1^ ifili iii 8F 
 
 
 iiiii'iiRi'iif
 
 TBG 
 
 n: 
 
 F 
 
 
 Fi 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 RIVERSIDE 
 
 ms 
 
 ats 
 
 FURS 
 
 M MOTH 
 
 163 and 165 Regent Street, 
 
 LONDON, W.
 
 In the Pleasantest PaH of West End London. 
 
 BR©WN*S H0TEL. 
 
 WITH WHICH ADJOINS THE 
 
 ST. GEORGE'S HOTEL, 
 
 Nos. 21, 22, 23, 24, DOVER STREET, 
 
 AND 
 
 Nos. 31, 32, 33, 34, ALBEMARLE STREET, 
 
 London, W., 
 
 The whole forming one of the most Modern and 
 Complete of London's Hotels of To=Day. 
 
 ELEVATORS. ^^^^Zvohov"'' FIXED BATHS. 
 
 PUBLIC DRAWING, DINING, AND SMOKING ROOMS, Etc. 
 
 A CUISINE OF THE HIGHEST CHARACTER, 
 AND WELL-SELECTED CELLAR OF WINES. 
 
 NO CHARGE FOR ATTENDANCE OR ELECTRIC LIGHT. 
 
 Inclusive Prices given if desired {except during the London Season). 
 
 Telephonic CommuniCcttion with the principal Business Houses, 
 Theatres, Libraries, etc., and the Houses of Parliament. Exchange 
 Telegraph News Tape. Post Office Letter Box. Hair-dressing Room. 
 
 The Sanitary Appliances and Plunrtbing are of the most Modern 
 Construction, and Certificates of their Excellence from English and 
 American Physicians can be seen at the Bureau of the Hotel. 
 
 Fire Extinguishing: Apparatus fixed throug^hout, and Perfect 
 
 Safety is Secured in every part of the Hotel by Nine different staircases 
 from the upper floors. 
 
 J. J. FORD & SONS, 
 
 Proprietors. 
 
 Telephone No. 3,696. 
 
 Telegrams: "bROWNOTEL, LONDON."
 
 A RTISTIC YET I NEXPENSIVE 
 
 NprmanaStacey.!? 
 
 Artistic House Furnishers, 
 
 25«55.256.T0TTEHHAMCTR?. 
 
 ISNDON. H^ 
 
 An artistic achievement 
 in FURNISHING is 
 
 not only possible, but 
 absolutely assured, when 
 undertaken by Norman 
 & Stacey, Ld. All 
 goods are guaranteed 
 sound and well-finished, 
 and a great advantage 
 is the fact that a part i 
 of the purchase price 
 may be deferred at a 
 charge of 5 per cent. 
 
 FURNISHING 
 
 BOOKLET, fully illustrated and containing every information on Style, 
 
 Design, and Prices, will prove very helpful to any one about to furnish. 
 
 Sent post free on application. 
 
 NORMAN & STACEY, LD.. 
 
 252 to 256, Tottenham Court Road, LONDON, W. 
 
 PARTRIDGE & COOPER, 
 
 USEFUL PRESENTS— MODERATE PRICES. 
 
 WRITING CASES. 
 PURSES. 
 
 LETTER CASES. ^ 
 
 WRITING PADS. 
 -^ INKSTANDS. 
 
 WRITING CABINETS. 
 
 Illustrated Catalogue Free on Application. 
 
 The "Alexandra" Writing Cabinet. Prices, 7SiB, 11SIS. 
 
 191 & 192, FLEET ST., LONDON, E.C.
 
 London of To-Day — Advertisements. 
 
 LAMBERTS, 
 
 GOLDSMITHS, JEWELLERS, and 
 SILVERSMITHS 
 
 TO 
 
 11316 nftajeet^ Xtbe ming. 
 
 ANTIQUE AND MODERN 
 TABLE, 
 
 DECORATIVE, AND 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL 
 SILVER AND GILT PLATE. 
 DIAMOND WORK AND PEARLS. 
 
 Coventry St., Piccadilly, LONDON, W. 
 
 BRICA^BRAC AND ANTIQUES.
 
 London of To- Day — Advertiseniruts. 
 
 ISSTAItZjISHED 1S07. 
 
 HOOPER & CO., L™ 
 
 54, St. James's Street, London, S.W. 
 
 COACH = 
 BUILDERS, 
 
 By Appointment 
 . to . 
 
 His Majesty 
 THE KING 
 
 For Sixty Years (1841 to I90I) 
 
 Coach BUILDERS TO Her Late IVIAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA, 
 
 and (from 1852) to 
 
 H.R.H. THE Prince of Wales (KING EDWARD VII.). 
 
 Carriages of Best Quality only. 
 Fittest Materials. 
 
 Highest ll'orA-iiutiislii/). 
 Exclusive Dtsiei's. 
 
 HERBERT JOHNSON, Hat Manufacturer. 
 
 ■RT TD J O T J WT Telegraphic .Aiidress : 
 
 38, JNew Bond ot., London, W. "browbound, london.' 
 
 Bv Royal Warrants of Af f>uintiiiciit to 
 
 ,j)arrant of ^p^^ 
 
 H.M. THE KING; 
 H.I.M. the Hmperor of 
 % Russia, K.G.; H.M. the 
 O^ King of Denmark, 
 K.G. ; H. K. H. the 
 Crown Prince of 
 Greece ; and to H.K.H 
 tlie I'rince of Wales. 
 K . G . ; H.K.H. the 
 Duke of ConnaUj,'lit. 
 K.G. ; H.K.H. I'rince 
 .Arthur of (.on- 
 naught ;H R.H. 
 I'rince Charles 
 of Denmark; 
 H.R.H. Prince 
 Nicholas of Greece, 
 
 ^^PEROR Op 
 
 etc., etc. 
 
 TO H.M.THE KING. 
 
 DEPARTMENTS 
 
 GENTLE.MEN'S VELVET NAPPED and 
 SILK HATS, of most fashionable shapes. 
 
 GENTLEMEN'S HUNTING HATS, fitted 
 with safety pads. VELVET HUNTING 
 CAPS. 
 
 CRUSH HATS. FELT HATS in all colours. 
 
 TWEED SHOOTING and FISHING HATS. 
 
 TWEED CAPS of newest designs. 
 
 CLUB CAPS in Silk and Tweed materials. 
 YOUTHS' SILK and FELT HATS. 
 LADIES' SILK and FELT RIDING HAT.S^ 
 LADIES' TWEED and FELT HATS and 
 
 CLERICAL HATS. LIVERY HATS. 
 HAT CASES, BAGS. RUGS, and 
 UMBRELLAS. 
 
 SPECIAL BLOCKS MADE TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF CUSTOMERS. 
 Tlie requirements of American Visitors very carefully attendea to.
 
 London of To- Day — Advertisements.
 
 London of To-Day — Advertisements. 
 
 Seats 
 
 can be secured in 
 
 Any Theatre, Concert, 
 
 or Music Hall, 
 
 at 
 
 Keitli, Prowse h Co.'s 
 5o;c Offices ^° 
 
 DEPOTS FOR MUSIC AND INSTRUMENTS. 
 
 Branch Offices open from 9 a.m. to 8.30 p.m. — 
 
 167, New Bond Street, W. (late Bubb's Library). ^;l;^trrard 
 
 3, Grand Hotel Buildings, Trafalgar Square. Tetefitoue 3563 Gerrard. 
 Langham Hotel, Portland Place, W. 
 
 Windsor Hotel Buildings, 48, Victoria Street, Westminster. 
 
 4, First Avenue Hotel Buildings, Holborn. reuphone 65015 Hoibom. 
 1, Prince of Wales Buildings, Coventry Street, Piccadilly. 
 
 Telephone 2628 Gerrard. 
 
 Hotel Metropole, Northumberland Avenue. 
 
 148, Fenchurch Street, E.G. 
 
 Hotel Victoria, Northumberland Avenue. 
 
 Savoy Hotel, Victoria Embankment, W.G. 
 
 Harrod's Stores, 87 to 105, Brompton Road. 
 
 Grand Hotel (in the Vestibule). 
 
 Junior Army and Navy Stores, York House, Regent Street. 
 
 47, Kensington High Street, W. Telephone 371 Kensington. 
 
 Carlton Hotel, Pall Mall. 
 
 Hotel Great Central, Marylebone Road, N.W. 
 
 Hotel Russell, Russell Square, W.C. 
 
 Grosvenor Hotel, Buckingham Palace Road, S.W. 
 
 Whiteley's Ltd., Westbourne Grove. 
 
 Chief Office : 48, CHEAPSIDE, E.G. 
 
 Telephone 721 ami 73 (Bank). 
 
 Best vUoice of positions in the Stalls antl 
 Front KotFS of the Itress Circle or I'pper Bojces. 
 
 Sole Proprietors of the Blue Viennese Band,
 
 London of To-Day — Advertisements. 
 
 RESTAURANT. 
 
 r V The PERSIAN ROOM 
 
 yi/ A. at "VERREY'S" 
 
 ■^^ ^-f^ ^-, is accurately described as 
 
 Jy> V. **Tlie Loveliest Dining Room 
 
 S\ 
 
 'h. 
 
 LUNCHEONS 
 
 FOR LADIES SHOPPING 
 
 DINNERS 
 
 BEFORE THE THEATRE 
 
 PRIVATE ROOMS 
 
 FOR PARTIES. 
 
 in London." 
 
 Vide Press Notices. 
 
 J. H, STEWARD'S 
 
 BINOCULAR 
 
 FIELD, MARINE. 
 
 AND 
 
 TOURIST GLASSES 
 
 Have a world-wide reputation for tii 
 definition, power and large field of viev 
 
 Prices £1 5s. to £12 72s. 
 
 Illustrated Catalogues. 
 
 Gratis, Post free to all parts of the 
 World. 
 
 ANEROID B AROMETnKS for 
 Mountain Measurements and Foretell- 
 ing Weather, price from £i ^s. 
 
 OPTICIAN io e/ie British and 
 Foreign Gcnicrnmeiils and th, 
 Xadonal Ri/le Associations of Ettg- 
 land, India, Canada, andthe Colonies. 
 
 Telephone 
 
 (406, Strand) -Gerrard 18G7. 
 Telegraphic Address 
 
 "TELEMETER," LONDON 
 
 ■UK IM KK ICIXM IL.iK. t« 6s. 
 
 406, 457, Strand; 7, Gracechurch St., LONDON.
 
 London of To-Dny — Advertisements. 
 
 ROYAL MILITARY TOURNAMENT. 
 
 PATRON - 
 
 HIS MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY THE KING. 
 
 For the "Benefit of such Jdilitary Qharities as the 
 Commander-in-Chief may select. 
 
 THE TW^ENTY-THIRD ANNUAL 
 
 ROYAL MILITARY TOURNAMENT 
 
 will be held at the 
 
 agricultural Hall, Islington, 
 
 from the 22nd MAY to the 5th JUNE. 
 
 Doors open at 2 and 7 p.m. Performance commences 
 at 3 and 8 o'clock. 
 
 ADMISSION ONE SHILLING. 
 
 Reserved Seats from 4 - to 10 6. Tickets for these 
 may be had at the Royal Military Tournament Office, 
 2, Great Scotland Yard; at the Royal Agricultural 
 Hall, Islington (Barford Street Entrance); and at the 
 Principal Booking Agents throughout London. 
 
 Colonial and American Visitors should not fail to 
 see this Sight of the London Season — one of the most 
 Interesting, Instructive, and Entertaining of all London's 
 Sights, arranged in aid of a Most Deserving Cause.
 
 Hill Brothers 
 
 TAILORS. 
 
 3, Old Bond Street, London, 
 
 AND 
 
 248, Rue de Rivoli, Paris.
 
 London of To- Day — Adver'tiscments. 
 
 Established 
 
 1778. 
 
 By Apf>ointmcttt to the 
 Royal Family. 
 
 WHIT LOCK'S 
 CARRIAGES 
 
 MANUFACTURERS OF 
 
 HIGH-GLASS TOWN-MADE GARRIAGES ONLY. 
 
 500 New and Second=hand Carriages — 
 
 The '* KIMBERLEY/* 
 "DALMATIAN/^ and ''SIRDARS' Cars- 
 
 The latest Cars yet Ijuilt. 
 
 *The '* CORONATION** VICTORIA, 
 
 Regd. No. 384925, 
 
 **' KENSINGTON'* BROUGHAM, and 
 SOCIABLE. 
 
 * Sole Manufacturers of these three Carriages the most fashionable 
 in use at tlie present time. 
 
 Four-in'Hand Coaches a Specialite. 
 
 Mail and Driving Phaetons, Landaus, 
 
 etc., etc., etc. 
 
 Hire Purchase and Deferred Payments arranged. 
 Sound Workmanship at Moderate Prices. 
 
 Telephone~z6o, Kensington. Telegrams— " Ca.rmena.dor, London." 
 
 Railway Stations- High Street, Kensington ; Addison Road, Kensington. 
 
 .n^o^l'hV^^^ r^^^p' . )KENSINGTON,LONDON,W. 
 
 10,.12,&14,Earl s Court Road, ' ' ' 
 
 AND AT TURNHAM GREEN.
 
 London of To-Day — Advertisements. 
 
 BURLINGTON HOTEL, 
 
 Near BURLINGTON ARCADE. Cork Street, LONDON, W. 
 
 CENTRAL, QUIET, COMFORTABLE, & ECONOMICAL, 
 
 Adjacent to all Clubs and Theatres. Double and Single Suites 
 
 of Apartments, and over loo Double and Single Bedrooms at 
 
 most moderate prices. INCLUSIVE TERMS. 
 
 BUCKINGHAM PALACE HOTEL, 
 
 Close to VICTORIA STATION. LONDON, S.W. 
 
 WEDDING RECEPTIONS. 
 
 Suites of Rooms facing Buckingham Palace Grounds. New 
 Passenger Lift. Largely refurnished and redecorated. Double 
 and Single Suites of Apartments, and over loo Double and 
 Single Bedrooms at most moderate prices. 
 
 INCLUSIVE TERMS. 
 
 AT BOSCOMBE, BOURNEMOUTH. 
 
 "sunny BOSCOMBE." 
 
 125 minutes from Waterloo. Pullman Cars. Avoiding 
 discomfort and fatigue of foreign travel. 
 
 THE HOTEL BURLINGTON, 
 
 200 Rooms. 
 
 ACKNOWLEDGED PREMIER HOTEL of the SOUTH COAST. 
 
 ACRES OF SHELTERED PLEASURE GROUNDS, 
 SLOPING TO PIER. WINTER GARDEN 200 Feet Long. 
 Magnificent Golf Links. Passenger Liit at Entrance. 
 
 COOK & SON'S SATURDAY TO MONDAY COUPONS, 
 £2 10s., includirg RAIL (FIRST-CLASS) AND HOTEL 
 ACCOMMODATION, obtainable at Ludgate Circus, London, 
 and their Branches. 
 
 MOST MODERATE TARIFFS, Specially Revised, on 
 application to Manager, and at BURLINGTON and 
 BUCKINGHAM PALACE HOTELS, LONDON. 
 
 "sunny BOSCOMBE."
 
 Londoti of To-Day — Advertisements. 
 
 '' Position Unrivalled in London. " 
 
 LANGHAM HOTEL, 
 
 PORTLAND PLACE AND REGENT STREET, 
 LONDON, W. 
 
 QUIET, OPEN, and HEALTHY SITUATION in Fashionable 
 and Convenient Locality, near the Best Shops, Theatres, etc. 
 Spacious Salle-a-Manger, Vestibule, General Sitting, Drawing, and 
 Music, also bmoUing and Billiaid Rooms. 
 
 Table d'Hote Breakfasts, Luncheons, and Dinners: or a la Carte, as per 
 Tariff. 
 
 Wedding Receptions, etc., Regimental and Private Dinners. 
 
 Pofctal and Telegraph Offices in the Hotel. Telephonic Communication with 
 all the principal Business Houses. 
 A Select Band plays during the Season from 6.30 till 9. 
 Theatre Tickets, Newspapers, etc.. Department. Haii-dressing Saloons. 
 British and Foreign Railway Ticktts on Sale in the Hotel. 
 
 MODERN IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 MODERATE TARIFF.
 
 London of To-Day — Advertisements. 
 
 London by thiz ^m- 
 
 BRIGHTON. 
 
 Hotel Metropole. 
 
 trbc mo0t magnificent SeasiSe Ibotcl in tbc TKHorlJ). 
 
 
 Brighton is a Pleasant Place to visit at any 
 Season of the Year, and a sojourn there 
 is always best enjoyed by staying at the 
 World^Renowned Metropole, 
 
 Proprietors, GORDON HOTELS, Ltd.
 
 London of To-Day — Advertisements. 
 
 THE HOTEL FOR THE CORONATION. 
 
 . . . THE . . . 
 
 We§tn]inster Palace Hotel, 
 
 VICTORIA STREET, LONDON, S.W. 
 
 Immediately opposite Westminster Abbsy and the Houses of Parliament. 
 
 The ONLY HOTEL IN LONDON affording a Direct View of their 
 Majesties leaving Westminster Abbey. 
 
 MOST CON V EN I EN TL Y SI TUA TED for A LL PURPOSES, SIGHT-SEEING or THERWISE. 
 
 The Building is Fireproof. 
 
 ELECTRIC LIGHT THROUGHOUT, HYDRAULIC PASSENGER LIFTS, 
 
 And all the Latest Modern Improvements. 
 
 Spacious Reading, Writing, Dining, and Drawing Rooms, together with 
 
 Smoking and Billiard Rooms, are set apart for the convenience of 
 
 Visitors to the Hotel and their friends. 
 
 CORONATION BROCHURE AND TERMS ON APPLICATION. 
 
 The Charge for Attendance is Comf'Ictely AholisJied in t/tis Hotel. 
 Visitors are Received at Fised Inclusive Rates, out of the Season, at from 12 6 per Day. 
 
 .p ., /PHONE—" No. 70 Wcstiuinste 
 itLt (^QjiAPH— "Hostelry, London.' 
 
 GEO. J. BRINKWORTH, Man
 
 London of To-Day — Advertisements. 
 
 r 
 
 F 
 
 ASHIONABLE 
 ENGLISH 
 HOTELS 
 
 London 
 
 HOTEL RUSSELL 
 
 HOTEL GREAT CENTRAL 
 
 Dover Bay 
 HOTEL BURLINGTON 
 
 Folkestone 
 ROYAL PAVILION HOTEL 
 
 Bexhill-on-Sea 
 SACKVILLE HOTEL 
 
 Harrogate 
 HOTEL MAJESTIC 
 
 Whitby 
 HOTEL METROPOLE 
 
 Open during Season 
 These Hotels Decorated and Furnished by Maple 
 
 Propr/e/ors -THE FREDERICK HOTELS, Ltd.
 
 London of To-Day — Advertisements. 
 LIVERPOOL. 
 
 l»idldna 
 
 6rana Botel, /\ 
 
 LONDON. N.W. //^// Q„^^„,5 
 
 l^idlana //C^f ^''^°^- 
 Rotel, /^/widlana 
 DERBY, /q. / pijtel, 
 
 O^ // BRADFORD. 
 
 ^^/ midland Rotcl, 
 
 MORECAMBE. 
 
 WM. TOWLE, Manager, 
 Chief Office : London. M.R. Hotels, etc.
 
 *^To teach you LONDON in a briefer sort, 
 More pleasant, pithy, and effectual. 
 Than hath been taught by any of our trade" 
 
 LONDON OF TO-DAY 
 
 1902 
 
 BEING THE YEAR OF THE CORONATION 
 
 OF KING EDWARD THE SEVENTH AND 
 
 OUEEN ALEXANDRA 
 
 Special Edition being 
 the seventeenth
 
 London of To-Day — Advertisements. 
 
 Hotel Metropole, 
 
 Mort h u 171 b(2r land fiviznajz, 
 LONDON. 
 
 This renowned Hotel occupies most convenient central 
 position. Close to the Charing Cross Station and 
 Trafalgar Square, near to the Theatres, Shopping 
 centres, and chief Places of Interest. 
 
 Patronized by the best classes. Restaurant opened to non-residents : 
 
 TABLE D'HOTE LUNCHEON, 3/6 
 TABLE D'HOTE DINNER, 6/- 
 
 Orchestra plays in the Entrance Lounges from 7,30 p.m., 
 and in the Smoking Lounges from 10.30 to midnight. 
 
 Proprietors, GORDON HOTELS, Ltd.
 
 London of To^Day 
 
 HANDBOOK FOR THE SEASON 
 1902 
 
 BY 
 
 CHARLES EYRE PASCOE 
 
 LONDON 
 
 SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, ADAMS, KENT & CO., LTD. 
 
 PATERNOSTER ROW, E.G.
 
 London of To-Day — Advcrlisdiients. 
 
 THE PANTECHMICON, 
 
 Motcomb Street, 
 
 X)/\5<i'7 ^e'srave Square, 
 p3 LONDON, S.W, 
 
 Established 1830. 
 
 Works of Art, Pictures, Furniture, Baggage, Plate, 
 
 Jewellery, etc., Warehoused, Moved from house to 
 
 house, or Packed for Shipping. 
 
 Visitors to London from the Continent, America, 
 
 or the Colonies, should consign their 
 HEAVY BAGGAGE TO 
 
 THE PANTECHNICON, 
 
 to await their arrival. 
 
 Safes and separate Lock-up Rooms of all sizes, at 
 moderate rents, for short or long terms. 
 
 ESTIMATES FREE. 
 
 Telegrams—" PANTECHNICON, LONDON." 
 Telephone-No. 262, WESTMINSTER, 
 
 Proprietors— 
 
 SETH-SMITH BROTHERS. 
 
 General Manager GEORGE RADERMACHER.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 The Author's Prkface 
 
 Points ahout Pedigrees 
 
 Accession of Edward the Seventh . 
 
 Proclaimed King at St. James's 
 
 Opens his First Parliament in Person 
 
 Will Serve for Tai;lk-Talk 
 
 "The Kinc; shall have WelcOxMe" . 
 
 "This Act is as an Ancient Tale New Told 
 
 The Court of Claims .... 
 
 Peers, Peeresses, and other People 
 
 The Regalia of England . 
 
 Crowns of the Kings of England . 
 
 The Route 
 
 The People 
 
 The Abbev 
 
 The Procession 
 
 The Form and Order of the Coronation Si 
 
 PAGE 
 
 9 
 i8 
 
 35 
 
 49 
 56 
 
 72 
 
 no 
 1 22 
 
 143 
 161 
 185 
 196 
 214 
 227 
 250
 
 Coiilmts 
 
 CHAP. 
 I. 
 
 ri. 
 III. 
 w . 
 
 V. 
 VI. 
 
 \ii. 
 
 IX. 
 X. 
 
 XI. 
 XII. 
 XIII. 
 
 xi\-. 
 
 Thk Seasox 
 
 PROflRAMMi: OF rLFASURKS 
 
 London'.^ Sight.'^ .... 
 
 .Sights not always Seen . 
 
 Hotels ok To-Dav 
 
 Flats, I'.o ardixo-Houses, LoDf.iNOS 
 
 What Ar.our Dinner.? 
 
 (^iRAND Opera .... 
 
 The Theatre .... 
 
 Concerts 
 
 Gossip ahout Galleries . 
 Some Events of 'jhe Season . 
 Parks and Gardens . 
 Tea-rooms for Ladies 
 
 ETC 
 
 Shoppinc; Resorts and Shops 
 Round the Shops (Ladies') 
 Gentlemen's Dress. Professors of the Art in 
 London 
 
 Some other Shops and Stores . 
 Summer Trips and Excursions 
 
 pa(;f 
 301 
 
 310 
 
 339 
 349 
 
 375 
 385 
 400 
 407 
 4.8 
 422 
 432 
 
 449 
 461 
 
 473 
 483 
 
 497 
 508 
 521
 
 Special Ejoition °r fi^;^^^ 
 
 m (Ireavo-ny 
 
 |a(pRO/SAWA
 
 THE 
 
 Author's Preface 
 
 For no w sit s Expectation in the air" ^ 
 
 " I ^HE Author of this book or compilation (as the 
 -^ critical shall decide) must be allowed to be 
 exceptionally favoured, in that he has found an 
 American constituency, no less than one nearer 
 home, not unwilling to consider what he may 
 herein have to say. All the more contented 
 should he be, with this promising prospect of a 
 co-partnership of interest in his work, since he 
 knows from previous experiences in journalism and 
 pencraft, that he has nothing but the fullest measure 
 of generosity and kindness to expect from one 
 party at least to this arrangement — the American 
 Reader, namely. "They" (the Americans) "are the 
 most genial people on the face of the earth," as 
 his Excellency the British Ambassador in Washing- 
 ton (Lord Pauncefote) has recently reminded us * — 
 if any of us need to be reminded : " At the first 
 
 * The Times, July 19th, 1901. 
 
 9 B
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 grip of the hand they take you to their hearts. 
 So long as you do not try to deal underhand with 
 them, so long as you do not assume superior airs 
 they treat you as one of their own ; and who can 
 say more?" None, indeed, can say more; and 
 what is so said is worthily and truly said, by an 
 English nobleman who, by reason of his exalted 
 station as representative of his country in the 
 United States, should know and understand 
 Americans better than the majority. 
 
 An American, when you get to know him, 
 generally turns out to be a not very distant kins- 
 man of an Englishman. Ought wc not more 
 properly to write Britisher, or Briton ? except that 
 the euphony of neither word seems somehow or 
 other so pleasing and inviting, to one who is 
 English born himself, as the designation he so 
 greatly cherishes, and for which he seeks precedence 
 and publicity whenever and wherever he finds 
 opportunity. An American (needless to repeat) 
 generally turns out to be a not very distant kins- 
 man of one whose people, or ancestors, are English, 
 Scotch, or Irish born ; which doubtless serves better. 
 For the which reason, the Author ventures upon 
 the liberty of asking his Readers to accept of this 
 
 lo
 
 The Author's Preface 
 
 prefatory chapter as being addressed indiscrimi- 
 nately to each, either, or all four. The English- 
 man who reads it cannot possibly object to being 
 included in the company of the most agreeable, 
 generous, and hospitable of his kinsmen across the 
 seas. The Scotchman can find nothing but satis- 
 faction in having his nationality thus promptly 
 and spontaneously recognised as British by an 
 Englishman. The Irishman will at once see the 
 humour in this particular instance of our trying 
 to save trouble, in making one preface serve the 
 purposes of four. Finally, the American may 
 possibly concede that we must be much more 
 clever than, perchance, he believes us to be, if we 
 succeed in pleasing any. 
 
 No author, in our opinion, can hope to establish 
 himself in the friendly consideration of his Reader, 
 until he makes some sort of overtures to that end. 
 He may hope soonest to gain that most valuable 
 auxiliary in his work by dropping all appearance 
 of pretension and artificiality at the outset, and 
 discovering himself, so to say, as he really is : 
 "This is the man you are talking with." "No 
 
 1 1
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 man living is free from speaking foolish things " — 
 as a wise and experienced philosopher has truly 
 said : " the ill-luck is to speak them curiously." 
 
 ' This fellow sure with much ado, 
 Will tell great tales and trifles too.' 
 
 "That concerneth not me," he adds "... I do 
 but buy or sell mine for what they weigh. I 
 speak unto paper as to the first man I meet." 
 
 The use of the personal pronoun in print does 
 not necessarily imply that the user is inclined 
 to be vain and consequential. It far more often 
 means that he is the very reverse of presuming, 
 and much more disposed to plainness and modesty. 
 He places himself, as it were, in the opposite chair 
 to his Reader, and invites him on equal terms to 
 conversation. The style of the impersonal or 
 editorial "we" is far more pretentious, tending 
 to make an author conceited with himself, and 
 pompous and pragmatical towards his Reader. 
 Writing is but another name for conversation, and 
 whether one write well or ill, has anything new 
 to relate, or nothing new to relate, depend upon 
 it he will be in a better position to deserve 
 the Reader's attention if he show some spirit of 
 
 12
 
 The Author's Preface 
 
 cordiality, tapping him on the coat-.sleeve, as it 
 were, in friendly and companionable manner, rather 
 than if he adopt the more reserved attitude, merely 
 exhibiting the customary courtesy of the hat, and 
 indulging in a few commonplace compliments. There 
 are some, of course, who would resent the slightest 
 indication of the raising of the forefinger to the 
 coat-sldeve, by way of opening a casual conversation. 
 But let such persons pass. We have no sort of 
 desire to intrude either upon their exclusiveness 
 or their pride. 
 
 He who would have friends must show himself 
 friendly. None of us can afford to do without 
 them. I know of no better way of attempting to 
 make friends in a book, than by seeking a cordial 
 good understanding with your Reader in the very 
 first paragraph you write. Your purpose, you tell 
 him, is only a little haphazard talk about this 
 matter or that ; and if he find anything interesting, 
 or agreeable, in the conversation, so much the 
 pleasanter for both. So, let's to our respective 
 armchairs — you in this, and I in that, and see if 
 it be not possible to bring about a little mutual 
 goodwill, and —may we not hope ? — mutual appre- 
 ciation, if not forbearance, without insisting on the 
 
 J3
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 preliminary formality of a too ceremonious intro- 
 duction. 
 
 I never yet knew an American who thought any 
 the worse of an Englishman, because he divested 
 himself of all airs and pretensions, and sought to 
 gain his goodwill by such friendly overtures as I 
 propose. Nor are Englishmen in the aggregate 
 so churlish and uncivil as to reject the offer of 
 a stranger's acquaintance if he do not presume 
 to demand too much consideration at their hands. 
 
 At a first glance at its title-page, it might seem 
 as if this book could have but slight interest for 
 American Readers. The Pageant and Ceremony of 
 a Coronation provides but scanty fare for the many 
 who cannot have the opportunity of being spectators 
 of either. For those Americans who propose to sec 
 both, this book will be found to furnish forth, I 
 think, a sufficient meal. The cynically inclined, 
 perchance, might find in its contents somewhat that 
 lends point to an observation to be found in Johnson's 
 " Life of Milton," that " the trappings of Monarchy 
 (namely) would set up an ordinary commonwealth.'' 
 However that may be, none can say that the author 
 has willingly wandered into the thorny and uninvit- 
 ing field of politics. This book will be found much
 
 The Author's Preface 
 
 more historical than political, and more gossipy and 
 discursive, perhaps, than either. Of course, it keeps 
 well in view the Present Interest belonging to its 
 subject. That, in point of fact, as every one will see, 
 is its raisoii cVetre. 
 
 England is so near to America nowadays, happily 
 in more senses than one, that the sights, attractions, 
 pastimes, and amusements of the one country are 
 become almost part and parcel of the sights, at- 
 tractions, pastimes, and amusements of the other. 
 There is, however, one sight which occurs only once 
 or possibly twice in a lifetime, which America has 
 not yet succeeded in reproducing, and never will 
 succeed in reproducing, and that sight is a Coronation 
 in Westminster Abbey ! I am much mistaken, if 
 some Americans are not sufficiently interested as 
 to desire to know how that ceremony is nowadays 
 performed. This book will tell them. The necessities 
 of the case require that it should dip a little into 
 History; but if "History is" (as Henry St. John, 
 Lord Bolingbroke, said) " Philosophy teaching by 
 examples," I greatly misjudge my American Readers 
 if they hastily throw it aside because it in some 
 
 15
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 measure discusses matters in which the)- find but 
 little interest. The history of the one country up 
 to a point is the history of the other, and it may be, 
 in time to come — who dares venture to prophesy ?^ 
 that eventful and splendid history may be yet more 
 closely interwoven and become the common stock 
 of both countries again. Perhaps one likes to dream 
 .so. If Americans might only be brought to believe 
 it, there are no people in the world more generously 
 thought of by Englishmen than they, nor are there 
 any they so willingly form friendships with at home 
 or abroad. The one regret that most of us, who 
 visit America, feel on leaving its shores, is that we 
 are so seldom able to repay in full measure the 
 hospitality and kindness shown to us while staying 
 in that country. 
 
 In bringing this already too lengthy opening 
 chapter to a close, I venture to quote a passage 
 from the published speeches, if I remember aright, 
 of the late Mr. Phelps, sometime American Am- 
 bassador to England, which I read lately, seated 
 in the pleasant reading-room of the St. Botolph Club 
 in Boston ; a club which has ever shown in largest 
 measure hospitality and kindness to Englishmen. 
 " The time is long past " (thus the record) " when kings 
 
 i6
 
 The Author's Preface 
 
 and rulers can involve their nations in hostilities to 
 gratify their own ambitions or caprice. There can be 
 no war nowadays between civilised nations, nor any 
 peace that is not hollow or delusive, unless sustained 
 and backed up by the sentiment of the people who 
 are parties to it. Before nations can quarrel, their 
 inhabitants must first become hostile. Then a cause 
 of quarrel is not far to seek. There are no dragon's 
 teeth so prolific as mutual misunderstanding. . . . 
 It is in the great and constantly increasing inter- 
 course between England and America, in its re- 
 ciprocities and amenities, that the security against 
 misunderstanding must be found. While that con- 
 tinues, the relations between the two countries 
 cannot be otherwise than friendly." That the inter- 
 course between England and America is happily 
 yearly increasing, and is destined to increase in 
 far greater measure as the years pass on, there 
 cannot be a shadow of doubt. God grant that the 
 concord and amity of the two nations in time to 
 come may be such as to entitle the twain to the 
 proud designation of States united. 
 
 17
 
 be well 
 we were 
 
 IGHT it not 
 sometimes if 
 not to take the things of 
 the world too seriously ? 
 Cheerfulness is ever better 
 ^ than dulncss ; and, truly, 
 1^ much melancholy is a 
 weariness of the flesh. 
 " Though David's son, the 
 sad and splendid," declared mourning to be better 
 than feasting ; we shall maintain to the contrary, 
 yea, though even all the kings of the earth were 
 to rise in opposition. Methinks that London will 
 lose somewhat of mirth and gladness, for example, 
 in being deprived of its historic Coronation banquet 
 in Westminster Hall. But that's a matter for 
 his Majesty the King's decision, not to be imper- 
 tinently discussed by a mere subject. " Health at 
 
 i8
 
 Points about Pedigrees 
 
 your bidding serve your Majesty!" and let all 
 the people shout, "God save the King!" 
 
 Sterne it was, if I am not mistaken — I think I 
 have somewhere read a sermon of his preached in 
 the Minster of York, whereof he was, as most of 
 us know, some time Prebendary, touching on this 
 very topic : Sterne it was who was firmly persuaded 
 that every time a man smiles, but much more so 
 when he laughs, it adds somewhat to whatever 
 fragment of life — more or less as the years speed 
 by — may be permitted him. F'ar be it from the 
 compiler of these pages to smile inopportunely. 
 There is to everything a season, and a time to 
 every purpose under heaven. This is serious matter 
 we arc now occupied upon. And so were the 
 Barons occupied with serious matter the other day, 
 when on being directed by Norroy King of Arms 
 to pass out of the House of Lords into the Royal 
 Gallery, " two and two, in order of precedence," 
 some of their lordships not merely smiled, but 
 laughed* — with no derogation of personal dignity, 
 it may be hoped, as peers of the realm, or of 
 collective dignity as judges, specially summoned to 
 
 * Case of Earl Russell, tried in tiie Royal Gallery of the 
 House of Lords. Times report, July I9tli, 1901. 
 
 19
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 a solemn trial of one of their order. Some of 
 
 their lordships laughed. It being a very hot 
 
 July day, inviting to slumber, they were taken 
 
 unawares (so to say) by the mandate of Norroy 
 
 King of Arms ; were not quite certain of themselves 
 
 for the moment — 
 
 " Are we lords ? 
 Or do we dream, or have we dream'd till now? 
 We do not sleep : we see, we hear, we speak. 
 
 My lords, they say that we have dream'd, 
 And slept above six hundred years, or more." 
 
 This present being the year of grace 1902, second 
 of the reign of his Most Gracious Majesty King 
 Edward the Seventh (whom God preserve !) some 
 of us are not prepared to be suddenly transported 
 back to the times of the Plantagenets, to the times 
 (let's say) of that High and Mighty Prince, Edward 
 the Third, of Glorious Memory. Like little children 
 on being awakened out of a sleep, we smile. But 
 'tis a pleasant good-humoured smile, not the smile 
 of the cynical. Perchance, we have been dreaming ; 
 dreaming a kind of nightmare. We suppose our- 
 selves to be living in the year 1902. Motor-cars 
 are rushing everywhere about. Telephones are 
 
 20
 
 Points about Pedigrees 
 
 buzzing in our ears. An aerial ship is speeding 
 through the air. Another ship is being navigated 
 beneath the surface of the sea. An express train 
 is seen in the distance, driven by electricity on a 
 single rail, at the rate of sixty miles an hour, A 
 pastoral people named Boers have forsaken their 
 ploughs, and threaten to keep on fighting till the 
 crack of doom. Some one touches us lightly on 
 the shoulder, and we are wide awake, our own 
 proper selves again. The whole surely is a dream ! 
 We are, in reality, citizens of London making 
 preparations for the King's Coronation. Here are 
 the King's crimson standards blazoned with gold, 
 and here King Edward the Third's own chosen 
 motto, " Dieu et mon droit," and here the ostrich 
 plumes and the " Ich dien " of his son. Here, too, 
 
 21
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 are King Henry the Seventh's tall and portly 
 Yeomen of the Guard, and here- their captains, 
 lieutenants, and exons. Garter King at Arms, in his 
 magnificent tabard, is in his proper place, as are his 
 historic supporters, Clarencieux and Norroy in theirs. 
 Here, too, stand the six Heralds of old England 
 — Chester, Lancaster, York, Somerset, Richmond, 
 and Windsor, with their Pursuivants, Rouge Croix, 
 Bluemantle, Rouge Dragon, and Portcullis. And 
 here is his Grace the Hereditary Earl Marshal of 
 England himself, Knight of the Most Noble Order 
 of the Garter— Duke of Norfolk and Earl of 
 Arundel. Save your Grace ! 
 
 How strange in truth it all seems! Surely we 
 may be forgiven the passing smile when we think 
 of this present blending of the fourteenth and 
 fifteenth with the twentieth century ! Here arc a 
 number of, apparently, ordinary quiet-looking, ease- 
 loving, home-keeping, middle-aged English gentlemen 
 — distinguished enough in their respective stations, 
 if you please, and as we for one most willingly 
 admit ; here are these gentlemen (" great men all " 
 by the roll), presently to be engaged in the acting 
 parts of a most solemn and interesting ceremony, 
 which takes us back eight hundred years to, at 
 
 22
 
 Points about Pedigrees 
 
 least, the days of William the Norman, if not 
 of his predecessor, Edward the Confessor. Where 
 now are their armour, their helmets and gay- 
 coloured plumes, their huge two-handed swords, 
 fluttering pennons, and ponderous lances, their 
 attendant esquires and pages, their gaily caparisoned 
 armour-decked 
 horses? Robes, 
 ribbons, and coro- 
 nets are all that 
 now remain of 
 these old-time 
 paraphernalia. 
 With a sight of 
 them we must 
 perforce remain 
 content. For the 
 
 rest, and as ■ ■^ v • - - - -. ^ -- 
 
 regards their 
 
 everyday life, most of these great lords, barons, 
 bishops, viscounts, earls, marquises, dukes, the lord- 
 archbishops of Canterbury and York, yea, even 
 the Princes of the Blood Royal and his Most 
 Gracious Majesty the very King himself ; all these 
 great nobles, lords spiritual and temporal, and their 
 
 23
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 royal and imperial Master, in place of armour and 
 helmet now array themselves in black silk hat 
 and ordinary frock-coat ! We are actually and 
 indeed awake, and living in the twentieth century. 
 The real and the shadowy alike provoke a smile. 
 And, prithee, my right honourable friend, why not ? 
 
