New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-08-17
JOTTINGS IN LONDON.
SOME ENGLISH CUsTOMS-NOTEs HERE AND


our party had hled INTO pttle p"sty-
cooks shop the main street OF windsor
On the wall of the shop there little sign that
seemed to tell more of the intense conservatism of
the Englshman. a. we'll Of Others of his charac-
teristics than the excellent preservation OF the
gloomy memorials of the Tower, or the impos-
ing array of escutcheons of the Knights of the
Garter IN the palace hundred years or so away
Ut is simply an act of humanity TO the tourist,
whose life ia one Of toll and hardship to say that
the lemon tarts were especially good, and more 70
be remembered than some museums.l his niue
sign recorded the fact that on this site there had
been pastry cooks shop for iJ4 yards-that is 10
say beQlnnlng before the time when George wash
ington little red faced baby in Westinoreland
County. VIrgnia-and that during 1870 years OF
that time il had been kept by one famlly-the name
Lester. Such readiness this To take lie IA IL
comes such willingness to stay put, such pride
III mere adhesiveness, seemed strange enough by
contrast with the restless striving life Of America
where every son expects to be an improvement on
his father. and the father is disappointed If he Is
not YOu cannot help wondering at the passage OF
reform bills and the like in a country where men
point with pride TO the tarts their ancestors made
Proofs of a reverence for antiquity and precedent
meet YOU on every hand. and exceed ngly III
teresting to one who visits England for the first
in inscriptions statues, customs of the people and
the dress of some Of them. and In a thousand and
ono WAYS As you are thinking perhaps. of these
things i'm a crowded London street, the Lord Mayors
coach drives past a mass of absurd gliding and
frIppery. looking for all the world like Tom
Thumbs carriage grown to full size. Not one line
tint of its Gorgeousness Is suffered to be dimln-
ished An American official living in the midst OF
our prOsaic atmosphere could no more ride IN snch
an euuipage than he could take the oath of office
dressed IN the tnsel crown and robes OF Macbeth.
The Englishman, surrounded with countless memo
rails of a past that runs back to the beginnings Of
modern history and breathing an atmosphere OF
veneraton IA glad of the chance to ride in II, and
bis less fortunate felowcitzcns are pleased to look
at him. Mr.. Hare. n his Walks in Loudon," gives
two amusing illustrations of the English conviction
that whatever has been is probably right In the
old times, when "a knowledge of the three re was
less common than II il now, IL customary to re-
qulre the new sheriff to prove that he could count
M to sxtv-one by performing that marvellous feat
in the presence of witnesses Also to prove ms
physical strength Of which there was need IN those
| dava hy cutting bundle of sticks with hia knife
| In spite of all efforts to do away with them these
| customs atn atll followed aud the very knife ~
the fathers 10 preserved for the ceremony. hut. In
| consideration of modern muscular dcscncracy. -
/
ono nf tho tnuat picturesque ut these HufvivaH s
tho coutun,r of tho boya educated al tho fagions
arhaol Of Chfiata iioap,tAl=a blue gown with long
sAiftH u rcd leather sifdln, yellow stoekihsH Ahd
banda al the neck This 10 made more pttnf-
eHaue though hardly more comfortable by
| the abseuco Of ID hat. ono informant sald
| that this was because the prescribed hat was not
wearahle and therefore the boys 20 baTeheaded IN
rain and shine-even IN winter. he costume 70
like that of the oitizens OF London IN the time of
Edward VI the schools founder. and 1t Is very
| picturesque indeed when seen in a crowded Lon
don street in a of chimney pot hats aud common
place modern clothes Among the old privileges
! of the school still exercised, is that of paying a
visit to the Lord Mayor every Easter Tuesday al
the Mansion House when each scholar Is given
bright new shilling just from the mint.
MANY of these odd features of London life are pre-
served by the conditions of old charters and glits
which make their continuance obligatory. But 1t
| is at least open to question whether even If there
were no such binding clauses, they would not still
! be preserved by the English love of dong what
heir ancestors did-a sentiment certainly worthy OF
| respect and having good deal TO recommend IT.
Probably there is no one Of these surviving GUS
toms that strikes the transatlantic mind so strange
" as tAa viii, makes the eating OF SO many dln-
ners year in the dining-has of the Inns Of Court
an absolutely indispensable qualification for
admission 10 the bar. In former times
dining in commons may easily have been better
sign than 1t would be now Of regular attendance
upon the law lectures. The rule still holds,
however that the student must take his dinner in
the dining hall of the Inn which he is attending four
times each term There are four terms each year.
and tins must be continued durlngthe full student
course of three years If he misses one of the pre-
| ,har of n
term altogether and is 30 much further away from
his barristers Wig But no one need waste any
svunathy on the students subjected To this rigor
| ous rule The amount of hardship involved IS not
| great IL the student be enrolled in the Middle
Temples he dimes In the magnificent dining hall so
| glowingly described by Hawthorne IN the Euglsh
Note Books in which the play of Twelfth Night
had one of its first nights. 1t is doubtless the only
| huilding now standing in which the men and
| women of Shakespeares own day saw one OF his
uavs performed. This splendid hall, with its dark
oaken roof aud It's rich stained glass swndows, mas
! a hundred historical associations. II the student
cares more for his dinner than for "reminiscences lie
IL still fortunate He has hearty English dinner.
with either as much beer brewsd especially for the
Temple as he cares to drink ora liberal allowance
of whatever wine he prefers, including champagne;
| and the Temple has a cellar stored with rare old
wine The cost of this feast is Just two shllllngs-
! OF fifty cents The student of the Middle Temple
needs no mans pity, and those of the other
Inns fare as well in halls, not handsome or ven
cradle perhaps but still imposing enough
Walking about tho London streets. which are q
more fascinating study than anything to he found
indoors ysu are interested ia finding that not only
do you see people who look like Dlckenss descrip-
| tlons of his characters, which would hardly have
seemed probable but people who look like
! Cruikshanks pictures, which never seemed
possible. Speaking of this TO we'll
! known American writer, who spends much
of his time in London. he acquiesced adding that