The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1911-05-16
CURIOUS CUSTOMS
Norman French Still Used In
Lawfnaking In England.
RUSSIAN OFFICIAL FARcEs.


tIen Of Rum and the Astonishing
etory Of stolid Sentry and an In.
neeent Grass Plot.
In Europe there is perSrps nothing
more astonishing to tLr American
mind than the persistency with which
certain old customs are maintained
The Romans, for instance. keep up the
eaturnalia of their ancient pagan an.
cestors In harmless way, and the
florcntines 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
IL he in keeping to the forms and
traditions Of the past that his French
helghbor o7er the way has dubbed the
United Kingdom a museum of an
tqultles" among modern nations.
1t is somewhat odd that the Norman
French of Edward the Confessor
should still be the language, the To-
gal voice, of parliament, but so 1t is
In a way. Whenever bill 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 selgneurs"
Uet 1t IN sent to the lords). IL 1t is
sent from the peers to the commons 1t
bears the like Endorsement, "Soit baille
aux communes" Uet II be sent to the
commonsj.
Should n bill pass both houses 1t
needs only the royal assent to become
a law. Here the Norman French ap
pears again. The commons, summon
cd by the usher of the black rod. are
admitted to the bar of the house OF
lords to hear the statement Of his
matesty's commissioners. When all
are assembled the lord chancellor
makes a sign to his assistant, who
reads the title of the bill and then
says IN a loud voice, "Le roi le veult"
(The king wills IT.. In the case of
financial bills the form is this: lie
roi remercie ses bons sujets, accepte
leur benevolence, ct ainsi lie veult'
(The king thanks his good subjects,
accepts their faith and so wills it).
For private bills the form Is, "Soit
fait CONNIE II est desire" Uet 1t be
done as is deslred,. Sometimes, If the
bin is OF special Importance. the sane
tion of his majesty is given In person.
In such a case the king. seated on the
throne at one end of the chamber,
bows his assent as the clerk reads the
title
The inflexibility of Russian Official
orders has resulted In some queer and
needless fixtures In the official sys'
TEN. Quite ludicrous 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 whim OF econ
omy to scrutinize the imperial house
keeping accounts. To her amazement,
she found among other queer items that
"one bottle of rum daily was charged
20 the heir apparent lnasmuch as heI
son. Naslednik. then young man, ha6
never eyinced any signs of intemperatt
habits. his mother was greatly as
tonished. Going over the accounts t.
ascertain how long this sort of thinf
had been enduring, she found to hel
still greater astonishment that the sale
expenditure went back to the day ol
his birth. and, indeed, far beyond It
So. II appeared. the heir to the
throne had not only been charged with
drinking over thirty dozen bottles oi
tine Jamaica rum ever since he was
born, but for a long time before that
1t is hardly necessary TO add that the
empress made thorough investiga
tion OF this queer entry. Finally. by
the aid OF an antiquarian, she ut las
reached the original entry.
A century or 30 before the imperia
physician had prescribed for the Mas
lednlk Of the period, ION account or I
rum. to be taken with sugar" Thl
dose was given for several days II
succession, and the nurse In charg'
had deemed 1t more fltting to the i'm
perial dignity. as we'll as more proat
able to herself, 20 purchase a new bot
tie of rum each day. No one had eve
given the order 10 discontinue the pur
chase. and It had gone on for cen
tury. the rum having constituted on
Of the perqulsites OF the court nurse.
When Bismarck during the term o
his mission as ambassador at 81
Petersburg was walking one aftel
noon In the summer garden he met th
emperor. who invited the diplomats
to continue his stroll with him. 500
Bismarck noticed sentry stntione
Ia the middle OF largo grass plot II
asked what the soldier was doin
there The czar did not know. Th
aid-de-camp did not know. So inQuir
was made OF the sentry himself.
''It is ordered" was his reply.
Every official gave the same NJ
swer, "It is ordered" but nobod
knew by whom sentry had AWAY
stood guard in the middle OF that Il
nocent grass plot The archives wei
searched. but in vain. Finally an age
ofiicial was found who gave the e.
planation. He had had II from b