 " The souls of emperors and cobblers are all cast in 
 the same mould": so said the Seigneur de Montaigne, 
 Lord of Montaigne (to give him his full title), some- 
 time the pupil of George Buchanan, tutor of James 
 the First of England, and a gentleman not unfamiliar 
 in his time with princes and the humblest of their 
 subjects too. Montaigne's dictum may be true 
 enough ; but even the soul of a cobbler may be 
 cast in a finer mould than the majority of his fellows. 
 In respect of his craft, truly, he may be able to trace 
 his ancestry back to the very first cobbler who sat 
 on the bench. It is conceivable that his progenitors 
 of the remote past may have been persons of quality. 
 Much more unlikely things have come to pass, than 
 that a cobbler should be descended from a peer. 
 One of the flock in most families, sooner or later, 
 strays from the fold. His wanderings may lead him 
 
 24
 
 Points about Pedigrees 
 
 to the top or the bottom, as his enterprise or energy, 
 or lack of both may determine. Most of us, in our 
 experience, have known of poor boys who, in the 
 course of time, have attained to considerable wealth 
 and distinction. " You say," once wrote a dis- 
 tinguished Professor of Oxford University to the. 
 compiler of these pages : " you say, in your article 
 that my parents were poor, being farmers in a small 
 way down in Devonshire. True ; but let me remark 
 that I am exceedingly and justly proud of my parents 
 and ancestry — poor, but of inestimable worth." 
 Only the other day, I met a worthy man, of no 
 sort of pretensions to refinement or even a grammar- 
 school education, who had left his home in Yorkshire 
 for America, a poor lad, with but very few shillings in 
 pocket. He told me, that he had been compelled to 
 borrow from another poor lad, his brother, to pay 
 his passage across the ocean. Curiously enough he 
 had followed his craft at the shoemaker's bench — 
 may have been in very fact, for aught I know, a 
 cobbler's apprentice in his native village. He is now 
 the most considerable and by far the most wealthy 
 manufacturer of boots and shoes in a well-known 
 town in Massachusetts. His sons, both men of parts 
 and education, are partners of their parent in the 
 
 25 C
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 same prosperous business. Unless 1 am very greatly 
 mistaken in these two gentlemen, they are proud to 
 claim the relationship of sons with the one-time poor 
 Yorkshire shoemaker, their father. 
 
 On the other hand, I was passing down Regent 
 Street one day with a friend of mine who knows 
 every one in London that it may happen I do not 
 know. " Do you see that man ? " said he, pointing 
 to a " seedy," shambling, rickety-looking tramp. 
 " Well, that man has paid me hundreds of pounds. 
 He was one time one of the smartest officers of 
 cavalry in the Queen's service." I never believed 
 it possible that I could ever be brought to pass a 
 person in London's streets, whom I had once claimed 
 acquaintance with. I furtively did so on one occasion, 
 when I recognised in a man standing at a street 
 corner, intoxicated, filthy, ragged, squalid almost 
 beyond recognition, one whom the world had once 
 well known as a gentleman of exceptional professional 
 attainments and of the first social standing. It is 
 only when some are arrived at this condition — 
 which Heaven, in mercy, guard each one of us 
 against ! — that neither interest nor pride is felt 
 in tracing back ancestors, whether to .cobblers or 
 kings. 
 
 25
 
 Points about Pedigrees 
 
 "Silent the Lord of the v\orld 
 Eyes from the heavenly height, 
 Girt by His far-shining train, 
 Us who with banners unfurl'd 
 Fight life's many-chanc'd fight 
 Madly below in the plain. 
 
 "Hardly, hardly shall one 
 Come with countenance bright 
 
 *■ * * * * 
 
 Safe through the smoke of the fight, 
 Back to his Master again." 
 
 Truly, in respect of our industrious and esteemed 
 friend, the cobbler : " I weigh the man, not his title ; 
 'tis not the king's stamp can make the metal better." 
 " I have been inclined to think," wrote Addison in 
 one of his more serious essays, '' that there are greater 
 men who lie concealed among their fellows, than 
 those who come out, and draw upon themselves the 
 eyes and admiration of mankind. . . . We are dazzled 
 with the splendour of titles, the ostentation of learning, 
 the noise of victories ; they on the contrary " (" they" 
 here refers to those who may observe us from the 
 spiritual world) — " they on the contrary see the 
 philosopher in the cottage, who possesses his soul 
 in patience and thankfulness, under pressure of what 
 little minds call poverty and distress. They do 
 
 27
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 not look for s^reat men at the head of armies, or 
 among the pomps of a court ; but often find them 
 out in shades and sohtudes, in the private walks 
 and by-paths of Hfc. . . . The most famous among 
 us are often looked upon with pity, or with contempt, 
 or with indignation ; while those who are most 
 obscure among their kind are often regarded with 
 love, with approbation, and esteem." 
 
 Now, in regard of the Imperial masters of man- 
 kind : " We owe a like obedience and subjection 
 unto all kings," wrote that prince of philosophers 
 already quoted, " for it respects their office ; but 
 estimation and affection, we owe it only to their 
 virtue." Those only are truly great whose ambition 
 is to acquire the conscience of worthy enterprises, 
 rather than the prospect of worldly glory. " He 
 only is a great man who can neglect the applause 
 of the multitude, and enjoy himself independent of 
 its favour. This indeed, is an arduous task ... it 
 is the highest step to which human nature can arrive. 
 Triumph, applause, acclamation are dear to the mind 
 of man ; but it is a more exquisite delight to say to 
 yourself, you have done well, than to hear the whole 
 human race proclaim you glorious." 
 
 In conclusion I shall here add some extracts, 
 28
 
 Points about Pedigrees 
 
 touching upon pedigrees, from the third part of 
 that very curious and rare work, the " Boke of St. 
 Albans" (i486), so scarce even in the days of 
 Shakespeare, as to require to be set forth in a new 
 form by Gervase Markham (1595), as "absolutely 
 necessary and behoveful to the accomplishment of 
 the Gentlemen of this flourishing ile, in the heroical 
 and excellent study of armory." The extracts arc 
 from the original : — 
 
 " Insomuch thatt all gentilness (we read) commys 
 of God of hevyn, at hevyn I will begin, where were 
 V orderis of Aungelis, and now stand but IV, in 
 cote armoris of knowledge encrowned ful hye with 
 precious stones, where Lucifer with miliory's of 
 Aungelis owt of hevyn fell unto hell and ordyr 
 places, and ben holdyn ther in bonage, and all 
 were erected in hevyn of Gentyll nature. A bond- 
 man or a churl wyll say all we be cummyn of Adam, 
 so Lucifer with his cumpany may say all we be 
 cummyn of hevyn." 
 
 Next follows how Gentilmen first began on earth, 
 and how they are to be distinguished from Churles ; 
 or " Gentilmen from ungentilmen." 
 
 " Ther was never Gentilmen nor Churlc ordeynyd 
 by kundcj bothe had fadre and modre. Adam and 
 
 29
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 Eve had nother fadre and modrc, and in the sonnys 
 of Adam and Eve were founde bothe Gentilmen and 
 Churle. By the sonnys of Adam and Eve, (Seth, 
 Abell and Cayn,) devyded was the royall blode from 
 the ungentill ; a brother to sley his brother contrary 
 to law, where might be more ungentihiess ? (What 
 could be more ungentlemanly or vile ? in Markham's 
 edition.) By that dyd Cayn become a churle, and 
 all his offspring after hym, by cursing of God and 
 his own fadre Adam, and Seth was made a Gentilman 
 thorow his fadrc's and modre's blessing, and of the 
 offspryng of Seth, Noc came a gentilman by kynde. 
 Among Noah's 3 sons, Cham, Scm and Japhet, the 
 two latter were Gentilmen, but Cham a proper 
 Churle." 
 
 " Now to thee I give my curse wyckcd kaytiff 
 for ever, and I give to thee the northe parte of the 
 worlde to drawe thyne habitacion, for thcr schall it 
 be, where sorrow and care, cold and myschef as a 
 Churle thow shalt have, in the third parte of the 
 worlde wich schall be calde Europe, that is to say, 
 the contre of Churlys. 
 
 "Japeth cum hyder my sonnc, I made the a 
 Gentilman to the weste part of the worlde, and to 
 the Occident end when as welth and grace shall be 
 
 30
 
 Points about Pedigrees 
 
 so, then thyr habitacion shall be to take that other 
 thirde parte of the worlde, vvich schall be calde Asia 
 that is to say, the contre of Gentilmen, and Sem my 
 son, also a Gentilman, the oryentc thow shalt take 
 that other theirde parte of the vvorlde vvich shall be 
 called Affrica, that is to say, the contre of tempurnes. 
 
 " Of the offspring of the Gentilman Japheth come 
 Habraham, Moises, Aron, and the profettys, and 
 also the King of the right lyne of Mar}', of whom 
 that gentilman Jhesus was borne very God and man ; 
 after his manhode kyng of the lorde of Jude Jues 
 gentilmen, by is modre Mary pryncc of cote armure." 
 
 We need proceed no farther in these present dis- 
 quisitions than to say, and that, too, without the 
 need of appealing to mythological works, that few 
 families are to be compared in antiquity with the 
 Royal Family of England, of whom his Majesty 
 King Edward the Seventh is the present Head and 
 Representative. His Majesty's descent may be traced 
 back to the Kings of England long prior to the 
 Conquest. Through the grandmother of Henry H., 
 wife of Henry I., he and his are the descendants 
 of Alfred the Great, Egbert, and Cerdic, King of 
 Wessex in the sixth century. Cerdic was believed 
 to be a descendant of Woden, up to and even bej'ond 
 
 31
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 whom the genealogy is carried in the Anglo-Saxon 
 Chronicle. 
 
 It is interesting to note that early royal titles — as 
 Mr. Ashley states in " The Dictionary of English 
 History " — were national, and not territorial. Thus, 
 Egbert was " King of the West Saxons," and Alfred 
 often used the title of " King of the Saxons." 
 In view of Edward the Seventh's name, there is 
 special interest in the style of Edward the Elder, 
 who designated himself " King of the Anglo-Saxons." 
 Athelstan was the first monarch to adopt regularly 
 the title of " King of the English," which was also 
 the official description of the Norman sovereigns. 
 Magna Charta opens v, ith the words, " John, by the 
 grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, 
 Duke of Normandy and Aquitainc, and Earl of 
 Anjou." Edward I. dropped the title derived from 
 Normandy, but as compensation Edward III. added 
 that of " King of Erance," which was retained till, 
 strange as it may now seem, 1801. Another change 
 was made in 1876, when Queen Victoria assumed the 
 Imperial title of " Empress of India," and another 
 change was made (of which more hereafter) in 1901. 
 
 32
 
 PART I 
 
 The Accession, Proclamation, and 
 Meeting of the First Parliament 
 
 OF 
 
 KING EDWARD THE SEVENTH 
 
 00
 
 A T 6.30 p.m. on January 22nd, '1901, the greatly 
 ■^ ^ beloved Queen Victoria died ; and on the day 
 following, her eldest son, Albert Edward, now King, 
 held his first Council at St. James's Palace, the 
 one interesting relic of the courts of Tudor, Stuart, 
 and Hanoverian sovereigns that London now owns. 
 Previously thereto the Lords of the Council, of 
 whom more than a hundred were present, the 
 Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and other officials of 
 the City of London, who attended in their robes 
 of office, and other noblemen and gentlemen, 
 who were also present, approved a Proclamation 
 announcing his Majesty as King P^dward V^II. 
 The Proclamation was signed by the members 
 of the Royal P""amily present, the Archbishops 
 of Canterbury and York, a large number of 
 other Privy Councillors, and by the Lord Mayor 
 and other representatives of the City of London, 
 
 35
 
 The Coronation ot Edward VII 
 
 Such was the official announcement as made in 
 the Court Ciradar of the day. 
 
 The King attended the Council in semi-state, 
 and Orders of Knighthood were worn by all en- 
 titled to do so. So far as the public were concerned, 
 the first notice they received of the fact of the 
 Council meeting was about twenty minutes to two, 
 when the Sovereign's guard, consisting of an officer, 
 a corporal-major, twelve gentlemen troopers, and a 
 farrier of horse, trotted down the Mall of St. James's 
 Park, and, turning along Marlborough yard, entered 
 the grounds of Marlborough House. Meanwhile, the 
 members of the Privy Council continued to arrive 
 at St. James's Palace in large numbers, and there 
 never was in the history of the English Court a 
 gathering of the Privy Council so largely attended. 
 It comprised, when assembled, no less than a hundred 
 and eight members. 
 
 The City P"athers in traditional fashion attended, 
 and were accompanied by the sword and mace 
 bearers, the civic retinue, the Recorder, Town Clerk, 
 City Solicitor, and other of the officials of the 
 Corporation. They went in semi-state from the 
 Mansion House by way of Queen Victoria Street, 
 Embankment, Northumberland Avenue, and Pall 
 
 36
 
 Accession of Edward VII 
 
 Mall, to the Palace. The cavalcade, which was 
 escorted by a posse of mounted police, made a 
 brave show, comprising about twenty carriages, the 
 occupants wearing their robes and chains of office 
 over levee dress so-called. Those attending, in addi- 
 tion to the officials mentioned, were (it might gratify 
 some to preserve the record in this book) the Lord 
 Mayor (Alderman Frank Green), Aldermen Sir 
 Whittaker Ellis, Sir Henry Knight, Sir Reginald 
 Hanson, Sir Joseph Savory, Sir David Evans, Sir 
 Joseph Renals, Sir Walter Wilkin, Sir Horatio 
 Davies, M.P., Sir Alfred Newton, Sir G. F. Faudel- 
 Phillips, Sir Joseph Dimsdale, Sir Marcus Samuel, 
 Messrs. Pound, Bell, Truscott, Alliston, Samuel 
 Green, Strong, Smallman, Crosby, Sir John Knill, 
 Sir W. P. Treloar, with the Sheriffs, Alderman 
 Vaughan Morgan and .Sir Joseph Lawrence. 
 
 It was about five minutes to two when the great 
 gates of Marlborough House, opening on Pall 
 Mall, were thrown open, and immediately the 
 advanced point of the King's guard in full dress, 
 the troopers bearing their carbines at the carry, 
 emerged into the roadway. Then came the escort 
 itself, with drawn swords, the feeble sun just 
 adding a touch of glint to their polished helmets 
 
 37
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 and cuirasses. The officer of the escort rode 
 beside the King's coach, wiiich was driven at a 
 trot. The King himself was in the uniform of a 
 Field-Marshal, and wore his Orders and the blue 
 riband of the Garter across his breast. He looked 
 grave and somewhat worn, a circumstance that 
 was, perhaps, not to be wondered at. By his side, 
 in the uniform of the Norfolk Artillery Militia, 
 was his Majesty's long-time friend, Lord Suffield, 
 and he was also accompanied by Captain Holford, 
 in the scarlet uniform of an equerry. There was 
 an outburst of cheers as the King's coach was 
 driven out of the grounds of Marlborough House, 
 and, turning sharply into Marlborough Yard, it 
 passed into the Mall, and thence into St. James's 
 Palace by the Garden entrance. The throng in 
 the Mall at this time was very great, and here 
 again there was generous cheering, as if to assure 
 the King that the people were with him in heart 
 and sympath}'. 
 
 By historic usage, said to date back several 
 centuries, the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, and Court of 
 Aldermen of the City of London were informed 
 that they might "give attendance" at the meeting 
 of the Privy Council upon the accession of the 
 
 3H
 
 Accession of Edward Vll 
 
 monarch " should they think proper." The letter 
 conveying such information was as follows: — 
 
 " Privy Council Office, 
 
 ''January 22nd, 1901 
 " Immediate. 
 
 " My Lord, — The Lords of the Privy Council, 
 having been desired to meet at St. James's Palace 
 on Wednesday, the 23rd instant, at two o'clock p.m., 
 I am directed to give your lordship notice thereof, 
 that your lordship and the Court of Aldermen may 
 give attendance there if you should think proper. 
 Levee dress ; crape on left arm. — I have the honour 
 to be your lordship's obedient servant, 
 
 "A. W. FITZ ROY. 
 
 " To the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor, 
 " The Mansion House, London." 
 
 Needless to remark that the meeting of the 
 Privy Council was held in the interesting Banqueting 
 Hall of St. James's Palace, but the King did not 
 proceed there immediatel)\ Ascending the main 
 staircase he passed into the Throne room — that in 
 which the Levees arc held — and thence b)' Queen 
 Anne's room to the Picture gallery. 
 
 At the stroke of the appointed hour of two the 
 Duke of Devonshire, Lord President of the Council, 
 
 39
 
 Accession of Edward VII 
 
 assumed the presidency of the assembly. The Duke 
 made a formal communication of the death of 
 Queen Victoria, and the succession to the Throne 
 of her son, the Prince of Wales. It then became 
 necessary to appoint a deputation to inform the 
 King in the adjoining apartment that the Council 
 had assembled. The Royal Dukes, with the Lord 
 President, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the 
 Prime Minister were then directed to repair to the 
 King's presence, and to acquaint him of the terms 
 of the Lord President's statement. In a few 
 minutes they returned accompanied by the King, 
 who, we are told, was deeply moved. 
 
 His Majesty addressed the Council in what a 
 member present on the occasion described as " a 
 splendid speech, beautifully delivered," which oc- 
 cupied some seven or eight minutes. The King's 
 address was finely dignified in tone, and at 
 moments it seemed as if it were only with the 
 greatest difficulty he was able to control his 
 emotions. The title he would assume, he informed 
 the Council, was Pldward VII. There could only 
 be, he said, one Albert, and that his revered 
 father, Albert the Good. Then in earnest tones 
 his Majesty pledged himself to devote his life to 
 
 40
 
 Accession of Edward VII 
 
 the welfare of the country and the Empire, and in 
 so doing he asserted his confidence in the support 
 of Parliament and the people. The actual text of 
 the King's speech, officially published in the Londoji 
 Gazette, was as follows : 
 
 "'Your Royal Highnesses, My Lords, and Gentle- 
 men, — This is the most painful occasion on which 
 I shall ever be called upon to address you. 
 
 " ' My first and melancholy duty is to announce to 
 you the death of My beloved Mother the Queen, 
 and I know how deeply you, the whole Nation, and I 
 think I may say the whole world, sympathise with 
 Me in the irreparable loss we have all sustained. 
 
 " ' I need hardly say that My constant endeavour 
 will be always to walk in Her footsteps. In under- 
 taking the heavy load which now devolves upon 
 Me, I am fully determined to be a Constitutional 
 Sovereign in the strictest sense of the word, and as 
 long as there is breath in My body to work for the 
 good and amelioration of My people. 
 
 " ' I have resolved to be known by the name of 
 Edward, which has been borne by six of My 
 ancestors. In doing so I do not undervalue the 
 name of Albert, which I inherit from My ever to 
 be lamented, great and wise Father, who by 
 universal consent is I think deservedly known by 
 41 D
 
 The Coronation ot Edward VII 
 
 the name of Albert the Good, and I desire that 
 his name should stand alone. 
 
 " ' In conclusion, I trust to Parliament and the 
 Nation to support Me in the arduous duties which 
 now devolve upon Me by inheritance, and to which 
 I am determined to devote My whole strength 
 during the remainder of My life.' 
 
 " Whereupon the Lords of the Council made it 
 their humble request to his Majesty that his 
 Majesty's Most Gracious Declaration to their Lord- 
 ships might be made public, which his Majesty 
 was pleased to Order accordingly." 
 
 The next proceeding was a solemn one — that in 
 which the Lord Chancellor administered the oath 
 to tlie King ; and immediately afterw ards the Royal 
 Dukes came forward, and, having taken the oath, 
 each kissed the King's hand. They were followed 
 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and then the 
 mem.bers of the Cabinet, who were sworn oi bloc, 
 each kissing the hand in succession. The Privy 
 Council were also sworn as a whole, but the 
 members did homage individually. 
 
 An unexpected difficulty (we have been told) 
 arose in obtaining a copy of the King's speech in 
 Council for publication in the special Londcm Gazette 
 above referred to. As a matter of fact, there was 
 
 42
 
 Accession of Edward VII 
 
 no copy, for the King had no notes and had not 
 written his speech beforehand. As an extempore 
 utterance it was, therefore, somewhat remarkable. 
 Of course no shorthand writer was present to take 
 notes, and the only way to obtain the copy was 
 to ask his Majesty to dictate the speech to his 
 secretary. His excellent memory enabled him to 
 do this with accuracy.* 
 
 It may be interesting to add that the attendance 
 of members of the Privy Council at this historic 
 meeting included : The Duke of York, the Duke 
 of Connaught, the Duke of Cambridge, Prince 
 Christian, Field-Marshal Prince Edward of Saxe- 
 Weimar, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Prime 
 Minister, the Earl of Clarendon, the Duke of Fife, 
 the Lord Chancellor, the Speaker of the House 
 of Commons, the Duke of Norfolk (Earl Marshal), 
 the Duke of Rutland, the Duke of Northumberland, 
 the Duke of Portland, the Earl of Coventry, Earl 
 Carrington, the Earl of Chesterfield, Earl Spencer, 
 the Earl of Kimberley, the Lord Chief Justice, 
 Lord Rosebery, Lord Pirbright, Lord Rathmore, 
 Lord Knutsford, Lord Morris, Lord Strathcona, Lord 
 
 * Birinini^^hdiii Post (London correspondent), January 24th, 
 1901. 
 
 43
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 Rowton, Lord Brampton, Lord Balfour of Burleigh, 
 Lord Goschen, Lord Lansdowne, Sir H. Campbell- 
 Bannerman, M.P., Sir William Harcourt, M.P., Mr. 
 J. Chamberlain, M.P., Sir S. Ponsonby Fane, Sir 
 Richard Temple, Sir G. Goldie, Sir W. Hart-Dyke, 
 M.P., Sir H. Drummond Wolff, Sir Francis Jeune, 
 the Marquis of Hertford, Sir H. Fowler, M.P., the 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. John Morley, 
 M.P., Mr. Asquith, M.P., Mr. Walter Long, M.P., 
 Mr. J. W. Lowther, M.P., Mr. R. Spencer, M.P., 
 Mr. Staveley Hill, Mr. Victor Cavendish, M.P., Mr. 
 Arnold Morley, Mr. Lecky, ^LP., Mr. Courtney, 
 M.P., Mr. Bryce, M.P., Mr. Brodrick, M.P., Mr. 
 Acland, Lord George Hamilton, Lord Ashbourne, 
 Lord Burghclere, the Marquis of Ripon, Lord 
 Cadogan, Lord Ribblesdale, the Earl of Cork, the 
 Earl of Dartmouth, Lord A. Hill, Sir John Gorst, 
 M.P., Mr. Jesse CoUings, M.P., Lord Justice Romer, 
 Lord Justice Smith, Lord Justice Charles, Lord 
 Justice Rigby, Mr. W. L. Jackson, M.P., Sir John 
 Kennaway, Mr. Scale Hayne, M.P., Mr. Akers- 
 Douglas, M.P., the Lord Advocate, and Sir F. 
 Milner. }"or the first time in the history of England 
 the Proclamation of the .Sovereign at the first 
 meeting of the Privy Council was signed by Jews — 
 
 44
 
 Accession of Edward VII 
 
 viz., Lord Pirbright, Sir George Faudel-Phillips, and 
 Sir Marcus Samuel. 
 
 W ^ yF ^ V 
 
 The aspect of the House of Lords soon after 
 four o'clock of the afternoon of January 23rd, 1901, 
 was unique. Instead of the regular set scene of 
 a few members on the Ministerial side, and fewer 
 on the Opposition benches, the way from the right 
 of the Throne to the left of the Bar was thronged 
 with Peers pressing forward to take the oath of 
 allegiance to the Crown and the Constitution. All 
 were in black, except the two Archbishops and the 
 Bishops, whose white lawn sleeves and black satin 
 robes gave the only relief to the throng of fully 
 two hundred noblemen, old, young, and middle 
 aged. At the Opposition side of the table stood 
 a single clerk of the House of Lords in wig and 
 gown to administer the oath and direct the signing 
 of the roll. On the Woolsack sat the Lord Chan- 
 cellor in black silk gown and full-bottomed wig. 
 In the balcony on the Opposition side were about 
 thirty ladies, all in deep mourning, giving to the 
 assembly a greater air of solemnity than prevailed 
 in the range of peers gradually moving along 
 below. 
 
 45
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 The first of the Peers to take the oath and sub- 
 scribe the roll after the Lord Chancellor were the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of 
 York. Each in turn shook hands with the Lord 
 Chancellor, and passing a few members of the 
 House of Commons, who were standing in front of 
 the Throne, went out of the House. Other Peers 
 followed, including the Duke of Connaught and 
 the Prime Minister (Lord Salisbury). 
 
 Although it was announced officially that the 
 House of Commons would not meet until four 
 o'clock in the afternoon, a number of members 
 came down early in the morning and secured 
 seats. When the Speaker appeared, exactly at 
 four o'clock, there were about two hundred 
 members in their places. The Speaker took the 
 chair and said : 
 
 " I would remind the Flouse that by reason of 
 the deeply lamented decease of her Majesty Queen 
 Victoria, it has become our duty to take the oath 
 of allegiance to her successor, his Majesty King 
 Edward the Seventh. I will, according to ordinary 
 custom, take the oath myself tirst, and then invite 
 hon. members to come to the table and follow my 
 example." 
 
 46
 
 Accession of Edward VII 
 
 The Speaker then administered the Oath to himself 
 as follows : 
 
 "I, AVilliam Court Gully, do swear that I will be 
 faithful and bear true allegiance to his Majesty 
 King Edward the Seventh, his heirs, and successors, 
 according to law. So help me God." 
 
 Having kissed the book, the roll was taken to 
 the right hon. gentleman, and duly signed by him. 
 
 At ten minutes past six, 290 members having 
 been sworn, the House adjourned until the next 
 day at three oclock. 
 
 The Parliamentary Papers for January 24th, 1901, 
 cannot fail to be of interest to the student of 
 history. The record of the previous day's sitting 
 of the House of Lords ran thus : 
 
 " House met, on the occasion of the Demise of 
 her late Majesty Queen Victoria, pursuant to the 
 Act of 6 Anne, c. 7. Prayers. The Lord Chancellor, 
 singly, in the first place, took the Oath at the Table. 
 Several Lords took the Oath. His Royal Highness 
 the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, singly, took 
 the Oath. His Royal Highness the Duke of York, 
 singly took the Oath." 
 
 The entry in the Journals of the House of 
 Commons was as follows : 
 
 47
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 " It having pleased Almighty God to take to 
 his mercy our late Most Gracious Sovereign 
 Lady Queen Victoria of blessed memory, who de- 
 parted this life yesterday between the hours of 6 
 and 7 of the clock in the evening, at Osborne House 
 in the Isle of Wight ; and her late Majesty's Most 
 Honoural)le Privy Council, and others, having met 
 this day at Saint James's Palace, and having directed 
 that his Royal Highness Albert Edward Prince of 
 Wales be proclaimed King, by the Style and Title 
 of Edward the Seventh : Mr. Speaker, and several 
 other Members, came to the House of Commons 
 this day, where Mr. Speaker alone, and then the 
 other Members present, took the Oath, and several 
 Members made and subscribed the Affirmation 
 required by Law." 
 
 The title-page of the "Votes and Proceedings" 
 of the House of Commons was inscribed as relating 
 to " the Second Session of the 27th Parliament of 
 the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 
 January 23rd, 1901, in the First year of the Reign 
 of his Majesty King Edward the Seventh." 
 
 48
 
 ON Thursday, January 24th, 1901, the King was 
 proclaimed at St. James's, and generally 
 throughout London and the kingdom, with all the 
 time-honoured ceremony. The cry " God .save the 
 King ! " was then raised officially in the capital 
 of England for the first time for over sixty years. 
 It is of interest to recall that its earliest form was 
 in every case associated with an Edward. Letters 
 to Edward I. from one of his counsellors were 
 accustomed to close with the formula, " Sire, Deu 
 sauve e garde vostre noble seignurie e acresce vos 
 honurs." The chronicler has it that the army of 
 Edward III., when he landed in Flanders, in 1340, 
 cried, " Vivat Rex Francorum et Angliae " ; and 
 we get very near the present use in the poem 
 " Edwardus Dei Gratia," written on the accession 
 of Edward IV. : 
 
 God save thy contenevvannce 
 And so to prospede to his plesaunce 
 That ever thyne Astate thou mowte cnliaunce! 
 Edwardes Dai Gracia. 
 
 49
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 It was about the same period that another poem, 
 highly comphmentary to the English people, pre- 
 sented the precise phrase in the lines : 
 
 God, let neuere werre be vs among, 
 
 To lose that bio of gret renowne, 
 Ne neuere oiire right be turned to wronge. 
 
 God save the Kyng, &: kepe the crowne ! 
 
 And the saying became consecrated to English 
 use by the fact that, in the translation of the Bible 
 made by Miles Coverdale, and a rendering followed 
 by the Bishop's Bible and the Geneva Bible, and 
 later by both the Authorised and Revised Versions, 
 
 the phrase is 
 
 more than once 
 used. On the 
 day above 
 named, when 
 Deputy Garter 
 had read the 
 Proclamation 
 hereinafter set 
 forth, as when 
 Samuel pro- 
 claimed the first 
 England's Tuuok Oueen. Hebrew monarch, 
 
 50
 
 Proclaimed King at St. James's 
 
 " all the people shouted and said, ' God save the 
 King ! ' " 
 
 Forming three sides of a square, in the Friary- 
 Court of St. James's Palace, so inseparably inter- 
 woven with state ceremony from the days of the 
 Tudors, a guard of honour of the Grenadier Guards 
 was drawn up, with the King's Colour, and regimental 
 band. Soon after eight o'clock a conspicuous figure 
 on the balcony from which the proclamation was 
 to be read was that of the Duke of Norfolk, who, 
 in the capacity of Hereditary Earl Marshal of 
 England, wore the scarlet tunic, gold-laced, of that 
 time-honoured office, and the Riband of the Garter. 
 A striking incident, which marked the near approach 
 of the morning's ceremony, followed, in the arrival 
 of the Headquarters Staff, brilliant in full-dress 
 uniforms that imparted a welcome splash of colour 
 to a scene so far sombre and grey. At the head 
 of this cavalcade rode Earl Roberts, his breast 
 gleaming with medals, and one hand holding his 
 Field- Marshal's baton. Quickly recognised was the 
 Commander-in-Chief, who wore his newly conferred 
 Order of the Garter. He rode to a position 
 immediately in front of the Generals of his Staff, 
 among whom was Sir Evelyn Wood. 
 
 SI
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 As the hour of nine rang out, it was to the 
 quadrangle's red-draped balcony that all eyes were 
 turned once more. For hither came the gorgeously 
 arrayed officials who, with the Earl Marshal and 
 Norroy King of Arms as central figures, bore so 
 conspicuous a part in the day's ceremony. Accom- 
 panying the Deputy Garter were the historic 
 personages of Heralds' College —to wit, York Herald, 
 Somerset Herald, Windsor Herald, Rouge Croix 
 Pursuivant, Bluemantle Pursuivant, and Rouge 
 Dragon Pursuivant. All of these officials were arrayed 
 in resplendent crimson tabards, upon which the 
 Royal arms were embroidered in gold, and with 
 them appeared the four Sergeants-at-x'\.rms (their 
 
 
 -•£^1': 
 
 -■'m 
 
 I'm: Hkadouartkks Stakk. 
 52
 
 Proclaimed' King at St, James's 
 
 collars worked in silver with S. S.) ; enormous gold 
 maces, belonging to the Royal Insignia of the Tower, 
 being carried by these attendants. To the front 
 of the balcony there stept forward, when all was in 
 readiness, the four State trumpeters, in brilliant 
 uniform, and, ere Big Ben from the tower yonder, 
 seen through the haze of the Park, had boomed the 
 last of his nine strokes, an impressive fanfare of 
 trumpets led up to the long-awaited Proclamation. 
 Now, in clear, deliberate, ringing tones, so that not 
 one word was lost to the hearing of those assembled 
 in the courtyard, the Deputy Garter read from a 
 long parchment scroll the Proclamation, as follows : — 
 
 " Whereas it has pleased Almighty God to call to 
 His Mercy Our late Sovereign Lady Queen Victoria, 
 of Blessed and Glorious Memory, by whose Decease 
 the Imperial Crown of the United Kingdom of Great 
 Britain and Ireland is solely and rightfully come to 
 the High and Mighty Prince Albert Edward : We, 
 therefore, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of this 
 Realm, being here assisted with these of her late 
 Majesty's Privy Council, with Numbers of other Principal 
 Gentlemen of Quality, with the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, 
 and Citizens of London, do now hereby, with one 
 Voice and Consent of Tongue and Heart, publish and 
 proclaim. That the High and Mighty Prince, Albert
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 Edward, is now, by the Death of our late Sovereign of 
 Happy Memory, become our only lawful and rightful 
 Liege Lord Edward the Seventh, by the Grace of God, 
 King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
 Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India : 
 To whom we do acknowledge all Faith and constant 
 Obedience, with all hearty and humble Affection ; 
 beseeching God, by whom Kings and Queens do reign, 
 to bless the Royal Prince Edward the Seventh, with 
 long and happy Years to reign over Us." 
 
 The final word of the Proclamation having been 
 spoken. Deputy Garter, in a voice that carried 
 beyond the old walls of the quadrangle to the ears 
 of the crowd standing without the Palace precincts, 
 cried out " God save the King ! " upon which the 
 State trumpets blared in unison once again, the 
 Grenadiers' band gave forth the National Anthem, 
 and a great burst of cheering went up from all 
 assembled. And so, with the inspiring words " God 
 save the King " still on the lips of his Majesty's 
 loyal subjects, the stately, picturesque, and impressive 
 rite in so far as St. James's was concerned reached 
 its appointed end. 
 
 A few minutes passed and then a procession 
 started on its way from the old Palace to different 
 points of the Empire's capital, where, in accordance 
 
 54
 
 Proclaimed King at St. James's 
 
 with precedent, the Proclamation had to be read 
 afresh. Mounted poHce led the way, and there was 
 a brave escort of Royal Horse Guards (Blue). But 
 the gorgeously clad Heralds and Pursuivants, depart- 
 ing in this instance from old-time custom, proceeded 
 Citywards in closed equipages, and not, as seemed 
 to be anticipated, on horseback. The General and 
 officers of the Home District Staff brought up 
 the rear of the cortege, which made its way along 
 Pall Mall at a slow and stately pace to the ancient 
 City ruled by the Lord Mayor. There in his 
 presence all was done over again, and so elsewhere. 
 At noon a Royal salute was fired in St. James's 
 Park to mark the accession of King Edward VH. 
 Thousands of people assembled on the Horse Guards' 
 Parade to witness the ceremony. 
 
 55
 
 /^^N Thursday, February 14th, King Edward 
 ^^ — VII. opened his first ParHament in person, 
 accompanied by her Majesty Queen Alexandra, 
 and attended by all the great officers of State. 
 There, and then, from the Throne, in the House 
 of Lords, the King made his " Solemn Declaration " 
 --hereinafter referred to in Section VII. of the 
 Coronation Service itself 
 
 By the " Bill of Rights," 1688 (i William and 
 Mary, Sess. 2, c 2), it is enacted : 
 
 " That every King and Queene of this Realme, 
 who at any time hereafter shall come to, and 
 succeede in, the imperiall crowne of this kingdome, 
 shall on the first day of the meeting of the first 
 Parlyament, next after his, or her, comeing to the 
 crowne, sitting in his, or her, throne in the House 
 of Peeres, in the presence of the lords, and com- 
 mons, therein assembled, or at his, or her, coronation, 
 before such person, or persons, who shall administer 
 the coronation oath to him, or her, at the time of 
 his, or her, takeing the said oath (which shall 
 first happen), make, subscribe, and audibly repeate, 
 56
 
 Opens his First Parliament in Person 
 
 the Declaration mentioned in the statute made in 
 the thirtyeth yeare of the raigne of King Charles the 
 Second, entituled An Act for the more effectuall 
 Preserveing the King's Person, and Government, by 
 disabling Papists from silting in either House of 
 Parlyament. 
 
 " But, if it shall happen that such King or 
 Queene upon his, or her, succession to the crowne 
 of this Realme, shall be under the age of twelve 
 yeares, then every such King or Queene shall make, 
 subscribe, and audibly repeate the said Declaration 
 at his, or her, coronation, or the first day of the 
 meeting of the first Parlyament as aforesaid, which 
 shall first happen after such King, or Queene, shall 
 have attained the said age of twelve years." 
 
 These words, " annexed to the original Act in a 
 separate schedule," arc the law to-day in Eng- 
 land—at all events to the date of this present 
 writing. 
 
 The Declaration above referred to (we append 
 it in the original) made by his Majesty was as 
 follows, the words being repeated after the Lord 
 Chancellor, the King kissing the Testament and 
 subscribing his name to the Oath immediately 
 after : — 
 
 " 1 [Edward] doe solemnely and sincerely in the 
 presence of God professe testifie and declare, that I 
 
 57 E
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 doe believe that in the sacrament of the Lord's 
 Supper there is not any transubstantiation of the 
 elements of bread and wine into the body and blood 
 of Christ, at or after the consecration thereof by any 
 person whatsoever ; and that the invocation or adora- 
 tion of the Virgin Mary or any other saint, and the 
 sacrifice of the masse as they are now used in the 
 Church of Rome are superstitious and idolatrous, 
 and I doe solemnely in the presence of God pro- 
 fesse testifie and declare, that I doe make this 
 declaration and every part thereof in the plaine and 
 ordinary sence of the words read unto me, as they 
 are commonly understood by English Protestants 
 without any evasion, equivocation or mentall reserva- 
 tion whatsoever, and without any dispensation already 
 granted me for this purpose by the Pope or any 
 other authority or person whatsoever, or without any 
 hope of any such dispensation from any person or 
 authority whatsoever, or without thinking that I am 
 or can l)e acquitted l)efore God or man or absolved 
 of this declaration or any part thereof, although the 
 Pope or any other person or persons or power whatso- 
 ever should dispence with or annull the same, or 
 declare that it was null and void from the beginning." 
 
 The Coronation Oath, it may be stated, is given 
 in the Coronation Service, printed elsewhere : 
 Section VII. 
 
 The scene in the House of Lords at the signing 
 58
 
 Opens his First Parliament in Person 
 
 of the Declaration was thus graphically described 
 in a London journal of the following day : * 
 
 " The chamber that we call the Royal Gallery 
 is a worthy introduction to the House of Lords 
 itself — the proportions admirable, the colour scheme 
 sober and impressive. The two great battle-scenes 
 of modern England — Waterloo and Trafalgar — line 
 the walls in giant frescoes, pictures from which 
 one's eye wanders to the touch of Georgian 
 uniform in the head-dress and shakoes of some 
 attendants of the Royal Household. The line is 
 kept by the Yeomen of the Guard. Near the 
 richly moulded doorway leading to the House 
 itself stand the brilliant group of Gentlemen-at- 
 Arms, their bedazzlement contrasting sharply with 
 the pure white marble of the statue of the youth- 
 ful Queen Victoria, idealised into a vision of love- 
 liness and mild majesty. It is this statue that 
 King and Queen face as they begin their progress 
 up the Gallery. 
 
 " The staircase is a wonderful sight. On either 
 
 side stands a living hedge of blue and silver 
 
 topped with red plumes, and shining with the 
 
 steel of swords and burnished cuirasses. It is the 
 
 * Daily Ncivs, February 15111, 1901. 
 
 59
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 Horse Guards. The officers group themselves at 
 the head of the stairway, and with them is a mass 
 of gayer plumage still — the Pursuivants and Heralds. 
 Gradually the forerunners and great figures of the 
 pageantry appear — Lord Salisbury rolling heavily 
 along in his scarlet peer's robes with three bars 
 of white ermine on the shoulder to mark his 
 rank. Apparently there is some doubt as to pre- 
 cedence, for he and the Duke of Devonshire, in 
 ducal dress, confer with very uncercmonial smiles, 
 and presently the Prime Minister, whose position 
 here is Lord Privy Seal — for everything to-day is 
 ornamental rather than practical — takes his station 
 at the foot of the staircase. Then he returns, 
 arid by-and-by from the Lords comes the Lord 
 Chancellor, with his long smoke-coloured wig and 
 white frilled necktie, and red and ermine robe with 
 touches of black in it. With him is the Mace, 
 and he, of course, is one of the great features of 
 the procession. 15y-and-by come the two officials 
 who are entrusted with the carrying of the twin 
 symbols of Sovereignty — the historic Crown of 
 England and the more mysterious Cap of Main- 
 tenance, with its broad ermine border and heavy 
 gold tassel. The Marquis of Winchester bears 
 
 60
 
 The House of Lords from the Rivf.f 
 
 6i
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 the Cap on a short stick, while the greater charge 
 of the Crown is in the hands of the Duke of 
 Devonshire [Lord President of the Council]. Round 
 the Duke's neck is a band ; in front of him is 
 a cushioned tray, on which lies the glittering 
 symbol of majesty. 
 
