New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-05-19
LONDON NOTES.
Changes IN the Seoson-A Society
Tribute to a Hymn Writer.
London, May Z.

London, May T.
rs,t,ns IS the ideal Tory, and he has the long
-, memory in London. Year after year he
,o-oen+s the decline Of the Season, and complains
= !, an fines the prevalence Of small economies
- The woes OF the tradesmen. He reverts TO
r,,ocl,srav's period and finds all the conditions
:, social rfe transformed; and he cannot adapt
s.rosslf 70 the new order. In the halcyon days
IN che houses and lodgings in Mayfair and Bel
-.,,a mere taken from the beginning Of May TO
me end OF July, because everybody who was
.,,boaxs. considered II necessary to come up TO
100 FOR the Season; but the house agents
o,r bsve difficulty in dispOsing OF third or
- .o,aences in market and the retired buffers
..,not I'll their lodgings. When the great
.o.,-,st had his outlook upon Vanity Fair from
~. snuq armchair in the Atheneum Club the
coason hogan and ended on time. and everybody
ss,.lsd down for a prolonged period OF enter
..,,,ng and gayety. Jenkins is now unhappy De-
.oorse neople are coming and going from April
= A,,gnst and the Sundays spent at the
.s,.ry houses near London. He deplores the
5oaaneracv Of society when Church parade has
go - ne recognized weekly function. when
49,. sroartest people are constantly running out
:, 49,, n the races, and the Season halts as
a, onens. breaks off for Whitsuntide holi-
-. "a ends before the dowagers have time to
- o4s .be girls or there has been any revel
:, ,-l,ste entertaining. He used to say during
- .loe,ng years Of the Victorian reign that
.,,.-v,bing would be changed as soon as there
sbould he King on the throne; but Buckingham
zoo,acs has been the chief royal residence for a
,ong time and there has not been marked re-
viyal OF social gayety.
One of the agencies of social change Is the
motor car and another is the country house
near London With the electric broughams ana
similar vehicles rapid transit is secured to ana
from houses within easy access OF the metrop-
oils: and there are resources for weekend enter
tainment in and out of season. Parties can be
brought in for the opera or for theatres, ana
taken back after midnight; and the races at
Fnson. Ascot and Newmarket are attended from
country houses Society is constantly on wheels
and has fallen out Of the habit OF settling down
in London for the Season in the old fashioned
way. It does not follow that rich and titled
people have abandoned London as a place OF
residence. This Town houses are open for longer
nerioas than formerly, and the smart and the
semi-smart are coming and going all the year
round. When jenkins says that society has be-
come stagrant and that less money is spent than
in the old DAYS he speaks as an old Tory squire.
who cannot reconcile himself TO the onward
rush OF wealth and extravagan Society Is
constantly moving. and cannot stop fitting from
one country house or racing course TO another
even when the Season has begun Entertaining
is conducted on so large scale that only the
very rich can afford TO be fashionable. People
Of moderate means, who formerly came up to
London as a matter Of course on May l, cannot
afford TO do so when they are outclassed IN hos
pitality. The lodgings and houses which once
commanded good prices for the spring and sum-
mer are now empty. But the losses from this
source are made up by the extravaganza OF the
rich, who never stop, but are going on, from
revel OF diamonds at the opera TO bridge party
after midnight, and think nothing OF being at
the races three times week.
Entertaining has indeed become so costly
that the great hostesses consider their own
houses hardly large enough for the accommoda-
ton Of their guests. There is an increasing
number OF public entertainments for charitable
objects every season. and these are conducted so
extensively and exclusively that only the smart
est people can attend them One Of the earliest
functions Of this kind is the headdress ball at
Albert Hall, for which the Countess OF Londes-
borough and Viscountess Galway have under
taken 70 arrange country dances Another IS
the Living Bridge Tournament at Hengler's of
which Princess Christian is the patron and Mr.
Beereohm Tree the stage manager. The Queen
Is TO openg during June, a charity fete. at which
the stalls VIII be crowded by beautiful women.
There viii be mask and domino ball at Albert
Hail. In aid Of Charing Cross Hospital. This
seems wenturesome experiment but Il has the
patronage Of the titled class, and IL parties are
made up for IL IN the great houses II will be
highly successful. There are bazaars and con-
certs without number for charitable objects.
These are the unique entertainments Of the Sea-
son. and ttS5rs added the usual rounds Of
private parties and race meetings and the nights
at the opera, with magnificent displays Of dia-
monds. To be superlatively smart one must
nave town and country houses, a substitution
for the opera accommodations near Ascot. New
market and Goodwood. and invitations to shoot
ing boxes n Scotland in August: and only the
very rich can enjoy the season IN perfect form.
and then they will need TO be out Of London at
east half the time between May and August
One OF the special undertakings Of smart 60
elesy this season appeals at once to religious
sentiment and literary interest. Henry Francis
Lyle was faithful vicar, who labored for
twenty-five years In a fishing village on the
hOuth coast OF Devonshire, near Toruuay. He
was an eloquent preacher and a gifted writer.
out ne was content TO remain among the humble
.sner folk and refused offers OF preferrnent He
Nao been preaching in an unsighly structure as
~es as a barn, and he had the modest ambition
nspiacing it with g beautiful coast church
ue age OF hfty-four his health suddenly
ae-4eO' ana he was stricken down with galloping
assumption before he could build the new
sAufea In his sorrow in leaving the work
H'unsheo. he prayed that he might leave some
as as behind which would live when he was
- ana on his last night In Brixham, when
esh- preached his farewell sermon 10 the
Mo" ne wrote the hymn. abide with
D.. va The next morning he started for the
m. and at the end Of month died In Nice.
- esuuful hymn was sung all over the world,