the whole of a family considered collectively, including the mistress, children, and servants. But the household of a sovereign prince includes only the officers and domestics belonging to his palace.

The principal officers of his majesty's household are, the lord steward, lord chamberlain of the household, the groom of the stole, the master of the great wardrobe, and the master of the horse.

The civil government of the king's house is under the care of the lord steward of the king's household; who, being the chief officer, all his commands are observed and obeyed. His authority extends over all the other officers and servants, except those of his majesty's chapel, chamber, and stable, and he is the judge of all crimes committed either within the court or the verge.

Under him are the treasurer of the household, the comptroller, cofferer, the master of the household, the clerks of the green-cloth, and the officers and servants belonging to the accounting house, the marshall, the verger, the king's kitchen, the household kitchen, the acartry, bake-house, pantry, buttery, cellar, pantry, &c. Next to the lord steward is the lord chamberlain of the household, who has under him the vice-chamberlain, the treasurier, and comptroller of the chambers; 48 gentlemen of the privy chamber, 12 of whom wait quarterly, and two of them lie every night in the privy-chamber; the gentleman usher, the grooms of the great chamber, the pages of the presence-chamber; the mace-bearers, cup bearers, carvers, musicians, &c. See Lord Chamberlain of the Household.

The groom of the stole has under him the 11 other lords of the bed-chamber, who wait weekly in the bed-chamber, and by turns lie there a nights on a pallet-bed; and also the grooms of the bed-chamber, the pages of the bed-chamber and back-stairs, &c. See Groom of the Stole.

The master or keeper of the great wardrobe has under him a deputy, comptroller, clerk of the robes, bruiser, &c. and a number of tradesmen and artificers, who are all sworn servants to the king.

The master of the horse has under his command the equerries, pages, footmen, grooms, coachmen, farriers, saddlers, and all the other officers and tradesmen employed in his majesty's stables.

Next to the civil list of the king's court, is the military, consisting of the band of gentlemen pensioners, the yeomen of the guard, and the troops of the household; of which the two first guard the king above stairs.

When the king dines in public, he is waited upon at table by his majesty's cup-bearers, carvers, and gentlemen sewers; the musicians playing all the time. The dinner is brought up by the yeomen of the guard, and the gentlemen sewers set the dishes in order. The carvers cut for the king, and the cup-bearers serve him the drink with one knee on the ground, after he has first tasted it in the cover.

House and Window Duty, a branch of the king's extraordinary revenue*.—As early as the conquest mention is made in Domesday Book of fumage or fu-

gage, vulgarly called smoke-farthings; which were paid by custom to the king for every chimney in the house.

And we read that Edward the Black Prince (soon after his success in France), in imitation of the English custom, imposed a tax of a florin upon every hearth in his French dominions. But the first parliamentary establishment of it in England was by statute 13 & 14 Car. II. c. 10, whereby an hereditary revenue of 2s. for every hearth, in all houses paying to church and poor, was granted to the king for ever. And, by subsequent statutes, for the more regular assessment of this tax, the constable and two other substantial inhabitants of the parish, to be appointed yearly (or the surveyor appointed by the crown, together with such constable or other public officer), were, once in every year, empowered to view the inside of every house in the parish. But, upon the Revolution, by stat. 1 W. & M. c. 10, hearth-money was declared to be "not only a great oppression to the poorer sort, but a badge of slavery upon the whole people, exposing every man's house to be entered into and searched at pleasure, by persons unknown to him; and therefore, to erect a lasting monument of their majesties goodness, in every house in the kingdom the duty of hearth-money was taken away and abolished." This monument of goodness remains among us to this day: but the prospect of it was somewhat darkened, when in six years afterwards, by statute 7 W. III. c. 18, a tax was laid upon all houses (except cottages) of 2s. now advanced to 3s. per house, and a tax also upon all windows, if they exceeded nine, in such house. Which rates have been from time to time varied, being now extended to all windows exceeding five; and power is given to surveyors, appointed by the crown, to inspect the outside of houses, and also to pass through any house, two days in the year, into any court or yard, to inspect the windows there.

Schemes of the different rates of duty upon houses and windows may be seen in the Almanacks, or in Kearsley's Tax-Tables published yearly.

House-Leek, in botany. See Sedum and Sempervivum.