 " It is impossible not to smile. The gravest of 
 men, the Duke of Devonshire has the air of a 
 State Autolycus, hawking some new ware of price. 
 There is a long wait, then a stir at the closed 
 doorway which leads from the Robing Room. 
 Faint sounds of martial music are borne in from 
 without, and then, suddenly, the small trumpeters, 
 in their black jockey caps and long yellow coats, 
 break into a flourish. The doors swing back, and 
 the Royal procession marches in. Before it are 
 marshalled the mingled pageantry of State and 
 Court ceremonial, the Prime Minister, the Lord 
 President, the Lord Chancellor, and the House- 
 hold Officials. The Heralds link themselves on to 
 the vanguard, and then, with little preface, come 
 King and Queen, hand in hand, bowing slightly 
 as they walk. Their dresses have a certain 
 resemblance, a subtle union of masculine and 
 feminine magnificence. The King wears a short 
 
 62
 
 Opens his First Parliament in Person 
 
 ermine cape over his Field-Marshal's uniform, and 
 beneath the cape a sweeping cloak and train of 
 Royal purple. Some think his face recalls Harry 
 Tudor ; we thought it rather Georgian. In the 
 Queen's dress signs of mourning appear more dis- 
 tinctly and veil the strong contrasts of colour. 
 On her head is a tiny, almost toylike crown of 
 diamonds, and underneath it a sweeping black 
 veil. Masculine eyes hardly grasp the subtle blend- 
 ing of black and purple in the long robe, and the 
 Garter worn high up on the left arm. But the 
 Queen's bearing is a thing to which no eye, how- 
 ever careless, can be indifferent. It is a touch of 
 poetry, a feminine appeal which wins every heart. 
 One thinks again of Queen Victoria's long-past 
 youth and the girlish figure, the parted lips, the 
 brave smile, of which all the courtly pens of sixty 
 long years ago have told us. 
 
 " The procession is a little late, but here it is 
 at last. The audience rises, and the brilliant 
 group appears in the doorway. King and Queen 
 are still hand in hand. They bow right and left, 
 and the assembly bows lower still in silence. They 
 
 63
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 seat themselves, the Queen looking across the 
 Peeresses' Gallery, the King gazing steadily before 
 him. Then Black Rod breaks a long, rather 
 awkward silence by slipping round to the Oppo- 
 sition side of the House, bowing low to the King 
 as he goes. For it is still the fact that the presence 
 of the Commons, of whom one hears so little in 
 these high days, is needed before the Royal Message 
 can be read, or the accompanying Declaration on 
 the Mass can be made. And then occurs an 
 amusing interlude. We are all attuned to a solemn 
 mood, when on our listening ears breaks a noise as 
 of thunder, a trampling of many feet, a shaking 
 of the very galleries. It is the faithful Commons 
 breaking in on our dignity — a Comus route of 
 legislators. Somehow the dignified Speaker is in 
 the centre, with Sir William Harcourt on his left 
 and Mr. Balfour, Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, and 
 presently Mr. Chamberlain, impelled from behind 
 by some physical force or grace of courtesy, on 
 the right. And then — the Commons having in 
 some fashion assembled themselves before the bar 
 — State reigns again. 
 
 "The prelude is a little out of tune with the 
 later note of stateliness. The Lord Chancellor 
 
 64
 
 Opens his First Parliament in Person 
 
 emerges from the group round the Throne, which 
 now includes Lord Salisbury and the Duke of 
 Devonshire (with tlic Crown) on the right of the 
 Throne, and Lord Londonderry to the left, holding 
 the Sword of State, with its elaborately worked hilt 
 and scabbard. On chairs a little in front are a 
 group of ladies in black — the daughters of the late 
 Queen, the Duchess of Argyll among them, still 
 notable for a certain stately beauty, the Duchess 
 of Cornwall and young Prince Arthur of Connaught, 
 while Prince and Princess Christian are somewhat 
 in the background. It is to this group that Lord 
 Halsbury presents himself armed with a red satchel 
 of elaborate embroidery. His appearance proves to 
 be the inauguration of the strange little ceremony, 
 of which so much has been heard — the Declaration 
 against the Mass and other Roman doctrines and 
 observances. It is hardly impressive. King, and 
 kneeling Chancellor, exchange copies of a Testament 
 and of the Declaration form, from which the King 
 proceeds to read out the rather crude, fierce sen- 
 tences of the old formulary. Not a word, however, 
 reaches ears — Catholic or Protestant — as distant as 
 those in the Strangers' Gallery. The Chancellor 
 follows [leads?] the King in a kind of rapid and 
 
 65
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 muttered unison. Then comes the Oath, and the 
 King's signature to the document, and again for a 
 moment or two the ceremony proceeds on rather 
 a halting wing. But it comes to a dignified and 
 ample close. Now more at his ease, the Sovereign, 
 who wears his cocked military hat, stands and 
 reads the language of the King's Speech, which, 
 as suiting the occasion, is far more rounded and 
 ceremonial than usual. The effect is excellent. 
 His strong, full voice penetrates easily every corner 
 of the Chamber. The elocution is slow and 
 dignified, and is altogether a lesson in the art of 
 public speech to the statesmen who a few hours 
 later replace him less audibly and less impressively. 
 The Speech over, the King retains it folded in the 
 hand which he gives to the Queen, and the pair 
 make an exit not less stately than their entrance." 
 One point arose out of the proceedings at the 
 opening of the first Parliament of King Edward VII. 
 which it may be interesting to note here. A protest, 
 most temperately and respectfully worded, by the 
 Roman Catholic peers against the form of the fore- 
 going Declaration to which the King had to swear 
 and subscribe was addressed to the Lord Chancellor 
 (Lord Halsbury). That the oath was imperatively 
 
 66
 
 opens his First Parliament in Person 
 
 required by the statute which secures the succession 
 to the Throne was not denied, nor did the 
 signatories to the protest object to any forms which 
 expHcitly pledge the Sovereign to be true, in 
 accordance with the " Bill of "Rights," to the funda- 
 
 Westminster Bridge from the South, showing the Houses of 
 Parliament. 
 
 mental principles of Protestantism. But they took 
 exception to what they described as the contumelious 
 epithets and the provocative tone of the oath, of 
 which the text is printed, pp. 57-8. They expressed 
 tlicmselves as submitting to the law as it stood, 
 
 67
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 though they hoped it might be possible to alter 
 it. They were, they said, as loyal and devoted to 
 the Crown, and the King, as any others of his 
 subjects. But the language of the Declaration to 
 which the Sovereign had to subscribe on his 
 Accession made it painful to them to be present 
 on an occasion in which, from every other point of 
 view, they shared the feelings of their countrymen. 
 Those who read that Declaration can hardly be 
 surprised in these days of religious toleration at 
 this protest on the part of Roman Catholics whose 
 loyalty would not be called in question. 
 
 The oath prescribed by the " Bill of Rights " was 
 incorporated in the Act of Settlement, when the 
 British people had just shaken themselves free from 
 the tyranny of James II. and from the power of 
 dispensation by the Pope, on which that Monarch 
 relied in evading his Constitutional pledges. The 
 circumstances have been altogether changed in the 
 last two centuries. Similar oaths, as the Times * 
 (from which we borrow these comments) points out 
 — similar oaths by which private persons and 
 ordinary officials were bound, have been modified 
 so as to do away with offensive and contentious 
 * February 15th, 1901 
 
 68
 
 Opens his First Parliament in Person 
 
 matter. Yet there arc still ample guarantees for 
 the maintenance of the Protestant character of the 
 British Constitution, which, indeed, will never be 
 in any danger while the British people remain, as 
 they will certainly remain, Protestant to the very 
 marrow of their bones. An Act of Parliament 
 bringing the language of the declaration to be 
 subscribed by the Sovereign into harmony with 
 the amenities of modern life might be passed, 
 without touching any point of Constitutional policy, 
 or giving the slightest opening for any conceivable 
 advance of Roman Catholicism to political power by 
 the exercise of personal influence over the ruling 
 Sovereign. 
 
 Roman Catholics in both Mouses of Parliament 
 later complained of the Declaration, and recourse 
 was had to a Joint Committee, to ascertain whether 
 " the language of the Declaration could be modified 
 advantageously, without diminishing its value for 
 the continuance of the Protestant succession." This 
 Committee recommended two changes— that the 
 words referring to the adoration of the Virgin Mary 
 should be struck out, and that a specific statement 
 of belief in the Protestant religion should be inserted. 
 When embodied in a Bill, however, the suggested 
 
 69
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 alterations were exposed to severe criticism. Neither 
 Roman Catholics nor English Churchmen were 
 satisfied, and in the end the measure was abandoned, 
 despite its second reading in the House of Lords 
 (ninety-six for and six against) and the Prime 
 Minister's (Lord Salisbury) avowal that unless the 
 Declaration was modified as proposed it must remain 
 in its old objectionable form. 
 
 Sterne writing to one of his friends remarks : " Of 
 all the cants which arc canted in this canting world 
 — though the cant of hypocrisy may be the worst — 
 the cant of criticism is the most tormenting." In 
 truth, criticism is tormenting. The " Declaration " 
 induced a great deal of it of one kind and another 
 in speeches and writings; not a little of it, in Sterne's 
 sense, " canting," and not a little of it, we willingly 
 believe, sincere. His Eminence the Cardinal Arch- 
 bishop of Westminster, had somewhat to say on the 
 subject. In the view of his Eminence the " Declara- 
 tion " as it stands is "blasphemous," "detestable," 
 " an insult to Catholics," and " worthless as a 
 guarantee for anything in the future."* Neverthe- 
 
 * Speech at Newcastle-on-Tyne, November 9th, 1901. 
 70
 
 Opens his First Parliament in Person 
 
 less, the Cardinal " entirely and frankly accepts the 
 decision of the country that the King must be 
 Protestant." The " Declaration " doubtless is offen- 
 sive in its phraseology to a good many ; but there it 
 stands on the Statute book till Lords and Commons 
 agree in abolishing or repealing it, and the People 
 back them up in so doing. A modification of the 
 " specially provocative " parts of the Declaration — 
 that is to say, the " branding with contumelious 
 epithets " of some of the doctrines held by the 
 Roman Catholic subjects of the Crown might with 
 justice, perhaps, be conceded. But the mass of the 
 nation would never be disposed, we believe, to go 
 beyond that point. 
 
 71
 
 M 
 
 R. ADDINGTON, the well-known statesman 
 of George III.'s reign, writing to his brother, 
 remarks (December 29th, 1804) that he had just 
 been dining with the King. " Our dinner consisted 
 of mutton-chops and pudding." That frugal meal, 
 served, be it observed, at Christmas-tide, and 
 common to many a middle-class English house- 
 hold of to-day, whose wage-earning capacity hardly 
 reaches to more than a couple of pounds a \veek, 
 was served to Royalty and its guests at Buckingham 
 House (then the Queen's palace), when its owner, 
 King George III., was in receipt of i^8oo,ooo a year 
 from the Civil List, plus other sources of income 
 independent of Parliamentary control, which Mr. 
 Burke estimated to amount annually to a sum 
 " little less than a million pounds sterling." 
 
 A king may of course— just as one of his subjects 
 - -dine as he will, either in the st\'le of Lucullus 
 or Duke Humphrj' ; and George III. was par- 
 ticularly partial (so we are told) to mutton, loin, 
 
 72
 
 Will Serve for Table-Talk 
 
 leg, or shoulder. To provide a meagre dish of 
 chops for a Minister of State (we think Chancellor 
 of the Exchequer at that time) who had a voice 
 in the voting of ^800,000 a year " for the sup- 
 port of the dignity, and for the personal comfort 
 of the Sovereign," was not, one would say, the 
 wisest way of getting it increased when urgency 
 demanded. 
 
 Yet George the Third found that sum insufficient, 
 and was compelled more than once during his 
 reign, to ask for more. Parliament voted sub- 
 stantial sums to pay his debts. His son, George 
 the Fourth, annually received ^^"845,727 for his 
 Civil List — and a good deal more, amounting to 
 at least three-quarters of a million pounds sterling, 
 independent of Parliament. It is only fair to say, 
 that the yearly charges on the Civil List were, in 
 those days, exceptionally heavy for reasons various, 
 all duly accounted for in the ample history of those 
 times. Parliament eventually interfered to curtail 
 those charges, and voted an annual sum to the 
 Crown which may be said nowadays to represent 
 the Sovereign's annual income from the State. 
 William the Fourth received ^^"5 10,000 a year, and 
 her late Majesty Ouecn Victoria, ^^385,000, plus (if 
 
 11 F
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 we remember aright) a matter of some ^1200 a 
 year, for what are now known as Civil List pensions, 
 generally bestowed on the recommendation of the 
 Prime Minister, on persons who have deserved 
 well of the State in some profession, or department 
 of public life, and whose means of livelihood are 
 
 Buckingham Palace. 
 
 scanty. For example, Literature and Science, etc., 
 share in these small annual benefactions ; as 
 occasionally do the widows and orphans of military 
 and naval commanders. 
 
 I recollect a legal friend once telling me, that he 
 had travelled to the country-seat of a very rich 
 man to deliver some legal documents to be signed. 
 
 74
 
 Will Serve for Table-Talk 
 
 My friend was invited to luncheon. Naturally, I 
 asked the man of law — for all lawyers love good 
 living — how he fared. Sumptuously, said he ; de- 
 licious dishes and exquisite wines. The host himself 
 partook of a single cup of cocoa, and a few pieces 
 of dry toast. " ' To such base uses may we come 
 at last, Horatio,' " said I ; " even though we be 
 possessed of all the wealth of the Indies, and all 
 the power of ancient Rome." 'Tis a melancholy 
 reflection when we come to consider it, that imagina- 
 tion may " trace the noble dust of Alexander, 
 till he find it stopping a bung-hole ! " Though " not 
 all the water in the rough wide sea, can wash the 
 balm from an anointed king," not all that wealth 
 e'er gave, or power conferred, can make him 
 more than human. Parliaments may vote millions 
 of money for the support of his dignity and for 
 his personal comfort ; but a king, after all, finds 
 but twenty-four hours in a day, and can eat but his 
 customary three daily meals, sleep his customary 
 hours of sleep, enjoy himself occasionally as he will, 
 walk, ride, rest, work, like the rest of us, during his 
 three score years and ten or four score years of 
 life, as may be allotted him. 
 
 Why do Parliaments haggle about " Civil Lists " 
 75
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 and Kings' incomes ? What particular enjoyment 
 do kings get out of life m.ore than the average of 
 us? I wonder whether Mr. Astor, Mr. Carnegie, 
 or Mr. Rockefeller — if they will forgive me for 
 naming them — or Mr. Any One Else could tell us 
 honestly that their enjoyment of life first to last 
 has been supreme — one continuous round of delight- 
 ful days all their life long? For my part, I would 
 vote his Majesty, a King, all the money he found 
 he had occasion for ; trusting, perhaps, that none 
 but a very small amount would be required of him 
 who has but little to contribute. Such an expression 
 of opinion will be taken for what it is worth. 
 Literary persons rarely learn the value of money. 
 How should they ? when so little comes their way. 
 But we are rambling from the point. 
 
 Many subjects which in old times were matters 
 of controversy with regard to the Civil List 
 of the Sovereigns of England have now disap- 
 peared. There is universal agreement that the 
 Civil List shall not contain anything but that 
 which is necessary for the maintenance of the 
 dignity and status of the Crown. In former reigns 
 frequent applications were made to Parliament, after 
 the Civil List had been fixed, for the payment 
 
 76
 
 Will Serve for Table-Talk 
 
 of debts of the Sovereign or of members of the 
 Royal Famih\ " Though in the later years of the 
 late Queen's reign (Queen Victoria) the expenditure 
 .had been greater than Parliament had provided for, 
 not one application," the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
 told the House of Commons on the evening of 
 March iith, 1901, "had been made for any addition 
 to the Civil List." " His Majesty King Edward," 
 we were officially reminded, " had for many years 
 occupied an exceptional position, having had, as 
 Prince of Wales, the duties of Royalty thrown 
 upon him, involving heavier expenditure than that 
 ordinarily required of the Heir Apparent, yet his 
 annuity fixed thirty years ago had proved sufficient 
 for the exceptional duties which he had performed 
 in a manner entitling him to the gratitude of the 
 country, and to enable him to provide for all those 
 who were dependent upon him in a spirit of 
 generous consideration for their comfort and wel- 
 fare which had been an example to the nation 
 at large." 
 
 Roth these statements, it may be remarked in 
 passing, came as a surprise to those who, in time 
 past, were seldom free from gossiping about the 
 late Queen's supposed thrift on the one hand,
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 and the Prince of Wales's supposed extrava- 
 gance on the other : another lesson on the un- 
 righteousness and injustice of judging others. " The 
 basis of the proposals of the Government were 
 the Civil List of her late Majesty, with such varia- 
 tions as the altered circumstances and experiences 
 of more than sixty years might show to be necessary. 
 There never was a time when the Monarchy was 
 more universally popular, and it was incumbent 
 upon the people as a matter of honour to provide 
 adequately for the dignity of the head of the State. 
 At the same time, all would agree that that should 
 be done without extravagance or lavish waste." 
 Such were the views of his Majesty's Government, 
 in making arrangements for the due support of 
 the King's dignity, and in furtherance of the 
 comfort of his Majesty's Household and that of 
 Queen Alexandra, and the members of their 
 family when Parliament took the Civil List into 
 consideration last year. 
 
 On April 4th, 1901, the House of Commons Com- 
 mittee, to which the whole matter had been referred, 
 published its report, and all the facts and suggestions 
 therewith associated. The financial recommenda- 
 tions of the Committee may be thus summarised : 
 
 78
 
 Will Serve for Table-Talk 
 
 Civil List 
 First Class 
 
 Second Class 
 
 Third Class 
 
 Fourth Class 
 Fifth Class 
 
 Sixth Class 
 
 ^470,000 
 
 Their Majesties' Privy 
 
 Purse . . . £1 10,000 
 
 Salaries of his 
 Majesty's House- 
 hold and Retired 
 Allowances . . 125,800 
 
 Expenses of his Ma- 
 jesty's Household 193,000 
 
 Works . . . 20,000 
 
 Royal Bounty, Alms, 
 and Special Ser- 
 vices . . . 13,200 
 Unappropriated . 8,000 
 
 Total for the Civil List . . ^470,000 
 
 2. Annuity to H.R.H. the Duke of Cornwall and 
 
 York (later created Prince of Walesj 
 
 3. Annuity to H.R.H. the Duchess of Cornwall anc 
 
 York (Princess of Wales) 
 
 4. Provision for the King's Daughters 
 
 5. Charge on Consolidated Fund for Householc 
 
 Pensions to Servants of the late Queen, not 
 exceeding ....... 
 
 Total . . . . 
 
 10,000 
 18,000 
 
 25,000 
 ^543,000 
 
 On Thursday, May 14th, 1901, the Chancellor of 
 the Exchequer (Sir Michael Hicks Beach) brought 
 the proposals of the Government, in respect of the 
 Civil List — the King's annual income, to use an 
 everyday term — before the House of Commons. 
 
 79
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 The following resolution was put from the Chair : — ■ 
 " That there shall be charged on the Consolidated 
 Fund, as from the demise of her late Majesty, the 
 following annual payments : — For the King's Civil 
 List, ^470,000 ; for retired allowances, such sums 
 as may be required for the pax-mcnt in each 
 year of pensions granted by her late Majesty or 
 by his present Majesty to servants of her late 
 Majesty's household, not exceeding ^^25,000 ; for 
 Civil List pensions, such sums as may be required, 
 taken in each year, for Civil List pensions, 
 already granted or hereafter to be granted ; for 
 the Duke of Cornwall and York, ^20,000 ; for 
 the Duchess of Cornwall and York, i?io,ooo ; 
 for the Duchess of Cornwall and \'ork, in the 
 event of her Royal Highness's surviving the Duke 
 of Cornwall and York, ^30,000 ; for his Majesty's 
 daughters, i^i8,ooo; for Queen Alexandra, in the 
 event of her Majesty's surviving his Majesty the 
 King, ;^70,ooo ; and that provision be made for 
 continuing for a period of six months after the 
 close of the present reign certain items charged, 
 which would otiierwise be then determined." It 
 was carried by a majority of 249 in a " House " 
 of 365 members. The Duke of Cornwall and York, 
 
 80
 
 Will Serve for Table-Talk 
 
 it should be noted, was created Prince of Wales on 
 November 9th following. 
 
 With the resolution no serious fault was found in 
 any quarter. It was generally conceded that, with- 
 out being lavish, the provision made for the Crown 
 was sufficient to secure in the actual circumstances of 
 the time the maintenance of its honour, dignity, and 
 necessary ceremonial. 
 
 Referring to the debate that took place on this 
 proposal the Times* said: "Comparing the present 
 occasion with the last upon which the Civil List 
 came before Parliament for revision, it is impossible 
 to miss the significant alteration in the temper of 
 the House and the country. There is not a trace 
 of the somewhat grudging spirit which then prevailed. 
 At a time when the national burdens are excep- 
 tionally heavy, a substantial addition to the cost 
 of the Monarchy meets with nothing but general 
 approval. It is quite true that in relation to the 
 general expenditure of the country the increase of 
 the Civil List is a mere trifle. But it is equally 
 true that it is quite large enough to have provoked 
 serious opposition in a different condition of public 
 sentiment. 
 
 * May 15th, 1901. 
 81
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 " What is the cause of the marked change in the 
 mode of looking at the Civil List ? There can be 
 no sort of doubt that it is due to the cause assigned 
 by Sir Michael Hicks Beach, the great popularity 
 which has accrued to the Crown owing to the ad- 
 mirable manner in which Queen Victoria discharged 
 all the duties of a constitutional Sovereign. At her 
 accession the country had had Sovereigns of a very 
 different type to contemplate for several generations. 
 The Crown was not popular, certainly no one would 
 have ventured to say of it that ' at present it is, 
 perhaps, the most popular of our great institutions ' 
 as Sir Michael Hicks Beach said last night, without 
 calling forth a murmur of dissent. While rendering 
 all homage to the late Queen for the great qualities 
 and the consistent devotion to duty which endeared 
 her to her people and strengthened the foundations 
 of the Throne, we may add that something more 
 was required to produce the condition of public 
 feeling and temper upon which we may now con- 
 gratulate ourselves. Respect for his mother would 
 not by itself have produced the existing unanimity, 
 in providing upon an increased scale for the expendi- 
 ture of the King. If Queen Victoria differed widely 
 from the Georges, so did her Heir Apparent differ 
 
 82
 
 Will Serve for Table-Talk 
 
 widely from the type of Heir Apparents to which 
 the country had been accustomed. Instead of being 
 a leader of faction and a centre of intrigue, he was 
 the most loyal and one of the most hard-working 
 of her Majesty's subjects. He bore himself in his 
 difficult position with a tact, a wisdom, and a dignity 
 which the nation fully appreciated. At his accession 
 to the Throne he was hailed with enthusiasm and an 
 assured confidence which count for much, even beside 
 the memory of the virtues which adorned the late 
 Oueen." 
 
 83
 
 PART II 
 THE CORONATION 
 
 CRDWIMMORTALLYI 
 ,0NGGUARDITY0TJR5 
 
 "The perfection of Glory consists in these three particulars : 
 That the People love us; that they have confidence in us; 
 that being affected with a certain admiration towards us, they 
 think we deserve honour." 
 
 «5
 
 '"T^HE sharpest and most difficult profession of 
 -'- the world, in mine opinion " (wrote old 
 Montaigne, in the middle years of the sixteenth 
 century), " is to act and play the King. I excuse 
 more of their faults, than commonly other men 
 do ; and that in consideration of the down-bearing 
 weight of their charge." " The person who is the 
 cause of all this pomp and magnificence is the man 
 I envy least," Prince Charles Edward is reported 
 to have remarked (on the authority of David 
 Hume *) to a gentleman who recognised him in 
 the Abbey at the Coronation of George III. On 
 the other hand, when, at the coronation of 
 Queen Mary (wife of William the Third), the 
 Princess Anne kindly remarked to the Queen : 
 "Madame, I pity your fatigue," "A crown, 
 sister," said her Majesty — "sharply," .so Oldmixon 
 would have us believe—" is not so heavy as 
 it seems." 
 
 * The Gctiilematis Magazine, 1773. 
 87
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 We are inclined to think that, in these our own 
 times, " the down-bearing weight " of the King's 
 charge, not less maybe than his crown, is not 
 so heavy, perhaps, as might without consideration 
 appear to be. Truly, his Majesty's charge is 
 sufficiently onerous in all conscience — in the ordinary 
 daily duties to be performed, in the time and 
 personal attention necessary to be given to those 
 duties, in ceremonial functions to be presided at — 
 Drawing-rooms, Levees, and the like, in Council 
 meetings and interviews with Ministers of State, 
 in a hundred-and-one fatiguing other affairs, which 
 the King's subjects pray his Majesty from time 
 to time to take part in, wholly unconnected with 
 his more serious and imperative duties as Sovereign. 
 What those daily duties were, and how exacting 
 they were, in the late Queen Victoria's reign, we 
 were told by the Queen herself in her letters to 
 
 88
 
 " The King shall have Welcome " 
 
 her People. Day in and day out, they had to 
 be undertaken by the Queen, much as the daily 
 routine of one of the least important officials 
 of the State. When one comes to consider 
 of it, very few would be willing to exchange 
 the leisure of a subject for the labour of a King. 
 
 The amount of business a King disposes of in 
 the course of a working day must be out of all 
 proportion greater than the average entailed upon 
 very many of his subjects. From the standpoint 
 of merely personal convenience, there is probably 
 no measure to which his Majesty of England would 
 more thankfully say " Le Roy Ic veult " — after the 
 manner of the Royal assent in old Norman French 
 given to measures passed by Parliament — than one 
 for restricting the labours of all Britons, including 
 himself, to eight hours a da}'. Such at least is 
 the opinion of a contemporary London journal.* 
 To the multifarious and most responsible duties 
 devolving upon the Sovereign, have been super- 
 added in his Majesty's case a thousand and one 
 cares arising out of his accession to the Throne. 
 Few people have any idea of the time and thought 
 recjuired for the arrangement of such a great Court 
 '• The Daily Telegraphy November 9th, 1901. 
 89 G
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 function as the Coronation. When all the machinery 
 of an historic public ceremony is finally set in 
 motion, it works so smoothly that those who only 
 watch its frictionlcss movement fail to realise that 
 this very ease is the outcome of months of patient 
 consideration and forethought. But the busiest 
 man has always the most leisure at his disposal, 
 
 1 HE King's Guard at St. James s Palace. 
 
 and the King has never allowed these supplemen- 
 tary taxes upon his time to interfere with the first 
 pledge he gave to the nation to devote his life, 
 as his ever-to-be-lamented mother did before him, 
 to the interests and welfare of the Empire over 
 which he rules. Ministers alone could give a de- 
 tailed account of the care and attention which his 
 
 QO
 
 " The King shall have Welcome " 
 
 Majesty bestows on concerns of State, and their lips 
 are sealed. But the general public has formed an 
 adequate idea of the intense devotion of Queen 
 Victoria to public affairs, and it is in her footsteps 
 that King Edward is travelling. 
 
 The model of a Constitutional Sovereign ! How 
 often we have heard that phrase? Englishmen never 
 fail to point with pride to the fact, that her late 
 Majesty Queen Victoria was that very model, illus- 
 trious in character and in example alike. The fact 
 that it is so and was so, does not appear to have 
 lessened the good Queen's labours one jot. On the 
 contrary, it probably largely added to them, since 
 among the chief obligations entailed upon a con- 
 stitutional sovereign is that paramount sense of duty 
 that impels him always vigorously and religiously to 
 fulfil his own. " Every subject's duty is the King's." 
 How awfully difficult it is for the greatest or meanest 
 among us, the most eager, the most earnest, the 
 most prudent, the most unselfish, to come anywhere 
 near a rigorous and religious fulfilment of ours ! 
 
 " The appearance of power," wrote Lord North, 
 " is all that a King of this country can have." We 
 should imagine— with every feeling of respect be it 
 added — that a King of England should be very well 
 
 91
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 content to find he has no more. For the King's 
 trusted Ministers to do all the thinking and 
 working, and the King himself to have all " the 
 appearance of power," and (as Lord North added) 
 " to be treated with all sort of respect and 
 attention " would, one might suppose, be one of the 
 happiest conditions in which a King could find 
 himself placed. Is it going too far to express the 
 hope that, under such conditions, King Edward 
 the Seventh will be crowned in the ancient coronation 
 chair of our kings at Westminster? None of its 
 former occupants ever had more abundant assurance 
 than he that the " down-bearing weight " of the 
 King's charge will be cheerfully lessened by the 
 affectionate respect and loyalty of his subjects. 
 
 Not less fortunately for a King of England, 
 than for his subjects : " There can be no exercise 
 of prerogative," so said Sir Samuel Romilly on a 
 memorable occasion, " in which the King is without 
 some adviser. He might seek the counsels of any 
 man however objectionable, but that man would 
 be responsible for the advice given, and for the 
 acts of the Crown. There was no Constitutional 
 doctrine more important than this, for the protection 
 of the Crown. History had unfolded the e\ils of 
 
 92
 
 " The King shall have Welcome " 
 
 a contrary principle having prevailed." Lord 
 Erskine also on a like occasion, in the House of 
 Lords, declared : " The King can perform no act 
 of government himself; and no man ought to be 
 received within the walls of this House to declare 
 that any act of government has proceeded from 
 the private will, and determination or conscience 
 of the King. The King as chief magistrate can 
 have no conscience which is not in the trust of 
 responsible subjects. When he delivers the seals 
 of office to the officers of State, his conscience, as it 
 regards the State, accompanies them. . . . No act 
 of state or government can therefore be the King's. 
 He cannot act but by advice ; and he who holds 
 office sanctions what is done, from whatever 
 source it may proceed." 
 
 According to Lord Macaulay : " The doctrine 
 that the Sovereign of the LTnited Kingdom is not 
 responsible, is doubtless as old as any part of 
 our English constitution. The doctrine that his 
 Ministers are responsible is also of immemorial 
 antiquity. That where there is no rcsponsibilit)', 
 there can be no trustworth}' securit}' against 
 maladministration is a doctrine which, in our 
 age, and country, few people will be inclined to 
 
 93
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 dispute. From these three propositions it plainly 
 follows, that the administration is likely to be 
 best conducted, when the Sovereign performs no 
 public act without the concurrence and instrumen- 
 tality of a Minister. This argument is perfectly 
 sound. But we must remember that arguments 
 are constructed in one way, and governments in 
 another. In logic, none but an idiot admits the 
 premises and denies the legitimate conclusion. 
 But, in practice, we see that great and enlightened 
 communities often persist, generation after genera- 
 tion, in asserting principles, and refusing to act 
 upon those principles. It may be doubted whether 
 any real polity that ever existed has exactly 
 corresponded to the pure idea of that polity. 
 According to the pure idea of Constitutional Royalty, 
 the prince reigns and does not govern ; and Con- 
 stitutional Royalty as it now exists in England 
 comes nearer than in any other country to the 
 pure idea. Yet it would be a great error to sup- 
 pose (the Historian adds) that our princes reign and 
 never govern." However that m;ly be : " Ours is 
 the happiest, the best, the most noble Constitution 
 in the world ; and I do not believe it possible 
 to make a better." If any should be disposed in 
 
 94
 
 " The King shall have Welcome " 
 
 these days to disagree in that opinion, perhaps 
 they might find some degree of justification for 
 a discussion upon the point, in the fact that the 
 words were spoken by Lord Bradfield, Lord 
 Justice Clerk of Scotkind's High Court of 
 Justiciary in Edinburgh, in the year 1793, at 
 the trial of Thomas Muir for sedition. Even 
 Judge Jeffreys has found his latter-day apologists. 
 Perchance Bradfield may find his— not for the 
 words now quoted, but for some of his acts as 
 judge. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone, in one of his constitutional essays, 
 dwells with characteristic fervour upon the im- 
 measurable gulf between the Crown and the most 
 highly placed of subjects. Philosophers, conscious 
 or unconscious, may ask with Uncle Toby, ' What 
 is all that to a man who fears God ? ' But from 
 the conventional and constitutional point of view, 
 Mr. Gladstone was perfectly right. The British 
 Constitution has been studiously framed to exalt 
 the person of the Sovereign above all possible 
 rivalry and amenability to any human tribunal. 
 When the P^rcnch King was naughty in the 
 schoolroom another boy was whipped. J^'or the 
 acts or omissions of a Briti.sh Sovereign a British 
 
 9$
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 Minister is always responsible. The Sovereign is 
 approached with profound reverence, he is care- 
 fully shielded from profane observation (this care 
 is, so it seems to us, less seriously attended to 
 than formerly), and his name cannot be so much 
 as mentioned, except as a pure form, in Parlia- 
 mentary debate. Mr. Disraeli was severely and 
 justly blamed because, after his defeat on the Irish 
 Church Resolutions in 1868, he intimated to the 
 House of Commons that the Queen had expressed 
 a preference for one of two possible courses. That 
 is precisely the sort of thing which a Minister has 
 no right to say. The Crown is an impalpable, 
 intangible entity, which its confidential servants 
 are bound to shield and to protect. The in- 
 dividual Sovereign may by personal influence, and 
 still more by personal example, exercise an immense 
 power for evil or for good. The King had in 
 one respect a great advantage, while from another 
 point of view he laboured under a serious difficulty. 
 He succeeded a very great and a very good woman, 
 ' the pillar of a people's hope, the centre of a 
 world's desire.' He can hardl}' liopc to surpass 
 her. But if he follow in her footsteps, he cannot 
 go far wrong. 
 
 96
 
 " The King shall have Welcome " 
 
 " The King when he came to the throne was the 
 oldest Heir Apparent in Europe. He was also the 
 best known. It is accounted among not the least 
 of the services which he has rendered to his country, 
 that he cultivated with perfect success the Royal 
 families of Europe, and the Republic of France. In 
 Paris he was always welcome. He showed that he 
 liked the French, and they welcomed him with cordial 
 enthusiasm. An excellent linguist, a genial com- 
 panion, and a cosmopolitan man of the world, he 
 took away, so far as he could, the reproach of 
 insular coldness and pride which is attached with 
 more or less justice to the British nation. He 
 made himself at home in France ; and in Germany 
 he was at home by nature. With the House of 
 Romanoff he is doubly connected, and he was on 
 peculiarly intimate terms with the father of the 
 present Czar, as he is with the Czar himself. 
 
 " At home the King always set in public an ad- 
 mirable example of what an Heir Apparent should 
 be. and fulfilled with entire success the singularly 
 arduous task of being activcl)- neutral in politics. 
 Interested, and well known to have been inter- 
 ested, in all that was going on, King Edward 
 when Heir Apparent never, with one exception, 
 
 97
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 showed the faintest preference for one side of a 
 poHtical controversy against another. That ex- 
 ception was the Deceased Wife's Sister Bill, for 
 which he always steadily voted. As Prince of 
 Wales he was equally courteous, agreeable, and 
 attentive to all leading politicians without regard 
 for their principles or their votes. The public 
 did not know whether the King as Prince of Wales 
 was Liberal or Conservative, Home Ruler or 
 Unionist, Jingo or Pro- Boer. With all his mother's 
 Prime Ministers he was on cordial terms. P>om 
 the personal prejudice against Mr. Gladstone 
 which is said to have prevailed in the circles of 
 the Court, he was conspicuously free. His gracious 
 and sympathetic kindness to Mrs. Gladstone at the 
 funeral of her illustrious husband was observed by 
 every one present. With Lord Beaconsfield and 
 Lord Salisbury he was on the best of terms. 
 
 " Lord Roscbery, the only other Prime Minister he 
 can have really known, is known to be one of 
 his most intimate friends. There can, indeed, be 
 no higher testimony of his fitness for the splendid 
 position which he fills as King than the fact that 
 as Prince of Wales all parties respected him, 
 while no party could claim him for its own, 
 
 98
 
 " The King shall have Welcome " 
 
 Practical politicians only can realise how much 
 self-control and self-suppression this means. For 
 the Prince, like other Englishmen, must have had 
 opinions. It was his high resolve, which he kept, 
 that he would act as if he had them not." We 
 take leave to borrow these excellent and entirely 
 true opinions from a leading article in the Daily 
 News of January 24th, 1901, while it was yet 
 under the editorship of one of the ablest of English 
 journalists, and represented in its columns generally 
 the best traditions of the Liberal Party in English 
 
 politics. 
 
 ***** 
 
 NiJiil est taiii popnlarc qiiaiii bonitas. Nothing is 
 so popular as goodness is, "and never was there 
 time, or place, wherein more assured and great 
 reward was proposed unto Princes, for goodness 
 and justice. . . . Let him shine over others with 
 humanity, with truth, loyalty, temperance, and 
 above all with justice. ... It is only the People's 
 will wherewith he may effect what he plcaseth ; 
 and no other qualities can allure their will so much 
 as the}', as being the profitablest for the people." 
 So wrote Montaigne, before cjuoted, at a time 
 when such virtues in princes were rare — " markcs 
 
 99
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 nowadays rare, unknown, and exiled among kings " 
 as he quaintly observes. " Such markes," — albeit 
 four centuries of history have wrought vast changes 
 in the characteristics of kings, no less than in their 
 kingdoms and people : " such markes," may it not 
 be said, are of equal value and import now, as in 
 time past ; for, truly, nothing is so popular as good- 
 ness is, whether in respect of kings or their subjects. 
 
 It was this quality, exhibited in such abundant 
 measure, in the character of Queen Victoria, that 
 made her so greatly beloved by her subjects, and of 
 so great fame the world throughout. Her son, our 
 present King, has shown a disposition to " allure " 
 the people's will by the cultivation of the same 
 quality. It has been truly said of him that he 
 is of an expansive and genial disposition, and 
 extremely popular with all classes of his subjects. 
 As leader of society, King Edward is admirably 
 equipped. He is celebrated all over Europe for 
 his perfect manner, his genial and gracious address, 
 and his remarkable faculty for saying exactly the 
 right thing at the right moment. His Majesty 
 has warm personal friends in every European Court, 
 and near relatives in, one might almost say, each 
 of them. He has a wide experience of men and 
 
 100
 
 " The King shall have Welcome " 
 
 affairs, and understands that display and the 
 panoply of State arc absolutely necessary to the 
 dignity and prosperity of the nation, superficial as 
 in a sense they arc. It is certain that the King, if 
 not himself partial to State display, has recognised 
 its importance in the social life of England, and 
 especially that of London, where in the Season, 
 so-called, anything of that nature attracts strangers, 
 and in various degrees contributes to the advantage 
 of trade, and in no small measure to that section 
 of trade which, at the West End of London, trusts 
 so largely to the influence and support of a resident 
 Court and wealthy aristocracy. P^or many years 
 of the late Queen's life London was without a 
 resident Court. It is likely that King Edward 
 will stay much more frequently at Buckingham 
 Palace, than was the case with Queen Victoria, 
 after the death of the Prince Consort. 
 
 Had it* not been for King Edward and Queen 
 Alexandra when Prince and Princess of Wales, 
 London would have been practically without any 
 Season nt all. No man in public life worked 
 harder than the Prince to keep things moving. He 
 was constantly presiding at banquets, and at 
 public meetings, and doing his utmost to promote 
 
 lOI
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 the success of the Season, often perilously threatened 
 (for reasons \vc admit as sufficient) by the absence 
 of the Court and its entourage. Condemned day 
 after day to gigantic luncheons, monster dinners, 
 and interminable festivities of one kind and another, 
 he seldom hesitated to sacrifice his own personal 
 ease and comfort to his sense of public duty. The 
 Prince's labours year after year were interminable, 
 in so far as state and social functions and festivities 
 were concerned. His inaugurations of public build- 
 ings and exhibitions, unveiling of statues, laying 
 of foundation stones, the speeches he never failed 
 to make on such occasions, and the speeches and 
 addresses he had to listen to, the multitudinous 
 meetings he was ever ready to preside at : if these 
 things were related in full, among the other duties 
 of his Majesty, fulfilled when he was Prince of 
 Wales, the catalogue of these alone would fill a 
 volume. 
 
