f Saint Clement." The subsequent charter of
James I, and all later charters, are granted to "The Master, Wardens,
and Assistants of the Guild, Fraternity, or Brotherhood of the most
glorious and undivided Trinity, and of Saint Clement, in the parish of
Deptford, in the county of Kent." The grant of Arms to the Corporation
is dated 1573, and includes the motto, _Trinitas in Unitate_.

No reason can now be assigned for the application of its distinctive
title. The mere fact that the constitution of the guild included
provision for the maintenance of a chaplain, and for the conduct of
divine service in the parish church, is not, we think, sufficient to
account for it.

In the house or hall at Deptford, adjoining the almshouses, the business
of the Corporation was first conducted. Afterwards, for the sake of
convenient intercourse with shipowners and others, in a house in
Ratcliffe; next at Stepney, and then in Water Lane, Tower Street. The
tenement there falling into decay--after having been twice burnt and
restored--was forsaken, and an estate was purchased on Tower Hill, on
which the present Trinity House was built, from designs by Wyatt, in
1798.

A good idea of the _relative_ antiquity of the Corporation may be
gathered from the fact that about the year 1520--six years after the
date of the first charter--the formation of the Admiralty and Navy
Boards was begun, and "on the consequent establishment of dockyards and
arsenals, the Deptford building-yard was confided to the direction of
the Trinity House, together with the superintendence of all navy stores
and provisions. So closely, indeed, were the services related, that the
first Master of the Corporation, under the charter, was Sir Thomas
Spert, commander of the `Henry Grace-a-Dieu,' (our first man-of-war),
and sometime Controller of the Navy. The Corporation thus became, as it
were, the civil branch of the English Maritime Service, with a naval
element which it preserves to this day."

Government records show that the Trinity Brethren exercised considerable
powers, at an early period, in manning and outfitting the navy; that
they reported on ships to be purchased, regulated the dimensions of
those to be built, and determined the proper complement of sailors for
each, as well as the armament and stores. Besides performing its
peaceful duties, the Corporation was bound to render service at sea if
required, but, in consideration of such liability, the Breth