, 1888-01-17
THE OLD TIME TuMeLeRs.
The Way in Which Table Glasses Came
to Have That Name.

How many times q day do we use n
word without stopping to think what it
means? Every day at luncheon and at
dinner we drink out OF a tumbler. But
/, for one never thought why the large
glass that holds our milk or water was so
called until, once upon n time, / hap
pened to have luncheon at AL Souls
college, Oxford. All Souls is q curious
college. 1t has no students or "under-
graduates, " as we call them in England.
II consists Of q master and q number Of
"fellows''-men who have taken their
degrees and have distinguished them
selves as scholars. There is O quaint old
rule in Latin, that says q man to be q fell
low of All Souls must DO "Well born,
well dressed, and a moderately good doc
tor in singing" There is no question
nowadays of singing! But of good breed
ing and good scholarship there is. And
to be elected O fellow of All Souls is O
great honor.
One of the most distinguished fellows
ia Professor Max Muller, the great philolo-
gist, who, though he is q German by
birth and was not educated at Oxford,
was elected to All Souls rs n mark of
respect for his immense learning. The
common room, " or the fellows smaller
dining room, is n delightful old place
with its great fireplace and its walls all
wainscoted with black oak. while through
the great window with its heavy stone
mullions you look out on to ancient ivy
grown buildings round a quiet court
which is filed with a space of velvet turf.
On the day Of which l speak Professor
Max Muller was giving u luncheon in
this splendid room to the charming and
talented Princess Alice, the wife of the
grand duke of Hesse Darmstadt, and
second daughter Of Queen Victoria. There
were not q dozen guests besides the prin-
cess and her husband, and q very agree
able luncheon we had, with pleasant talk
on all kinds of interesting subjects.
But what excited the curiosity of all
tho strangers present was q set of the
most attractive little round bowls of
ancient silver, about tho size of q largo
orange. They wero brought round, ac-
cording to tho custom of the place, filled
to-the brim with the famous ale brewed
in the college. These, we were told,
were tumbler0, md wo were speedily
shown how they came by their names
n fitting lesson for the guests of n philolo-
gist! When ono of these little bowls
was empty it was placed upon the table
mouth instantly, so perfect
was its balance, it flew back int its
proper position, rs if asking to be M 4
again. No matter how it was treated.
trundled along the floor, balanced
carefully on ito side, dropped sud
denly upon tho soft, thick carpet,
up it rolled again and settled
itself with q few gentle shakings and
sayings into its place, like one of those
India rubber tumbling dolls your baby
brothers and sisters delight in. This,
then, was the origin of our word tumbler,
at first made of silver, IS arc these Al
Souls tumblers. Then, when glass be-
came common, the round glasses that
stood on 4 fiat base superseded the ex-
quisitely balanced silver spheres and stole
their names so successfully that you have
70 go to All Souls and a few other old
houses to see the real thing.
So do words, with tho wonderful life
That is in them, change and grow and
set fresh meanings, full of interest and
toaching and delight to those who think
about them.-Wide Awake.