al
emanation.

They all received their commissions from majesty, except the sheriff of
Westmoreland, whose office was hereditary, and the sheriffs of London
and Middlesex, who were elected by the livery in the common hall.
Sheriffs of Wales and Chester possessed certain fiscal prerogatives.
These appointments are all still in existence in England, but, subjected
little by little to the friction of manners and ideas, they have lost
their old aspects. It was the duty of the sheriff of the county to
escort and protect the judges on circuit. As we have two arms, he had
two officers; his right arm the under-sheriff, his left arm the justice
of the quorum. The justice of the quorum, assisted by the bailiff of the
hundred, termed the wapentake, apprehended, examined, and, under the
responsibility of the sheriff, imprisoned, for trial by the judges of
circuit, thieves, murderers, rebels, vagabonds, and all sorts of felons.

The shade of difference between the under-sheriff and the justice of the
quorum, in their hierarchical service towards the sheriff, was that the
under-sheriff accompanied and the justice of the quorum assisted.

The sheriff held two courts--one fixed and central, the county court;
and a movable court, the sheriff's turn. He thus represented both unity
and ubiquity. He might as judge be aided and informed on legal questions
by the serjeant of the coif, called _sergens coifae_, who is a
serjeant-at-law, and who wears under his black skull-cap a fillet of
white Cambray lawn.

The sheriff delivered the jails. When he arrived at a town in his
province, he had the right of summary trial of the prisoners, of which
he might cause either their release or the execution. This was called a
jail delivery. The sheriff presented bills of indictment to the
twenty-four members of the grand jury. If they approved, they wrote
above, _billa vera_; if the contrary, they wrote _ignoramus_. In the
latter case the accusation was annulled, and the sheriff had the
privilege of tearing up the bill. If during the deliberation a juror
died, this legally acquitted the prisoner and made him innocent, and the
sheriff, who had the privilege of arresting the accused, had also that
of setting him at liberty.

That which made the sheriff singularly feared and respected was that he
had the charge of executing all the orders of her Majesty--a fearful
latitude. An arbitrary power lodges in such commissions.

The officers termed vergers, th