wn, not from the carriage itself, but
from the box, a place which is not habitually occupied by the owner.
Another unusual thing. People travelled at that period in England in two
ways--by coach, at the rate of a shilling for five miles; and by post,
paying three half-pence per mile, and twopence to the postillion after
each stage. A private carriage, whose owner desired to travel by relays,
paid as many shillings per horse per mile as the horseman paid pence.
The carriage drawn up before the jail in Southwark had four horses and
two postillions, which displayed princely state. Finally, that which
excited and disconcerted conjectures to the utmost was the circumstance
that the carriage was sedulously shut up. The blinds of the windows
were closed up. The glasses in front were darkened by blinds; every
opening by which the eye might have penetrated was masked. From without,
nothing within could be seen, and most likely from within, nothing could
be seen outside. However, it did not seem probable that there was any
one in the carriage.

Southwark being in Surrey, the prison was within the jurisdiction of the
sheriff of the county.

Such distinct jurisdictions were very frequent in England. Thus, for
example, the Tower of London was not supposed to be situated in any
county; that is to say, that legally it was considered to be in air. The
Tower recognized no authority of jurisdiction except in its own
constable, who was qualified as _custos turris_. The Tower had its
jurisdiction, its church, its court of justice, and its government
apart. The authority of its _custos_, or constable, extended, beyond
London, over twenty-one hamlets. As in Great Britain legal singularities
engraft one upon another the office of the master gunner of England was
derived from the Tower of London. Other legal customs seem still more
whimsical. Thus, the English Court of Admiralty consults and applies the
laws of Rhodes and of Oleron, a French island which was once English.

The sheriff of a county was a person of high consideration. He was
always an esquire, and sometimes a knight. He was called _spectabilis_
in the old deeds, "a man to be looked at"--kind of intermediate title
between _illustris_ and _clarissimus_; less than the first, more than
the second. Long ago the sheriffs of the counties were chosen by the
people; but Edward II., and after him Henry VI., having claimed their
nomination for the crown, the office of sheriff became a roy