That the salaries of the Elizabethan judges were small in comparison with the sums which they received in presents and fees may be seen from the following Table of stipends and allowances annually paid, towards the close of the sixteenth century:--
The Lord Cheefe Justice of England:-- Fee, Reward and Robes 208 6 8 Wyne, 2 tunnes at £5 the tunne 10 0 0 Allowance for being Justice of Assize 20 0 0
The Lord Cheefe Justice of the Common Pleas:-- Fee, Reward, and Robes 141 13 4 Wyne, two tunnes 8 0 0 Allowance as Justice of Assize 20 0 0 Fee for keeping the Assize in the Augmentation Court 12 10 8
Each of the three Justices in these two Courts:-- Fee, Reward and Robes £123 6_s._ 8_d._ Allowance as Justice of Assize 20 0 0
The Lord Cheefe Baron of the Exchequer:-- Fee 100 0 0 Lyvery 12 17 8 Allowance as Justice of the Assize 20 0 0
Each of the three Barons:-- Fee 46 12 4 Lyvery a peece 12 17 4 Allowance as Justice of Assize 20 0 0
Prior to and in the earlier part of Elizabeth's reign, the sheriffs had been required to provide diet and lodging for judges travelling on circuit, each sheriff being responsible for the proper entertainment of judges within the limits of his jurisdiction. This arrangement was very burdensome upon the class from which the sheriffs were elected, as the official host had not only to furnish suitable lodging and cheer for the justices themselves, but also to supply the wants of their attendants and servants. The ostentatious and costly hospitality which law and public opinion thus compelled or encouraged them to exercise towards circuiteers of all ranks had seriously embarrassed a great number of country gentlemen; and the queen was assailed with entreaties for a reform that should free a sheriff of small estate from the necessity of either ruining himself, or incurring a reputation for stinginess. In consequence of these urgent representations, an order of council, bearing date February 21, 1574, decided "the justices shall have of her majesty several sums of money out of her coffers for their daily diet." Hence rose the usage of 'circuit allowances.' The sheriffs, however, were still bound to attend upon the judges, and make suitable provision for the safe conduct of the legal functionaries from assize town to assize town;--the sheriff of each county being required to furnish a body-guard for the protection of the sovereign's representatives. This responsibility lasted till the other day, when an innovation (of which Mr. Arcedeckne, of Glevering Hall, Suffolk, was the most notorious, though not the first champion), substituted guards of policemen, paid by county-rates, for bands of javelin-men equipped and rewarded by the sheriffs. In some counties the javelin-men--remote descendants of the mail-clad knights and stalwart men-at-arms who formerly mustered at the summons of sheriffs--still do duty with long wands and fresh rosettes; but they are fast giving way to the wielders of short staves.