died without male issue, and the earldom again became extinct. The office of High Constable was next exercised by Humphrey Stafford (created in 1441 Duke of Buckingham). Though it does not appear that this nobleman, according to Sir Harris Nicolas, was ever created Earl of Hereford, yet he used the title and performed the duties of Constable, in right of his descent through the female line from the last earl of the Bohun family. His grandson succeeded him in the office, and on the death of the latter in 1459, that peer's son inherited the situation of Lord High Constable. This was the last person in whom the constableship was vested by descent; for when this third Duke of Buckingham was attainted and beheaded in 1521, all his honours became forfeited, and the office of Lord High Constable ceased to possess an hereditary character. Since his death, the Lord High Constable has always been appointed, pro hac vice, to officiate at coronations, trials by combat, &c., and persons of the highest rank and reputation have been selected; the most recent instances were the appointment of the Duke of Wellington at the coronations of George IV., William IV., and Victoria; and the last occasion when trial by combat required such an officer, occurred in 1631, when Robert Bertie, Earl of Lindsey, was appointed, but the combat was subsequently prevented by the king. The Lord High Constable, together with the Earl Marshal, were formerly judges of the court of chivalry (subsequently designated as the court of honour); but it is hardly necessary to state, that this tribunal is wholly disused-a natural conse quence of the feebleness of its jurisdiction, and its inability to enforce its own judgments; for not being a court of record, it could neither fine nor imprison. While the office continued hereditary, its possessor was always summoned to parliament as Constabularius Angliæ, and his duties in those days fully accounted for his importance and dignity; for Blackstone tells us, that when Chief Justice Fineux was asked by Henry VIII. how far the Constable's jurisdiction extended, that judge declined answering, since it was a question belonging to the law of arms, and not the law of England *. The only duties now attached to the office of the temporary Lord High Constable, who is created at each coronation, consist in attending the Sovereign, assisting at the reception of the regalia from the dean and chapter of Westminster, and, in company with the Earl Marshal, ushering the king's champion into Westminster Hall, just before the second course of the coronation banquet. The word "constable" is by some derived from a Saxon origin, signifying "the support of the king." But the best authorities deduce it from comes stabuli, so called from presiding over all matters of chivalry, as feats of arms, tilts, tournaments, &c., which were performed on horseback. From this high officer of state are derived the high constables and the petty constables of every town This reply reminds us of the answer speaker Onslow made to a gentleman who inquired what would be the conse quences of “naming" a disorderly member to the house :— "The Lord in heaven knows, sir! I am sure I don't." and parish, and among their duties at their first establishment was the examination of arms and armour. The constables of Dover Castle, of the Tower of London, of the Castle of Carnarvon, &c., are properly but castellani, or governors of castles, and the title of constable indicates no further power or privileges. LORD HIGH ADMIRAL. "By each gun the lighted brand, CAMPBELL, Battle of the Baltic. To the Lord High Admiral has usually been committed the general direction and control of the navy, and he may almost be described as Secretary of State for naval affairs. The duties of the Lord High Admiral were formerly judicial as well as executive, having not merely to govern the navy, but to preside in a court for the trial of nautical cases and of offences committed at sea. Not only are the judicial now separated from the other duties of this high functionary, and entrusted to the "judge of the Admiralty court;" but of late years even the executive functions of the Lord High Admiral are performed by a board. As the great seal has been occasionally placed in the hands of commissioners, and as the office of lord high treasurer has for centuries been executed by several instead of one individual, so the office of Lord High Admiral has usually been entrusted to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty," popularly called the "Board of Admiralty." Since the time of King John, the office of Lord High Admiral has usually been conferred upon princes of the blood royal, or some of the most dignified of the nobility, who in right of this appointment formerly held a distinguished place in the house of Lords, even before our present scale of precedence was laid down. The Duke of York, afterwards James II., was Lord High Admiral during a part of the reign of his brother Charles II., but from that period the office was executed by commissioners until the latter end of William the Third's reign, when the Earl of Pembroke was appointed. For some time, prince George of Denmark, the consort of queen Anne, filled the office; but about a month after his death the Earl of Pembroke was re-appointed. In the course of the next year it was again put into commission; and from that time to the present its duties have always been executed by a board of admiralty, with the exception of a short period in 1827-8, when the Duke of Clarence (afterwards William IV.) filled the office of Lord High Admiral. The Board of Admiralty consists of a "first lord," and four, or more usually six, junior lords, and two secretaries. Two of the lords at least are always naval officers, but the others may have no professional connexion with the service. All the power and authority is vested in the Chief Lord; and he is to all intents and purposes the Lord High Admiral, the other lords merely acting as his advisers and council. All the commissioners and the first secretary hold their offices during pleasure, and are there fore members of the political party to which the ministers of the day belong. A new commission is of course made out whenever any change takes place in the responsible advisers of the Crown; but even when the object is to confer a seat at the board upon one individual instead of another, it is the practice for an entirely new commission to be issued, reappointing those who are to continue, and substituting the name of the new lord for that of the person retiring. The majority of the Lords of the Admiralty are usually members of parliament; the first lord is ostensibly as well as really the head of the department, and may or may not be a peer; but he is always a privy councillor and a member of the cabinet, and is responsible in parliament for the conduct of that branch of the public service. When he happens to be a member of the Upper House, the first secretary to the Admiralty is always chosen. from amongst the supporters of ministers in the Commons, and accordingly represents the department in that branch of the legislature. The functions of the Lord High Admiral, or the Board of Admiralty, consist in the government of the navy, both in peace and war. By their orders, all ships are built and repaired, laid up in ordinary or fitted for sea, broken up or sold entire, put into commission or out of commission, armed, stored, and provisioned, employed at home or on foreign stations. All appointments and removals of commission and warrant officers, with the exception of masters and surgeons, are at their disposal, and from this Board emanate all instructions for the guidance of officers T |