 King Edward acquired uni\crsal popularity by 
 his willing attention to such duties ; duties 
 incumbent upon a Prince, whose desire is to gain 
 and keep the loyalty and affection of those one 
 day to become his subjects. Irksome as such 
 matters of daily duty must often have been to 
 
 1 02
 
 " The King shall have Welcome " 
 
 himself, they are nevertheless important in many 
 ways in the social and political life of the nation. 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 " The future King of England," now his present 
 Majesty Edward the Seventh, to whom God grant 
 long Life and Happiness, and the full and free 
 loyalty and goodwill of his subjects ; " the People's 
 will wherewith he may effect what he pleaseth " : 
 " the future King of England (I read in a book 
 published some fifteen years ago) * is chiefly dis- 
 tinguished from many of his countrymen by his 
 complete freedom from arrogance. His courtesy 
 is exquisite, his grace of manner irresistible. He 
 throws himself entirely into the matter that for 
 the moment engages his attention, and makes each 
 favoured person to whom he speaks believe that 
 he is an object of special consideration. His 
 friends say, that with them he forgets his rank ; 
 but it is only on condition that they remember 
 it ; and his familiarity with others is not theirs 
 with him." But, these are twice-told tales, scarce 
 worth the relating now, save in so far as they serve 
 to illustrate the personal ciualities of his Majesty. 
 Surely England never had a more popular Prince, 
 ' "The World of London,'' Count Paul Vasili. 
 103
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 than he who for so many years signed himself 
 " Albert Edward, Prince of Wales," now about to 
 be crowned King in Westminster Abbey. He is 
 King already " to effect what he pleaseth," by his 
 people's will, having so stoutly and fairly striven 
 to gain their goodwill in preceding years, when 
 
 Prince of Wales. 
 
 » * # # * 
 
 As this book seeks to record every important event 
 in the first year of King Edward the Seventh's 
 reign, pertaining to his Majesty's circumstances as 
 Ruler of the Empire, it will be convenient to state 
 here that his first Parliament passed a measure 
 authorising certain changes in the Royal title. 
 
 It was very generally felt that the creation and 
 inauguration in 1901 of the Australian Common- 
 wealth, together with the overwhelming proofs of 
 loyalty to the Empire afforded by the Colonies 
 during the South African war, ought to be 
 recognised by some change in the Royal style. 
 Accordingly both Houses of Parliament gave their 
 ungrudging support to a Bill enabling the King 
 to accomplish the purpose in view by means of 
 a proclamation. Such proclamation was made 
 November 4th, 1901, as follows : — 
 
 104
 
 " The King shall hav^e Welcome *' 
 
 "EDWARD, R.I. 
 
 " Whereas an Act was passed in the last Session 
 of Parliament, intituled ' An Act to enable His Most 
 Gracious Majesty to make an Addition to the Royal 
 Style and Titles in recognition of His Majesty's 
 Dominions beyond the Seas,' which Act enacts that 
 it shall be lawful for Us, with a view to such recog- 
 nition as aforesaid of Our Dominions beyond the 
 seas, by Our Royal Proclamation under the Great 
 Seal of the United Kingdom issued within six months 
 after the passing of the said Act, to make such addi- 
 tion to the Style and Titles at present appertaining 
 to the Imperial Crown of the United Kingdom and 
 its Dependencies as to Us may seem fit : And where- 
 as Our present Style and Titles are, in the Latin 
 tongue, ' Edwardus VII. Dei Gratia Britanniarum 
 Rex, Fidei Defensor, Indias Imperator,' and in the 
 English tongue, 'Edward VII., by the Grace of God 
 of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 
 King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India,' 
 We have thought fit, by and with the advice of Our 
 Privy Council, to appoint and declare, and We do 
 hereby, by and with the said advice, appoint and 
 declare that henceforth, so far as conveniently may 
 be, on all occasions and in all instruments wherein 
 Our Style and Titles are used, the following addition 
 shall be made to the Style and Titles at present 
 appertaining to the Imperial Crown of the United 
 Kingdom and its Dependencies ; that is to say, in 
 the Latin tongue, after the word ' Britanniarum,' 
 105 II
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 these words, ' ct terrarum transmariiKUum quce in 
 ditione sunt Biitannica ' ; and in the Enghsh tongue, 
 after the words ' of the United Kingdom of Great 
 Britain and Ireland,' these words, ' and of the British 
 Dominions beyond the Seas.' " 
 
 Those versed in historical and antiquarian lore 
 will recall the fact that, in the course of centuries, 
 the sovereigns of England have frequently changed 
 their styles. William I. (for example), surnamed 
 the Conqueror, who was but duke in his own 
 Normandy, contented himself with the description 
 " Rex Anglorum," but he is alone in his simplicity, 
 possibly because he never felt too secure of 
 remaining King of England. William II. was 
 "Dei gratia, rex Anglorum"; Henry II. was 
 " Rex Angliae, dux Normaniae et Aquitaniae " ; 
 John, the first to make reference to the sister 
 island, was " Rex Angliae et dominus Hiberniae " ; 
 Henry III. added "dux Aquitaniae"; Henry V. 
 was " Rex Angliae, haeres et regens Franciac et 
 dominus Hiberniae"; Henry VI. was "Dei gratia, 
 rex Angliae et Franciae ct dominus Hiberniae " ; 
 Henry VIII. was "Dei gratia, Angliae, Franciae et 
 Hiberniae rex, Fidei Defensor, et in terra Ecclesiae 
 Anglicanae et Hibernicae Supremum Caput." 
 
 1 06
 
 " The King shall have Welcome " 
 
 The climax of length was reached when Mary 
 came to the throne. She and her Consort were 
 " By the Grace of God, King and Queen of 
 England and France, Naples, Jerusalem, and Ireland, 
 Defenders of the Faith, Princes of Spain and Sicily, 
 Archdukes of Austria, Dukes of Milan, Burgundy, 
 and Brabant." Elizabeth was merely " Queen of 
 England, France, and Ireland, Defender of the 
 Faith." James I. was " King of England, Scotland, 
 France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith." William 
 and Mary were the 
 same, but in the 
 plural number. 
 Queen Anne, after 
 the Union with 
 Scotland, was 
 " Queen of Great 
 Britain, France, and 
 Ireland." George I. 
 was "King of Great 
 Britain, France, 
 and Ireland, 
 Duke of Bruns- 
 wick- Luneburg, 
 
 Queen Elizabeth in her Robes of the 
 Defender of the Order ok the Garter. 
 
 107
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 Faith." George III. on January ist, 1 80 1, discarded 
 the French title (as well he might) and became, by 
 Royal proclamation, " Dei gratia, Britanniarum rex, 
 fidei defensor " ; and her late Majesty was " By the 
 Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great 
 Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the 1^'aith, 
 Empress of India." "Empress of India" came in 
 the latter days of Lord Beaconsfield's administration 
 of affairs. Queen Victoria was so proclaimed at 
 Delhi, January ist, 1877. 
 
 The King's Tudor Title " Defender of the Faith " 
 was not permitted to pass unchallenged, in the 
 various newspaper discussions that arose out of 
 the " Declaration," elsewhere referred to. But, as 
 was pertinently pointed out, the King, in the 
 Coronation ceremon}', receives a ring from the 
 officiating Archbishop "as an emblem of kingly 
 dignity and of defence of the Catholic Faith." The 
 Church of England, which the Sovereign is solemnly 
 pledged to maintain and defend, officially and 
 explicitly teaches that " before all things it is 
 necessary to hold the Catholic Faith." The 
 Catholic Faith, defined in the three common creeds 
 of Catholic Christendom — the Apostles' Creed, 
 
 108
 
 " The King shall have Welcome " 
 
 namely, the Athanasian and the Niccne, each 
 professed by Protestants of the Church of England 
 — is necessarily the same now as when those creeds 
 were promulgated. It is this Faith of which the 
 King is styled " Defender." One can hardly help 
 regretting that any of these religious animosities 
 were stirred up. 
 
 109
 
 THr5ACTI5-A5- 
 
 AN -ANCIENT;, 
 TALE-NEW-TOID 
 
 A NCIENT, indeed, is the tale of the Coronation 
 ■^^^ of the Sovereigns of England in Westminster 
 Abbey : almost as ancient as the very kingdom 
 itself, and in very truth as ancient as that 
 venerable and famous historic church, before whose 
 altar, after an interval of sixt\'-four years, this act 
 is once again to be unfolded, to arouse the interest 
 and quicken the enthusiasm of millions of British 
 people the world over. The tale will lose nothing 
 in popular interest, by reason of its antiquity. 
 
 The first coronation of a king of England in 
 Westminster Abbey took place on Christmas Day 
 of the year 1066; the last, and one of the most 
 memorable, on June 28th of the year 1838. The 
 crowning of King Edward the Seventh and Queen 
 Alexandra is appointed to be held, as all now 
 know, in June of this present year of grace 1902 
 — a succession of events in England's history 
 continuing in unbroken sequence from the first of 
 her Norman kings to the seventh of the House of 
 
 no
 
 The n.ACE where resteth the holy kodie and rei.ioues of ihe 
 Glorious King and Confessor, St. Edward." 
 
 I I I
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 Hanover ; a period embracing, that is to say, more 
 than eight hundred years, within which period all 
 the sovereigns of England, without exception, have 
 been crowned in Westminster Abbey. 
 
 " The place where I was crowned and anointed 
 King ; the place also of the common sepulture of 
 the Kings of this Realm, where, within the same, 
 and among the same kings, restcth the holy bodie 
 and reliques of the Glorious King and Confessor, 
 St. Edward, and divers others of our Noble pro- 
 genitors." Thus in brief is summed up the deep 
 and abiding national interest, the imperishable fame, 
 that belongs to the place where that ancient tale, 
 now in the mouth of many, is presently to be 
 new told before the people. The words quoted 
 appear in the " will " of that king who gave to 
 Westminster Abbey one of its most beautiful 
 parts, that splendid Tudor structure which still 
 bears the name of Henry the Seventh's Chapel. 
 Among that monarch's " noble progenitors," some 
 wrote of it with no less kingly regard and affection : 
 King Edward the Third, for example, as " the 
 Peculiar chapel of our principal Palace, in which 
 We and Our ancestors received our Coronation, 
 and all other Royal honours " ; King Edward the 
 
 I 12
 
 An Ancient Tale New Told 
 
 Fourth, as a building which is placed " in the 
 forefront of the world of England ... of ever- 
 present interest to all of English race . . . founded 
 by our ancestors, consecrated by the Blessed Apostle 
 St. Peter, and distinguished by the tomb of the 
 most saintly Edward, King and Confessor." In the 
 year 1066 (as we have said), William the Conqueror 
 was crowned, close to that tomb ; and very near 
 to it every successive king or queen of England — 
 Norman and Plantagcnet, Lancaster and York, 
 Tudor, Stuart, and Hanoverian— from that day to 
 this, has received the rite of coronation. 
 
 ***** 
 From the popular, or purely spectacular, point of 
 view, the Pageant and Ceremony of a Coronation in 
 England consists of the scene in Westminster Abbey, 
 and the scene in London Streets ; the actual rite and 
 ceremony, that is to say, of the Coronation itself, 
 and the State Procession of the Sovereign to and 
 from Westminster and Buckingham Palace. Time 
 was, when the ancient usage in England was this : 
 Early on the day of the Coronation, sometimes 
 the day before, the Sovereign with all his heralds, 
 judges, councillors, lords, and great dignitaries rode 
 in state, from London's ancient palace and fortress 
 
 113
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 X 
 
 
 V, 
 
 \ 
 
 
 within the walls,for 
 centuries known 
 as the Tower of 
 London, to that 
 hardly less ancient 
 palace, once 
 adjoining the 
 Abbey at West- 
 minster ; or in 
 times less remote, 
 jJ>^ ^'" to that once 
 
 sumptuous town- 
 re side nee of 
 Wolsey, seized at the cardinal's downfall by Henry 
 the Eighth, originally named York House, and 
 finally the King's palace of Whitehall. Of these 
 regal cavalcades, the last and most imposing was 
 that which passed through London — by way of 
 Tower Hill, Cornhill, Cheapside, St. Paul's, Ludgate, 
 Fleet Street, and the Strand — to Whitehall on 
 April 23rd, 1 66 1, the day when Charles the Second 
 was crowned. His brother and successor, James 
 the Second, when he came to the throne, ordered 
 an estimate to be prepared by his Privy Council, 
 of the cost of such a procession. It was found 
 
 114
 
 An Ancient Tale New Told 
 
 that it would amount to something lii<e ;^5o,ooo — 
 a very considerable sum of money in those times. 
 Being of an economical turn of mind, and not 
 knowing perhaps how soon he might be in need 
 of such a sum for his own personal purposes, 
 James saved that amount on the city pageant 
 and spent it on jewels for his wife. 
 
 James the Second's example, as regards omitting 
 the State procession from the Tower to Westminster, 
 was followed by all his successors in turn. There 
 is no reason for supposing that his present Majesty, 
 King Edward the Seventh, will find it convenient 
 (even if it were to-day possible) to revive the more 
 ancient usage of so many of his predecessors, of 
 sojourning for a night in the Constable's lodgings 
 of his Majesty's Tower of London, merely for the 
 sake of gratifying the taste for sight-seeing of 
 some of his subjects. In point of fact, the Royal 
 Proclamation, made in London on June 28th, 1901, 
 practically dispenses with " many ancient Customs 
 and Usages of this Realm," in respect of the 
 Coronation ceremonies, including, we may be sure, 
 that of the old-time procession of the Soxereign 
 from the Tower to Westminster. The Tower has 
 little modern accommodation to tempt King Edward, 
 
 115
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 or for that matter any other King, to linger for 
 many hours within its precincts — unless perchance 
 it should be in the hospitable mess-room of the 
 officers of the Brigade of Guards. 
 
 Lord Macaulay, incidentally referring to the parsi- 
 mony, or as some might term it, the shrewdness, 
 not to say " slimness," of James the Second : Lord 
 Macaulay adds some " VVhiggish " and snappish 
 remarks, which possibly some of us of to-day may 
 yet be found to agree with : " Sums which well 
 employed, would have afforded exquisite gratification 
 to a large part of the nation, were squandered on 
 an exhibition, to which only three or four thousand 
 privileged persons were admitted. At length the 
 old practice was partially revived. On the day of 
 the Coronation of Queen Victoria, there was a 
 procession in which many deficiencies might be 
 noted, but which was seen with interest and delight 
 by half a million of her subjects, and which 
 undoubtedly gave far greater pleasure, and called 
 forth far greater enthusiasm, than the more costly 
 display which was witnessed by a select circle 
 within Westminster Abbey." Comparatively few 
 persons are privileged to witness the interesting 
 scene of the Coronation within the Abbey itself 
 
 ii6
 
 An Ancient Tale New Told 
 
 The State Procession, on the other hand, may be 
 viewed by hundreds of thousands of spectators. 
 The longer the h'ne of Route finally chosen by 
 the King, in going to and returning from West- 
 minster, the greater obviously the crowds attracted 
 to London in the hope of seeing it. 
 
 State pageants have not been so few and far 
 between in London, of late, as formerly. Within 
 the past fifteen years, for example, we have been 
 witness of two pageants of surpassing splendour 
 and impressiveness : the state processions through 
 London, namely, commemorative of Queen Victoria's 
 jubilees. The coronations of kings, however, 
 are happily not so frequent in England, or even 
 in Europe, as to be familiar in their religious 
 rites, or spectacular parts, to those of us now 
 living. In the course of 836 years, there have 
 been but thirty-six coronations in England, or 
 one on an average in twenty-three years. 
 But, in earlier time, for one reason or another, 
 sovereigns succeeded each other on the English 
 throne at briefer intervals than now. It would 
 be easy to conceive, for example, of a person 
 having been born in the year of Henry the 
 Seventh's accession, the first sovereign of the 
 
 117
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 House of Tudor (1485), and of having lived to 
 witness the Coronation of the last of that House, 
 Queen Elizabeth (1558); or of a contemporary 
 (say) of Samuel Pepys having lived through the 
 reigns of James I., Charles I., the Commonwealth 
 interval, the reign of Charles II. , and to have 
 witnessed the Coronation of James H. — practically 
 five successions all included within a period of 
 eighty-two years. But, it would be accounted a 
 rare incident, to meet with a person who witnessed 
 the Coronation of George IV. and who also 
 witnessed the proclamation at St. James's of 
 Edward the Seventh as King of England — four 
 accessions within a like period of eighty-two years. 
 There has been but one Coronation, as every one 
 knows, in Westminster Abbey in the course of 
 sixty-four years — a fact which should make the 
 present event of exceptional interest to many 
 people ; to many thousands of people, at all events, 
 of the United Kingdom and the Colonies. 
 
 However divergent the political opinions of 
 some of us may be, we arc all more or less 
 interested in pageantry and ceremonial. Your 
 staunchest republican, as history has over and 
 over again shown, is as fond of street processions 
 
 118
 
 An Ancient Tale New Told 
 
 and parades, of gorgeous uniforms, banners and 
 flags, military music, and the like, as your most 
 thorough-going royalist. Every one relishes a little 
 splendour and display at times. Most persons 
 like to witness regal ceremonies and court 
 functions. Americans, for example, are quite as 
 much interested in such things as ourselves, if 
 we may judge by their splendid appetite for sight- 
 seeing in London. They generally insist on 
 seeing all that is set down in the programme of 
 the London Season. Their ladies go to the Royal 
 " Drawing-rooms " at times ; and some few of their 
 men to the Levees. Americans arc particularly 
 active in gaining admission to the Houses of 
 Lords and Commons, and seem greatly interested 
 in any official or parliamentary ceremony that 
 there takes place. They are as keen to view 
 the ceremony of the Trooping of the Colour on 
 the Horse Guards' Parade as any average Londoner. 
 If there be a royal procession to the racecourse 
 at Ascot, you will always find many Americans in 
 the crowd. Their people furnished many thousands 
 of visitors to London on the occasion of the 
 Queen's jubilees, and sent up the prices of windows 
 and seats on the line of route according!)'. The civic 
 
 119
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 splendour and generous hospitality of the Guildhall 
 and the Mansion House have alvvaj-s been appreci- 
 ated by Americans, from the days of Washington 
 Irving, N. P. Willis, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and 
 Charles Sumner, to those of George Peabody, 
 Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell, 
 and Chauncey Dcpew. Charles Sumner in his 
 younger days was never tired of writing to his 
 Boston friends about the grand sights and cere- 
 monies he had witnessed in England. He found 
 a seat in Westminster Abbey at the Coronation 
 of Queen Victoria. Doubtless, a good many of 
 his countrymen will find seats reserved for them- 
 selves or their ladies at the Coronation of the 
 King, her son. At all events, we shall hope so. 
 And we may be pardoned perhaps for further 
 hoping, that the great majority will take this 
 book along with them to the Abbey, and there 
 beguile the tedious time of waiting by looking over 
 its pages! It ought to inform some of a good deal 
 they do not know. 
 
 In support of that conjecture I need only to again 
 recall a striking passage from the Evidence given 
 by the Very Reverend, the Dean of Westminster 
 (June 13th, 1890) before the Royal Commission on 
 
 120
 
 An Ancient Tale New Told 
 
 Westminster Abbey : " There is no doubt," said the 
 Dean, " that Wilh'am the Conqueror, who ahvays 
 asserted himself to be the heir chosen by the child- 
 less King Edward (that is, the Confessor), and lost 
 no opportunity of paying all outward homage to 
 his memory, was crowned close to the grave of 
 his predecessor on Christmas Day, 1066. On or 
 near that spot, every successive king, or queen, 
 who has reigned in England, from that day to 
 this, has received the rite of Coronation." This 
 must be allowed to be a fact of much interest 
 at the present time, confirmed by the high 
 authority of the Dean of Westminster himself. 
 Other facts hardly less so will be found scattered 
 through the pages of this book, which may be 
 expected to serve the two-fold purposes of a guide 
 to the uninformed, and a literary memento of a 
 memorable historic event. 
 
 121
 
 I "EVERYTHING relating to state ceremonials 
 -* — ^ and court functions is regulated by pre- 
 cedent. Turning over the leaves of an old 
 manual of " Rank and Nobility," my eye chanced 
 to fall upon a footnote as follows: " This was the 
 Precedent for the Coronation of his late Majesty, 
 George III., and Queen Charlotte, as well as his 
 present Majesty, George IV. ; and is taken from 
 an account published, by his present Majesty's 
 command, by Francis Sandford, Esq., Lancaster 
 Herald of Arms." The matter to which the 
 footnote referred is a full official account, taken 
 from contemporary Privy Council records, of 
 the ceremonial at the Coronation in 1685 of 
 King James the Second and Queen Mary, later 
 noted. 
 
 The appointing — as was done in the present in- 
 stance, by Royal Proclamation of June 28th, 1901 
 — of a " Court of Claims " by the sovereign, is 
 
 122
 
 The Court of Claims 
 
 one of the first acts preliminary to every Coronation 
 in England. Certain persons, noblemen and others, 
 are bound by tenure of inheritance, or otherwise, 
 to perform various services at that ceremony, and 
 it is their duty to have their pretensions adjudi- 
 cated upon by the high political, ecclesiastical, 
 and judicial personages whom the King nominates 
 for the purpose. This Court of King Edward VII. 
 was required to sit in the Council Chamber at 
 Whitehall— better known as the Privy Council 
 Office — five members forming a quorum. It began 
 its deliberations nearly a year before the Corona- 
 tion was appointed to take place, on Wednesday, 
 July 17th, 1901, namely. Until the beginning of the 
 last century the Coronation had invariably consisted 
 of four distinct ceremonies : the assembling in 
 Westminster Hall, the procession thence to the 
 Abbey, the religious ceremony, and the coronation 
 banquet. William the Fourth was ready (as we 
 have elsewhere said) to dispense with his corona- 
 tion altogether ; but matters were compromised by 
 the omission of everything except the ceremony 
 in the Abbey, preceded, of course, by the Pro- 
 cession through the streets. The late Queen at 
 one time apparently contemplated a revival of all 
 
 123
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 the ancient ceremonials ; but finally it was inadc 
 known that the Abbey procession and the West- 
 minster banquet would not take place. King Edward 
 follows this example, having specially commanded 
 that the Court of Claims should " exclude from 
 their consideration such claims that may be sub- 
 mitted to them in respect of rights and services 
 connected with the parts of the ceremonial here- 
 tofore performed in Westminster Hall and with 
 the Procession." It is the services associated with 
 the omitted functions — the service of the King's 
 Champion and many others — which possess most 
 antiquarian interest. The right to perform them 
 has not ceased, but remains in abeyance until 
 again revived. Consequently, the duties of the 
 Court of Claims were not very onerous. 
 
 Privv Council Office, 
 
 Whitehall, 
 
 S.W. 
 
 COURT OF CLAIMS. 
 
 17//^ Jul}\, 1 90 1. 
 ADMIT THE BEARER. 
 
 BY ORDER. 
 124
 
 The Court of Claims 
 
 With that authority in hand, written in bold hand- 
 writing on a black-bordered, gilt-edged card, and 
 initialled by the gentleman of the Council Office 
 who was so courteous as to grant it, the present 
 writer passed into the Court of Claims on the above- 
 named date at the appointed hour of eleven. 
 One of the lords of the executive committee, who 
 happened to walk through the hall where the 
 writer was waiting, inquired of the doorkeeper : 
 " The place of meeting, I believe, is the old Council 
 Chamber ? " " Yes, my lord," was the reply ; and 
 so in due time some dozen of us in all — gentlemen 
 of the press, officials of the Privy Council, and 
 one or two privileged spectators, walked up the 
 staircase to the old Council Chamber, where in time 
 past Sir Robert Walpole and many another statesman 
 of the Hanoverian sovereigns must have frequently 
 discussed matters of state policy and messages from 
 the King. The committee now assembling were 
 summoned to discuss a message from the King 
 — "These our Letters Patent" — "By the King 
 himself, signed with the King's own hand " — as the 
 Clerk of the Crown, standing to the left of the 
 Lord Chancellor, read aloud, from what appeared 
 to be an imposing roll of parchment, doubtless 
 
 125
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 now duly placed among the archives of the I'rivy 
 Council, of the first year of the reign of King 
 Edward the Seventh. 
 
 With the Reader's permission, I propose to add 
 something about the Council Chamber itself later 
 on. Its old associations moved me more than 
 anything I heard or witnessed, at the first meeting 
 of the "Court of Claims" — its first meeting since 
 the year 1837, when good Queen Victoria first 
 ascended the throne and preparations were being 
 discussed for her own Coronation in the year which 
 was to follow. 
 
 Albeit there was a notable, if somewhat meagre 
 company of Peers "all and singular great men" 
 present ; to wit, the Lord High Chancellor of 
 England (Earl of Halsbury), the Hereditary Earl 
 Marshal of England (Duke of Norfolk), the Lord 
 President of the Council (Duke of Devonshire), 
 the Lord Chamberlain (Earl of Clarendon), the 
 Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Lord 
 James of Hereford, who might and would have 
 been, some years ago, Lord High Chancellor of 
 England, but for the waywardness of politics), a 
 Lord of Appeal in Ordinary (Lord Robertson), 
 the Lord Chancellor of Ireland (Lord Ashbourne), 
 
 126
 
 The Court of Claims 
 
 the Master of the Rolls (Sir Archibald Smith), 
 and Sir Francis Jeunc, Judge of the High Court : 
 although "all and singular great men" these 
 personages of State were present in person, the 
 eye searched in vain for any outward or visible 
 tokens of their greatness. Of coat-armour, robes, 
 or coronets bore they none. Save for the crimson 
 cloth furniture of the Council Chamber, there 
 was not a particle of colour to be seen in the 
 place. 
 
 Their lordships entered in ordinary morning 
 attire ; the Hereditary Earl Marshal of England, 
 Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, 
 etc., etc, in, to our experienced eye, the most 
 ordinary attire of all. It is obvious that Lord 
 Chesterfield's Letters, incidentally touching on the 
 always interesting topic of dress, are of no account 
 with the peerage of England now. Alas, for historic 
 continuity and the ancient traditions of the Court 
 of Claims, that it should so happen that at the 
 very first function (if we may so consider it) con- 
 nected with the Coronation of King luhvard VII., 
 lineal descendant of Norman, and Plantagenet, 
 Houses of Lancaster and York, Tudor, Stuart, and 
 Hanoverian kings, his Majesty's "right trusty and 
 
 127
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 entirely beloved Cousins and Councillors," should 
 assemble in council in ordinary morning attire! 
 Robes and coronets, at least, might have been 
 looked for ; if not ribbons and orders of knight- 
 hood. But, the common or everyday Bond 
 Street variety of frock-coats ! Who cares to see 
 a great officer of state — Hereditary Earl Marshal, 
 Lord Steward, Lord Chamberlain, or the Keeper 
 of the King's Conscience — in a plain frock-coat 
 (we even noticed a "shooting-jacket" among the 
 number) that you or I might buy any day in the 
 Strand for a five-pound note ! 
 
 Briefly, this " Court of Claims " finds its origin 
 in the ancient prerogatives of the Lord High 
 Steward, who sat judicially in the hall of the 
 King's Palace at Westminster, to receive the 
 applications, and decide upon the claims, of all 
 who held lands on the tenure of performing some 
 personal service at the King's Coronation. Thus 
 a postmortem inquisition, dated the VHth year 
 of Edward the Third (1334), speaks of the tenure 
 of the Manor of Scrivelsby Court, Lincolnshire, 
 formerly in possession of the Dymokes, hereditary 
 King's Champions, as follows : " That the Manor 
 of Scrivelsby is holden by Grand Serjeantry to 
 
 128
 
 The Court of Claims 
 
 wit, by the service of finding on the day of 
 Coronation an armed knight, who shall prove by 
 his body if need be, that the King is true and 
 rightful heir to the Kingdom." By Act of Parlia- 
 ment (59 George III., c. 46) the ancient trial 
 and battle were abolished altogether ; so that the 
 Champion's lands, after being held with manifest 
 peril for centuries, at last became a peaceable 
 possession of his heirs ; and consequently all 
 dispute respecting the crown fully disposed of. 
 The last of the Dymokes, however, in direct line, in 
 the person of Sir Henry Dymoke, died in 1865, so 
 that there is now no hereditary King's Champion 
 of England living, even if his former high and 
 ancient office had not become obsolete — at all events 
 since the reign of George IV. The Manor of 
 Scrivelsby still stands where it did ; but not held 
 now by its interesting old-time tenure. The Barony 
 of Burghley (1571), belonging to the Marquis of 
 Exeter, is held in right of that peer's office 
 of Hereditary Grand Almoner, whose duties 
 anciently were, and still are, to collect and distri- 
 bute certain moneys at the Coronation from a 
 silver dish, which the Almoner claims for his fee. 
 He was also entitled to the cloth on which the 
 
 129
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 King walked in procession from the door of 
 Westminster Hall to the Abbey. The office of 
 Chief Butler at the Coronation is hereditary in the 
 Dukes of Norfolk as Earls of Arundel. Lordship 
 of the Isle of Man was formerly also another 
 tenure held of the Kings of England, by some 
 personage presenting the sovereign with two 
 falcons on the day of his Coronation. The Duke 
 of Atholl, of George II I. 's time, held the manorial 
 rights of the Island by such tenure, which dates 
 from at least Henry IV.'s reign, if not much 
 earlier. 
 
 Any stranger casually peeping in at the door on 
 the " Committee of Claims " might have mistaken 
 the great noblemen there foregathered, " right trusty 
 and entirely beloved Cousins and Councillors " of 
 the King, to consider of the King's Coronation, for 
 any half-dozen borough or town councillors, met 
 together to discuss some commonplace question 
 of rates and taxes. When the Clerk of the Crown 
 — all persons being commanded to keep silence — 
 had read the message " by the King himself, signed 
 with the King's own hand " — " Let all persons 
 withdraw " was the sentence forthwith pronounced 
 by the Registrar of the Privy Council. So we all 
 
 130
 
 The Court of Claims 
 
 passed out, curious to learn (among other things) 
 what this digression might mean. In a quarter of 
 an hour, we were recalled. Their lordships had 
 been merely discussing procedure. 
 
 The Registrar of the Privy Council now proceeded 
 to read out some of the petitions received as 
 follows : 
 
 The Earl of Lauderdale, to carry the King's 
 ens'gns of war, as hereditary standard-bearer for 
 Scotland. 
 
 Henry Scrymgeour Wedderburn, to carry the 
 Royal Standard, as hereditary standard-bearer for 
 Scotland. 
 
 The Walker Trustees [whoever these may be], 
 to exercise the office of Usher of the White Rod 
 for Scotland by deputy. 
 
 G. T. J. Sotheron-Estcourt, to exercise the duty 
 of Chief Lardcrer, as owner of the manor of Shipton 
 Moyne. 
 
 The Duke of Norfolk, to act as Chief l^utler of 
 England. 
 
 Mr. Erederick Odd in Taylor, as lord of the manor 
 of Kenninghall, to act as Chief Butler. 
 
 The Marquis of Exeter, to exercise the office of 
 Almoner, as possessor of the barony of Burghley. 
 
 131
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 The Earl of Ancaster and the Marquis of Chol- 
 mondeley, as exercising the office of Lord Great 
 Chamberlain of England, to perform the duties 
 and services thereof. [These claims gave rise to a 
 trial before the House of Lords.] 
 
 The Duke of Newcastle, as holder of the manor 
 of Worksop, to provide a glove and support the 
 King's arm. 
 
 The Bishop of Durham and the Bishop of Bath 
 and Wells, to support their Majesties at the 
 Coronation. 
 
 The Duke of Somerset, to carry the Orb. 
 
 The Earl of Erroll, to walk as Lord High 
 Constable of Scotland, and to have a silver baton 
 tipped with gold. 
 
 Robert Henry Potter, nature of services not 
 stated. 
 
 The Dean and Chapter of Westminster, to instruct 
 the King and Queen in the Rites and Ceremonies, 
 and to assist the Archbishop of Canterbury, and 
 to have cloth, etc., for fees. 
 
 Lord Grey de Ruthyn, to carry the golden spurs. 
 
 Lyon King of Arms and the Heralds and 
 Pursuivants of Scotland, to be present at the 
 Coronation, 
 
 132
 
 The Court of Claims 
 
 The borough of Camberwell, to be represented 
 at the Coronation. 
 
 Colonel C. G. Brown, as baron and jurat of 
 Fordvvich, to bear the canopy over the King and 
 Queen — a privilege accorded to the barons of the 
 Cinque Ports. 
 
 The Registrar also said notice of other petitions 
 had been received, including the following : 
 
 Lord Hastings and Lord Grey de Ruthyn, to 
 carry the great spurs. 
 
 The scholars of St. Peter's College, Westminster, 
 (Westminster School), to be present at and take 
 formal part in the Coronation. 
 
 The Earl of Shrewsbury and Talbot, (i) to carry 
 a white staff as Lord High Steward of Ireland ; 
 and (2) to provide a glove for the King's right 
 hand and support his hand whilst holding the 
 sceptre. 
 
 Sir Windham Carmichael Anstruther, to e.xcrcisc 
 the office of Hereditary Grand Carver for Scot- 
 land. 
 
 The Duke of Buccleuch, as Gold Stick for 
 Scotland, to ride b}' his Majesty's carriage. 
 
 The Marquis of Winchester, to carry the Cap of 
 Maintenance. 
 
 ^33
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 We are almost afraid to mention a brief observa- 
 tion on all these matters, which we overheard pass 
 from one gentleman to another, in the ante-room 
 of the Council Chamber : " Ridiculous, but some- 
 what amusing ! " It seemed to us that some of their 
 lordships themselves might have felt not indisposed 
 to agree, had it not been that they were present 
 as principals in the proceedings, rather than as 
 spectators. There was a good hearty laugh from 
 one of the peers present, when all was ended. 
 Truly, it does seem a trifle ridiculous that the 
 Lord High Chancellor of England should be 
 troubled with a point, as to whether some 
 distinguished gentleman is to exercise the office 
 of " Hereditary Grand Carver for Scotland " — with 
 probably no baron of beef anywhere forth- 
 coming worthy of his skill ; or whether another 
 gentleman is to carry a silver baton tipped with 
 gold ; or a third a white staff; or another is " to 
 bear the canopy over the King and Queen " — doubt- 
 less greatly to his own discomfiture, since most 
 regal canopies would require at least six or eight 
 gentlemen to support them. However, honour to 
 whom honour is due, and let all things be done 
 decently and in order. VV'e hope that every claim 
 
 134
 
 The Court of Claims 
 
 was held good, and will be allowed on the day 
 of Coronation. 
 
 ***** 
 
 The Council Chamber where the committee sat 
 is interesting for more reasons than one. It is of 
 respectable antiquity, its progenitor having been 
 born, according to our reckoning, some time in 
 the days of Wolsey's chancellorship. It smacks 
 of regality, of history, and of law ; topics which 
 generally command the interest of a good many. 
 During a long and intimate acquaintance with 
 this cheerful wilderness of London, I have met 
 with but one person of the commonalty, or, more 
 properly speaking, perhaps, general public, who 
 could say that he had entered the Council Chamber, 
 Whitehall — and he, as a matter of course, was an 
 American ! Truly, the American knows much more 
 of London, than the Londoner himself There can 
 hardly be a place of any interest in London hidden 
 from us that has not been revealed to him, whose 
 insatiable curiosity and spirited enterprise in searching 
 out and looking up things, surely entitle him to 
 the distinction of a master's degree in the art of 
 sight-seeing. 
 
 I doubt if one Londoner in a hundred knows 
 135
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 the precise whereabouts of the Council Chamber, 
 and what business is generally transacted there. 
 To satisfy a not unreasonable curiosity at this 
 particular time, let us at once say, that the Privy 
 Council Office is within a stone's throw of the 
 First Lord of the Treasury's official residence in 
 Downing Street, one of the oldest streets remain- 
 ing in Whitehall, if not quite the oldest. The 
 historic chamber itself is mostly reserved now to 
 the occasional meetings of the "Judicial Committee 
 of the Privy Council," direct successors (so a 
 learned and courteous official of the Privy Council 
 assures us) of the far more famous — or infamous — 
 " Star Chamber," anciently attached to the Courts 
 at Westminster. Its reputation was such that the 
 legend, " Abandon hope all ye who enter here," 
 might much more aptly have been inscribed over 
 its narrow oaken doorway, than the golden chiselled 
 star, emblem of better promise, which in fact 
 appeared there. In the legal annals of England, 
 no court ever earned a more evil reputation than 
 the Star Chamber of Westminster adjoining the 
 Abbey, if we exclude that of the Western circuit 
 of the " Bloody Assize," presided over by Judge 
 Jeffreys. 
 
 136
 
 The Court of Claims 
 
 Not to know one's Star Chamber, so to say, is 
 to admit but a very insufficient knowledge of 
 English history. Its proceedings in the days of 
 Stuarts generally ended in the cropping of ears, 
 branding of foreheads, the public pillory, exorbitant 
 money fines, and close imprisonment, not seldom 
 for life. Its iniquitous and cruel sentences roused 
 the indignation of the citizens of London, and had 
 not a little to do with the outbreak of the Civil 
 War and the execution of King Charles the First 
 in front of the banqueting-house over yonder. 
 Originally founded by Henry VIII. in the old 
 palace of the kings at Westminster, it was con- 
 tinued as a court of law till the seventeenth year 
 of Charles I. The judges of the court were the 
 Privy Council. Its most famous prosecution was 
 that of Prynne, a barrister of Lincoln's Inn, by the 
 notorious Attorney-General Noy. In the year 1641, 
 the Star Chamber was abolished by statute. It 
 really took the name (as we believe) from its 
 ceiling of oak ornamented, among other devices, 
 with golden stars. Its sittings were held in Term 
 time, once a week at the least, usually on Wednes- 
 days and Fridays, from nine till eleven ; the Lord 
 Chancellor, the lords and others of the Privy 
 
 137 K
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 Council, and the Lord Chief Justice of Eng- 
 land constituting the court. Somewhat similar 
 arrangements hold good now in respect of the 
 Judicial Committee of Privy Council, except that the 
 judges of the High Court of Justice are increased 
 in number. The two Archbishops, Canterbury and 
 York, and the Bishop of London sit in appeals 
 under the Clergy Discipline Act. 
 
 The most interesting reminiscences of the Council 
 Chamber are its records kept in an office belovv^ 
 The gentleman who had them in charge was good 
 enough to unlock the bookcase where they are 
 carefully bestowed and to hand us a weighty 
 volume bearing on its back in gold lettering the 
 words "Elizabeth and Mary, 1 558-1 559." It was 
 bound in ancient leather, curiously tooled, and 
 strengthened at back with leathern straps, stitched 
 with catgut. The paper and handwriting are 
 in as good state of preservation as when first 
 made, and penned. The first page reported a 
 deliberation of Queen Elizabeth's Privy Council at 
 the palace at Greenwich. The records run (we 
 doubt, however, if in unbroken sequence) from 
 those days to the reign of her Majesty Queen 
 Victoria. My attention was attracted to a volume 
 
 138
 
 The Court of Claims 
 
 of Charles the First's, maybe recording the aboh'- 
 tion of the famous, or infamous, Star Chamber, of 
 which, as the gentleman in charge of these interest- 
 ing records reminded us with some share of 
 pardonable satisfaction — " We of this office arc the 
 direct successors." 
 
 The Arms of Oueen Elizabf.tii. 
 
 139
 
 Thg f)ay proclaimed. 
 
 THE Day of the Coronation was announced in 
 accordance with old-time regulation by Royal 
 Proclamation in London and elsewhere ; in the pre- 
 sent instance six months in advance of the actual 
 date fixed. To students of history, the document 
 will be interesting, not less as a reminder of the 
 lengthy continuity of the English monarchy, than 
 as embodying some of the terms of similar State- 
 papers published by the sovereign in times long 
 past. For example the ancient phrase in which 
 the Proclamation summons " all persons of what 
 rank or quality soever they be," having service to 
 render at the Coronation, to attend " in all respects 
 furnished and appointed, as to so great a solemnity 
 appertaineth," is in itself a vivid reminder of the 
 unique heritage of long tradition, symbolised in the 
 celebration in the second year of the twentieth 
 century of a new succession to the British Crown. 
 That crown belongs to the supreme head of an 
 Empire more extensive and wonderful by far, as 
 
 140
 
 The Day Proclaimed 
 
 it now is, than any over which a Monarch, whether 
 of ancient or modern times, was ever before 
 summoned to become Ruler. 
 
 In the second week of December, 1901, the 
 following was published in a supplement of the 
 official London Gazette : — 
 
 " By the KING. 
 
 "A PROCLAMATION. 
 
 " For appointing a Day for the Celebration of the 
 Solemnity of the Coronation of Their Majesties. 
 EDWARD, R.I. 
 
