[546] The picture was painted as a private speculation by the artist, and was offered for sale to the Corporation in 1791. The committee to whom the matter was referred suggested that the City might give 200 guineas for the picture, not so much on account of its intrinsic merit as because the artist was an industrious and promising man with a numerous family. This suggestion did not meet with the approval of the Common Council. It preferred to give the artist half that sum in acknowledgment of his pains and to allow him to keep the picture. Whether the artist thought himself thus sufficiently paid for his work is not clear, but the picture for many years stood in the Long Parlour at the Mansion House, where it served as a screen. It has recently been restored, and is now hung in the lobby of the Guildhall.—Journal 72, fos. 357b, 431-431b.
[547] Journal 71, fos. 253, 272, 274b; Journal 72, fo. 55.
[548] Repertory 191, fos. 363-364.
[549] Id., fos. 381-383.
[550] Repertory 192, fos. 201-203.
[551] Repertory 192, fos. 296, 308, 344, 394.
[552] Repertory, 193, fo. 34.
[553] Repertory 194, fos. 128-132.
[554] To this day the secretary of state for the home department requests the sanction of the lord mayor before despatching troops through the city, and when permission is given, it is on the understanding that all troops (with the exception of the "buffs," who claim to be directly descended from the ancient trained bands), march without colours flying, drums beating, or bayonets fixed. As a further token of the lord mayor's supremacy in the city, we may add that the pass-word of the Tower is sent to him quarterly.
[555] Repertory 194, fos. 132-137, 150-152.