, 1880-12-26

rta Peculiar Significance In Foreign
Lands-The Singular Prejudice at Its
IntFoduc uctton-Change That Cen.
turv Have Wrought.

AAs~s - ~@~~
tury Have Wrought.
Boston Herald.
Douglas Jerrold has said: "Ihere are
three things that no man but fool lends,
or, having lent, Is not in the most helpless
atate OF mental crossitude II he ever hopes to
get them back again. These three things,
my SON, are books, umbrellas, and money. l
believe certain fiction OF the law assumes q
remedy to the borrower. but Know OF no
case in which any man being sufficiently
bastard to gibbet his reputation as plain.m
III such a suit was ever fairly success1ui
against the wholesome prejudices OF society.
Umbrellas may be hedged about BY cobWeb
statutes; will not swear that 1t Ia not so;
there may exist laws that make such things
property; but sure am that the Kissing con-
tempt, the loud-mouthed Indignation
Of all civilized society would slbllate
and roar at the bloodless poltroon VINO
should engage law on his side to obtain Tor
him restitution OF a-lent umbrella" There
is more truth than poetry In this independ-
ent expression Of opinion, and Its force and
direct application must be admitted. The
umbrella Is an article Of necessity, and Is
lent, borrowed, and stolen more than any
other single piece Of property. People,
whose conscience would not allow them to
appropriate q tiye-cent nickel which Is not
their own, often have no compunction about
stealing an umbrella Borrow" Is the word
they prefer to use, but when applied to ull-
brellas, "b0rroW" and "steal" are sy-
nonymous terms. The umbrella Is such a
common piece Of property nowadays that 1t
may not be universally known that its use
became general and popular IN the face OF
much prejudice and opposition, and thai
many more pretentlous articles have history
far less important and interesting: Less
the face of mankind without opposition from
the umbrella, and, In some countries, at the
present time, its use Is confined to protection
from the SUMS rays which appear to have
ago the carriers Of umbrellas were ridicuied
and called etfeminate. In many countries
the umbrella has now, or has had, il times
past, y religious. Royal, or reverential sig
nifcance, which is all the more remarkable
day. The English word is derived from the
italian umbrella The Latin them umbrella
is applied by b0tani5ts to three blossoms,
which are clustered at the extremtt1es OF
several spokes, radlating from the common
stem like the metallic props OF the umbrella
For practical purposes. the parasol and uln-
brella are Identical, though used, as stated
above, as protecu0n from the sun before
thought of as shelter from the rain. a
brief review Of the singular history OF the
The umbrella is mentioned in books printed
in the year 800, and the Invention IS Thought
to have been first suggested by large leaves
tied to the branching extremitles OF bougil,
but, according to Chinese history, 1t existed
date OF the worlds creation. In the Ninevite
sculptures, the umbrella or paras0l appears,
and paintings on temple wall In Egypt rep
resent the figure Of q god carried ln process
+rrtt 7hY0f3
Gates that it was used as mark of distinc-
tion. In Persia the paraso1 Is found III the
carved works of Persepolis, while in Assyria
and other Eastern countries the Pafasol and
canoe. In the second Tartar invasion Of
China the Emperor's son was taken prisoner
BY tho Tartar Chief and made to carry his
umbrella. A feeling OF veneratlon followed
ths Royal sgpsSanff and &c in macy anfent
thoiogy, Vishnl is said to have 1ald
a visit to the internal regions with the
umbrella over bis head In Greece a*; It. nad
Indispensable article to q. lady OF fashion.
Its use seems to have been confined to
women. From Greece Its use passed to Rome,
but it was invariably, employed for protec-
the rain. But few men carried one, and ;hey
we're considered effemtnate. From the date
of the founding Of Constantinople, the Gus
tom of great people carrying an umbrella
mans lavished as much splendor upon their
umbrellas as upon any article of dress, but
their use was luxury and not mark OF dis
tinction. II. de Ia Loubere, who was Envoy
in iGsf-'ss records the fact that the use OF
the umbrella was granted to only few OF
the subjects Of the King. Trayerier, In his
Voyage to the East" says that on each side
of the alogul's throne were two umbrellas,
tole hall 0f fha fup ff
Ava as
DECORATED WITH An UMBRELLA.
The Mahratt2 Princes, who resigned at
Poonah and Sattara, had the title Ut Ch'hat-
rapati-" Lord Of Umbrella" In Ava it
was part Of the Kings title that he was
the Twenty four Umbrellas" The umbrella
has been and is now in China mnrk OF high
rank. though not exclusively go, It's use not
being confined to Royalty. The fact is re-
ried before the En- lperor when Ae went hunt
ing. In China, as in no other Eastern coun-
try, it was used as protection from the rain
rather than the sun. Among the Arabs the
dence Of which it Is stated that Feebular,
who travelled in Southern Arabia, described
procession Of the Inman OF Sanoh, in
which the lnman and each OF the Princes
Of his numerous family caused large unl-
Princes Of the blood In Morocco the En-
peror and his family alone are allowed to
carry IN umbrella. In Turkey, however, its
use IS common, but vestige Of the rev.
erence once attached to it remains
in the custom Of compelling every
body who passes the palace where the
Sultan is residing to lower his umbrella as q
mark Of respect Umbrellas were used in
the south OF Europe as canopy Of state, and
were borne over the host in procession, and
formed part Of the Pontifcal regaliu. In
France and England the general use OF par
aso1s was adopted, probably from China,
about the middle OF the seventeenth cen
tury, and in Italy they were used prior to
common in England in the earlier half OF the
eighteenth century is evident from the fact
that Gen. Wolfe, writing from Paris in l7522,
speaks Of the people carrying umbrellas for
protection from sun and rain, and wonders
that similar protection does not exist in En-
gland. It was at about this period that the
umbrella seems to have come into general
use, and, with surprising rapidity, people
recognized their value and got over their
shyness natural to a first Introduction. Jonas
Hanway, who founded the Magdalen Hos
pital, distinguished as philanthropist, as
friend Of chimney sweeps, and as q strong
fnp Of fpa ia R1ypn fhA credit nf ha{np The