 "WHEREAS, by Our Royal Proclamation, bearing 
 date the twenty-sixth day of June last, We did 
 (amongst other things) publish and declare Our Royal 
 intention to celebrate the Solemnity of Our Royal 
 Coronation and of the Coronation of Our dearly 
 beloved Consort the Queen, upon a day of June 
 next to be thereafter determined, at Our Palace at 
 Westminster ; and whereas We have resolved by the 
 favour and blessing of Almighty God to celebrate 
 the said Solemnity upon Thursday, the twenty-sixth 
 day of June next : We do, by this Our Royal Pro- 
 clamation, give notice thereof, and We do hereby 
 strictly charge and command all Our loving subjects 
 whom it may concern, that all persons, of what rank 
 or quality soever they be, who either upon Our Letters 
 to them directed, or by reason of their offices and 
 141
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 tenures, or otherwise, are to do any service at the 
 time of Our Coronation, do duly give their attend- 
 ance at the said Solemnity on Thursday, the twenty- 
 sixth day of June next, in all respects furnished and 
 appointed as to so great a Solemnity appertaineth 
 and answerable to the dignities and places which 
 every one of them respectively holdeth and enjoyeth, 
 and of this they or any of them are not to fail, as 
 they will answer the contrary at their perils, unless 
 upon special reasons by Ourself under Our hand to 
 be allowed, We shall dispense with any of their 
 services or attendances : 
 
 "Provided always, and We do further by this Our 
 Royal Proclamation signify and declare, that nothing 
 herein contained shall be construed to change or 
 alter Our Royal determination as more fully declared 
 in Our Royal Proclamation bearing date the twenty- 
 sixth day of June last, whereby We did signify it 
 to be Our Royal Will and Pleasure, upon the occa- 
 sion of this Our Coronation, to dispense with that 
 part of the Ceremonial which heretofore took place 
 in Westminster Hall, and that part thereof which 
 consisted of the Procession. 
 
 " Given at Our Court at Saint Ja/ness, this tenth 
 day of December, in the year of our Lord one 
 thousand nine hundred and one, and in the 
 first year of Our Reign. 
 
 "GOD save the KING.^' 
 
 142
 
 Peers feeresses and other f| 
 ^People 
 
 LONDONERS City-wards travelling, well enough 
 know by sight the Heralds' College in Queen 
 Victoria Street : a picturesque brick building with 
 forecourt, reminiscent historically of Tudor days, and 
 architecturally of those of the Stuarts. It was, in 
 fact, built after " the great Fire of London," as we 
 still continue to name that event. " A gorgeous 
 idea of colours," as Leigh Hunt suggests, falls on 
 the mind of him who happens to recall his 
 English history in passing it. Not many of us 
 have had the privilege of seeing in state-dress the 
 Kings at Arms — Garter, Clarencieux, and Norroy — 
 who preside over its mysteries. A story is told 
 — a story too good, we fear, to be true ; but 
 related on the authority of Langton, Dr. Johnson's 
 life-long friend — that an Irish King at Arms, 
 who waited upon an Irish bishop to summon 
 him to the national Parliament in Dublin, and 
 being dressed, as the ceremony then required, 
 in his heraldic attire, so mystified the bishop's 
 
 143
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 servant with his appearance, that not knowing 
 what to make of it, and carrying off but a 
 confused notion of his title, he announced him to 
 his master thus : " My lord, here is the King of 
 Trumps ! " 
 
 Garter, principal King at Arms, is one of the 
 most fantastic and gorgeously attired officials of 
 any Court. His state-dress, only worn on great 
 occasions, reininds one of nothing so much as that 
 of the pictured kings in a pack of playing-cards : a 
 frock, or tabard, of rich crimson and gold, on which 
 is emblazoned, back and front, the royal quarterings 
 of the United Kingdom — the lions of England, 
 the " ruddy lion rampt in gold " of Scotland, the 
 golden harp of Ireland. The other so-named kings 
 in English heraldry, associated with Garter, are 
 Clarencieux (a title of Norman origin) of the 
 south, and Norroy (Nord Roi) of the north. The 
 heralds associated with these three are Lancaster, 
 Somerset, Richmond, etc., only less gorgeously 
 caparisoned than the Kings at Arms ; and then 
 tliere are the four pursuivants (attendants or 
 messengers) severally entitled Rouge Croix, Rouge 
 Dragon, Portcullis, and Blue Mantle, with hues as 
 lively, and appellations as quaint, as the attendants 
 
 144
 
 Peers, Peeresses, and other People 
 
 on a fairy court. All these historic officials of 
 England have their place in the King's Corojia- 
 tion, under their chief, the Earl Marshal of 
 England, the Duke of Norfolk. For gorgeous- 
 ness of dress, mysteriousness of origin, and 
 in fact for similarity of origin (a knave being 
 nothing less than an esquire), a knave of cards 
 in design and colour is not unlike a herald in 
 his tabard. 
 
 By the way, the unlearned generally attribute 
 to the Royal shield, three Leopards ! But these 
 (so-called) " leopards," two of which William the 
 Conqueror took for the Royal arms and to which 
 Henry II. added the third, are in fact " leo-pards " 
 or " leos-pardes," that is to say, lions passivit 
 gu(xrdaut ; one being the ancient device of Nor- 
 mandy, the other that of Poitou, and the third 
 the Lion of Aquitaine. 
 
 These reminiscences of bygone times, of kings 
 and queens, Plantagenct, York and Lancaster, and 
 Tudor, of bannered halls (such as we have in 
 Henry VII.'s Chapel of Westminster Abbey and 
 St. George's Chapel, Windsor), of processions of 
 chivalry, and of the fields of Cr(^cy and Poictiers, 
 and of the famous meeting on the Field of the 
 
 145
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 Cloth of Gold : these historic reminiscences recall 
 the times of vizored knights distinguished by their 
 coats and crests. A coat of arms, so called, is in 
 heraldry nothing but a pictorial representation of 
 the knight himself, from whom the wearer, or bearer, 
 is descended. The shield, so named, supposes his 
 body ; there is the helmet for his head, with the 
 crest upon it ; the flourish is the mantle ; and he 
 stands upon the ground of his " motto," or moral 
 pretension. The " supporters," if he be noble, or of 
 a particular class of knighthood, are thought to be 
 the pages that waited upon him, designated by the 
 curiously fantastic dresses of a Hon, bear, leopard, 
 stag, unicorn, etc., which the)' originally sometimes 
 wore, or are supposed to have worn. Heraldry is 
 full of colour and imagery, and attracts the fancy 
 like a book of pictures. One might spend half 
 an hour not unprofitably, in looking over the pages 
 of Debrctt's " Peerage and Baronetage," and studying 
 some of the coats of arms, mottoes, and supporters 
 of the ancient aristocracy of England. Many a 
 forgotten, but interesting and eventful, lesson in 
 history might be thus re\-ived. 
 
 Not to wander too far from the point ; some 
 146
 
 Peers, Peeresses, and other People 
 
 have supposed the late Lord Beaconsfield (Benjamin 
 Disraeli, of that name) to have been an aristocrat 
 of the aristocrats. Read what he puts into the 
 mouth of one of the personages of his books.* He 
 wrote the book we refer to, it is right to add, before 
 he became Peer of the Realm himself; but the 
 quotation we append probably truly expressed his 
 own personal opinion on such matters : — 
 
 " ' Ancient lineage ! I never heard of a Peer with 
 an ancient lineage. The real old families of this 
 country are to be found among the Peasantry. The 
 gentry, too, may lay some claim to old blood. I 
 can point you out Saxon families in this county 
 [maybe his own county of Buckingham] who 
 can trace their pedigrees beyond the Conquest. 
 I know of some Norman gentlemen whose 
 forefathers undoubtedly came over with the Con- 
 queror. But, a peer with an ancient lineage is 
 to me quite a novelty. No, no ; the thirty years 
 of the wars of the Roses freed us from those 
 gentlemen. After the battle of Tew^kesbury a 
 Norman baron was almost as rare a being, as 
 a wolf is now. 
 
 * Millbank, in ''Coningsby
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 " ' I have always understood,' said Coningsby, 
 ' that our peerage was the finest in Europe.' 
 
 " ' For themselves,' said Millbank, ' and the heralds 
 who paint their carriages. But, I go to facts. 
 When Henry VII. called his first Parliament* 
 there were only twenty-nine temporal peers to be 
 found ; and even some of those took their seats 
 illegally, for they had been attainted. Of those 
 twenty-nine, not five remain, and they, as the 
 Howards, for instance, are not Norman nobility. 
 We owe the English peerage to three sources : 
 the spoliation of the Church ; the open and flagrant 
 sale of its honours by the elder Stuarts ; and the 
 borough-mongering of our own times. Those are 
 the three main sources of the existing peerages of 
 England, and in my opinion disgraceful ones. But 
 I must apologise for this frankness in speaking 
 to an aristocrat' 
 
 '"Oh, by no means, sir; I like discussion.' 
 
 '"And where will you find your natural aris- 
 tocracy?' asked Coningsby. 
 
 " * Among those men whom the nation recognises 
 as the most eminent for virtues, talents, and pro- 
 pert}-, and, if you please, birth and standing in 
 * November 1485. 
 148
 
 Peers, Peeresses, and other People 
 
 the land. They guide opinion, and therefore they 
 govern. I am no leveller. I look upon an artificial 
 equality as equally pernicious with a factitious 
 aristocracy ; both depressing the energies and 
 checking the enterprise of a nation. I like a man 
 to be free, really free ; free in his industry as 
 well as in his body. What is the use of Habeas 
 Corpus, if a man may not use his hands and 
 brains when he is out of prison ? ' " 
 
 Thus the late Benjamin Disraeli, Lord Beacons- 
 field, Knight of the most Noble Order of 
 the Garter, who used at least one of his 
 hands, and all his brains, to notable purpose. 
 No application of "Habeas Corpus" either fettered 
 or aided him. He was far too clever ever to 
 fall within its cognisance. And, he came of the 
 People. 
 
 Walter Savage Landor puts much the same 
 thoughts into the mind of Andrew Marvell, in his 
 " Imaginary Conversation " with Bishop Parker : 
 " It is probable that many among the poor and 
 abject are of very ancient families, and particularly 
 in our county [York], where the contests of the 
 York and Lancaster broke down in many places 
 
 149
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 the high and powerful. Some of us may look 
 back six or seven centuries and find a stout 
 ruffian at the beginning ; but the great ancestors 
 of the pauper, who must be somewhere, may stand 
 perhaps far beyond." 
 
 The great Officers of State of the King's house- 
 hold — each of whom plays an important part in 
 arranging the details of the King's Coronation — 
 are the Lord Chamberlain, the Lord Steward, and 
 the Master of the Horse. We may as well state 
 their respective duties in the King's household. 
 The first-named has the care of all the officers 
 and servants belonging to the King's chambers, 
 except those belonging to his bedchamber, who 
 arc under an officer named the Groom of the 
 Stole — from " stole," a robe, or better derived from 
 a verb meaning " to array." The Lord Chamberlain 
 (not to be confounded with the Lord Great Cham- 
 berlain, a high official personage of the House of 
 Lords) has the oversight of the officers of the ward- 
 robe, of tents (as in olden time), of revels, music, 
 comedians — an officer is still entrusted with the 
 duty of licensing stage-plays, called " the Examiner 
 of Plays," and the Lord Chamberlain himself has 
 
 150
 
 Peers, Peeresses, and other People 
 
 jurisdiction over certain of the London theatres — 
 of handicrafts and artisans ; and, although a layman, 
 the Lord Chamberlain has the oversight also of all 
 the King's heralds, chaplains, physicians, and apothe- 
 caries. It is his duty to inspect the charges of 
 coronations (but the Cabinet usually has something 
 to say about these, first of all), marriages, public 
 entries, cavalcades, and funerals ; also of all 
 furniture — such, at all events, used to be the case ; 
 it may not, however, be so now — in the House of 
 Lords, and the rooms of access to the King. 
 The state palaces of Windsor Castle, Buckingham 
 Palace, St. James's, may be said to be generally 
 under his charge ; and all functions, such as Drawing- 
 rooms and Levies, State Balls and State Concerts, 
 he, in the main, oversees. 
 
 The Lord Steward has the estate of the household 
 entirely committed to his care ; and all his commands 
 in this particular are to be obeyed. His authority 
 reaches over all officers and servants of the King's 
 house, except those of his chamber and chapel. The 
 office at Buckingham Palace where the accounts of 
 the household are kept is still known as "the Board of 
 Green Cloth." The Treasurer, Comptroller, Master, 
 Paymaster, etc., are under his control ; as also
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 are all affairs of the kitchen and cellars. At 
 State Banquets it is he who calls the toast to 
 the King. 
 
 The Master of the Horse has the charge and 
 government of the Royal Mews, the stables and 
 horses of the sovereign. He has also power over 
 the equerries, pages, footmen, grooms, coachmen, 
 farriers, smiths, etc., etc., and all other trades con- 
 nected with the stables. In State Processions, he 
 rides next behind the King. He has the privilege 
 of applying to his own use one coachman, four 
 footmen, and six grooms in the King's pay, and 
 wearing the royal livery — which, by the way, is 
 scarlet, faced with blue and edged with gold. 
 ***** 
 
 It may interest those privileged to be present in 
 the Abbey to know how they may discover one 
 Peer or Peeress from another Peer or Peeress by 
 the glory of his or her apparel worn at the Coro- 
 nation " of their Most Sacred Majesties King 
 Edward the Seventh and Queen Alexandra." 
 
 The robe or mantle of the Peers is of crimson 
 velvet, edged with miniver, the cape furred with 
 miniver pure, and powdered with bars or rows of 
 ermine (z>., narrow pieces of black fur), according 
 
 152
 
 ■/■/,■ /.,:,, 
 
 /->■//,,, ,fir„/r.> /',;-,,'/>.-/,, A',.-,.,, :\./- 
 
 Crowns and Coronets of England.
 
 Peers, Peeresses, and other People 
 
 to their degree. Thus : Barons wear two rows ; 
 Viscounts, two rows and a half ; Earls, three rows ; 
 Marquises, three rows and a half ; Dukes, four 
 rows. The mantles or robes are worn over full 
 Court dress, uniform, or regimentals. The coronets 
 are of silver gilt ; the caps of crimson velvet 
 turned up with ermine, with a gold tassel on the 
 top ; and no jewels or precious stones are permitted 
 to be used in the coronets, or " counterfeit pearls 
 instead of silver balls." Such is the Earl Marshal's 
 order. 
 
 The coronet of a baron has on its circle or rim 
 six silver balls at equal distances ; the coronet of a 
 viscount has on its circle sixteen silver balls ; the 
 coronet of an earl, in the like position, eight silver 
 balls, raised upon points, with gold strawberry-leaves 
 between the points ; the coronet of a marquis, in 
 the like, four gold strawberry-leaves and four silver 
 balls alternately, the latter a little raised on points 
 above the rim ; and the coronet of a duke has on 
 the circle eight gold strawberry-leaves. 
 
 All Peeresses who attend wear the robes or mantles 
 appertaining to their respective ranks over the usual 
 full Court dress required of ladies. The robes of 
 the peeresses arc, if anything, more effective, ladies 
 
 ^53 L
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 may be satisfied to learn, than those of the peers. 
 The entire dress is carried out in rich crimson 
 velvet, bordered with miniver. First, there is the 
 kirtle of the velvet opening over a petticoat of 
 white satin and lace, of which the details may be 
 slightly varied if the selected colour and material 
 are alike. The edges of the kirtle are waved and 
 bordered with miniver ; and it falls gracefully back 
 on each side, nearly meeting at the waist, but 
 widening out well at the feet. The corsage is cut 
 with a plastron of white miniver reaching from the 
 decolletage to the waist, whilst the sleeves reach 
 the elbow, and are cut and slashed and edged with 
 fur, and there arc two narrow bands of fur above 
 the slashings, which are deemed to be strictly regu- 
 lation. The sleeves are finished with full frills of 
 lace. The long train hangs from the shoulders. 
 It is lined with white silk and bordered with white 
 miniver, which varies in width according to the 
 rank of the wearer. The length of the train also 
 varies in the same manner. For whereas a duchess 
 is entitled to the full glory of two yards upon the 
 ground, the marchioness may only have one and 
 three-quarters, and a baroness one yard. The 
 official regulations are as follows : — 
 
 154
 
 Peers, Peeresses, and other People 
 
 The robe or mantle of a Baroness is of crimson 
 velvet, the cape furred with miniver pure, and 
 powdered with two bars or rows of ermine {i.e., 
 narrow pieces of black fur). The said mantle 
 is edged round with miniver pure two inches in 
 breadth, and the train to be three feet on the 
 ground ; the coronet according to her degree — 
 viz., a rim or circle with six pearls (represented 
 by silver balls) upon the same, not raised upon 
 points. 
 
 The robe or mantle of a Viscountess is like that 
 of a Baroness, only the cape is powdered with two 
 rows and a half of ermine, the edging of the mantle 
 two inches as before, and the train a yard and a 
 quarter ; the coronet according to her degree — viz., 
 a rim or circle with pearls (represented by silver 
 balls) thereon, sixteen in number, and not raised 
 upon points. 
 
 The robe or mantle of a Countess as before, only 
 the cape is powdered with three rows of ermine, 
 the edging three inches in breadth, and the train a 
 yard and a half. The coronet is composed of eight 
 pearls (represented by silver balls) raised upon points 
 or rays, with small strawberry-leaves between, above 
 the rim. 
 
 155
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 The robe or mantle of a Marchioness as before, 
 only the cape is powdered with three rows and a 
 half of ermine, the edging four inches in breadth, 
 the train a yard and three-quarters. The coronet 
 is composed of four strawberry-leaves and four 
 pearls (represented by silver balls) raised upon 
 points of the same height as the leaves, alternately, 
 above the rim. 
 
 The robe or mantle of a Duchess as before, only 
 the cape is powdered with four rows of ermine, the 
 edging five inches broad, the train two yards. The 
 coronet is composed of eight strawberry leaves, all 
 of equal height, above the rim. 
 
 The caps of all the coronets are of crimson 
 velvet, turned up with ermine, with a tassel of gold 
 on the top. 
 
 All these matters are more or less interesting; 
 interesting in much the same way that old books, 
 old castles, old churches, and the like are interesting. 
 They speak to us of the Past. They serve to 
 remind us of other men, other times, and other 
 manners in old England. You and I, dear Reader, 
 as " the great week-day preacher " * once wrote 
 in one of the many sermons he scattered through 
 * Thackeraj'. 
 156
 
 Peers, Peeresses, and other People 
 
 his works ; }'ou and I know the exact value of 
 heraldic designs — of coat-armour, strips of ermine, 
 coronets, and the rest. " We know that though 
 the greatest pleasure of all is to act like a gentle- 
 man, it is a pleasure, nay a merit, to be one ; to 
 come of an old stock, to have an honourable 
 pedigree, to be able to say that centuries back our 
 fathers had gentle blood, and to us transmitted 
 the same. There is good in Gentility. The man 
 who questions it is envious, or a coarse dullard 
 not able to perceive the differences between high 
 breeding and low. ... In the matter of gentlemen, 
 democrats say, ' Psha ! give us one of nature's 
 gentlemen and hang your aristocrats.' And so, 
 indeed. Nature does make some gentlemen — a 
 few here and there. But, Art makes most : good 
 birth, that is good, handsome, well-formed fathers 
 and mothers, good home training, good food, 
 good education, cleanly and wholesome lives, 
 few cares, pleasant easy habits of life, and 
 luxuries not too great or enervating, but only 
 refining : a course of these going on for a few 
 generations are the best gentlemen-makers in the 
 world, and beat Nature hollow." 
 
 Few would dispute these opinions, even when 
 
 157
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 weighed against the following from the pen of 
 one of greater authority than Thackeray : — 
 
 "From lowest place when virtuous things proceed, 
 The place is dignified by the doer's deed ; 
 Where great additions swell, and virtues none, 
 It is a dropsied honour ; good alone 
 Is good without a name. 
 
 . . . That is honour's scorn, 
 Which challenges itself as honour's born, 
 And is not like the sire : Honours thrive, 
 When rather from our acts we them derive 
 Than our fore-goers." 
 
 I5S
 
 OOME persons would not wish to see even the 
 *^ " mock -pearls " of History trampled under 
 foot. It may be just as well, however, to remind 
 admirers of such pearls that the present Regalia 
 of England is not that consecrated by the religious 
 rites and observances of Coronations prior to the 
 reign of Charles II. The crown jewels now occa- 
 sionally used possess no claim to be considered even 
 copies of the ancient Regalia which, as students 
 of English history know, were taken out of the 
 " Treasury Chest " of Westminster Abbey, and later 
 sold by order of the Parliament of Cromwell. The 
 story runs, that to Henry Martin was entrusted 
 " the welcome task " of breaking open the huge 
 iron chest in the ancient chapel of the " Treasury," 
 where the crown jewels had been mostly preserved 
 for some six hundred years. It is said that 
 Martin dragged out the crown, the sceptre, orb, 
 and coronation robes, and put them on George 
 
 i6i
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 Withers the poet, " who did first trail about the 
 town with a stately garb, and afterwards with a 
 thousand apish and ridiculous antics exposed those 
 sacred ornaments to contempt and laughter." This 
 most probably is a mock-pearl of history ; for if 
 so displa}'ed in the streets on the person of George 
 Withers the poet, it is amazing that the crown 
 jewels ever fell into the custody of Parliament. 
 They were much more likely to have been stolen. 
 
 From the days of the early kings of England 
 down to the time of the Commonwealth, the 
 " Treasury," once so named as containing the Regalia, 
 had been in the custody of the Deans and Chapter 
 of Westminster. On January 23rd, 1643, a motion 
 was made in the House of Commons that the 
 Dean, Sub-Dean, and Prebendaries should be re- 
 quired to deliver up the keys ; and the question 
 put, whether, upon the refusal of the keys, the 
 doors of the "Treasury" should be broken open? 
 So strong, it would seem, was the deference shown 
 to the ancient rights of the Chapter that, even in 
 those excited times, the question was lost by 58 votes 
 against 37 ; and when the doors were finally forced, 
 it was only permitted to be done on the under- 
 standing that an inventory should be taken, new 
 ■ 162
 
 The Regalia of England 
 
 locks put on the doors, and nothing removed till 
 upon further order of the House of Commons ; and 
 this was carried by a vote of 42 against 41. 
 
 Cromwell's Parliament in fact got hold of the 
 Regalia, and unfortunately for us of to-day who 
 find an interest in antiquarian matters, the six- 
 centuries old Crown Jewels of Plantagenets and 
 Tudors were broken up and sold, and perforce we 
 have now to be content with the sight of a Regalia 
 only some 258 years old. Neither Charles the Second 
 nor James the Second appear to have been greatly 
 disturbed by their loss. James contrived to find 
 and lay out more than ;!^ 100,000 in dressing his 
 Queen and saved some thousands of pounds more, 
 so history says, in omitting the time-honoured 
 procession from the Tower to Westminster. 
 
 The Regalia of Charles I I.'s reign were, and are 
 yet, called by the old names, and though now 
 permanently kept in the Tower of London, are still, 
 by a shadowy connection with the past, deposited 
 in the Dean of Westminster's custody on the eve 
 of the Coronation, either in the Jerusalem Chamber 
 or in one of the private closets in his Library. 
 Among the other time-honoured privileges of the 
 Deans (it may be mentioned), derived from those 
 
 163
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 of their ancient predecessors, the Abbots of 
 Westminster, is that of instructing or directing the 
 sovereign in the details of the Coronation Service. 
 Of all the clergy of England, the Dean and Canons 
 of Westminster alone are privileged to stand by 
 the side of the Prelates in administering the historic 
 rites. The Dean has still the charge of the " Liber 
 Regalis " referred to (p. 232), containing the ancient 
 " order " of the service ; and the duty (we believe) 
 devolves upon him, and not on the bishops present, 
 of consecrating the sacred oil used in the ceremony 
 of anointing. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Turning sharp round to the right, as you pass 
 under the ancient gateway of the Bloody Tower, 
 over against the lodgings of the Keeper of the 
 Jewels, which stand above Traitor's Gate, is the 
 Wakefield Tower. In a small apartment of that 
 building is his Majesty's Jewel House where the 
 Crown Regalia is kept — a very splendid display 
 of rich gold and jewels, crowns, sceptres, orbs, 
 swords, dishes, flagons, salt-cellars, sacramental 
 plate, maces, state trumpets, used at the Corona- 
 tion of the kings and queens of England. The 
 public was first permitted to view these jewels 
 
 164
 
 The Regalia of England 
 
 of state in Charles II.'s reign, by a kind of 
 dereliction of duty on the part of their then 
 custodian, an officer formerly known as the Master 
 of the Jewel House. He was a court functionary 
 of some importance, being esteemed " the first 
 Knight Bachelor of England," having the appoint- 
 ment of " Goldsmith to the King " in his gift. 
 His profits and perquisites were originally very 
 considerable ; but when Charles H. came to his 
 own, the Master of the Jewel House (Sir William 
 Talbot) got little enough for his portion. In brief, 
 his profits had to be made the best way he could. 
 So he allowed his confidential servant to take fees 
 for showing the Regalia to strangers, which fees 
 went into his own pocket. When that servant died 
 an offer of five hundred old broad-pieces of gold 
 was made to Sir William for the place. From which 
 fact we may conclude, that both master and servant 
 made a tolerably good thing by surreptitiously show- 
 ing the Regalia to those of the citizens who were 
 curious to see them. The old Jewel House, which 
 was originally a strong chamber in the Martin 
 Tower, was not open to the public, save on pay- 
 ment of a somewhat excessive fee, till somewhere 
 about the yeir 1842, when the Regalia was removed 
 
 165
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 to another stronghold near where the officers' mess- 
 room now stands. That in its turn gave place to 
 the present chamber in the Wakefield Tower, where 
 the Crown Jewels may be viewed by any one on 
 " free days," and on any other day on payment of 
 a small fee. 
 
 With the Reader's permission, I now propose to 
 describe the Crown Regalia, of which we publish 
 full-page illustrations in colours. 
 
 ***** 
 
 The Imperial Crown in the centre was made for 
 the Coronation of Queen Victoria. It is composed 
 of a cap of purple velvet, enclosed by hoops of 
 silver, richly dight with gems in the form shown 
 in the illustration. The arches rising almost to a 
 point, instead of being depressed, are covered with 
 pearls, and are surmounted by an orb of brilliants. 
 Upon this is placed a Maltese or cross pattee of 
 brilliants. Four crosses and four fleurs-de-lis sur- 
 mount the circlet, all composed of diamonds, the 
 front cross containing the "inestimable sapphire," 
 of the purest and deepest azure, more than two 
 inches long, and an inch broad ; and, in the circlet 
 beneath it, is a rock ruby of great size and ex- 
 quisite colour, which tradition says was worn by 
 
 1 66
 
 The Regalia of England 
 
 the Black Prince at the battle of Cressy, and by 
 Henry V. at the battle of Agincourt. The circlet 
 is enriched with diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, 
 and rubies. The crown was altered from one 
 constructed expressly for the Coronation of King 
 George IV. The superb diadem then weighed 
 5| lb., and was worn by the King on his return 
 in procession from the Abbey to the Hall at 
 Westminster ; but on arriving at the Hall, he 
 exchanged this crown for one about half the 
 weight, made by the then Crown Jewellers, Messrs. 
 Rundell and Bridge, for the occasion, the jewels 
 being lent for the purpose. This lighter crown 
 was broken up immediately afterwards. 
 
 The Old Imperial Crown (St. Edward's) is 
 the one whose form is familiar from its frequent 
 representations on the coin of the realm, the royal 
 arms, etc. It was made for the Coronation of 
 Charles II., to replace the one broken up and sold 
 during the Civil Wars, which was said to have 
 been worn by Edward the Confessor. With St. 
 Edward's Crown, the act of Coronation is performed. 
 It is of gold, and consists of two arches crossing 
 at the top, and rising from a rim or circlet of 
 gold, over a cap of crimson velvet, lined with white 
 
 167
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 taffeta, and turned up with ermine. The base of 
 the arches on each side is covered by a cross 
 pattee ; between the crosses are four fleurs-de-lis of 
 gold, which rise out of the circle ; the whole of 
 these are splendidly enriched with pearls and 
 precious stones. On the top, at the intersection 
 of the arches, which are somewhat depressed, are 
 a mound and cross of gold, the latter encircled 
 with a fillet, the former richly jewelled, and 
 adorned with three pearls, one on the top, and 
 one pendent at each limb. 
 
 The Prince of Wales's Crown, so named, is 
 of pure gold, unadorned by jewels. On occasions 
 of State, it is placed before the seat occupied by 
 the Heir Apparent to the Throne in the House of 
 Lords. 
 
 The Queen's Diadem, or circlet of gold, was 
 made for the Coronation of Marie d'Este, consort 
 of James H. It is richly adorned with large 
 diamonds, curiously set, and the upper edge of 
 the circlet is bordered with a string of pearls. 
 
 The Queen Consort's Crown is the one 
 used at Coronations when the sovereignty exists 
 in the male branch, as on the present occasion. 
 It is of gold, set with diamonds of great value 
 
 1 68
 
 The Regalia of England 
 
 intermixed with pearls and other costly jewels. 
 The cap is of purple velvet, faced with ermine. It 
 is understood that considerable alterations will be 
 made in the crown that will be used for Queen 
 Alexandra's Coronation, enhancing both its worth 
 and beauty. It is unnecessary to remind the 
 Reader that no two crowns exactly fit the same 
 head, and that a Queen Consort's crown is smaller 
 in size — not merely officially, but actually — than a 
 King's. Be that as it may, at all Coronations the 
 crowns of King or Queen, with the possible exception 
 of the old Imperial Crown (St. Edward's), is altered 
 in size, and sometimes also in the general setting 
 of the jewels by the Crown Jewellers ; the suggested 
 alterations being of course first of all submitted to 
 the reigning sovereign for his sanction and approval. 
 
 The Imperial Orb, or Mound (Fr. monde), is 
 an emblem of sovereignty said to be derived from 
 Imperial Rome ; and to have been first adorned 
 with the cross by Constantine, on his conversion 
 to Christianity. It first appears among the royal 
 insignia of England on the coins of Edward the 
 Confessor ; but, Strutt authenticates a picture, 
 " made in the year 996," which represents that 
 
 169 M
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 prince kneeling between two saints, who bear 
 severally his sceptre and a globe, surmounted by 
 a cross. This part of the regalia being indicative 
 of supreme political power, has never been placed 
 in the hands of any but Kings or Queens Regnant. 
 In the anomalous case of William and Mary as 
 joint sovereigns, another orb was made, and that 
 spare orb (so to say) is still to be seen among 
 the ro}-al jewels of England. This orb is a ball 
 of gold, 6 in. in diameter, encompassed with 
 a band cf gold, set with emeralds, rubies, and 
 pearls. On the top is a remarkably fine amethyst, 
 nearl)' \\ in. high, which serves as the foot or 
 pedestal of a rich cross of gold, 35^ in. high, 
 encrusted with diamonds ; having in the centre, on 
 one side, a sapphire, and an emerald on the other ; 
 four large pearls at the angles of the cross, a large 
 pearl at the end of each limb, and three at the 
 base ; the height of the orb and cross being 1 1 in. 
 The Queen's Orb is of smaller dimensions than 
 the preceding, but of similar fashion and materials. 
 # * # * # 
 
 We now come to the Six Sceptres. First is 
 The Temporal Sceptre of gold, 2 ft. 9 in. 
 in length ; the staff very plain, but the pommel 
 
 170
 
 The Regalia of England 
 
 oramented with rubies, emeralds, and diamonds. 
 The fleurs-de-lis with which this sceptre was origin- 
 ally adorned have been replaced by golden leaves, 
 bearing the rose, shamrock, and thistle. The cross 
 is variously jewelled, and has in the centre a large 
 table diamond. 
 
 The Spiritual Sceptre, Rod of Equity, or 
 Sceptre with the Dove, is also of gold, 3 ft. 7 in. 
 long, set with diamonds and other precious stones. 
 It is surmounted with an orb, banded with rose 
 diamonds, bearing a cross, on which is the figure 
 of a dove with expanded wings. 
 
 The Sceptres, Temporal and Spiritual 
 (William IV.), differ from the preceding, as shown 
 in the illustration (Plate III.). 
 
 St. Edward's Staff is a large golden rod 4 ft. 
 'j\ in. long, with pike of steel at the lower end, 
 about 4.V in. The staff" has foliated ornaments, 
 and a mound and cross at the top. It is carried 
 before the Sovereign in the procession to the 
 Coronation. 
 
 The Queen's Ivory Sceptre was made for 
 Marie d'Este, consort of James II. It is mounted 
 in gold, and terminated by a golden cross, bearing 
 a dove of white onyx. This sceptre has been 
 
 171
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 named, but without any historical authority, the 
 sceptre of Queen Anne Boleyn. 
 
 The Ampulla is an antique vessel of pure 
 gold, used for containing the holy oil at Coronations. 
 It resembles an eagle with expanded wings, and 
 is finely chased ; the head screws off at the middle 
 of the neck, for pouring in the oil, and the neck being 
 hollow to the beak, the latter serves as a spout, 
 through which the consecrated oil is poured into — 
 
 The Anointing Spoon, also of pure gold, has 
 four pearls in the broadest part of the handle, 
 and the bowl of the spoon is finely chased within 
 and without. From its extreme thinness it appears 
 to be sufficiently ancient ; but of what date, wc 
 know not. 
 
 The Spurs (one of which is shown) are also used 
 at Coronations. They are of gold, elaborately wrought 
 at the edges and the fastening : they have no rowels, 
 but end in an ornamented point, being what are 
 commonly denominated prick spurs. New richly 
 embroidered velvet straps were added to them for 
 the Coronation of George IV^. 
 
 The Armill.e, or Bracelets, are of solid fine 
 gold, chased, i| in. in breadth, edged with rows 
 of pearls. They open by a hinge, and are enamelled 
 
 172
 
 The Regalia of England 
 
 with the rose, fleur-de-lis, and harp. Probably the 
 fl£ur-de-lis will be altered for the thistle. 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 The Royal Swords are named Curtcvia, or 
 the Sword of Mercy, sheathed ; the Sword of 
 Justice to the Spirituality, which is obtuse ; the 
 Sword of Justice to the Temporality, which is 
 sharp at the point ; and the Sword of State. Of 
 these, the last alone is actually used in the Corona- 
 tion, being that with which the Sovereign is girded 
 after the anointing ; the rest are only borne in the 
 procession by certain great officers of State. 
 
 A plain Gold Ring, with a large table ruby 
 on which is engraved a plain or St. George's cross 
 is always prepared for the Coronation ; but, of course, 
 it must be newly made, or, at least, set, (or each 
 sovereign. 
 
 ***** 
 
 In the same chamber with the Crowns, Sceptres, 
 and other Regalia used in the sacred ceremonial 
 of the Coronation, is a very interesting collection 
 of Plate, formerly used at Coronation Festivals ; 
 together with Fonts, etc. Among these are 
 
 The Baptismal Font of silver, gilt, tastefully 
 cha.sed, and surmounted with two figures, emblematic 
 
 173
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 of the baptismal rite : this font was formerly used 
 at the christening of the Royal Family ; but a new 
 font, of more picturesque design, was manufactured 
 for her Majesty Queen Victoria. 
 
 The Salt-cellars are worth the inspection of 
 the curious, both for their singular forms and rich 
 workmanship. The most noticeable is the Golden 
 Salt-cellar of State, which is of pure gold, richly 
 adorned with jewels, and grotesque figures in 
 chased worked. Its form is castellated, and it has 
 hence been called a " model of the White Tower," 
 to which, however, it bears a very slight resem- 
 blance : the receptacles for the salt are formed by 
 the removal of the tops of the turrets. There 
 are, besides, in the Collection, two massive Corona- 
 tion Tankards, of gold ; a Banqueting Dish ; and 
 other dishes and spoons, of gold, used at Coronation 
 Festivals ; besides a beautifully wrought service of 
 Sacramental Plate, empIo}-ed at the Coronation, 
 and formerly also used in the Chapel of St. Peter 
 in the Tower. 
 
 It is interesting to read the following particulars, 
 delivered by command to George the P^ourth, drawn 
 up b}' " the Master of the Jewels and the Commis- 
 sioners of the Great Wardrobe," of such things as were
 
 The Regalia of England 
 
 required to be delivered to the Bishop of Rochester, 
 for the Coronation of King James the Second and 
 Queen Mary. Those particulars run thus :— 
 
 FOR THE KING 
 
 1. The Colobium Suidonis, a kind of surplice with- 
 
 out sleeves, of fine linen or sarsenet. 
 
 2. The Supertunica, a close coat of cloth of gold, 
 
 lined with crimson taffeta, and girt with a 
 broad girdle and cloth of gold, to be put 
 over the Colubium. 
 
 3. The Armilla, in fashion of a stole, of cloth of 
 
 gold, to be put about the King's neck, and 
 fastened above and beneath the elbows with 
 silk ribbons. 
 
 4. A Pall of cloth of gold, in fashion of a cope. 
 
 5. A Pair of buskins, of cloth of gold. 
 
 6. A Pair of sandals, of cloth of gold. 
 
 7. A Shirt of fine Linen, to be opened in the places 
 
 for the anointing. 
 
 8. Another Shirt of red sarsenet to be put over it. 
 
 9. A Surcoat of Crimson Satin, made with a collar 
 
 for a band, both opened for the anointing, 
 and closed with ribbons. 
 10. A Pair of under trousers and breeches to go
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 over them, with stockings fastened to the 
 trousers, all of crimson silk. 
 
 11. A Pair of Gloves of linen. 
 
 12. A Linen Coif. 
 
 13. Three Swords: the Curtana or pointless sword 
 
 called also the Sword of Mercy ; the Sword 
 of Justice to the Spirituality ; and the Sword 
 of Justice to the Temporality. 
 
 14. A Sword of State, with a scabbard richly 
 
 embroidered. 
 
 15. Two Imperial Crowns set with jewels: one to 
 
 crown the King ; the other to be worn after 
 his Coronation. 
 
 16. An Orb of gold, with a cross. 
 
 17. A Sceptre with a cross, called St. Edward's 
 
 Sceptre. 
 
 18. A Sceptre with a Dove. 
 
 19. A Staff of gold with a cross at the top, and 
 
 a pike at the foot, called St. Edward's Staff. 
 
 20. A Ring with a Ruby. 
 
 21. A Pair of gold Spurs, 
 
 22. An Ampul, or vessel of gold to hold the 
 
 anointing oil, in shape of an eagle, and a 
 spoon. 
 
 23. Two Ingots of gold, one weighing a pound, 
 
 176
 
 The Regalia of England 
 
 and the other a mark, for the King's two 
 offerings. 
 
 24. The Parliament Robes, viz., a Surcoat of Crimson 
 
 velvet, with a hood furred with ermine and 
 bordered with gold lace. 
 
 25. A Cap of State turned up with ermine. 
 
 26. The Robes of State of purple velvet of the 
 
 same fashion as the former, and two caps of 
 purple velvet turned up with ermine for the 
 two crowns. 
 It is deserving of note, that those things men- 
 tioned and numbered consecutively 13 to 26, are 
 still used in the Coronation of the Sovereign. 
 
 A second list headed, " Delivered to the Proper 
 Officers for the Queen," runs thus : — 
 
 1. A Surcoat, or kirtle, of purple velvet, the sleeves 
 
 turned-up and powdered with ermine. 
 
 2. A Robe, or Mantle, of purple velvet, with a 
 
 long train, the cape and lining powdered 
 with ermine, to wear over the surcoat. 
 
 3. A Circle, or Coronet of gold, to be worn before 
 
 anointing. 
 
 4. A Crown with which she is to be crowned. 
 
 5. A smaller Crown to wear afterwards. 
 
 6. A Sceptre of gold with a cross. 
 
 177
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 7. An Ivory rod with a Dove. 
 
