The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1911-05-18
CURIOUS CUSTOMS
Norman French Still Used In
Lawmaking In England.
RUSSIAN OFFICIAL FARcES.

Amusing History Of Royal Daily Ra-
ton of Rum and the Astonishing
Story Of stolid Sentry and an IN.
noeent Grass Plot.
In Europe there Is perhaps nothing
more astonishing to the American
mind than the persistency with which
certain old customs are maintained
The Romans, for instance, keep up the
saturnalia of their ancient pagan an
cestors in a harmless way. and the
Florentines go on one morning Of the
year to catch crickets in the grass
simply because the Etruscans did the
same thing 1000 years ago.
John Bull has always had an affec.
ton for the old ways. SO persistent
| is he In keeping TO the forms and
traditions of the past that his French
nelghbor over the way has dubbed the
United Kingdom museum OF an
Equities among modern nations.
1t is somewhat odd that the Norman
French of Edward the Confessor
should still be the language. the le-
gal voice. of parliament, but SO 1t IS
in way. Whenever bin has passed
the commons the clerk before he
forwards 1t to the house of lords
writes upon It, according to the ancient
usage. 'Soit baille aux seigneurs'
Get it be sent to the lordsl. Ii 1t is
sent from the peers TO the commons ii
bears the like Endorsement, 'Soit baille
aux communes" Qet it be sent to the
commonsl.
Should bill pass both houses 1t
needs only the royal assent to become
law. Here the Norman French ap
pears again. The commons, summon
ed by the usher OF the black rod. are
admitted to the bar of the house of
lords to hear the statement of his
maJesty's commissioners. When all
are assembled the lord chancellor
makes sign to his assistant who
reads the title Of the bill and then
says in a loud voice, lie roi lie veut'
CThe king wills III, In the case of
financial bills the form is this: lie
roi remercie SEES bons sujets. accepte
leur benevolence, ct ainsi lie veuit''
(The king thanks his good subjects.
accepts their faith and so wills IT.. |
For private bills the form Is. "Soit |
fat CONNIE Il est desire" Uet # be |
done as Is desired Sometimes. If the |
bill is of special Importance. the sane
ton of his majesty is given In person. |
In such case the king, seated on the
throne at one end Of the chamber,
bows his assent as the clerk reads the
title.
The infiexibility OF Russian official |
orders has resulted in some queer and I
needless fixtures in the official sys |
tenn. Quite ludlcrous discovery of this
sort was made by the Empress Cath
crime. who was the mother of that EN-
peror Paul who was assassinated in
1901. Catherine at one time was In
spired by some passing within of econ.
omy to scrutinize the imperial house
keeping accounts. To her amazement.
she found among other queer items that
zone bottle of rum daily" was charged
TO the heir apparent Inasmuch as her
son. Naslednik. then a young man. had
never evinced any signs of Incorporate
habits, his mother was greatly as.
toniShed- Going over the accounts to
ascertain how long this sort of thing
mad been enduring. she found to her
still greater establishment that the said
expenditure went back to the day of
bis birth, and. indeed, far beyond 1t
So. 1t appeared. the heir to the
throne had not only been charged with
over thirty dozen bottles of
ine Jamaica rum ever since he was
born, bur for a long time before that
Il is hardly necessary to add that the
empress made n thorough investiga-
don OF this queer entry. Finally. by
he aid Of an antiquarian. she at last
reached the original entry.
A century or so before the imperial
physician had prescribed for the Mas
ednik of the period, ION account of a
7iolent toothache. a teaspoonfuf of
'um. to be taken with sugar" This
lose was given for several days in
and the nurse in charge
lad deemed It more fitting 10 the I'm
,erial dignity. as well as more profit.
bile TO herself. TO purchase new bot.
lie OF rum each day. No one had ever
.iven the order 10 discontinue the pur.
base. and It had gone on for a cen
ury. the rum having constituted one
4 the perquisites OF the court nurse.
When Bismarck during the term Of