New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-04-19
EASTER IN LONDON.
WITH NOTES ON SOME OF THE HABITS AND
CUSTOMS OF THE HOLIDAYS.

,-,ou rup REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRBuSsl
LONDON April L.
rh drear;nesa and WEAKNESS of four days
7 ondon holiday have once more come and gone
To the Iondoner or to anybody who happens 10 10
obliged To STAY in London, there is no more hieiai
obolv period of the year than that between ooou
F,iaav and Easter Monday inclusive oh 'no
Intervening Saturday, it is true, some Oh .o 'op'
are omen and most of the theatres bu' oa'u,o",'
A. hest il only half day. thanks 10 ING E"iiy
1uosinc philanthropsts whose ann III iho J" 10 ~
limit tho hours of wage-earning industry anu
-bose IDEAL of cheerfulness is an unbrokeh stretch
Of closed shutters
Tho whole of Passion Week must here De passed
beneath the shadow of ecclesiastical gloom. rar'
lament adjourns and the adjournment OF the TWO
Houses Is the signal for o general hight ln'o .no
country or abroad. where the gloomls cohS'aeraoiy
iiubteneJ. There are circles in which it is deemed
.;nful 70 dine ont during these days. The general
current of social life flows sluggisby. Not the
least curious of the various religious phenomena
o,v occurrinp IL the retirement of Miss Mary
Anderson from tho stage for seven days ana seven
nights Scrupes of conscience OF prlcSty pronio
tion stand in the way of her acting at Easter, anu
Nine Modieska had to be called in to keep the doors
Of the Lyceum open. was told by MANAGER
that the ordinance of the Lord Chamberlain ior Inc
shutting OF theatres on Good Friday extenus even
10 their box-ofices. To sell ticket during inc uay
a. as wicked as to lift the curtain at night ana INC
lessee who committed either iniqulty wouio rsk .o
Ioss of his license Not even a rehearsal is toll
Grated. The Music Halls close; whether IN opeoi-
,nce TO the edict of the magistrates VINO license
them cannot say SO do the transporting
theatres.
The only places of amusement not sealed up by
authority are those where it is deemed prohtah'e
70 give what are called sacred concerts or oTatoros
The CRYSTAL Palace is accessible to the pubic on
this pretence, and suppose yon may stare a' INC
heather statues in the rs well as ls'eh 10 INC
music of Handel. from tile orchestra ana organ anu
chorus The Messiah is given at the Albert man.
and these hilarious entertainments are iareoiy a."
tended by people of robust faith, III the conSc'eh
t,oos conviction that they enjoying themselves,
no nerb ms they are All the churches are OPEN ana
.ome of them are thronged Some of the best music
in London is to be heard at ST. Paufs on these oc-
casions and only less good at Westminster Abbey.
Whether the Dissenting Chapes fall IN Win inc
fashion cannot say Time was. certainly when
they wonld have been strictly closed In protest
against Papistical observanccs.
That singular department the British Post Office
might be subject to Rome itself, so careful is II 10
leave its enormous staff free to 60 to church on
Good Friday. There is but one delivery oil letters
that performed, Mr.. Shaw Lefevre's army OF
carriers may listen to sermons or drink beer as tey
choose. for If the churches OPEN the public
bouses are certainly not closed. On Easter Monday
the condition of things is much the same-l do not
mean with respect to places of worship, but the
Post Office. and to places of drink. There is
morning and evening delivery and an evening dis
patch of letters Most of the telegraph Offices are
closed the official mind is not able to roncelye the
probability that public busy with worship or busy
with pleasure should care to send kilograms 10
itself A similar notion possesses the editors or
perhaps it is the propretors, of newspapers. NO
evening journals appear on Friday or on Mon
day. If they did, they could hardly be sold. The
ordinary machinery of distribution is paralyzed In
London it is the local statoner on whom the
reading public in great part depends for its regular
supply of papers, both morning and evening. But
the local stationer has awarded himself holiday,
the more readily since, though he supplies you Win
no paper, he will hardly think it worth while 10
disturb the symmetry of his accounts by deductlng
the psice of the missing journals.
AS Won see the points of similarity between Good
Friday and EasteS Monday are numerous enough 10
create confusion in the minds of the millions, with
whom the sacred and profane not.divided by
q clear and broad line. great ecclesiastical
solemnity in which Christendom takes part is one
thing A Bank Holiday, the creation OF an Act OF
Parliament. is another But the cmaEcpatcd toiler
a
public Offices and the great houses of public and
private business takera holiday to themselves on
both occasions. What matters it to tho civil
servant whether he is let loose from his desk
by the Pope or by Sir John lubbock The
cockney in either case betakes himself 20 the green
fields. The villager comes up to London. On the
great lines of suburban railways, the trains that
are leaving and the trans that entering London
are equally full, and full of holiday makers.
If you are neither shDpkeeper artisan, it is at
the peril of your social reputation that yo1 remain
In London. Society has dccreed that the Easter
Holidays are to be passed in the country Tho
blinds are drawn in the mansions OF the West End
That the Queen should set an example OF flight
abroad is something, but Fashion has long since
learned to look rather to Marlborough House than
to Windsor Castle for its watchword and its ex-
ample The Queens journey to Aix-les-Sains and
her months residence there known to have
been prescribed by her physician as a condition OF
health Therefore IL is that all good subjects are
permitted to learn from the Court Circular that
health has nothing to say to this trip, which, you
will be good enough to believe, Her Majesty has
taken solely for change of air and scene, and for
the sake of relaxation To be suspected of illness
Is what Royalty cannot endure.
Ii was but last week that the Prince of Wales
returned from Berlin, having accomplished his
mission Of conp ratulation to the Emperor of Ger
many. and having paid visit of coincidence to some
minor Court, really forget which, on his return
Journey. He was none the less of to Sandrngham
the next day, whence he returned yesterday with
the Princess and the children to be present, as they
we're. at Mrs. Langtry's first appearance in Peril.
Tonight they start for Ireland. on their delicate
and critical thrce-weeks' mission. A less hardened
traveller might have preferred staying IN London
a"tng the brief interval .bctween Berlin and
Dublin but it is not likely that it occurred to the
Prince to spare himself the journey to aud from his
Norfolk estate. Nor Is 1t clear what effect on the