 8. A Ring. 
 
 It is to be noted that all these things (the first 
 two somewhat altered in fashion) were used in the 
 Coronation of Queen Charlotte, wife of George III., 
 and also of Queen Adelaide, wife of William IV. 
 # * * » * 
 
 The old Regalia were strictly Anglo-Saxon by 
 their traditional names : The crown of Alfred, or of 
 St. Edward, for the King ; the crown of Edith, 
 wife of the Confessor, for the Queen. The sceptre 
 with the dove is said to have been typical of King 
 Edward's peaceful days after the expulsion of the 
 Danes. The gloves were a reminder of his abolition 
 of the Dancgelt — a token that the King's hands 
 should be moderate in taking taxes. The ring with 
 which, as the Doge to the Adriatic, so the King to 
 his people was wedded, was the ring of the pilgrim. 
 The " great stone chalice " which was borne by the 
 Chancellor to the altar and out of which the Abbot 
 of Westminster administered the sacramental wine 
 was believed to have been prized at a high sum 
 " in Saint Edward's days." The form of oath 
 retained till the time of James II. was to observe 
 " the laws of the glorious Confessor." A copy 
 
 1/8
 
 The Regalia of England 
 
 of the Gospels, purporting to have belonged to 
 Athelstane, was the book on which, as early as the 
 
 The Coronation, ok King Edward's, Chair. 
 
 fifteenth centur}', it was believed that the Coronation 
 oatli was taken. 
 
 The ancient chair (of which v.e publish a sketch) 
 in which our Kings are crowned, known as " The 
 
 179
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 Coronation, or King Edward's, Chair," is considerably 
 over six hundred years old. It originally came 
 from Scone, in Scotland, whose Kings had also 
 been crowned in it. Edward the First of England 
 carried it away with him in 1297, from its ancient 
 repository in Scotland, and rendered it (along with 
 other of the old Scottish regalia, the golden sceptre 
 and crown among the number) as a solemn offering 
 at the shrine of Edward the Confessor. Ever 
 since then it has stood in the " Chapel of the 
 Kings " (the Confessor's Chapel) and been known 
 as St. Edward's Chair, being so designated in the 
 Coronation offices. In length, it is about 6 ft. 
 7 in. ; in breadth, at the seat, 38 in. ; in depth, 24 in. ; 
 and from the seat to the bottom, 25 in. Four 
 lions support each corner, leaving a space of 9 in. 
 between the chair and the bottom board, within 
 which space is enclosed a stone named " Jacob's 
 Stone " or the " Fatal Marble Stone " which King 
 Edward also brought out of Scotland, with the 
 ancient charter called " Ragman's Roll." 
 
 No end of legends have grown up around the 
 Coronation Chair and the Stone of Scone, so called. 
 The origin of any stone being there at all, appears 
 to be traced to the primitive practice of raising 
 
 180
 
 The Regalia of England 
 
 the kings of Gothic and Celtic race into an 
 elevated seat, generally of some natural stone, at 
 the time of their crowning. On the " Kings' stone," 
 as we have elsewhere said, at Kingston-on-Thames, 
 the Anglo-Saxon sovereigns were crowned. And, in 
 Westminster Hall, dating back from a very early 
 period, the King, before he passed from the Palace 
 to the Abbey, was lifted to a marble seat, some 
 twelve feet long by three feet broad, standing at 
 the upper end of the Hall — probably where the 
 steps now lead to the House of Commons — then 
 known as " the King's Bench." Dean Stanley in 
 his "Memorials of Westminster Abbey" tells us 
 that " the Stone " of the Coronation Chair most 
 probably is the " stony pillow on which Columba 
 rested, and on which his dying head was laid in 
 his Abbey of lona." "If so" (adds the Dean) "it 
 belongs to the minister of the first authentic 
 Coronation in Christendom " — the Coronation of 
 Aidan by Columba, A.D. 571. Edward I. brought 
 it out of Scotland from the Abbey of Scone. On 
 it he himself had been crowned King of the Scots. 
 We are told by the Dean, that in the last year of 
 Edward's reign the " venerable chair which still 
 encloses it w^as made for it by the order of its 
 
 181
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 captor ; the fragment of the world-old Celtic races 
 was embedded in the new Plantagenet oak." This 
 is a grand old legend of an ancient and famous 
 historical chair ; and in so far as antiquarians have 
 been able to collect and consider all the evidence, for, 
 or against the truth of the legend, there is strong 
 presumptive evidence that this, in fact, is none 
 other than the famous Stone of Scone. 
 
 There is no doubt that in the Coronation Chair 
 of Westminster Abbey, which so many of us have 
 seen, every English sovereign has been crowned. 
 Even Cromwell was installed in it, as Lord Protector, 
 in Westminster Hall, whither it was carried from 
 the Abbey for that singular and special occasion. 
 When used at the Coronation it is cushioned, and 
 richly covered with gold-beaten tissue, the better 
 to disguise its time-stained and worm-eaten condition. 
 There is also another coronation chair, similar in 
 appearance to that described, save as to the four 
 supporting lions, and enclosed stone, made for the 
 use of Queen Mary II., when crowned with her 
 consort, William of Orange. Needless to say that 
 this second chair is also splendidly adorned, like 
 the other, v hen brought into use for the crowning 
 of the consort of the sovereign. We need not 
 
 182
 
 The Regalia of England 
 
 repeat the fable of "Jacob's stone." A legend 
 goes that it was used as " a seat of justice " by 
 some one living in the time of Moses ! To accept 
 of that statement, is to be endowed with a measure 
 of credulity inconceivable in these days. 
 
 183
 
 THE REGALIA 
 
 No. I 
 
 Queen s Queen Consort's 
 
 Diadem Crown 
 
 The 
 
 Imperial Crown 
 
 Imperial Crown Prince of Wales's 
 
 (Charles II) Crown
 
 THE REGALIA 
 
 No. II 
 
 The 
 
 Tne 
 
 
 Queen Consort's 
 Orb 
 Temporal St. Edward's 
 Sceptre Staff 
 (Victoria) 
 
 1 mperial 
 Orb 
 
 Spiritual 
 Sceptre 
 (Victoria)
 
 THE REGALIA 
 
 No, III 
 
 Spiritual 
 
 Sceptre 
 
 (William IV) 
 
 Temporal 
 
 Sword of 
 
 J tistice 
 
 :5word 
 Spiritual 
 Justice
 
 THE REGALIA 
 
 No. IV 
 
 The 
 Spurs 
 
 Coronation 
 Gloves 
 
 The Anointing Spoon 
 
 Coronation 
 Bracelets 
 
 The 
 
 Ampullae 
 
 for the Oil of 
 
 Anointing
 
 THE REGALIA 
 
 No. 5 
 
 
 Salt Spoon 
 
 
 
 State Salt Cellars 
 
 
 Sacramental 
 Flagon 
 
 
 State 
 Salt Cellar
 
 THE REGALIA 
 
 No. 6 
 
 Coronation Tankard 
 
 State 
 Salt Cellar 
 
 State 
 Salt Cellar
 
 THE REGALIA 
 
 No. 7 
 
 Baptismal 
 Font 
 
 State 
 Sait Cellar
 
 CROWNS OF THE 
 KINGS OF ENGLAND 
 
 FROM THE TIMES OF THE ANGLO- 
 SAXON SOVEREIGNS TO THOSE 
 OF THE HOUSE OF STUART 
 
 When the Imperial Crown took the 
 Form as Illust-rated in 
 
 THE REGALIA 
 
 185 N
 
 Crowns of the Kings of England 
 
 Edgar 
 (Cotton MS.) 
 
 Edgar 
 (Cotton MS.). 
 
 Edward the Confessor 
 (Bayeux Tapestry). 
 
 |l^^=4^ 
 
 Edward the Confessor 
 (Silver Coin, British Museum). 
 
 V^^ 
 
 Harold II. 
 
 ^ 
 
 1^ 
 
 [Frankish]. 
 
 [Frankish]. 
 
 William I 
 
 187
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 William I 
 
 i 
 
 ^^^^ 
 
 ^^ 
 
 o o o 1 
 
 William .1. 
 
 William I 
 
 William II, 
 
 D'- 
 
 William II. 
 
 n 
 
 Henry 1. 
 
 Henry II. 
 
 Richard I.
 
 Crowns of the Kings of England 
 
 John. 
 
 Henry III. 
 
 Edward I. 
 
 Edward U. 
 
 Edward III. 
 
 Richard II. 
 
 w~» 
 
 Henry IV. Henry V. 
 
 189
 
 The Coronation of Edward Vll 
 
 Henry VI. 
 
 Henry VI. 
 
 Edward IV. 
 
 Richard III. 
 
 Henry VII. 
 
 Henry VIII. 
 
 Edward VI. Mary. 
 
 190
 
 Crowns of the Kings of England 
 
 Coronation Medal of William and Marv. 
 
 Coronation Medal of Queen Anne. 
 191
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 Among the Coronation paraphernalia, the State 
 Coach may be legitimately included, since it is not 
 only the most interesting of its kind in England, 
 but is said on good authority to be the most superb 
 state-carriage ever built. It was designed by Sir 
 William Chambers in 1761 for George III., and 
 cost in building something like p^8,ooo. That king, 
 and his successors George IV., William IV., Queen 
 Victoria all used it for State purposes ; King 
 Edward VII. at the opening of his first and second 
 Parliaments in 1901-2. 
 
 The paintings, which are by Cipriani, are very 
 rich. The front panel depicts Britannia seated on 
 a throne, holding in her hand a staff of Liberty, 
 attended by religion, justice, wisdom, valour, forti- 
 tude, commerce, plenty, and victory, presenting her 
 with a garland of laurel. In the background is a 
 view of St. Paul's and the River Thames. On the 
 right door Industry and Ingenuity, giving a cornu- 
 copia to the Genius of England, are presented, 
 while the panels on either side of the door depict 
 History recording the reports of P"ame, and Peace 
 burning the implements of war. On the back panel 
 appear Neptune and Amphitrite issuing from their 
 palace in a triumphant car drawn by sea-horses, 
 
 192
 
 Crowns of the Kings of England 
 
 attended by the winds, rivers, Tritons, Naiads, etc., 
 bringing the tribute of the world to the British 
 shore. The Royal Arms appear on the upper 
 part of the back panel. They are beautifully 
 ornamented with the Order of St. George, 
 with the rose, shamrock, and thistle entwined. 
 The left door shows Mars, Minerva, and Mercury, 
 supporting the Imperial Crown of Great Britain, 
 while the liberal arts and sciences protected are 
 displayed on the panels on each side of the left 
 door. The whole of the carriage and body is richly 
 ornamented v/ith laurel and carved work, beautifully 
 gilded. 
 
 Weighing four tons, the coach is 24 ft. long by 
 8 ft. wide and 12 ft. high. The body is composed 
 of eight palm trees, which, branching out at the 
 top, sustain the roof; and four angular trees are 
 loaded with trophies suggestive of the victories 
 obtained by Great Britain. The trees are supported 
 by four lions' heads. On the centre of the roof 
 stand three cherubs, representing the Genii of 
 England, Scotland, and Ireland, supporting the 
 Imperial Crown of Great Britain, and holding in 
 their hands the sceptre, sword of State, and ensigns 
 of knighthood. The figures are adorned with 
 
 193
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 festoons of laurel, which fall from thence towards 
 the four corners. 
 
 Internally the Star, encircled by the Collar of 
 the Order of the Garter, appears in the centre of 
 the roof Both are surmounted by the Imperial 
 Crown, pendant, the George and Dragon. In the 
 corners are the rose, shamrock, and thistle entwined. 
 The hind lounge is ornamented with the badge of 
 the Order of St. Michael and St. George, and on 
 the front appears the badge of the Order of the 
 Guelph and Bath, ornamented with rose, shamrock, 
 and thistle. The hind seat fall has the badge of 
 St. Andrew, and on the front the badge of St. 
 Patrick. 
 
 The stately vehicle is richly gilded and entirely 
 upholstered in crimson satin, with carpets, lace, and 
 curtains to match. Crimson velvet covers the glass 
 frames and the gun-metal shutter blinds. The 
 hammercloth is gorgeous, and the supports are 
 decorated with ornate carving. 
 
 It is not unlikely that an open coach, of more 
 modern and convenient construction, which has been 
 recently designed and built, may be used by the 
 King and Queen on one of the da}'s of the State 
 Procession — possibly on both days. The design is 
 
 194
 
 Crowns of the Kings of England 
 
 most elaborate, and the cost of the carriage will be 
 considerable. It is upholstered in rose-pink or 
 crimson satin, like that used for the interior 
 fittings of the State Coach. 
 
 The design for the Coronation medals is the 
 work of the celebrated Austrian artist M. Fouch, 
 who was summoned to Osborne to take a cast of 
 Queen Victoria's features, prior to the removal of 
 the remains to the cJiapcllc ardente. On the obverse 
 of the medal is a profile of the King and Queen, with 
 an inscription around. On the reverse side is an 
 elaborate and highly effective design, somewhat after 
 the style adopted on the penny. Britannia is seated 
 on a shield emblazoned with the Royal arms. Just 
 above the shield is the date of the Coronation, 
 June 26th, 1902. To the right of the figure of 
 Britannia is a view of Westminster Abbey. 
 
 The .State Coach. 
 
 195
 
 ST. JAMES'S," querulously wrote Philip II. 
 of Spain to Mendoza, one of the many 
 ambassadors whose despatches he was so fond of 
 correcting : " St. James's is a house of recreation 
 which was once a monastery. There is a park 
 between it and the palace, which is named Huytal ; 
 but, why it is named Huytal, I am sure I don't 
 know." " Huytal '' stands of course for Whitehall ; 
 and it was originally so called because of its 
 whiteness or freshness of appearance, in comparison 
 of the neighbouring York Place, in Tudor times 
 the archiepiscopal residence in London of the 
 Archbishops of York, among whom was Wolsey, 
 the Cardinal. 
 
 The sumptuous palace that he erected on part 
 of the site of old York Place, and which he 
 occupied for some time during his chancellorship 
 and prior to his downfall, was never, in fact, 
 brought to completion. Had the Cardinal's palace 
 as projected survived to the present, Whitehall 
 
 196
 
 The Route 
 
 as now seen would probably have formed part of 
 its buildings. Needless perhaps to remind the Reader 
 that Wolsey's palace became the principal London 
 residence of the sovereign, from Henry the Eighth's 
 time to that of James the Second, when it was 
 destroyed by fire. The palace and its appurtenances 
 extended from near to what is now Northumberland 
 Avenue, to Parliament Street, and from the river- 
 side to St. James's Park. Wolsey, Henry VHI., 
 Elizabeth, James I., Charles I., Cromwell, Charles II., 
 and James II. all occupied it in turn. The only 
 existing reminiscence of this historically famous, and 
 once extensive and splendid range of buildings is 
 the familiar Banqueting House, built by Inigo Jones, 
 which originally served that purpose, then became 
 a Chapel Royal, and so continued till a few years 
 ago, when it became the museum of the Royal 
 United Service Institution. The thoroughfare which 
 extends from Charing Cross to Parliament Street 
 is still called Whitehall, having been so known 
 from the days of Wolsey. 
 
 Probably, no other thoroughfare in London has 
 witnessed so many stirring scenes of state pageantry 
 as this, or is so interwoven with the history of 
 nearly every monarch who has occupied the English 
 
 197
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 throne. It formed part of the much frequented 
 highway from the Tower to Westminster : first East 
 Cheap, then Cheapside, then St. Paul's leading 
 down to Ludgate, then the Temple and Temple 
 Bar, then the Strand, Charing Cross, Whitehall, 
 and Westminster. Just opposite the Banqueting 
 House, on the site of the present Horse Guards, 
 was the Tilt Yard, which in Elizabeth's time was 
 the meeting-place of all sorts of gallant company. 
 The Cockpit of the Stuarts was not far away, 
 in the vicinity of what is now one of the oldest of 
 London's streets, Downing Street, namely. The 
 student of English history might people White- 
 hall with the most famous men and women known 
 to every period of that history, from the days of 
 William the Norman to those of his present Majesty, 
 Edward the Seventh ; for in all time it has been the 
 high road to the King's ancient Palace of West- 
 minster, whereof old Westminster Hall and the 
 more modern Houses of Parliament are the pre.sent- 
 day representatives ; the first dating back to 1397, 
 the last-named to 1840. The King's Palace still 
 survives, as we have before said, in the name of 
 
 Palace Yard. 
 
 ***** 
 
 198
 
 The Route 
 
 St. James's was never much of " a house of 
 recreation " to the sovereigns of England unless, 
 may be, to Henry the Eighth, when married to 
 Anne Boleyn ; and St. James's Palace was never 
 a "monastery." It was originally a hospital for 
 lepers, who were not in the condition of paupers. 
 As a palace, judged by modern standards, it is but 
 a poor example of such buildings, and its chief 
 interest to-day centres in its age and history. It 
 dates from Henry the Eighth, who " attached " it, 
 like many another place he had set his mind on 
 having. No part of the original St. James's 
 Palace of Tudor days survives, except the familiar 
 gateway facing St. James's Street, and the Chapel 
 Royal. All the rest of the structure is com- 
 paratively modern, probably of no earlier date than 
 the time of Queen Anne and the early Georges, 
 if we except certain parts of the interior, preserved 
 during the process of rebuilding, of which the 
 chimney-piece in the Guard Chamber (if we 
 remember aright) showing the initials of Henry the 
 Eighth and Anne Boleyn may serve as an example. 
 
 Not the least interesting of the historic associations 
 of St. James's Palace arc connected with the Stuart 
 kings. Although it is well known that Charles I. 
 
 199
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 took leave of his children, and passed his last night 
 on earth in one of its rooms ; it is not, perhaps, 
 so generally known that the King's body was brought 
 to St. James's Palace after the execution, was there 
 embalmed and put in a coffin of lead, " and laid 
 there a fortnight to be seen of the people." * From 
 St. James's it was carried to Windsor, where it now 
 rests in a vault in St. George's Chapel. Neither 
 Cromwell nor the Parliament seem to have interfered 
 with the King's friends in seeing to its decent inter- 
 ment, " provided that the expenses of the funeral 
 did not exceed iJ^5oo." It was even allowed to 
 rest for a day in the King's chamber at Windsor 
 Castle, whence it was carried to the Deanery and 
 thence to the chapel. 
 
 Charles II. kept himself away from St. James's, 
 not caring to be reminded of its mournful associa- 
 tions. His brother, James II., set up a society of 
 Benedictine monks in the palace, and insisted on the 
 consecration of the Papal Nuncio (Adda) as arch- 
 bishop in the Chapel Royal. It was in the Queen's 
 apartments, on the evening of the ceremony, that 
 James, in presence of his court, fell on his knees 
 before the newly consecrated prelate, and implored 
 * "England's Black Tribunal set forth," etc., 1658. 
 200
 
 The Route 
 
 his blessing. " It was long indeed " (says Macaulay) 
 " since an English sovereign had knelt to mortal man ; 
 and those who saw this strange sight could not but 
 think of that day when John did homage for his 
 crown between the hands of Pandolph." 
 
 William of Orange came here the very night 
 that James finally fled from Whitehall. Here the 
 first Levee of the prince was held the following 
 day : " all the rooms and staircases were thronged ; 
 such was the press that men of the highest rank 
 were unable to elbow their way into the Presence 
 Chamber." 
 
 Queen Anne and the first three of the 
 Hanoverian kings used it as a palace, much more 
 than their predecessors ; and for many a long day 
 — for three centuries at least — functions of State, 
 Royal Proclamations, Royal Marriages, Christenings, 
 Balls, Banquets, Drawing-rooms, Levees, have taken 
 place at St. James's. During the reign of Queen 
 Victoria, one often read a state document dated " At 
 the Court at St. James's " ; and most of the Official 
 Announcements (1901) of King Edward the Seventh 
 are similarly dated : those, for example, publishing 
 the facts of his Accession and Proclamation as King. 
 His first Privy Council, where he announced that he 
 
 201 O
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 took the title of Edward the Seventh (as we have 
 elsewhere noted), was held here. 
 
 The first Queen Mary died in St. James's Palace. 
 Charles the Second was born here. General Monk 
 took up his quarters here, while plotting the Restora- 
 tion. Queen Anne considered it " quite the propercst 
 place to act such a cheat in " as that of the so-named 
 "warming-pan" plot of James the Second's reign; the 
 supposed conveyance of the child (afterwards known 
 as the Old Pretender) to the Queen's bedchamber in 
 that once familiar implement of domestic comfort. 
 
 The two German and P2nglish mistresses of 
 George I. had apartments in the Palace ; as also 
 had Mrs. Howard (afterwards Countess of Suffolk), 
 mistress of George II. Here died Caroline, his 
 queen ; and here also was born George IV. Queen 
 Charlotte, wife of George III., rescued its memory 
 from the many questionable associations belonging 
 to it in the reigns of the King's two immediate 
 predecessors. In George III.'s time, St. James's 
 Palace became deadly dull, save for the Levees and 
 Drawing-rooms periodically held in its state apart- 
 ments. You may read all about the kind of life 
 passed at St. James's in the concluding years of 
 the eighteenth century in Madame D'Arblay's 
 
 202
 
 The Route 
 
 memoirs. The odes of the Poets Laureate were, 
 in bygone times, recited and sung before the king 
 and queen in the Council Chamber. Several royal 
 marriages, including those of George IV. and Queen 
 Caroline and Queen Victoria and Prince Albert 
 and some of their children, have been solemnised 
 in the Chapel Royal, the oblong building situated 
 between the Colour Court and Ambassadors' Court. 
 The palace apartments are now chiefly occupied as 
 offices or by personages of the King's Court. The 
 Duke of Cornwall and York (now Prince of Wales) 
 lived for a time in the only residence worthy of 
 the name, that fronting on Cleveland Row. 
 
 So much, then, for St. James's, whose Tudor 
 gateway is one of the oldest landmarks of 
 London ; and whose park, street, square, and 
 adjacent Pall Mall are among its most historic 
 thoroughfares. The whole district is inseparably 
 connected with the long history of the palace 
 itself, and of those kings and queens who either 
 lived there or at Whitehall, and in later years 
 at Buckingham Palace. Marlborough House, from 
 1863 to 1 90 1 the residence of King PMward the 
 Seventh when Prince of Wales, fronts on the Mall. 
 St. James's Street has been for centuries one of 
 
 203
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 the streets of London fashion and the centre of 
 Engh'sh club-life. St. James's Square, in the seven- 
 teenth century, was one of the lordliest places of 
 residence of the Court quarter. Of Pall Mall, no 
 more need be said than that probably no other street 
 is so well known by name and reputation throughout 
 the world. It is the Club-land of the empire. 
 ***** 
 
 When the Duke of Buckingham owned the house 
 on the site of which Buckingham Palace now stands, 
 an inscription in Latin ran thus over its main 
 entrance : " Sic siti laetantur Lares " — the Household 
 Gods delight in such a situation. That might have 
 been the case in the days when George the P'irst 
 was King, and St. James's Park and all the land 
 westward beyond open country. But times are 
 changed and London has changed since those days. 
 The domestic and familiar gods have long since 
 departed from the place, whose garden was " a little 
 wilderness full of blackbirds and nightingales," and 
 whose mansion seems to have been one of the great 
 attractions of London, no less architecturally than 
 in location. This mansion came into possession 
 of George II L by purchase in 1761, and fourteen 
 years later was settled by Act of Parliament on 
 
 204
 
 The Route 
 
 Queen Charlotte, and then became commonly known 
 as " the Queen's House." Such are the few lines 
 of history belonging to the King's principal resi- 
 dence in London, that named Buckingham Palace, 
 fronting on St. James's Park, and in large part 
 covering the ground once famous as the Mulberry 
 Garden of the days of the Stuarts. It is more 
 than probable indeed that the present north-west 
 pleasure-grounds of the palace formed part of 
 these very gardens, made so familiar to us in the 
 writings of the dramatists of Charles II.'s reign. 
 
 No one could well mistake the ownership of 
 Buckingham Palace, or the use to which it is 
 appropriated. Its exterior indicates the state 
 palace at a glance. It is an unsightly structure, 
 adapted in part from old Buckingham House. Par- 
 liament was chary of money-voting for an entirely 
 new palace in the reign of George the Fourth, 
 having already found considerable sums for Carlton 
 House and similar purposes, during the Regency 
 and later reign of that king. The palace as we 
 now see it was built in liis da}-, and completed 
 in the reign of his successor, William the ]"ourth, 
 who, by the way, never lived in it, having freely 
 expressed his dislike (so it is said) to the general 
 
 205
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 appearance and discomfort of the whole structure. 
 The late Queen (Victoria) entered upon occupation 
 of the palace in June 1837 ; but when she was 
 married considerable additions and alterations had 
 to be made to it ; and it is probable that her 
 Majesty least liked it of all the royal residences. 
 In point of fact, it is less of a home than an 
 official residence, set apart chiefly to purposes of 
 state. For such purposes, its several apartments — 
 Throne-room, Ball-room, Drawing-rooms, and Dining- 
 room^ — are well adapted, being spacious, imposing, 
 and splendidly furnished and decorated. It is now, 
 however, the one Royal Palace of the Sovereign 
 in London, used as a residence. St. James's is 
 practically closed, except for occasional Levees in 
 the Season ; and Kensington Palace has become a 
 kind of national memorial of Queen Victoria (but let 
 us not forget William the Third in this connection) ; 
 just as Hampton Court has long been of the Tudor, 
 Stuart, and early Hanoverian sovereigns. Kew is a 
 mere cottage, interesting perhaps by reason of its 
 associations with the last sad years in the life of 
 George the Third. 
 
 ***** 
 
 The roadway leading from Buckingham Palace 
 206
 
 The Route 
 
 to Hyde Park is named Constitution Hill. Whence 
 the name, and when actually bestowed, we are 
 unable to say. It used to be, and for aught we 
 know still is, a closed road for carriages, to all but 
 those of members of the Royal Family and privi- 
 leged persons. Not so, however, to foot passengers ; 
 and it has always been a favourite spot with spec- 
 tators of royal cavalcades, which almost invariably 
 proceed to and from Hyde Park, or to and from 
 Piccadilly, by this roadway. It was long known as 
 " the King's Coach-way to Kensington " — probably, 
 first so known in the days of William HI., who 
 lived most of his time at Kensington Palace. Its 
 name was changed to Constitution Hill, so we are 
 inclined to think, when Queen Victoria first occupied 
 Buckingham Palace. The gates of the central arch- 
 way at the northern, or Piccadilly, end are opened 
 
 only to carriages of the Royal Family. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Piccadilly begins at Apsley House exactly opposite 
 that archway- — the town mansion for over thirty 
 years of the first Duke of Wellington, which contains 
 some fine historical and other pictures chiefly asso- 
 ciated with the memory of the duke's career in the 
 Peninsula. Piccadilly is a fine open thoroughfare 
 
 207
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 for spectators on foot, and one also exception- 
 ally well favoured in respect of opportunity of 
 sight-seeing from the windows of houses flanking 
 its north side. But, those are chiefly aristocratic 
 mansions or clubs, not available to the commonalty. 
 There are but two hotels along this section of the 
 Route ; and for accommodation at either we should 
 think prices would run high. The same remarks 
 hold good of St. James's Street, made up of clubs, 
 banks, insurance offices, and one or two well-to-do 
 tradesmen's shops, the upper portions of which are 
 commonly let out as gentlemen's " chambers." St. 
 James's Street's pavement, right and left, is free, 
 however, to the King's lieges, and, it need not be 
 said, to strangers not included within that category. 
 Pall Mall is, as every one knows, almost wholly 
 given over to clubs ; the few exceptions being the War 
 Office on the south side, and a few shops and offices 
 on the north. If any of these last are available to 
 spectators, depend upon it that the prices demanded 
 would not be too moderate. All the way from 
 Waterloo Place to Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, 
 Parliament Street, and the precincts of the Abbe\', 
 good vantage ground should be found. Those willing 
 to take their chance might find this district as 
 
 208
 
 The Route 
 
 promisint^ as any. In great London crowds, every 
 one stands a chance of seeing what is going forward ; 
 and many an indifferent or loitering spectator who 
 comes upon the scene last, finds that he is as well 
 placed as the majority who, maybe, have been in 
 waiting for hours together. The great thing in a 
 great London crowd is to keep oneself cool, and 
 to obey the orders of tlie police. One remarkable 
 characteristic of a great London crowd, in general, is 
 its good temper and obedience to authority. The 
 writer has been in many great London crowds in 
 his time, and has sometimes found himself in more 
 than " tight places " ; but he has never failed to find 
 a way out by keeping cool, and showing a friendly 
 confidence in his neighbours. Some of them may 
 be pickpockets, or, more desirably, detectives. In 
 either case, you will be much more likely to work 
 out of a tight place, by keeping calm and showing 
 yourself friendly — even if only for strategic reasons 
 — than by any exhibition of "battery" or bad temper. 
 * * * # * 
 
 All sorts of conjectures have been rife as to the 
 Coronation Procession from the Palace to the Abbey. 
 One has only to glance at the printed order of 
 the service within the Abbey itself, to be assured 
 
 209
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 that Coronation Day must be very fatiguing to all 
 concerned, from King and Queen to spectator. The 
 length of the religious rite alone would be likely, 
 one would say, to tire all but the most robust. A 
 lengthy route of State Procession outdoors, to and 
 from Westminster on that day, is hardly likely to 
 be finally selected. We venture to think that one 
 of three alternatives will be chosen in going or 
 returning, as follows : either (i) by Constitution 
 Hill to Piccadilly, St. James's Street, Pall Mall, 
 Charing Cross, Whitehall ; or (2) by wa)- of Bird- 
 cage Walk and Great George Street ; or (3) by the 
 Mall of St. James's Park, through the Horse Guards, 
 to Westminster. 
 
 It is generally understood, at the date of this 
 book going to press, that there are to be two Corona- 
 tion Processions through the streets of London : 
 that, namely, on P^riday, June 27th, the day fol- 
 lowing the ceremony itself, which second state- 
 pageant is doubtless intended, shall take the place 
 of the ancient time-honoured state procession from 
 the Tower, through the City, to Westminster; and 
 the principal, as above-stated, from the Palace to the 
 Abbey on Coronation Day, Thursday, June 26th. 
 
 The Pageant of Friday, June 27th, will be so 
 210
 
 The Route 
 
 arranged as to give the People in every part of 
 London, north and south of the Thames, ample 
 opportunity and space for seeing one of the most 
 splendid State Pageants that London has ever 
 witnessed. It is understood that his Majesty has 
 approved of the recommendation of the Executive 
 Coronation Committee, that the route, on the 
 occasion of the procession, should be the same as 
 that followed by the late Ouccn in 1897. It will 
 be generally recollected that on the occasion of the 
 " Diamond Jubilee " the Royal procession started 
 from Buckingham Palace shortly after eleven o'clock, 
 and proceeded by Constitution Hill, Piccadilly, St. 
 James's Street, Pall Mall, Trafalgar Square (north 
 side), Duncannon Street, Strand, Fleet Street, and 
 Ludgate Hill, to St. Paul's Cathedral. After the 
 ceremony the procession returned by the way of 
 the south side of St. Paul's Churchyard to Cheapsidc, 
 the Mansion House, King William Street, London 
 Bridge, Borough High Street, Borough Road, St. 
 George's Circus, Westminster Bridge Road, West- 
 minster Bridge, Parliament Street, Whitehall, the 
 Horse Guards, and the Centre Mall to Buckingham 
 Palace. 
 
 It has been stated that one purpose of the lengthier 
 211
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 Procession is in some sort to revive the old-time 
 associations of Westminster Hall with the King's 
 Coronation. His Majesty, it is said, will make a 
 call there to receive the addresses of various public 
 bodies, and perhaps for the taking of oaths of 
 allegiance. If this last incident should prove to be 
 included in the day's proceedings, that would prob- 
 ably mean an abridgment of this part of the historic 
 rite in the Abbey, more particularly referred to else- 
 where in the printed religious services of the day. 
 * * * * * 
 
 We may take it that prices for seats to view the 
 Procession will not rule higher than those asked 
 on the day of Queen Victoria's Jubilee — that is to 
 say, if the Route be not restricted solely to Con- 
 stitution Hill, Piccadilly, St. James's Street, Charing 
 Cross, Whitehall. Of course, the lesser the oppor- 
 tunity of seeing the Pageant, the higher will be 
 the prices asked for accommodation. But, we 
 should say^seeing we have had so many grand 
 State processions of late years, and surely few 
 could excel in splendour and interest that of June 
 1897 : we should say that a guinea or so should 
 command a seat, from which conveniently to view 
 either of the Coronation Processions of 1902. 
 
 212
 
 The Route 
 
 "The Diamond Jubilee" of 1897 gave London a 
 foretaste of what London can produce in the way 
 of accommodation for the general public bent on 
 sight-seeing. At the last Coronation in 1838 
 speculators were not perhaps so exacting or so 
 numerous as on the occasion named ; but there 
 were a good many spacious timber structures — 
 galleries they were called — built on the line of 
 procession, seats in which commanded prices vary- 
 ing from 10^-. to 30^'. The front of Westminster 
 Hospital, for example, was covered with a stand 
 capable of holding some seven hundred persons, each 
 of whom paid a guinea for a seat. The public 
 stands extended all the way from Charing Cross 
 down Whitehall to the Abbey. Even the equestrian 
 statue of Charles I. was hemmed in by a wooden 
 gallery. Prices for seats at the windows of houses 
 on the line of route appear to have ranged from 
 \os. to ;^5 5J-. ; and the whole frontages of such 
 houses were let for sums ranging from ^50 to 
 ;^300. In St. James's Street (then not so given 
 over to clubs as now) several houses were let for 
 ;i6^200. The old Reform Club-house was let to a 
 speculator for /^200, who realised /500 by his 
 bargain. 
 
 213
 
 m^^^^ 
 
 w^M^^^m 
 
 IF Pageantry be of any account in politics — and 
 he would be a bold, not to say ill-informed 
 citizen who should say to the contrary — it is of 
 service in striking the imagination of the multitude. 
 Otherwise, why a taste for flags and banners when 
 political elections come round ? Why the stitching 
 by fair fingers of lovely silken rosettes of red, white, 
 blue and the like, and the display of such rosettes 
 on coats and gowns when the town is at fever heat 
 with patriotism- or "jingoism?" Why the hiring 
 of bands of music, banner-men, carriages, trumpeters, 
 and so on, and the arranging of processions, when 
 men take it into their heads to display their rejoicing, 
 that some particular section of the People are at 
 some particular juncture (say) in a worse position, 
 politically speaking, than themselves? Why, in 
 a word, State Processions through London's streets 
 at the King's Coronation, unless it be to show the 
 people that grandeur, splendour, soldiery, rank, 
 magnificence, the brilliance of coaches, the glitter of 
 
 214
 
 The People 
 
 robes, jewels, uniforms, etc., etc., are part of the 
 paraphernalia of kings, offered in exchange, may 
 we not say, for the loyalty, goodwill, and support 
 of their people ? 
 
 Even Demos himself, when the opportunity serves, 
 is not averse to appearing in public in state, so to 
 speak. He decorates with broad coloured sashes and 
 rich golden tassels, glistening stars of silver, medals, 
 aprons of white and blue, hats whh plumes of 
 feathers, or other sightly and attractive insignia 
 peculiar to the guild, " mystery," brotherhood, or 
 other association to which perchance Demos and 
 his fellows to-day belong. Your thorough-paced 
 Radical, elected by the suffrages of his political 
 friends to County, Borough, or City councils, would 
 seem to consider that a scarlet or blue fur-trimmed 
 gown of broad-cloth, contributes not a little to the 
 dignity or imposing character of his office, or why 
 does he wear it ? It would hardly be suggested, we 
 think, that every member of the Worshipful Court 
 of Aldermen of the City of London is an aristocrat ? 
 No gentlemen are more ready to gratify the citizens 
 with a sight of gowns of .scarlet, or " mazarine," 
 of gold chains of office, maces, swords, cocked- 
 hats, plumes, uniforms, court dress, etc., than that 
 
 215
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 promiscuous gathering of gentlemen which to their 
 own credit, no less than to the advantage and 
 satisfaction of the City of London at large, carry 
 on its municipal government. 
 
 Even the very Judges, the Clergy, and the Doctors 
 are not averse to a little exhibition of display at 
 times. The dignified judges of England, in full- 
 bottomed wigs, scarlet robes, and ermine tippets, 
 are quite as pleased to show themselves to the 
 people, passing in procession to the opening of the 
 High Courts of Justice in London, in Michaelmas 
 Term, as the people are pleased to see them. As 
 for the clergy who, from time immemorial, have been 
 disposed to lecture their flocks — by the way, the last 
 sermon preached by Bishop Latimer, before King- 
 Edward the Sixth, was in deprecation of finery ; 
 as for the clergy, who are always preaching against 
 the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, among 
 the which may be rightly included pomp and luxury 
 of dress, some of themselves have been and still 
 are among the greatest of sinners in these respects. 
 The magnificence of Archbishop a Becket, we 
 are told, was " incredible." Before the coming of 
 Wolsey (so the chroniclers say) none wore silks 
 and embroideries in England among the commonalty. 
 
 216
 
 The People 
 
 The fact is, the most of us relish a little display, and 
 all of us greatly relish a State display : all, perhaps, 
 but those more immediately concerned in arranging 
 and taking part in it. 
 
 The world sometimes thinks that kings and princes 
 are very agreeably entertained, when they stand the 
 central figures of the foremost group in some great 
 function of State, surrounded by a splendid throng 
 of statesmen, ambassadors, lords chamberlain, lords 
 steward, masters of ceremonies. Crown equerries, 
 gentlemen-at-arms and the rest, for the express 
 purpose (in not a few instances) of gratifying a 
 number of other people, whom they have never seen, 
 and to whom the throne-room of the palace is not 
 generally accessible. Many persons, I doubt not, 
 view with envy the splendid positions that some of 
 these great functionaries of a Court occupy, and 
 doubtless would willingly forego their own indepen- 
 dence to be allowed to stand for a time in their 
 place. The great personages themselves, on the 
 other hand, are only too delighted, we should 
 imagine, to exchange the richly embroidered coat 
 of scarlet and gold, or bullion and blue, for a plain 
 everyday suit of honest " Cheviot '' ; and, excepting 
 for duty's sake, are no more entertained by the 
 
 217 r
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 proceedings of State processions, Foundation-stone 
 layings, Levees, Drawing-rooms, State Balls, State 
 Concerts, and the like, than a policeman is enter- 
 tained by staring at the road traffic at Charmg Cross. 
 I was curious to see what Charles Cavendish Fulke 
 Greville (an aristocrat of the aristocrats, better known 
 as sometime Clerk of the Privy Council and, later, 
 author of the " Memoirs ") might have to say about 
 the Coronation of Queen Victoria, at which he, of 
 course, was present. He gossips about it in a 
 couple of pages, or so, and describes in a few words 
 the scene in the Abbey. This is how he sums up 
 his impressions : " The thing best worth seeing was 
 the Town itself, and the countless multitudes through 
 which the procession passed. . . . The great event 
 of this Coronation is, that it was done for the people. 
 To interest and amuse tliem [the word is printed in 
 italics] seems to have been the principal object." 
 And, as if to emphasise what was passing in his 
 mind at the moment he wrote this, he mentions 
 incidentally that the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
 told him he had been informed, on good authority, 
 that " ^ 200,000 had been paid for seats alone." A 
 Coronation is undoubtedly in a marked degree a 
 serious, and imposing, historic and religious rite ; 
 
 218
 
 The People 
 
 but the purely spectacular parts of the ceremony, 
 the grand processions through London, the splendid 
 scene in the Abbey, the attendant Court rejoicings 
 and festivities : these are what mainly interest those 
 who have not the good fortune to take any personal 
 part in the ceremonial proceedings. Those who do 
 happen to be appointed to take part in them find 
 that "the thing best worth seeing is the Town 
 itself." 
 
