The morning call., 1894-02-04

you sit down. 1t is well nigh without ex-
! ceptiOn a tall silk hat, which is British re-
spectibality irf exce!sis, land has it's conven-
fences wren tired legislators want 10 sleep
in their seats and tilt 1t forward or when
it holds sheaf of papers for debaie.
Representatives in Congress also wear the
| hat as they please when seated, but very
few take the privilege. The custom has
fed. Cigars in the mouth are not unusual,
however, on the flor of the House before
business begins. Smoking is out OF order
| anywhere at Westminster, except IN the
smokinG-rooms, and chewer OF tobacco
would be at his wits end for cuSpidor,
unless he oruamented the floor, which
would be considered very dirty and might
| provoke riot.
The wearing of hats WAS common In old
| times both in church and at dinner. One or
two references in Pepys' Diary Q66O-69) are
| curious on this custom. On the l1ih OF
November, 1861, the old gossip writes t:
ITO church, and heard simple fellow
! upon the praise of church muSique. and
eXcaiming against men wearing Ihelr
| bats on in the church.
| Also on September %, 1862. there occurs
this entry: $50 the French church at the
Savoy. and there they ave the common
prayer-book read in French. and, which l
never saw before, the minister do preach
with his hat off. suppose in further con-
| fOrmity with our church.
Then on the ODD of September, 1864,
Pepys writes: Home to he'd, having got
a cold in my head by flinging off my hat
at dinner and sitting with the wind IN my
neck" a foot note in the Braybrooke
edition explains: in Lord ClaTendons
essay on The Decay Of Respect 10 Age be
says that in his younger days he never Ike pt
his hat on before those older tnan himself,
except at dinner" We thus get little
li,ht On the tremendous honor involved III
the privilege which one or two families
possess of not being required to uncover
the head in the presence OF the sovereign
or not being required 10 stand.
The House of Commons is very an
cient body and has clung to its customs
tena aciOusly and almost adoratively. The
wonder is that members should not wear
wigs as the clerks still do. Lawyers also
cling to the ways of old. They still wear
wigs in England, and odd and gorgeous
robes are worn by the Judges aud somber
ones Of the barriSters. When the House
OF REPRESENTATIVES was formed century
ago some of these customs which had
filtered from the mother country to the
colonies must have been regarded with
like kindlness and respeci, and the
privilege Of wearing a hat is just rem
nant, more honOred in The breach than the
observance. Yet ladies wear their hats
and bonnets everywhere, but what TIL
umphs they are in taste and archltec-
ture!
LOUhtu DIT tlDul lIt UulSilc l1c lN'd-
tive palace at Westminster is one Of the
graudest architectural designs this cenn-
lury has seen in Europe. 1t is about
divided in its accommodation between the
Lords and Commons. The Lords do very
| little work bur mischief. and are there in
very small numbers at any time. The
Commons swarm like bees in a hive alto
gether too small in all its departments.
The House is too limited for its members.
The diniEg-rooms are so much below
requirements that there is a scramble for
tableS; the library, the smeking-rooms,
the newspapeT-rOoms. and even the sani-
tary arrangements, are ali badly planned,
and the member who enjoys all he wants
in his club is apt TO apOstrophlze the
House of Commons as a nuisance and the
cause of much Ill health and worry. Yet
there are a almOst hundreds of vacant rooms
on the second and third floors, large hand
some apartments of which no use has been
made. II is hardly TO be believed that
there are no elevators worth speaking of
only one for the ladies' gallery and few
between the kitchens and the dining
rooms. Such a muddle of bad planning
there never was. And there are a dozen
or more officials who have grand houses
within the palace-the Speaker, the SER
geant-at-armS, the clerks, and so on. Some
day the Commons Will insist upon having
better working arrangements. but the ex-
pense will be appalling of remodeling this
beautiful palace, SO fairy like hut mas
sively built in stone. ID. j. MCRoBERTs.