To each of thefe police-offices three juftices are 
attached; the chief-magi'frate at Bow-ftreet, has a falary 
of 1000I. per anri. and the other two 500I. each. A 
number of police-officers, conftables, and patroles, pa¬ 
rade the (freets, avenues, and outlkirts, day and night. 
The Thames police-office, in particular, has belonging to 
it 21 river-furveyors, 8 land-conftables, and 60 river-con- 
ftables, or watermen. As to the eltablilhment of this of¬ 
fice, and for fome general remarks on police, fee p. 122 of 
this article. 
The following is a Statement of the Force of the Police 
exifting in the Metropolis, copied from Sir Richard Phil¬ 
lips’s Pifture of London : 
In the City of London—the inarffialfmen, beadles, 
and conftables, amount to - - - 319 
Watchmen and patroles - - - 803 
In the City and Liberty of Weftminfter—Confta- 
bles - 71 
Watchmen and patroles - - 302 
Holborn divifion—Conftables ... 79 
WAtchmen and patroles - - - - 377 
Finlbury divifion— Conftables - 69 
Watchmen and patroles - - - 135 
Tower Hamlets, including the eaftern part of the 
town—Conftables - ... 21S 
Watchmen and patroles - 268 
Liberty of the Tower of London—Conftables 17 
Watchmen and patroles - - - 14 
Div i(ion of Kcnfington and Chelfea—Conftables 22 
Watchmen and patroles - 66 
Borough of Southwark—Conftables - - 88 
Watchmen and patroles - 79 
Seven Police-offices, including Bow-ftreet—Officers 
and patroles - - - - - 150 
Total number of perfons - - 3077 
Our fyftem of police, though thief-takers are continually 
upon the alert in our ftreets at every hour in the day, may 
be reckoned mild when compared with that of other coun¬ 
tries. The police of Paris was carried to the greateft pet;- 
leftior. of efpionage under M. de Sartine. The minifter 
of police under the emperor Napoleon did not derogate 
from his predeceflbr in office. The fyitem of police, par¬ 
ticularly among fervants, who were made fpies over the fa¬ 
milies in which they are employed, was carried to a ftate 
of mechanical perfeftion ; and the budgets of the fruits of 
efpionage were as regularly conveyed to the office of the 
minifter of police as aditch-draining mill fills and difeharges 
its buckets into the refervoir. Of this faft many woeful 
examples could be produced by the inhabitants of the 
French metropolis. A gentleman, who was a friend of the 
minifter of police, on one occafion, in a feleft party, had 
been guilty of fome unguarded expreffions ; he was lent for, 
and warned by the minifter, who allured him that nothing 
even of the. moft private nature could efcape his vigilance ; 
for, lays he, “by means of my agents, you may literally 
apply to me the words of Scripture, (Math, xviii. 20.) 
Where two or three are gathered together , there am 1 in the midjl 
of them!" 
Military Government. —Though the origin of the 
military government of London cannot be afeertained, it 
neverthelefs mult be of great antiquity j-for, in the reign 
of Alfred, the London forces being joined to the regular 
army, they, in 885, befieged and took a caftle, or °fort, 
erefted by the Danes on the coaft of Efiex ; and, in the 
following fpring, in conjunction with the neighbouring 
auxiliaries, diflodged the Danes from a ftrong polition they 
occupied near the fite of the prefent town of Hertford. 
Hence it is highly probable, that a military government 
was eftabliffied by that prince in London, immediately 
after he had recovered it from the Danes. 
How foon the city became poffefled of a military go¬ 
vernment, diftinft from that of the ftate, does not appear; 
but Edward II. having, received military alfiftance from 
the city of London, in the year 1321, in befiegin°- tha 
caftle of Leeds in Kent, granted a charter to the citizens, 
whereby it is declared, that the fame (hall not be preju¬ 
dicial to the mayor and good men of the city of London, 
their heirs, See. nor be drawn into example in time to 
come. In a mufter of the citizens in 1585, the men were 
provided by the different companies, in proportion to 
their abilities; an account of which was delivered to fir 
Thomas Pullyfon, the lord-mayor, from which the fol¬ 
lowing lift of the numbers fent by the twelve principal 
companies is extrafted ; viz. 
Mercers 
294 
Drapers 
347 
Grocers 
395 
Fifhmongers 
200 
Goldfmiths - 
284 
Skinners 
174 
Haberdaffiers - 3^5 
Salters - - l ( )0 
Ironmongers - j^ 7 
Vintners - . 207 
Merchant Taylors ^95 
Cloth-workers - 2 ja 
In the middle of April, 1660, about fix weeks before 
the reftoration, there was a muiier in Hyde Park of the 
troops belonging to the city, when there appeared fix re¬ 
giments of trained bands, fix regiments of auxiliaries 
and one regiment of horle. Of the twelve regiments of 
foot, eight had i'even companies, and the other four had 
fix companies, in ea^b ; in all, eighty companies of two 
hundred and fifty men, making eighteen thoufand effec¬ 
tive infantry. The regiment of horle confifted of fix 
troops of one hundred men each. The aftemblinp- D f this 
force before his majelty’s return, was judged to be highly 
intlrumental in facilitating that happy work. This force 
being judged very ufeful, not only for the defence of the 
city, but for the fafety of the king’s perfon, his majefty, 
foon after his reftoration, appointed a eornmifiion of lieu¬ 
tenancy for the city of London, which he inverted with 
the fame powers as thofe pofiefted by the lord-lieutenants 
of counties, by whom the trained bands were new-mc- 
d el led. The number of the regiments of infantry re¬ 
mained the fame, but the cavalry was increafed to two 
regiments of five troops, with eighty men in each. The 
fix regiments of auxiliary infantry and the cavalry were 
not however kept up longer than necelfity required; and 
the permanent military force of the city of London was 
fettled 
S 