 Coronations were made for crowds. Apart from 
 the national and political significance belonging to 
 the act itself, and the interest inseparable from the 
 solemn and imposing religious ritual connected with 
 the ceremony, such great spectacles were planned 
 and intended to interest and attract the People, 
 and to arouse their loyalty and enthusiasm. It 
 would be an original idea to give representatives 
 of every rank of the King's subjects opportunity 
 of witnessing the religious ceremonial, instead of 
 reserving the whole space within the Abbey, as is 
 usual, to the aristocratic and privileged few. On 
 the eve of the Coronation, Westminster Abbey 
 passes for the time into possession of the Crown 
 and its officers ; so that there is not much chance, 
 we fear, for " the great unknown " to mingle with 
 
 219
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 the well-known great, as spectators of the ceremony 
 
 itself. 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 Our old library friend, Pepys, who, in his time, 
 saw everything worth seeing in London, reports 
 that he was " up early " to witness the Coronation 
 of Charles the Second. " About four " (says he) " I 
 rose and got to the Abbey, and with much ado 
 did get up to a scaffold in the north end, where, 
 with a good deal of patience, I sat from past four till 
 eleven." That hour seems to have been the appointed 
 time for the religious ceremony of the Coronation 
 to begin, from time immemorial. Eleven is, as 
 every one knows, the Sunday morning church hour 
 common throughout England ; and as the Coro- 
 nations of England's Sovereigns were generally 
 arranged to take place on some day appointed as 
 a Church Festival, it may be that that circumstance 
 had somewhat to do with the hour named. " At 
 daybreak" on that June morning sixty-four years 
 ago when Queen Victoria was crowned, the streets 
 of London were already thronged ; and grand folk, 
 an hour or two later, were making their way in 
 carriages to the Abbey. It might be as well to 
 note the fact here, for nearly all great State affairs 
 
 220
 
 The People 
 
 are, as we have before pointed out, arranged and 
 governed by ancient usage. 
 
 On Queen Victoria's Coronation Day, the special 
 proceedings of the occasion were begun with a 
 royal salute of twenty-one guns fired in St. James's 
 Park at sunrise. The people began to form up 
 in the streets and on the line of route as early as 
 three in the morning. The doors of the Abbey 
 were opened to those with tickets at 5 a.m. The 
 House of Commons met shortly after 7 a.m., all 
 members being in full-dress uniform or court dress, 
 for the purpose of balloting for the places reserved 
 to its representatives in the Abbey. At ten o'clock 
 the Abbey doors were closed against all comers 
 but those included in the procession of the 
 Sovereign. It is most likely that the ceremony of 
 the King's Coronation will be appointed for eleven 
 or thereabout. Whether Londoners will throng 
 the streets at " daybreak " on the day appointed 
 is a point Londoners will decide for them- 
 selves. If they do not, it is probable that others 
 will. Londoners have seen more of splendid State 
 pageantry within the last ten or twelve years, than 
 in all other years of her late Majesty's reign put 
 together, unless we except the entry of Queen 
 
 221
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 Alexandra into London. For grandeur and in- 
 terest alike, the Jubilee occasions would be hard 
 to match ; but it is quite likely that the Coronation 
 Processions to and from the Palace will at least 
 equal those two memorable pageants in national 
 interest. The King himself is ])artial to military 
 display, which of all others appeals most to the 
 popular interest. Why a naturally peace-lo\ing 
 people should be always so delighted with a sight 
 of the pomp and circumstance of war — and the 
 greater the military display the more satisfied and 
 appreciative our non-combatant citizens are ; why 
 the generally peace-loving citizen should most relish 
 these warlike displays is a question we might leave 
 to the consideration of philosophers. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Thackeray, in one of his earlier essays, inci- 
 dentally mentions that he was in a " genteel 
 crowd" — everything was "genteel" in Thackeray's 
 time that was not positively vulgar : he was in a 
 genteel crowd in one of the galleries of the Abbey 
 at the Queen's Coronation. (We oldsters still cling 
 to that dear old name, as if our late and long-time 
 Sovereign Lady were yet with us.) Thackeray 
 was in such a crowd, he said, " at the Queen's 
 
 99-7
 
 The People 
 
 Coronation." In these times, we should probably 
 write "a swell crowd." "In point of intelligence," 
 he proceeds to remark, " the democrats were quite 
 equal to the aristocrats "- — a comparison, shall we 
 say, not quite in the style of Thackeray of the 
 days of " Esmond." " I have never yet been in an 
 English mob," he continues, " without the same 
 feeling of respect for the persons who composed it, 
 and without wonder at the vigorous and orderly 
 good sense, and intelligence, of the People." When 
 we remember that Thackeray was somewhat less 
 familiar with the People than his great contem- 
 porary Dickens, such an admission from him is 
 worth repeating. When we speak of "the People," 
 some of us are apt at times to fancy that we 
 ourselves are not of their number. The author of 
 " Vanity Fair," who mostly moved in the upper 
 circles of society, loved his club, and the well- 
 arranged households and inviting companionship 
 of the well-to-do, somewhat condescendingly as it 
 seems to us, uses the word " mob " to express his 
 view of a great popular gathering in the streets 
 of London. Grammatically speaking, no doubt, 
 "mob" is sufficiently correct. But we usually 
 employ that word now to signify the rowdier element 
 
 223
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 ill popular assemblies. Now, if there be one 
 feature of our English crowds more than another 
 that astonishes the stranger, not less than the 
 Englishman himself, it is the remarkable absence 
 of rowdyism. " The vigorous and orderly good 
 sense, and intelligence," and ^^holesome respect for 
 the authority of the police, which in general 
 characterises a great London crowd, or " mob " if 
 you will, may be classed among the most astonishing 
 and pleasing features of our times. 
 
 We venture to say that not the least interesting 
 of the many interesting sights to be seen in London 
 on the day of the King's Coronation, will be the 
 People gathered in numbers overwhelming in its 
 streets ; hundreds of thousands of the People, of 
 every class, drawn from near and far, as orderly, 
 good-tempered, and law-abiding as any to be seen 
 in any city in the world. That sight, to be seen, 
 most probably, in the Park fronting on the Palace, 
 on Constitution Hill, in Piccadilly, in St. James's 
 Street, in Pall Mall, at Charing Cross, about 
 Whitehall, at Westminster, and elsewhere, will be 
 one of the great features of the day of the crowning 
 of King Edward at Westminster. The crowd will 
 be in the main attracted, of course, by a desire to 
 
 224
 
 The People 
 
 see the State pageantry of the Royal Procession 
 itself to and from the Abbey ; but it will also 
 be drawn together from all parts of the kingdom, 
 to show its good-will, and proclaim its loyalty, 
 to the reigning monarch, son and successor of 
 Queen V^ictoria the Well-beloved, who passed this 
 way to her Coronation, amid the same scenes of 
 popular rejoicing, now so many years ago. 
 
 225
 
 Arrangement, according to Precedent, of the Ai.tar and the 
 '•Theatre" (so-named) in Westminster Abbey at the 
 Coronation. 
 
 226
 
 H 
 
 E \\ho is without enthusiasm, 
 if any there be, for this that 
 has been not unfitly named " the most 
 lovely and lovable thing in Christen- 
 dom " ; he who may be as yet un- 
 versed in the history and traditions 
 of London's famous Minster of the 
 West, would do well to turn for a 
 moment to the " Memorials of Westminster Abbey " 
 by the late Dean Stanley, for a little pleasant 
 and profitable reading, preparatory to that event 
 of which the Abbey, as heretofore, is the central 
 point of greatest interest. 
 
 He says that " the most continuous succession 
 of events " the Abbey has witnessed in its eight 
 centuries of history have been the coronations. 
 No similar succession of events is recorded of any 
 other building in the world. The crowning of 
 the old-tiine kings of France at Rheims and of 
 
 227
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 the Popes of Rome in the Basihca of the Vatican 
 most nearly approaches to it. But Rheims is now 
 deserted, and the present Church of St. Peter at 
 Rome is, by five hundred years, more modern 
 than Westminster Abbey. Moreover, no other 
 coronation rite in Europe reaches back to so 
 early a period, as that of the sovereigns of Britain. 
 The crowning of Aidan by Columba is the oldest 
 known ceremony of the kind in Christendom ; and, 
 from the Anglo-Saxon "order" of the coronation 
 of Egbert is derived the ancient form of the 
 coronation of the Kings of P'rance. Only in two 
 European countries, besides Britain, does the rite 
 retain its full primitive signification, in Hungary, 
 namely, and in Russia. 
 
 ***** 
 
 The traditionary place of the first crowning of 
 a British sovereign is far-famed Stonehenge by 
 Salisbury Plain. Of the Anglo-Saxon kings of 
 England, seven were crowned on " the King's 
 Stone" — so says tradition — "by the first ford of 
 the Thames " Londonwards travelling from the 
 west. The stone itself (so at least is commonly 
 supposed) still stands an interesting memorial in 
 the market-square at Kingston-on-Thames, that 
 
 228
 
 The Abbey 
 
 picturesque suburb of London, not too curiously 
 sought nowadays by strangers and pilgrims, but 
 which is within a pleasant walk of town by way 
 of Putney and Wimbledon Common, thence through 
 Kingston Vale. Winchester Cathedral and St. Paul's 
 in London — the elder church once standing on the 
 site of the present metropolitan cathedral — were 
 likewise coronation places of the Saxon kings of 
 England. It appears still to be doubtful where 
 Harold of that line was crowned. But, with his 
 successor (as we have already pointed out) began 
 that long series of successive coronations in the 
 Abbey of Westminster, of which that of King 
 Edward the Seventh, and his Queen, will be for 
 some years to come (as we trust) the present 
 appropriate finale. 
 
 Founded in the eleventh century of our era by 
 his famous ancestor, alike in lineage, and in name, 
 it is peculiarly befitting and not less interesting that 
 Edward the Seventh should, in the second year of 
 the twentieth century, receive the homage of the 
 nation, and be crowned king in the Church of St. 
 Peter " of our Palace at Westminster,"— for so his 
 present Majesty's Proclamation of June 26th, 1901, 
 ran — like all his ancestors of the name. The 
 
 229
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 third of the Henrys kings of England prided 
 himself on his descent from King Alfred. Henry's 
 sons were the first of the English princes who 
 were called by Anglo-Saxon names. That king's 
 first-born son — the first prince, be it said, ever born 
 at Westminster — received his name from the Anglo- 
 Saxon founder of the Abbey — " the first of that 
 long series of Edwards, which is the one royal name 
 that constantly reappears, to assert its unchanging 
 hold on the affections of the English people." 
 
 Plainly and briefly stated, the Ceremony of the 
 Coronation of the King at Westminster is the 
 recognition, and confirmation, in Solemn Form of 
 his royal descent, and consequent right of 
 Accession to the throne. The ceremony itself 
 is not absolutely necessary, though held essential, 
 for the security of the title to the Crown. William 
 the Fourth, "the Sailor King" of England, was 
 eager to dispense with it altogether. In theory, 
 and according to ancient law of the Realm (as 
 every one knows) the King never dies. The 
 Queen is dead, live the King ! The throne is 
 never vacant. At 6.30 p.m. on the evening of 
 January 22nd, 1901, at Osborne, Albert Edward, 
 the eldest son of the greatly loved and deeply 
 
 2^0
 
 The Abbe 
 
 y 
 
 lamented Queen Victoria, became King in fact 
 and in person. The Coronation " at Our Palace 
 at Westminster " is the solemn public confirmation 
 of King Edward's right. 
 
 The ceremonial itself is more splendid, elaborate, 
 and emblematic in England, than in any other 
 country of Europe. Its ritual is in the highest de- 
 gree interesting, being so faithfully established upon, 
 and regulated by, historic precedent. The practice 
 of anointing with oil, for example, has been con- 
 tinued for upwards of a thousand years in Britain 
 at the Coronation of the Sovereign. Some of the 
 forms still in use would appear to be of Judaical 
 origin, at all events in the religious part of 
 the ceremonies. It was declared by Thomas a 
 Beckct, Archbishop of Canterbur}% that " kings arc 
 anointed on the head to signify their glory ; on 
 the breast to signify their sanctity ; and on the 
 arm to declare their power." These various acts of 
 consecration, so many centuries old, are still done 
 by the Archbishop of Canterbury at the Coronation 
 in Westminster Abbey. The various insignia, 
 hereinbefore referred to, such as a ring to signify 
 faithfulness, the bracelet for good works, a sceptre 
 for justice, a sword for vengeance, the purple robes 
 
 231
 
 The Coronation oi: Edward VII 
 
 to attract reverence, the diadem to blazon glory, are 
 all of much historic interest. The word " king " 
 (as the text-books say) signifies power, or know- 
 ledge, " wherewith every sovereign should be 
 endowed." His formal crowning, apart from the 
 illustrious honour and dignity thus conferred, tends 
 to a formal establishment of those rights which the 
 People claim from a monarch, in return for the duty 
 and allegiance the People are bound to render him. 
 There was a book in the keeping of the Abbots of 
 
 Westminster, one 
 of the most in- 
 teresting of the 
 treasures still in 
 custody of the 
 Deans, named the 
 " Liber Regalis," 
 or " Book of the 
 Royal Offices." 
 Its date is of 
 the middle years 
 _ of the fourteenth 
 century. That 
 
 book has furnished 
 Coronation Chair of Queen Mary , 
 
 Tudor. the precedents 
 
 232
 
 The Abbey 
 
 for the religious ceremonies of the Coronations 
 in Westminster Abbey ever since. Queen Mary 
 was crowned according to the order therein set 
 forth. Queen EHzabeth's coronation followed the 
 same order in most respects. King James the 
 First's took what is known as " the new form," 
 which, " with some alterations, has been ' the 
 Coronation Service ' in use down to the present 
 day." The service used in 1838, at the coronation 
 of Queen Victoria, was " edited," if we may so 
 say — prepared, perhaps, would be a better word — 
 by Archbishop Howley, then of Canterbury, and 
 Primate of All England, who presided at the 
 ceremony. It is undoubtedly based on, or collated 
 with, that used at the crowning of James the 
 Second and Queen Mary, which was also the 
 precedent followed at the crowning of King 
 George III. and Queen Charlotte, George IV., and 
 King William IV. 
 
 ***** 
 
 From the time of William the Conqueror, the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury has (with three excep- 
 tions) always been the chief ecclesiastic at the 
 Coronations ; and the Bishop of London has usually 
 preached the sermon. The Archbishop of York 
 
 233 Q
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 is appointed to assist. Dean Stanley says that, 
 " on these occasions only, these three prelates 
 take their places, as of right, in the Choir of the 
 Abbey, but the Archbishop of York has been 
 obliged to remain content with the inferior 
 and accidental office of crowning the Queen 
 Consort, as was originally performed by Aldred 
 (Archbishop of York) for Queen Matilda, two 
 years after the Conqueror's coronation." By 
 I William and Mary, c. 6i, it is enacted " that the 
 Coronation may be performed by the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury, or the Archbishop of York, or either 
 of them, or any other Bishop whom the King's 
 Majesty shall appoint." The claim of the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury to preside at the marriage of royal 
 personages (it may be mentioned) rests on the 
 theory that the kings and queens of England 
 are " parishioners " of the see of Canterbury. 
 
 Parenthetically : to illustrate the close connection 
 that has always existed between the Crown and 
 Westminster Abbey, it may be mentioned that the 
 Coronations even to this day — it was so in times 
 remote, when Tudor and Stuart came to the throne, 
 and is so now when Edward the Seventh is to be 
 crowned — are said to take place at "Our Palace at 
 
 234
 
 The Abbey 
 
 Westminster," whereof the Houses of Parh'ament 
 may be said to be the present-day representatives. 
 They are still referred to as the Palace of West- 
 minster, and the open space in front of the Hall 
 is still known as Palace Yard, held to be within 
 the precincts (we believe) of the House of Commons. 
 At all events, this space is practically closed to the 
 public when Parliament is in session. 
 
 ***** 
 
 On that eventful Christmas Day of the year 1066, 
 when William the Norman passed to his crowning 
 at Westminster, the suburbs of the city, the streets 
 of London — such as they then were — and all the 
 approaches to the Abbey were thronged with a 
 vast crowd. So say the historians. Double rows 
 of soldiers, horse and foot, kept it in hand. That 
 king's was a coronation, the like of which (save in 
 Richard the First's case) has not been seen in 
 England from those days to these. William was 
 left almost alone at the altar, with none but 
 Archbishop Aldred, and his terrified priests, to take 
 the coronation oath of the Anglo-Saxon kings, to 
 which, by the way, he added a solemn promise of 
 his own, to treat his new-found subjects as well 
 as the best of their kings had done. There was 
 
 235
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 a tumult, and almost a fight, brought about by a 
 misconception of the meaning of the shouts of 
 " Yea ! Yea ! " and the uplifting of swords within 
 the Abbey, when the assembled Normans and 
 English were asked, in the language of each, 
 whether they would have William for their king. 
 
 The coronation of Richard the First (the Lion 
 Hearted), who took the crown from the altar with 
 his own hands, " in signification that he held it 
 only from God," and delivered it to the Archbishop, 
 who then placed it on the king's head ; Richard's 
 coronation, done in such swift and unceremonious 
 fashion, ended in a wholesale butchering and 
 plundering of the Jews — though utterly against the 
 king's will, as old Speed would have us believe. 
 When Queen Mary was crowned, "a relic of the 
 true cross " was exposed on the altar. That relic, 
 spirited away when her successor came to the 
 throne, turned up in an old box, containing some 
 antique ecclesiastical vestments, some two centuries 
 later, and tradition sa}s was long-time kept in the 
 Benedictine College of St. Gregory near Bath. 
 
 Pennant cynically remarks, "an abbey is nothing 
 without relics " ; and he proceeds to enumerate 
 some of those in the centuries long past belonging 
 
 236
 
 The Abbey 
 
 to Westminster Abbey. For example, "the veil and 
 some of the milk of the Virgin Mary, the blade- 
 bone of St. Benedict, the fingers of St. Alphage, 
 the head of St. Maxilla, and half the jaw-bone of 
 St. Anastasia." What became of these sacred 
 treasures of the ancient abbey of pre-Reformation 
 times ? It is strange nowadays to think, that for 
 at least five centuries the service of the Roman 
 Catholic Church was daily performed in St. Peter's 
 in Westminster, and that many of our kings and 
 queens were crowned there by the archbishops of 
 that Church and according to its rites. John 
 Feckenham of Queen Mary's reign, when " the old 
 religion " was revived for a while, was (if we 
 remember aright) the last Abbot of Westminster 
 who presided at a coronation. 
 
 The first detailed account of the ceremonial of the 
 Coronation as continued to our time dates from 
 Richard I. (1189): namely, the procession from the 
 Palace to the Abbey ; the emblematic swords, the 
 sceptre, the spurs, the fact of the Bishops of 
 Durham, and Bath and Wells (then first named in 
 this capacity) supporting the King on the right 
 hand and left ; the oath ; the anointing ; the crown, 
 taken by the King himself in this instance from the 
 
 237
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 altar, and given to the Arch- 
 bishop. At the succeeding 
 coronation of John (1199), a 
 peculiar function was added. 
 The barons of the Cinque 
 Ports were, for services 
 rendered the King by sea, 
 appointed to carry the state 
 canopy over his Majesty as 
 he passed to the Abbey, and 
 
 Richard the Second in his ^Iso at the CCremony of 
 Coronation Robes (fro.m • ^.-^ 
 
 THE Portrait in West- anoniling. 
 
 minster Abbey). .^^ regards incidental 
 
 matters of the ceremony, it may be mentioned that 
 the " Knights of the Bath " are first mentioned in the 
 procession of Edward III. ; the "King's Champion " 
 (now an obsolete functionary) also appeared for the 
 first time then ; the " Yeomen of the Guard " fell into 
 position first of all at Henry VII.'s coronation ; 
 the Peers of Parliament in their robes, the Knights 
 of the Garter in the dress of their order, the great 
 officers of state in gorgeous uniform, the heralds 
 in crimson and gold, appear to have been first 
 seen in all their magnificent setting of to-day, 
 at the coronation in Westminster Abbey of Queen 
 
 238
 
 The Abbey 
 
 Anne Boleyn, on Sunday, June ist, 1533; the 
 King himself of his own design being absent from 
 that ceremon}'. 
 
 The prayer — "Almighty God, of His Mercy, 
 let the light of His countenance shine upon your 
 Majesty, grant you a prosperous and happy reign, 
 defend, and save you ; and let \'our subjects say 
 Amen — ' God save the King ! ' " — formed the perora- 
 tion of Archbishop Cranmer's sermon in the Abbey 
 at the Coronation of the Boy-King Edward VI. 
 It seems that to Cromwell was first handed the 
 Bible — " a Book of Books which doth contain both 
 precepts and examples for good government" — when 
 he was installed Lord Protector. Cromwell was 
 not crowned and anointed in Westminster Abbey, 
 but was solemnly enthroned, girt with a sword of 
 state, clad in a robe of purple, and presented 
 with the Bible, in Westminster Hall. The period 
 of the Commonwealth marks the one break in 
 the continuity of eight centuries, when he who for 
 the time was king in all but name and right of 
 royal succession, was not invested with the attributes 
 of royalty, the crown, the sceptre, and the orb, in 
 Westminster Abbey. It is interesting at this 
 distance of time to note how Cromwell himself 
 
 239
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 respected the ancient traditions of the Abbey as 
 the place of coronation of the English Kings ; 
 and was content himself to be enthroned and 
 invested with the robe of purple in the adjoining 
 Hall. But, if we are to credit history, Cromwell 
 was at one time seriously contemplating the step 
 which would have led him to the more sacred 
 historic edifice only a few yards away ; probably 
 some time before that day when the Crown jewels 
 of the realm were seized in the Abbey treasury by 
 order of the Parliament, and broken up. 
 
 When Cromwell had in turn vanquished and 
 destroyed King, Lords, and Commons, and seemed 
 (as the historian says), " to be left sole heir of the 
 powers of all three," it was within the bounds 
 of possibility that he might " mount the ancient 
 English throne, and reign according to the 
 ancient English polity." According to Macaulay, 
 Cromwell was not without thoughts of settling the 
 affairs of the sorely tried kingdom in some such 
 fashion. " The peers who now remained sullenly 
 at their country houses, and refused to take part 
 in public affairs, would, when summoned to their 
 house by the writ of a king in possession, gladly 
 resume their ancient functions. Northumberland 
 
 240
 
 The Abbey 
 
 and Bedford, Manchester and Pembroke, would be 
 proud to bear the crown, and the spurs, the sceptre, 
 and the globe before the restorer of aristocracy." 
 Such things, however, were not to be. " The title 
 of king was not revived, but the kingly prerogatives 
 were entrusted to a Lord High Protector. The 
 sovereign was called not his Majesty, but his 
 Highness." 
 
 James the Second ordered Sancroft to abridge 
 the coronation ritual. The reason given out to 
 the public was that the day- — April 23rd (St. 
 George's Day), 1685 — was too short for all that 
 was to be done. The real reason was to forego 
 that part of the ritual likely to be offensive to 
 the religious feelings of Roman Catholics. The 
 Communion Service was left out. The ceremony 
 of presenting the Bible was omitted. But the 
 King showed no scruples as to making the 
 customary oblation on the altar. " He appeared 
 to join in the petitions of the Litany chanted by 
 the Bishops. He received from those false prophets 
 the Unction typical of a divine influence ; and 
 knelt with the semblance of devotion while they 
 called down upon him the Holy Spirit of which 
 they were in his estimation the malignant and 
 
 241
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 obdurate foes. Such are the inconsistencies of 
 human nature that this man who, from a fanatical 
 zeal for his religion, threw away three kingdoms, 
 yet chose to commit what was little short of an 
 act of apostasy rather than forego the childish 
 pleasure of being invested with the gewgaws 
 symbolical of kingly power." So writes Macaulay. 
 George the Third appears to have studied the 
 ritual of the coronation beforehand, and knew 
 more about it than those officials of his court 
 who should have known most. There is a funny 
 story told of the answer made by the Deputy 
 Earl Marshal of that day (the Earl of Effingham) 
 to some complaint of the King, as to certain 
 omissions made in the ceremony : " It is true, 
 Sir," said the Earl, " there has been some neglect ; 
 but I have taken care that the next coronation 
 shall be regulated in the exactest manner possible." 
 If the Deputy Earl Marshal had it no longer in 
 his power to make good the promise when the 
 next coronation came, George the Fourth himself 
 saw to it that no omissions were made in any 
 part of the ceremony when he was crowned. This 
 anecdote reminds us of another of a similar kind, 
 in regard of things which had been better left 
 
 242
 
 The Abbey 
 
 unsaid. George the Second happened to be 
 chatting with the beautiful Lady Coventry of 
 his day on the topic of court pageants. The only 
 sight, the lady told him, she was now eager to 
 see, was a coronation ! The old King laughed 
 heartily and repeated the story in high good 
 humour at the supper-table. A few months ago 
 we saw this same story published in a London 
 newspaper, and attributed to a beautiful American 
 lady conversing with the Prince of Wales during 
 Queen Victoria's lifetime. Of such ancient stories 
 is the gossip of contemporary history made up. 
 
 Those interested in omens may perchance know 
 the story told of one of the finest jewels in the 
 state crown of George the Third becoming loosened, 
 and falling to the ground at the coronation banquet 
 in Westminster Hall. Jesse relates the anecdote, 
 and further says that many remembered the event 
 when later the American colonies were lost to 
 England. A similar story is told of James the 
 Second. The crown, not fitting well, tottered on 
 the King's head in the Abbey, and was only 
 prevented from falling off by Henry, the brother 
 of the patriot Algernon Sidney, who happened to 
 be near the King. " It is not the first time, Sir," 
 . 243
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 he said, " that a member of our family has 
 supported the crown." Yet a third story is told, 
 of Charles the First's walking-stick falling to the 
 floor at his trial in Westminister Hall, and of the 
 gold head becoming detached. This story is 
 repeated by many relaters of the events of that 
 time, who also add that the King was greatly 
 disturbed at the omen, as well he might have 
 been. It is not impossible that each of these 
 anecdotes may be traced to ancient writers of 
 fiction. We merely repeat them for what they are 
 worth. 
 
 Not the least interesting of the treasures belong- 
 ing to the Abbey are the ancient copes, worn (as 
 some may remember) by the officiating clergy at 
 the Jubilee of 1887. Some of the existing copes, 
 purple, crimson, and cloth of gold, were originally 
 made, we believe, for the Coronation of Charles II., 
 though there is one of curious design, which is said 
 to have been brought from Spain for the Coronation 
 of Queen Victoria. Time, however, has wrought 
 sad havoc here, for several of these once-splendid 
 vestments have lost their colour, and are no longer 
 suitable for wear. The crimson copes are to figure 
 
 244
 
 The Abbe 
 
 y 
 
 once more at the Coronation, with others of the 
 same Royal colour and no less magnificent. 
 
 The choirs of the Abbey and the Chapel Royal, 
 St. James's, will form the backbone of the musical 
 performers. For many years a prominent position 
 at the Coronation has been assigned to these two 
 historic bodies. They will probably be largely re- 
 inforced — indeed, it is possible that efforts will be 
 made to secure the presence of representatives from 
 every cathedral choir in the land. In addition to 
 the time-honoured Coronation anthems of Handel 
 and Attwood, some musical novelties (such is com- 
 monly the case) may be expected which have never 
 before been heard in such a service. 
 
 There were rumours in London towards the close 
 of 1 90 1 that the Coronation Office was to be 
 curtailed. In the belief that this was in contem- 
 plation the Church newspapers of various grades 
 of opinion, began to protest vigorousl}- against 
 the possible omission of the celebration of the 
 Holy Communion and the anointing of the Sove- 
 reign. We should not have mentioned this incident, 
 except for the fact that it gave occasion for a 
 leading article in one of the newspapers referred 
 to, which doubtless presented the view of the 
 
 245
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 " High Church " party, respectuig certain parts of 
 the reh'gious rite. 
 
 In that article the writer observed of the ceremony : 
 
 " If it is anything more than a mere pageant, a 
 piece of silly theatrical display, comparable to the 
 Lord Mayor's Show, it is the solemn consecration of 
 the King's person for his great office. It is strictly 
 analogous to the ordination of a priest, the sacring 
 of a Bishop, and the order of service is constructed 
 on the same lines. The King's sacring takes place 
 in the course of the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, 
 and, as in all similar cases, the person consecrated 
 partakes of the Holy Communion. Only once in the 
 long list of English coronations has this rule been 
 broken. It was in the case of James H., who refused 
 to communicate with the Church of England. He 
 consented, with little consistency, to be crowned, 
 anointed, and blessed by the Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, but he insisted on leaving the Abbey without 
 communicating. The omission of the anointing (if 
 that indeed be contemplated) is even worse. We 
 confess that we cannot imagine why the King should 
 go to Westminster at all, if not for the unction. To 
 suppose this a mere ceremony, accidentally attached 
 to the Coronation service, is to miss the whole mean- 
 ing of the rite. It is not too much to say that the 
 anointing is the one distinctively sacred act by which 
 the King is set apart for his holy office. . . . The 
 246
 
 The Abbey 
 
 crowning, and the investment of the King with mantle, 
 sceptre, sword, and the other regaUa, however solemn 
 and significant a ceremony, has nothing of an essen- 
 tially sacred character. It might be done with equal 
 propriety, if with less solemnity, in Westminster Hall 
 or in the House of Lords. It might be done by any 
 hiuh officer of State." * 
 
 When one is bidden to a splendid and imposing 
 ceremonial, the most splendid and imposing, indeed, 
 of any that he can expect to witness in London 
 in a lifetime ; it is not to be supposed that he is in 
 the humour for 
 paying much 
 heed to reflec- 
 tions on the 
 vanity^ of things 
 in general. 
 Otherwise, 
 \vc might be 
 tempted to offer 
 the following — 
 if the Reader 
 be not already 
 
 familiar with Coronation Mi:dal of Mary Tudor. 
 
 * Tlic Cliitrcli Times, November 22ncl, 1901. 
 247
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 them — for consideration. They are quite as likely 
 to provide nourishing food for thought within the 
 Abbey while patiently waiting for the hour of eleven 
 to boom forth from Big Ben, as the day's gossip pro- 
 vided by the London journals. We quote from 
 the one-time largely read Jeremy Taylor : " A man 
 may read a sermon " (wrote he), " the best and most 
 passionate that ever man preached, if he shall 
 but enter into the Sepulchre of Kings. In the same 
 Escurial where the Spanish princes live in greatness 
 and power, and decree war or peace, they have wisely 
 placed a cemetery where their ashes and their 
 glory shall sleep till time shall be no more. And 
 where our Kings have been crowned their ancestors 
 lie interred, and they must walk over their grand- 
 sire's head to take his crown. There is an acre 
 sown with royal seed, the copy of the greatest 
 change — from rich to naked, from ceiled roof to 
 arched coffins, from living like gods to dying like 
 men. There is enough to cool the flames of lust ; 
 to abate the height of pride ; to appease the itch 
 of covetous desires ; to sully and dash out the dis- 
 sembling colours of a lustful, artificial, and imaginary 
 beauty. There the warlike and the peaceful, the 
 fortunate and the miserable, the beloved and the 
 
 248
 
 The Abbey 
 
 despised princes mingle their dust, and pay down 
 their symbol of mortality ; and tell all the world, 
 that when we die, our ashes shall be equal to kings, 
 and our accounts easier, and our pains, or our 
 crowns, shall be less." 
 
 T^ % 7p yp Tf 
 
 249
 
 m^4*v^^>.r<^^^^:^^:'x:^^i 
 
 V 
 
 V 
 
 As regards the interior arrangements of the 
 Abbey for the Coronation service, from the 
 great West door, at which the Procession enters, 
 to the screen which divides Choir from Nave, two 
 rows of galleries have heretofore been erected ; on 
 each side, that is to say, of the centre aisle — the 
 one gallery level with the vaultings, the other with 
 the summit of the western door. These galleries, 
 the backs of which would rest against the wall 
 of the Abbey, have their fronts fluted with crimson 
 cloth, richly draped at the top, and decorated with 
 broad golden fringe at the bottom. The seats in 
 these galleries were supposed to provide accommo- 
 dation for some fifteen hundred persons. It is 
 somewhat doubtful, however, if galleries so lofty will 
 be raised now. 
 
 On the floor of the centre aisle a slightly raised 
 platform, or carpeted way, is laid down, along which 
 the King's and Queen's Procession passes to the 
 
 250
 
 The Procession 
 
 Choir. This is matted over, and covered with 
 crimson cloth. On the pavement of the aisle itself 
 bordering this carpeted way, stand the military 
 told off to keep the line of the Procession 
 clear. 
 
 The " Theatre " (p. 226), where the principal parts 
 of the opening ceremony are enacted, lies immedi- 
 ately under the central tower of the Abbey, and 
 is in fact a square, formed by the intersection of 
 the choir and transepts, extending nearly the whole 
 breadth of the choir. On this square a platform is 
 erected, ascended by five steps. The summit of 
 this platform, and also the highest step leading to 
 it, is covered with richest cloth of gold. From 
 that step, down to the flooring of the " Theatre," 
 all is covered with carpet of rich red or purple 
 colour, bordered with gold. In the centre of 
 this " Theatre," the sumptuously draped chair 
 is placed for the Sovereign, in which he receives 
 the homage of the peers ; and a little aside 
 from it another for the Queen Consort. At the 
 north-cast end of this " Theatre " a pulpit is 
 erected from which the Coronation sermon is 
 preached. 
 
 In the sacrarium, which forms part of the altar- 
 251
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 space, the Coronation chairs stand — the ancient 
 chair known as King Edward's, and that of later 
 date know as Queen Mary's. It is here the King 
 and Queen are crowned. 
 
 Right of the altar, looking towards it, accom- 
 modation is provided for members of the Royal 
 Family ; and on the left a bench is provided 
 for the Bishops, while above them in a kind of 
 low gallery or " box " are ranged the Foreign 
 Ambassadors and special envoys. The back of the 
 altar itself is draped with purple and gold silks ; 
 and the floor of the sacrarium is covered with a 
 rich purple and gold carpet. Above the altar 
 in time past were the galleries reserved to the 
 members of the House of Commons ; but this 
 arrangement is hardly likely to be made now. 
 
 In the Choir itself, all the ordinary stalls, reading- 
 desks, and pews are removed. In their places are 
 erected, on each side of the Choir, five rows of 
 benches, covered with scarlet drapery and gold, 
 reserved as seats for the great officers of State 
 and Household. To the peers and peeresses are 
 usually allotted galleries in the transepts, north and 
 south. There they sit in all the glittering pomp 
 of velvet and ermine. 
 
 252
 
 The Procession 
 
 According to ancient usage, the Procession from 
 the West door of the Abbey to the Choir was 
 thus marshalled : 
 
 The Prebendaries of Westminster. 
 
 The Very Reverend the Dean. 
 
 Pursuivants. 
 
 Heralds. 
 
 Equerries-in-Waiting Gentleman Ushers Grooms-in-Waiting 
 
 on the King. to the King. on the King. 
 
 ^ The Comptroller - The Treasurer of his ^ 
 
 B of his Majesty's Majesty's Household yq 
 
 ^ Household. [bearing the crimson g 
 
 M bag with the Coro- !« 
 
 § nation Medals], v 
 
 wi attended by two t^ 
 
 U) gentlemen. ^ 
 
 Private Secretary The Keeper of the 
 
 to the King. Privy Purse. 
 
 The Vice-Chamberlain, The Lord Steward 
 
 acting for the Lord Chamberlain of his Majesty's Household, 
 
 of his Majesty's Household, 
 attended by an officer of the Crown 
 Jewels Office, bearing on a cushion 
 the Ruby Ring and Sword 
 of the King. 
 The Lord Privy Seal. The Lord President 
 
 of the Council. 
 
 The Lord Chancellor of Ireland, attended by his Purse-bearer. 
 
 The Lord Archbishop of Armagh. 
 
 The Lord Archljishop of York. 
 
 The Lord High Chancellor, attended by his Purse-bearer. 
 
 The Lord Archl)ishop of Canterljury. 
 
 The Princesses of the Blood Royal in their Rol)es of State, 
 
 each attended by a Lady and Cientleman of their Household. 
 
 THE RECJALIA OF THE SOVEREIGN. 
 
 St. Edward's Staff, The Golden Spurs, The Sceptre with 
 
 borne by a Peer. ])orne by a Peer. the Cross, borne 
 
 l)y a Peer.
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 The Third Sword, Curtana, or Sword The Second Sword, 
 
 borne by a Peer. of Mercy, borne by liorne by a Peer. 
 
 a Peer. 
 
 Gentleman Usher The Queen Consort's RegaHa. Garter Principal 
 
 of the Black Rod. King at Arms. 
 
 The Lord Great Chamberlain of England. 
 
 The Princes of the Blood Royal in their Robes of State, 
 
 each attended by two Gentlemen of their Household. 
 
 The High Constable 
 
 of Ireland. 
 
 The Earl Marshal 
 
 of England. 
 
 The Sceptre with 
 
 the Dove, borne by 
 
 a Peer. 
 
 The Patina, 
 
 borne by a Bishop. 
 
 The Sword of Slate, 
 
 borne by a Peer. 
 
 St. Edward's Crown, 
 
 borne by the Lord 
 
 High Steward. 
 
 The Bible, 
 
 borne by a Bishop. 
 
 The High Constable 
 
 of Scotland. 
 
 The Lord High 
 
 Constable of England. 
 
 The Orb, borne 
 
 by a Peer. 
 
 The Chalice, 
 borne by a Bishop. 
 
 THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY, 
 
 in his 
 
 Royal Robe 
 
 or Mantle of 
 
 Crimson Velvet 
 
 furred with Ermine 
 
 and bordered with 
 
 Ciold Lace, The 
 
 accompanied by Bishop 
 
 her Majesty of 
 
 THE (,)UEEN CONSORT, Durham, 
 in her Royal Robes 
 of Purple Velvet 
 turned up with Ermine, 
 and wearing a circlet of gold 
 adorned with jewels. 
 The trains in each case 
 borne by Ladies and Gentlemen 
 of the Royal Household. 
 Gentlemen-in-Waiting on the King. 
 Ladies-in-Waiting on the Queen. 
 Tlie Lord Chamberlain. 
 
 u 
 
 
 "^ "S 
 
 The 
 
 
 Bishop 
 
 
 of Bath 
 
 (u 3 
 
 
 ■z. W 
 
 and Wells. 
 
 S.^ 
 
 
 - ^ ZJ 
 
 
 
 
 o " 
 
 
 ^ j: 
 
 
 H .t^ 
 
 
 2 . ° 
 
 254
 
 The Procession 
 
 The Gold Stick-in-Waiting. The Master of the Horse. 
 
 The Captain-General of the Royal Archer Guard of Scotland. 
 
 The Captain of The Captain of the 
 
 the Veomen of the Guard. Honourable Corps of 
 
 Gentlemen-at-Arms. 
 
 ICnsign of Lieutenant of 
 
 the Yeomen of the Guard. the Yeomen of the Guard. 
 
 Clerk of the Cheque. 
 
 Exons of the Yeomen of the Exons of the 
 
 Yeomen of the Guard. Guard. Yeomen of the Guard. 
 
 Twenty Yeomen of the Guard. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Let us once again as serviceable reminder when 
 the occasion comes, glance back at precedent for 
 the exact times on the last Coronation Day (Queen 
 Victoria's), when such or such a thing was ap- 
 pointed to take place according to the official 
 programme published. We have already (p. 221) 
 referred to some of the details. 
 
 First of all, then, the Day itself was inaugurated 
 with the firing of a royal salute at sunrise — a 
 quarter before 4 a.m. Soon after that hour, the 
 privileged spectators, people with tickets for stands, 
 and windows, on the line of route of the Procession 
 began to move to their places. The Abbey doors 
 were opened at 5 a.m. to all comers with tickets ; 
 but many of the best seats were found to have 
 been already occupied as early as 3 a.m. l^y 
 6 o'clock the arrivals had become very frequent ; 
 
 255
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 and at 7 a.m. the Earl Marshal's officers found 
 more than they could do, to usher peers and 
 peeresses to their places. The House of Commons 
 began to assemble at 7 o'clock — " some dressed in 
 full court dress, many in naval and military uniforms 
 with orders, and a large number wearing the 
 Windsor uniform." The Speaker took the chair 
 at nine o'clock ; and " all the members rose to receive 
 him." Prayers having been read, the Speaker 
 informed the House that, " in order to secure 
 perfect fairness in the allotment of the seats in 
 the Abbey, reserved to members of the House of 
 Commons, the counties would be balloted for ; 
 and requested that the members for each County, 
 and each Borough within the county, should on 
 the name of the County being called, leave the 
 House and proceed to the Abbey." About ten o'clock, 
 Mr. Speaker himself, preceded by the Mace, his 
 chaplain, and by the clerks at the table, passed 
 across to the Abbey. 
 
