New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-04-17

was once high revel al the year round In
Whitehall, with the splcndors Of Ben Jonsons
Mosques enacted by the lords and ladies OF the
Court. There are now ceremonious receptions
Of the Diplomatic Corps in the conference-room
of the Foreign Office, and there are lawn parties
at Montague House when the Duchess OK Buc-
cleuch, Mistress Of the Robes. is in London for
the season. The pomp and glory or Whitehaii
have passed, and the only "reminiscences of by
gone revelry and pageantry are banqueting-
house with a Rubens ceiling. converted from
chapel into q museum, and q few clumps OF
trees and open spaces with historic names The
palaces have vanished but in prosaic way
the old tradition Of service to the Crown is MAIN
tanned by host Of clerks and officials. attireo
in sober black. with red tape as their chief deco
ration and engrossed with the routine drudgery
Of the State
The new improvements In Whitehall will not
involve the loss of any landmarks OF HISTORICAL
interest offer any violence to TRADITIONS
The fragment of the old time Kng-st which
will be effaced Is narrow lane lined with low'
unsightly buildings OF no importance. 1t was
not in this shabby lane that the author OF 1.-The
Faerle Queene" lived and died; and the sites OF
the residences Of Lord Howard OF Dillingham;
and other proud Ministers of the Elizabethan
period have already been occupied by public
Offices Even the identification Of King-st with
Swift's October Club and the Bell Is uncertain.
AS for the new War Office in Whitehall it will
stand where once an open court at the
entrance Of the Stuart Palace, with guard
house near by. Scotland Yard has its associa-
lions with the Kings Of the North with MIL
ton Vanbrugh. lingo Jones. Sir Christopher
Wren and great company of famous men; but
there is not a house nor an angle in these ram
bling courts which can be identified with any
degree Of certainty 1t was originally the lodg-
ing place and working quarter of the humbest
servants of the Crown-the artisans mechanics
gardeners, bakers and stablemen or the Court
The civil service remains the principal tenant
OF this quarter. with its irregular spaces ana
narrow passages. The conflguration Of the dis
trct suggests the uses to which 1t was first
adapted as the common workyard and store
house Of a rich and powerful Court with thou
sands of dependents. Whitehall is the realm OF
vanished palaces and revels. but service for the
state is still the breath Of its life.
street lines may be changed and great masses
of Portland stone may be erected for the shelter
If the working force Of official London: but 1t
is impossible 20 get beyond the reach OF the
etoricd past Not one stone of Tudor London
can bo seen all the way from Charing Cross
until the beautiful chapel of Henry VII IS
deserted across Parliament Square But there
are still remnants Of Tudor London under
ground and out of sight. The foundations OK
the Peel Rcaconsled and other houses In
Whitehall Gardens may be the stones on whlch
palaces were reared; and certainly the official
residence Of the First Lord of the treasury In
Downing st. whore Mr.. Gladstone ana other
famous Prime Ministers have lived. stands upon
the original walls of Cardinal Wolseys Treas
ury. l. ~ f.