 At 10 a.m., the doors of the Abbey were closed 
 against all persons but the Sovereign and suite, 
 the Ministers of State, official attendants, and the 
 Foreign Ambassadors. At that hour, the great 
 officers of State, appointed to carry the Regalia, 
 
 256
 
 The Procession 
 
 along with the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, 
 and the Bishops of Bangor, Lincohi, and Winchester, 
 assembled in the Jerusalem Chamber to receive the 
 different articles which they had to carry at the 
 ceremony. In that chamber, the Regalia had been 
 deposited over-night in custody of the Dean of 
 Westminster. They were now delivered by him 
 to the Lord Chamberlain of the Household, who de- 
 livered them to the Lord High Constable, who gave 
 them to the Lord Great Chamberlain, who handed 
 them over to the several noblemen and bishops 
 appointed to receive them : 
 
 1. St. Edward's Staff. 
 
 2. The Spurs. 
 
 3. The Sceptre with the Cross. 
 
 4. The Pointed Sword of Temporal Justice. 
 
 5. The Pointed Sword of Spiritual Justice. 
 
 6. Curtana, or Sword of Mercy. 
 
 7. The Sword of State. 
 
 8. The Sceptre with the Dove. 
 
 9. The Orb. 
 
 10. St. Edward's Crown. 
 
 1 1. The Patina. 
 
 12. The Chalice. 
 
 13. The Hible. 
 
 Proceeding at ten o'clock, the Sovereign's Pro- 
 257
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 cession began to move from Buckingham Palace. 
 At 1 1 the solemn and sacred ceremony in the 
 Abbe>^ was begun. At half-past precisely, a salvo 
 of artillery (forty-one guns) announced to the people 
 that the chief act, the actual ceremony of the 
 Crowning of the Sovereign, had then been done. 
 At 3.30, the Coronation ceremony was concluded, 
 so that it actually occupied first to last, in the 
 Abbey, four hours. 
 
 Eleven thousand tickets in all were issued for 
 seats within Westminster Abbey, a considerable 
 number of which were allotted to privileged 
 personages — peers, peeresses, M.P.'s, public officials, 
 officers of the army and navy, foreign representatives, 
 etc., etc. 
 
 258
 
 Ttie CoNTeNTi) or 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. THE ENTRANCE INTO THE CHURCH . . . 264 
 
 H. THE RECOGNITION 265 
 
 III. THE FIRST OBLATION 265 
 
 IV. THE LITANY 267 
 
 V. THE BEOINNINC; OF THE COMMUNION SERVICE. 268 
 
 VI. THE SERMON . 270 
 
 VH. THE OATH 270 
 
 VIII. THE ANOINTINO 272 
 
 IX. THE PRESENTING OF THE SPURS AND SWORD, 
 
 AND THE OBLATION OF THE SAID SWORD . 274 
 
 X. THE INVESTING WITH THE ROYAL ROBE, AND 
 
 THE DELIVERY OF THE ORB .... 277 
 
 XI. THE INVESTITURE PER ANNULUM AND BACULUM 278 
 
 XII. THE PUTTING ON OF THE CROWN . . . 279 
 261
 
 The Contents of this Part 
 
 PAGI-; 
 
 xiH. THE presenting; of the holy BiBr.E . . 280 
 
 XIV. THE BENEDICTION, AND TE DEUM . . . 281 
 
 XV. THE INTHRONIZATION 283 
 
 XVI. THE HOMAGE 283 
 
 XVII. THE COMMUNION. ...... 286 
 
 XVIII. THE FINAL PRAYERS 289 
 
 XIX. THE RECESS 290 
 
 262
 
 'TpHE particulars hereinafter following, which are at 
 this moment of historic and general interest alike, 
 are taken from a copy of the official edition of " The Form 
 and Order of the Coronation Service," published by the 
 Queen's Printers in 1838. With some slight necessary 
 variation in the wording of the Prayers, that Form and 
 Order is almost certain to be followed on the present 
 occasion. At all events, the ancient and historic ritual will, 
 in every probability, be closely kept to. 
 
 All such matters in England are based on the ancient 
 precedents which have from immemorial time, in the 
 matter at present under review, followed the order of the 
 " Liber Regalis " of Westminster Abbey, incidentally 
 referred to on p. 232. The Reader will notice what 
 we have said on p. 233 touching the precedents followed 
 at Queen Victoria's coronation. In respect of the crowning 
 of the Queen Consort, the order of James II. and Mary 
 says : " The Queen was then anointed, crowned, invested, 
 and enthroned with the same ceremonies " — that is, as 
 the King. Up to that Section, the service will doubtless 
 be so arranged as to include both their Majesties King 
 Edward and Queen Alexandia. We have ventured to 
 make only such slight alterations in the published copy 
 as would necessarily be made. The Queen Consort's rite 
 will probably follow the order of George III. and Queen 
 Charlotte, which (as we have said) followed that of King 
 James II. and Queen Mary. 
 
 263
 
 form and Order of tl)e Service 
 
 IN the Morning upon the Day of the Coronation early, Care is 
 to be taken that the Ampulla be filled with Oil, and, together 
 with the Spoon, be laid ready upon the Altar in the Abbey 
 Church, 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 The Entrance into the Church. 
 The King and Queen, as soon as They enter at the West Door of 
 the Church, are to be received with the following Anthem, 
 to be sung by the Choir. 
 
 Anthem. 
 
 T WAS glad when they said unto me, We will go into the 
 House of the Lord. For there is the Seat of Judg- 
 ment, even the Seat of the House of David. O pray for 
 the peace of Jerusalem, They shall prosper that love Thee. 
 Peace be within thy walls, and Prosperity within thy 
 Palaces. 
 
 Glory be to the Father, &c. 
 
 The King and the Queen in the mean time pass up through the 
 Body of the Church, into, and through the Choir, and so up 
 the Stairs to the Theatre* ; and having passed by the 
 Throne, they make Their humble Adoration, and then 
 kneeling at the Faldstools set for Their Majesties before 
 Their Chairs, use some short private Prayers ; and, after 
 
 * A raised stage or platform erected between the choir and 
 the sanctuary, of which we publish a sketch, p. 226. 
 
 264
 
 Form and Order of the Service 
 
 sitting down (not in the Throne, but in Their respective 
 Chairs before, and below, the Throne), there repose Them- 
 selves. 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 The Recognition. 
 The King and the Queen being so placed, the Archbishop 
 turneth to the East part of the Theatre, and after, together 
 with the Lord Chancellor, Lord Great Chamberlain, Lord 
 High Constable and Earl Marshal (Garter King of Arms 
 preceding them), goes to the other three sides of the 
 Theatre in this Order, South, West, and North, and at every 
 of the four sides, with a loud Voice, speaks to the People : 
 And the King in the mean time standing up by His Chair, 
 turns and shews Himself unto the People at every of the 
 four sides of the Theatre, as the Archbishop is at every of 
 them, and while He speaks thus to the People : 
 
 CIRS, I here present unto you King EDWARD, the 
 Undoubted King of this Realm : Wherefore all you 
 who are come this Day to do your Homage, Are you willing 
 to do the same ? 
 
 The People signify their Willingness and Joy, by loud and 
 repeated Acclamations, all with one Voice crying out, 
 
 God save King EDWARD. 
 
 Then the Trumpets sound. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 [Z)'/// sec Note preceding {p. 263), as to the croivnittg of the 
 (2iicen Consort.^ 
 
 The First Oblation. 
 
 The Bible, Paten, and Cup being brought by the Bishops who 
 
 had borne them, and placed upon the Altar, the Archbishop 
 
 goeth to the Altar and puts on his Cope, and standeth on 
 
 the North Side of it : And the Bishops, who are to read the 
 
 265 S
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 Litany, do also vest themselves. And the Officers of the 
 Wardrobe, &c. spread Carpets and Cushions on the Floor 
 and Steps of the Altar. 
 
 Which being- done, the King, supported by the two Bishops, of 
 DurJiam, and BatJi and ll''c//s, and attended by the Dean of 
 li''cstiin?isfer, the Great Officers and the Lords that carry the 
 Rt'o^alia going before Him, goes down to the Altar, and 
 kneeling upon the Steps of it makes His First Oblation ; 
 Which is a Pall^ or Altar-Cloth of Gold^ delivered by an 
 Officer of the Wardrobe to the Lord Great Chamberlain, 
 and by Him, kneeling, to His Majesty: and an Ingot or 
 Wedge of Gold of a pound weight, which the Treasurer of 
 the Household delivers to the Lord Great Chamberlain, and 
 He to His Majesty, kneeling ; Who dehvers them to the 
 Archbishop, and the Archbishop standing (in which posture 
 he is to receive all other Oblations) receives from Him, one 
 after another, the Pall to be reverently laid upon the .Altar, 
 and the Gold to be received into the Bason, and with the 
 like Reverence put upon the Altar. 
 
 Then the Archbishop saith this Prayer, the King still kneeling : 
 
 (~\ (iOl), who dwellest in the high and holy Place, with 
 ^^ them also who are of an humble Spirit, Look down 
 mercifully upon this Thy Servant EDWARD our King, 
 here humbling himself before Thee at Thy Footstool, 
 and graciously receive these Oblations, which in humble 
 Acknowledgment of Thy Sovereignty over all, and of Thy 
 great Bounty to Him in particular, He hath now offered up 
 unto Thee, through Jesus Christ our only Mediator and 
 Advocate. Amen. 
 
 The King having thus offered, and so fulfilled his Command- 
 ment, who said, Thou shalt ?wt appear before the Lord thy 
 God empty ^ goes to His Chair set for Him on the South side 
 of the Altar, where He is to kneel at His Faldstool when the 
 Litany begins. 
 
 266
 
 Form and Order of the Service 
 
 In the mean time, the Lords who carry the Regalia, except those 
 who carry the Sword, come in Order near to the AUar, and 
 present Every One what He carries to the Archbishop, who 
 .dehvers them to the Dean of Westmitister, to be by Him 
 placed upon the Altar, and then retire to the Places and 
 Seats appointed for Them. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 The Litany. 
 
 Then followeth the Litany, to be read by two Bishops, vested in 
 Copes, and kneeling at a Faldstool above the Steps of the 
 Theatre, on the middle of the East side thereof, the Choir 
 reading the Responses. 
 
 r~\ GOD the Father of heaven: have mercy upon us 
 miserable sinners, &c. 
 
 [After the Prayer, " We humbly beseech Thee," &c., 
 followeth,] 
 
 r~\ GOD, who providest for thy people by thy power, 
 and rulest over them in love, grant unto this thy 
 servant our KING the spirit of wisdom and government 
 that being devoted unto thee with all His heart. He may 
 so wisely govern this kingdom, that in His time thy Church 
 and People may continue in safety and prosperity ; and 
 that persevering in good works unto the end He may 
 through thy mercy come to thine everlasting kingdom, 
 through Jesus Christ Thy Son Our Lord. Amen. 
 
 T 
 
 HE Grace, &c. 
 
 The Bishops who read the Litany will resume their Seats. 
 267
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 SECT. V. 
 
 The beginning of the Communion Service. 
 
 Sa7tcti/s. 
 Holy ! Holy ! Holy, Lord God of Hosts ; 
 Heaven and Earth are full of thy Glory ; 
 Glory he to Thee, O Lord most High ; 
 
 A/ne?i. 
 
 Then the Archbishop beginneth the Communion Service. 
 /^UR Father, &c. 
 
 Collecf. 
 A LMIGHTY Ciod, unto whom all hearts he open, &c. 
 
 ^ Then shall the Archbishop, turning to the People, rehearse 
 distinctly all the Ten Commandments ; and the People, 
 still kneeling, shall after every Commandment ask God 
 Mercy for their transgression thereof for the time past, 
 and Grace to keep the same for the time to come, as 
 followeth. 
 
 Archbishop. 
 
 GOD spake these words, and said, (!v:c. 
 
 H Then shall follow this Collect for the King, the Archbishop 
 standing as before, and saying, 
 
 Let us pray. 
 
 A LAHGHTY God, whose kingdom is everlasting, &c. 
 
 The Epistk\ 
 
 To be read by one of the Bishops. 
 
 1 Pet. ii. 13. 
 
 268
 
 Henry the Seventh's Chapel. 
 
 269
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 The Gospel, ■ 
 
 To be read by another Bishop, the King with the People 
 standing. 
 
 S. Matt. xxii. 15. 
 
 Then the Archbishop readeth the Niccne Creed ; the King 
 with the People standing, as before. 
 
 T BELIEVE in one God, &c. 
 
 The Service being concluded, the Bishops who assisted will 
 return to their seats. 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 The Sermon. 
 
 At the end of the Creed one of the Bishops is ready in the 
 Pulpit, placed against the Pillar at the North-East Corner 
 of the Theatre, and begins the Sermon, which is to be 
 suitable to the great Occasion ; which the King and 
 Queen hear sitting in their Chairs on the South side of 
 the Altar, over against the Pulpit. 
 
 On the King's right hand stands the Bishop of Durham^ 
 and beyond him, on the same side, the Lords that carry 
 the Swords : On His left hand the Bishop of Bath and 
 lVe//s, and the Lord Great Chamberlain. 
 
 On the North side of the Altar sits the Archbishop in a purple 
 Velvet Chair ; Near the Archbishop stands Garter King 
 of Arms : on the South side. East of the King's Chair, 
 nearer to the Altar, stand the Dean and Prebendaries of 
 lVest)iu?is/er. 
 
 SECT. VII. 
 The Oath. 
 
 The Sermon being ended, and His Majesty having on 
 Thursday the 14th day of February, 1901, in the presence 
 of the Two Houses of Parliament, made and signed the 
 270
 
 Form and Order of the Service 
 
 Declaration, the Archbishop goeth to the King, and 
 standing before Him, says to the King, 
 
 Sir, Is your Majesty willing to take the Oath ? 
 
 And the King answering, 
 
 I am willing. 
 
 The Archbishop ministereth these Questions ; and the King, 
 having a Copy of the printed Form and Order of the 
 Coronation Service in his Hands, answers each Question 
 severally, as follows. 
 
 Archb. Will You solemnly promise and swear to govern 
 the People of this United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
 Ireland, and the Dominions thereto belonging, according 
 to the Statutes in Parliament agreed on, and the respective 
 Laws and Customs of the same ? 
 
 King. I solemnly promise so to do. 
 
 Archb. Will You to Your Power cause Law and Justice, 
 in Mercy, to be executed in all Your Judgments ? 
 
 King. I will. 
 
 Archb. Will You to the utmost of Your Power maintain 
 the Laws of God, the true Profession of the Gospel, and 
 the Protestant Reformed Religion established by Law ? 
 And will You maintain and preserve inviolably the Settle- 
 ment of the Church of England and of Ire/a?td, and the 
 Doctrine, Worship, Discipline, and Government thereof, 
 as by Law established within England and Ireland, and 
 the Territories thereunto belonging? And will you preserve 
 unto the Bishops and Clergy of Englatid and Ireland, and 
 to the Churches there committed to their Charge, all such 
 Rights and Privileges, as by Law do, or shall appertain 
 to Them, or any of Them ? 
 
 King. All this I promise to do. 
 271
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 Then the King arising out of his Chair, attended by His 
 Supporters, and assisted by the Lord Great Chamberlain, 
 the Sword of State being carried before Him, shall go to 
 the Altar, and there make His Solemn Oath in the sight 
 of all the People, to observe the Promises : Laying His 
 right hand upon the Holy Gospel in the Great Bible, 
 which was before carried in the Procession, and is now 
 brought from the Altar b)- the Archbishop, and tendered 
 to Him as He kneels upon the Steps, saying these Words : 
 
 The things which I have here before promised, 1 will 
 perform and keep. So help me God. 
 
 A Silver Standish to be brought Then the King kisseth the 
 Book, and signeth the Oath. 
 
 SECT. vin. 
 
 The i\.nointing. 
 
 The King having thus taken His Oath, returns again to His 
 Chair on the South Side of the Altar ; and kneeling at 
 his Faldstool, the Archbishop beginneth the Hymn, ]'citi 
 Creator Spirit us., and the Choir singe th it out. 
 
 HVMN. 
 
 /''^OME, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire, 
 ^-'^ And warm them with thy Heav'nly fire. 
 &c., &c., &c. 
 This being ended, the Archbishop saith this Prayer: 
 r~\ LORD, Holy Father, who by anointing with Oil 
 ^■^^ didst of old make and consecrate Kings, Priests, 
 and Prophets, to teach and govern thy People Israel : 
 Bless and Sanctify thy Chosen Servant EDWARD, who 
 by our Office and Ministry is now to be anointed with 
 this Oil, and consecrated King of this Realm : Strengthen 
 Him, O Lord, with the Holy Ghost the Comforter; 
 Confirm and Stablish Him with thy free and Princely 
 
 272
 
 Form and Order of the Service 
 
 Spirit, the Spirit of Wisdom and Government, the Spirit 
 of Counsel and Ghostly Strength, the Spirit of Knowledge 
 and true Godliness, and fill Him, O Lord, with the Spirit 
 of thy Holy Fear, now and for ever. Amen. 
 
 This Prayer being ended, the Choir sing : 
 Anthem, i Kings i. 39, 40. 
 "VADOK the Priest, and Nathan the Prophet, anointed 
 ■^^ Solomon King ; and all the People rejoiced and 
 said ; God save the King, Long live the King, May the 
 King live for ever. Amen. Hallelujah. 
 
 At the Commencement of the Anthem, the King rising from 
 His Devotions, goes before the Altar, attended by His 
 Supporters, and assisted by the Lord Great Chamberlain, 
 the Sword of State being carried before Him, where His 
 Majesty is disrobed of His Crimson Robes. 
 
 Tlie King will then sit down in I\in<^ Edivanfs Cliair placed 
 in the midst of the Area over against the Altar, with a 
 Faldstool before it, wherein He is to be anointed. Four 
 Knights of the Garter hold over Him a rich Pall of Silk, 
 or Cloth of Gold ; the Anthem being concluded, the Dean 
 of Wesiniinstcr taking the Ampulla and Spoon from off 
 the Altar, holdeth them ready, pouring some of the Holy 
 Oil into the Spoon, and with it the Archbishop anointeth 
 the King, in the Form of a Cross, 
 
 On the Crown of the Head, and on the Palms of both the 
 Hands, saying, 
 
 Be Thou anointed with Holy Oil,* as Kings, Priests, and 
 Prophets were anointed : 
 
 * At the Coronation of James IL, "this Oil was by the 
 King's order, prepared by James Amond, Esq., Apothecary 
 to the King and Queen, . . . and was solemnly consecrated 
 on the morning of the Coronation by the Dean of Westminster, 
 assisted by the Prebendaries." .Sandford, p. 91, Note.
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 And as Solomon was anointed King by Zadok the 
 Priest, and Nathan the Prophet, so be You anointed, 
 blessed, and consecrated King over this People, whom 
 the Lord your God hath given you to rule and govern. 
 In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
 Holy Ghost. Ai)ien. 
 
 Then the Dean of ll'esfim'ns/er layeth the Ampulla and Spoon 
 upon the Altar, and the King kneeleth down at the Faldstool, 
 and the Archbishop standing on the North side of the Altar, 
 saith this Prayer or Blessing over Him : 
 
 /^UR Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who by his 
 ^-^^ Father was anointed with the Oil of gladness above 
 his fellows, by his Holy Anointing pour down upon your 
 Head and Heart the Blessing of the Holy Ghost, and 
 prosper the Works of your Hands : that by the Assistance 
 of his Heavenly Grace you may preserve the People 
 committed to your charge in Wealth, Peace, and Godliness ; 
 and after a long and glorious Course of ruling this Tem- 
 poral Kingdom Wisely, Justly, and Religiously, you may 
 at last be made Partaker of an Eternal Kingdom, through 
 the Merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 This Prayer being ended, the King arises, and sits down again 
 in His Chair. 
 
 SECT. LX. 
 
 The presenting of the Spurs and Sword, and the Oblation 
 of the said Sword. 
 
 The Spurs are brought from the Altar by the Dean of West- 
 minster., and delivered to the Lord Great Chamberlain, who, 
 kneeling down, presents them to the King, who forthwith 
 sends them back to the Altar. 
 274
 
 Bronze CIatk, IIknuv ihk Sevfnths Chahkl. 
 
 275
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 Then the Lord, who carries the Sioofd of State, returns the 
 said Sword to the Lord Chamberlain (who gives it to an 
 Officer of the Jewel House, to be deposited in the Traverse 
 in King Ediuarcfs Chapel) and receiveth in lieu thereof, 
 from the Lord Chamberlain, another Swont, in a Scabbard 
 of Purple Velvet, which he will deliver to the Archbishop, 
 who, laying it on the Altar, saith the following Prayer : 
 
 LJEAR our Prayers, O Lord, we beseech Thee, and 
 so direct and support thy Servant King EDWARD, 
 that He may not bear the Sword in vain ; but may use 
 it as the Minister of God for the terror and punish- 
 ment of Evil-doers, and for the protection and en- 
 couragement of those that do well, through Jesus Christ 
 our Lord. Amen. 
 
 Then the Archbishop takes the Sword from off the Altar, and 
 (the Archbishops of York and Armagh, and the Bishops of 
 London and Winchester, and other Bishops, assisting, and 
 going along with him) delivers it into the King's Right 
 Hand, and He holding it, the Archbishop saith : 
 
 D ECEIVE this Kingly Sword, brought now from the 
 Altar of God, and delivered to You by the hands 
 of us the Bishops and Servants of God, though Unworthy. 
 With this Sword do Justice, stop the Growth of Iniquity, 
 protect the holy Church of God, help and defend Widows 
 and Orphans, restore the things that are gone to decay, 
 maintain the things that are restored, punish and reform 
 what is amiss, and confirm what is in good Order: that 
 doing these things. You may be glorious in all virtue : 
 and so faithfully serve our Lord Jesus Christ in this 
 Life, that You may reign for ever with him in the Life 
 which is to come. Amen. 
 
 Then the King, rising up, and going to the Altar, offers the 
 Sword there in the Scabbard, delivering it to the Arch- 
 276
 
 Form and Order of the Service 
 
 bishop, who places it on the Altar ; the King then returns 
 and sits down in Ki?ig Edzvanfs Chair : And the Lord 
 who first received the Sword offereth the Price of it, and 
 having thus redeemed it, receiveth it from off the Altar, 
 by the Dean of ll'estinitister, and draweth it out of the 
 Scabbard, and carries it naked before His Majesty during 
 the rest of the Solemnity. 
 
 The Archbishops and Bishops who had assisted during this 
 Oblation will return to their Places. 
 
 SECT. X. 
 
 The Investing with the Royal Robe, and the Dehvery of 
 the Orb. 
 
 Then the King arising, the Imperial Mantle, or Dalmatic Robe, 
 of Cloth of Gold, lined or furred with Ermine, is by an 
 Officer of the Wardrobe delivered to the Dean of U^est- 
 mitistcr, and by him put upon the King, standing : The 
 King having received it, sits down, and then the Orb with 
 the Cross is brought from the Altar by the Dean of West- 
 minster, and delivered into the King's Right Hand by the 
 Archbishop, pronouncing this Blessing and Exhortation : 
 
 ID ECEIVE this Imperial Robe, and Orb, and the 
 Lord Your God endue You with Knowledge and 
 Wisdom, with Majesty and with Power from on High ; 
 The Lord clothe You with the Robe of Righteousness, 
 and with the Garments of Salvation. And when You 
 see this Orb set under the Cross, remember that the 
 whole World is subject to the Power and Empire of 
 Christ our Redeemer. For He is the Prince of the 
 Kings of the Earth ; King of Kings, and Lord of Lords : 
 So that no man can reign happily, who derives not his 
 
 277
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 Authority from him, and directs not all his Actions 
 according to His Laws. 
 
 The King delivers His Orb to the Dean of IVestminsicr^ to be 
 by Him laid on the Altar. 
 
 SECT. XL 
 
 The Investiture per Annulinn & Bacitluin. 
 
 Then an Officer of the Jewel House delivers to the Lord 
 Chamberlain the King's Ritig^ who delivers the same to 
 the Archbishop, in which a Table Jewel is enchased ; the 
 Archbishop puts it on the Fourth Finger of His Majesty's 
 Right Hand, and saith : 
 
 O ECEIVE this Ring, the Ensign of Kingly Dignity, and 
 of Defence of the Catholic Faith ; and as You are 
 this day solemnly invested in the Government of this 
 earthly Kingdom, so may You be sealed with that Spirit 
 of Promise, which is the Earnest of an heavenly Inheri- 
 tance, and reign with Him who is the blessed and only 
 Potentate, to whom be Glory for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 Then the Dean of IVestmhistcr brings the Sceptre and Rod to 
 the Archbishop ; and the Lord of the Manour of Worksop 
 (who claims to hold an Estate by the Service of presenting 
 to the King a Right Hand Glove on the Day of His 
 Coronation, and supporting the King's Right Arm whilst 
 He holds the Sceptre with the Cross) delivers to the 
 King a Pair of rich Gloves, and upon any Occasion 
 happening afterwards, supports His Majesty's Right Arm, 
 or holds His Sceptre by Him. 
 
 The Gloves being put on, the Archbishop delivers the Sceptre, 
 with the Cross, into the King's Right Hand, saying, 
 
 O ECEIVE the Royal Sceptre, the Ensign of Kingly 
 Power and Justice. 
 
 278
 
 Form and Order of the Service 
 
 And then he dehvers the Rod, with the Dove, into the King's 
 Left Hand, and saith, 
 
 TD ECEIVE the Rod of Equity and Mercy : and God, 
 from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and 
 all just works do proceed, direct and assist You in the 
 Administration and Exercise of all those Powers which 
 he hath given You. Be so merciful, that You be not 
 too remiss ; so execute Justice, that You forget not Mercy. 
 Judge with Righteousness, and reprove with Equity, and 
 accept no Man's Person. Abase the Proud, and lift up 
 the Lowly ; punish the Wicked, protect and cherish the 
 Just, and lead your People in the way wherein- they 
 should go : thus in all things following His great and 
 holy example, of whom the prophet David said, " Thou 
 " lovest Righteousness, and hatest Iniquity ; The Sceptre 
 " of Thy Kingdom is a right Sceptre ; " even Jesus Christ 
 our Lord. Amen. 
 
 SECT XII. 
 
 The putting on of the Crown. 
 
 K. Edward's Crown. — The Archbishop, standing before the 
 Altar, taketh the Crown into his Hands, and laying it again 
 before him upon the Altar, saith, 
 
 /^^ God, who crownest thy faithful Servants with 
 ^"^^ Mercy and loving Kindness ; Look down upon this 
 thy Servant EDWARD our King, who now in lowly 
 Devotion boweth His Head to thy Divine Majesty ; and 
 as thou dost this day set a Crown of pure Gold upon 
 His Head, so enrich His Royal Heart with thy heavenly 
 Grace; and crown Him with all Princely Virtues, which 
 may adorn the high Station wherein thou hast placed 
 Him, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be Honour 
 and Glory for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 279
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 Then the King still sitting in King EdiuanVs Chair, the 
 Archbishop, assisted with the same Archbishops and 
 Bishops as before, comes from the Altar ; the Dean of 
 Westinitister brings the Crown, and the Archbishop taking 
 it of him, reverently putteth it upon the King's Head. 
 At the sight whereof the People, with loud and repeated 
 Shouts, cry, God save the King, and the Trumpets sound, 
 and by a Signal given, the great Guns at the Tower are 
 shot off. As soon as the King is crowned, the Peers, &c., 
 put on their Coronets and Caps. 
 
 The Acclamation ceasing, the Archbishop goes on, and saith, 
 DE strong and of a good courage ; Observe the Com- 
 mandments of (jod, and walk in His Holy ways : 
 Fight the good Fight of Faith, and lay hold on Eternal 
 life ; that in this World You may be crowned with 
 Success and Honour, and when You have finished your 
 Course, receive a Crown of Righteousness, which God the 
 Righteous Judge shall give You in that Day. Amen. 
 Then the Choir singeth this Anthem : 
 
 Anthem. 
 T^HE King shall rejoice in Thy strength, O Lord : 
 exceeding glad shall He be of Thy Salvation. Thou 
 hast presented Him with the Blessings of Goodness, 
 and hast set a Crown of pure Gold upon His Head. 
 Hallelujah. Amen. 
 
 SECT. xni. 
 
 The presenting of the Holy Bible.*" 
 
 Then shall the Dean of lVest))iinster take the Holy Bible., which 
 was carried in the Procession, from off the Altar, and deliver 
 
 "''This ceremony was first introduced at the Coronation of 
 William and Mary, in 1689. But, see the reference to Cromwell 
 in Chapter " The Abbey." 
 
 280
 
 Form and Order of the Service 
 
 it to the Archbishop, who with the same Archbishops and 
 
 Bishops as before going along with him, shall present it to 
 
 the King, first saying these Words to Him : 
 
 /^UR Gracious King; we present You with this Book, 
 
 the most valuable thing that this world affords. 
 
 Here is Wisdom ; This is the Royal Law ; These are 
 
 the lively Oracles of God. Blessed is he that readeth, 
 
 and they that hear the Words of this Book ; that keep, 
 
 and do, the things contained in it. For these are the 
 
 Words of Eternal Life, able to make you wise and happy 
 
 in this world, nay wise unto salvation, and so happy for 
 
 evermore, through Faith which is in Christ Jesus ; to whom 
 
 be Glory for ever. Amen. 
 
 Then the King delivers back the Bible to the Archbishop, 
 who gives it to the Dean of Westminster, to be reverently 
 placed again upon the Holy Altar, the Archbishops and 
 Bishops who had assisted returning to their Seats. 
 
 SECT. XIV. 
 The Benediction, and Te Deum. 
 And now the King having been thus anointed and crowned, 
 and having received all the Ensigns of Royalty, the Arch- 
 bishop solemnly blesseth Him : And all the Bishops, with 
 the rest of the Peers, follow every part of the Benediction, 
 with a loud and hearty Amen. 
 'T'HE Lord bless and keep you: The Lonl make the 
 light of his Countenance to shine for ever upon 
 you, and be gracious unto you : 'I'he Lord protect you 
 in all your ways, preserve you from every evil thing, and 
 prosper you in every thing good. Amen. 
 
 The Lord give you a faithful Senate, wise and upright 
 Counsellors and Magistrates, a loyal Nobility, and a dutiful 
 Gentry; a pious and learned and useful Clergy ; an honest, 
 industrious, and obedient Commonalty. Amen. 
 
 281 T
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 In your days may Mercy and 'i'ruth meet together, and 
 Righteousness and Peace kiss each other ; May Wisdom 
 and Knowledge be the Stability of your Times, and the 
 Fear of the Lord your Treasure. Amen. 
 
 The Lord make your Days many, your Reign prosperous, 
 your Fleets and Armies victorious ; and may you be 
 reverenced and beloved by all your Subjects, and ever 
 increase in Favour with God and man. Amen. 
 
 The glorious Majesty of the Lord our God be upon 
 you : may he bless you with all temporal and spiritual 
 Happiness in this world, and crown you with Glory and 
 Immortality in the world to come. Amen. 
 
 Then the Archbishop turneth to the People, and saith : 
 
 A ND the same Lord God Almighty grant that the 
 Clergy and Nobles assembled here for this great 
 and solemn Service, and together with them all the 
 People of the Land, fearing God, and honouring the 
 King, may by the merciful Superintendency of the Divine 
 Providence, and the vigilant Care of our gracious Sovereign, 
 continually enjoy Peace, Plenty, and Prosperity, through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with the Eternal Father, 
 and God the Holy Ghost, be Glory in the Church world 
 without end. Amen. 
 
 Then the Choir begins to sing the Te Deum, and the King 
 goes to the Chair on which His Majesty first sate on the 
 East Side of the Throne, the Two Bishops His Supporters, 
 the Great Officers, and other Peers, attending Him, every 
 one in his place, the two Swords being carried before Him, 
 and there reposes Himself. 
 
 Te Deum. 
 
 WE praise Thee, O God ; &c 
 
 282
 
 Form and Order of the Service 
 
 SECT. XV. 
 
 The Inthronization. 
 
 The Tc Deuui being ended, the King will ascend the Theatre, 
 and be Hfted up into His Throne by the Archbishop and 
 Bishops, and other Peers of the Kingdom, and being 
 InlJiroiiizcd^ or placed therein, all the Great Officers, Those 
 that bear the Swords and the Sceptres^ and the rest of the 
 Nobles^ stand round about the steps of the Throne, and 
 the Archbishop standing before the King, saith : 
 
 CTAND firm, and hold fast from henceforth the Seat 
 and State of Royal and Imperial Dignity which is 
 this day delivered unto you in the Name, and by the 
 Authority of Almighty God, and by the Hands of Us 
 the Bishops and Servants of God, though unworthy : And 
 as you see Us to approach nearer to God's Altar, so 
 vouchsafe the more graciously to continue to Us your 
 Royal Favour and Protection. And the Lord God 
 Almighty, whose Ministers we are, and the Stewards of 
 his Mysteries, establish your Throne in Righteousness, 
 that it may stand fast for evermore, like as the Sun before 
 him, and as the faithful Witness in Heaven. Amen. 
 
 SECT. XVI. 
 
 Tlie Homage. 
 
 The Exliortation being ended, all the Peers then present do 
 their Homage publickly and solemnly unto the King upon 
 the Theatre, and in the mean time the Treasurer of the 
 Household throws among the People Medals of Gold and 
 Silver, as the King's Princely Largess or Donative. 
 
 The Archbishop first kneels down before His Majesty's Knees, 
 and the rest of the Bishops kneel on either Hand and 
 2S:!
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 about Him ; and they do their Homage together, for the 
 shortening of the Ceremony, the Archbishop saying : 
 
 T M. Archbishop of Canterbury [A/id so every one of the 
 rest, I N. Bishop of iV., repeating the rest audibly after 
 the Archbishop] will be faithful and true, and Faith and 
 Truth will bear, unto you our Sovereign Lord, and your 
 Heirs, Kings or Queens of the United Kingdom of Great 
 Britain and Ireland. And I will do, and truly acknow- 
 kdge the Service of the Lands which I claim to hold of 
 you, as in right of the Church. So help me God. 
 
 Then the Archbishop kisseth the King's Hand, and so the rest 
 of the Bishops present after him. 
 
 After which the other Peers of the Realm do their Homage in 
 like manner, the Dukes first by themselves, and so the 
 Marquesses, the Earls, the Viscounts, and the Barons, 
 severally ; the first of each Order kneeling before His 
 Majesty, and the rest with and about him all putting off 
 their Coronets, and the first of each class beginning, and 
 the rest saying after him : 
 
 JV. Duke, or Earl, &c., of A" do become your Liege 
 man of Life and Limb, and of earthly worship, and 
 Faith and Truth I will bear unto you, to live and die, 
 against all manner of Folks. So help me God. 
 
 {Note, That Copies of this Homage must be provided by the 
 Heralds for every Class of the Nobility.) 
 
 The Peers having done their Homage, stand all together round 
 about the King ; and each Class or Degree going by them- 
 selves, or (as it was at the Coronation of King Charles the 
 First and Second) every Peer one by one, in Order, putting 
 off their Coronets, singly ascend the Throne again, and 
 stretching forth their hands, do touch the Crown on His 
 284 
 
 I
 
 Form and Order of the Service 
 
 Majesty's Head, as promising by that Ceremony to be ever 
 ready to support it with all their power, and then every one 
 of them kisseth the King's Hand. 
 
 While the Peers are thus doing their Homage, and the jMedals 
 thus thrown about, the King, if He thinks good, delivers 
 His Sceptre with the Cross to the Lord of the Manour of 
 Worksop^ to hold ; and the other Sceptre^ or Rod^ with the 
 Doz'e, to the Lord that carried it in the Procession. 
 
 And the Bishops that support the King in the Procession 
 may also ease Him by supporting the Crown, as there shall 
 be occasion. 
 
 During the Performance of the Homage the Choir sing this 
 
 Anthem. 
 
 HTHIS is the day which the Lord hath made, we will 
 rejoice and be glad in it. 
 
 Lord, grant the King a long life : that His years may 
 endure throughout all generations. 
 
 He shall dwell before God for ever : O prepare thy 
 loving inercy and faithfulness, that they may preserve Him. 
 
 Blessed be the Lord Thy God, who delighteth in Thee 
 to set Thee on the Throne. 
 
 When the Homage is ended, the Drums beat, and the Trumpets 
 sound, and all the People shout, crying out, 
 
 God save King EDWARD. 
 
 Long live King EDWARD. 
 
 May the King live for ever. 
 
 The Solemnity of the Coronation being thus ended, the 
 Archbishop leaves the King in His Throne, and goes 
 down to the Altar. 
 
 285
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 SECT. XVII. 
 
 The Communion. 
 
 Then the Offertory begins, the Archbishop reading these 
 Sentences : 
 
 L 
 
 ET your light so shine before men, &c. 
 
 The King descends from His Throne, attended by His 
 Supporters, and assisted by the Lord Great Chamberlain, 
 the Sword of State being carried before Him, and goes 
 to the Steps of the Altar, where taking off His Crown, 
 which He delivers to the Lord Great Chamberlain to hold, 
 He kneels down. 
 
 And first the A7//<,'' offers Bread ^nd Wine for the Communion, 
 which being brought out of King Eihvard's Chapel, and 
 delivered into His Hands, the Bread upon the Paicn by 
 the Bishop that read the Epistle, and the IVine in the 
 Chalice by the Bishop that read the Gospel, are by the 
 Archbishop received from the King, and reverently placed 
 upon the Altar, and decently covered with a fair linen 
 Cloth, the Archbishop first saying this Prayer : 
 
 "DLESS, O Lord, we beseech thee, these thy Gifts, and 
 sanctify them unto this holy use, that by them we may 
 be made partakers of the Body and Blood of thine only 
 begotten Son Jesus Christ, and fed unto everlasting life 
 of Soul and Body : And that thy Servant King EDWARD 
 may be enabled to the discharge of His weighty Office, 
 whereunto of thy great goodness thou hast called and 
 appointed Him. Grant this, O Lord, for Jesus Christ's 
 sake, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen. 
 
 Then the King kneeling, as before, makes His second Oblation, 
 a Purse of Gold, which the Treasurer of the Household 
 delivers to the Lord Great Chainl>eiiain, and he to His 
 286
 
 Form and Order of the Service 
 
 Majesty. And the Archbishop coming to Him, receives it 
 into the Bason, and placeth it upon the Altar. 
 
 After which the Archbishop says, 
 ^~\ God, who dwellest in the high and holy place, with 
 them also who are of an humble spirit ; Look down 
 mercifully upon this thy Servant ED\\^ARD our King, 
 here humbling Himself before Thee at thy Footstool; 
 and graciously receive these Oblations, which in humble 
 acknowledgment of thy Sovereignty over all, and of thy 
 great Bounty to Him in particular. He has now offered up 
 unto thee, through Jesus Christ, our only Mediator and 
 Advocate. Ame?i. 
 
 Then the Kms; goes to His Chair on the South Side of the 
 Altar, and kneeling down at His Faldstool, the Archbishop 
 saith : 
 
 Let us pray for the whole state of Christ's Church 
 
 militant here in earth. 
 
 ALMIGHTY and everliving God, cS:c. 
 
 Tlie Exhortation. 
 VE that do truly, &c. 
 
 The general Confession. 
 \ LAHGH TY God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 -^ &c. 
 
 The Absolution. 
 A LMIGHTY God our heavenly Father, &c. 
 
 After which shall be said. 
 
 Hear what comfortable words our Saviour Christ saith unto 
 
 all that truly turn to him. 
 
 COME unto me, &c. 
 
 287
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 After which the Archbishop shall proceed, saying, 
 
 Archb. Lift up your hearts. 
 
 Answ. We lift thef?i tip unto the Lord. 
 
 Archb. Let us give thanks unto our Lord God. 
 
 Answ. // is meet and right so to do. 
 
 Then shall the Archbishop turn to the Lord's Table, and say, 
 
 TT is very meet, right, and our bounden duty that we 
 should at all times, and in all places, give thanks 
 unto thee, O Lord, Holy Father, Almighty, Everlasting 
 God: 
 
 VVTHO hast at this time given us thy Servant our 
 Sovereign King EDWARD to be the Defender 
 of thy Faith, and the Protector of thy People ; that under 
 Him we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all 
 Godliness and Honesty. 
 
 THEREFORE with Angels and Archangels, &c. 
 
 The Prayer of Address. 
 Vy/E do not presume to come to this thy Table, &c. 
 
 The Prayer of Consecration. 
 A LMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, &c. 
 
 When the Archbishop, and Dean of Westminster, with the 
 Bishops Assistants, namely, the Preacher, and those who 
 read the Litany, and the Epistle a7id Gospel, have com- 
 municated in both kinds, the King advances to the Altar, 
 and kneels down, and the Archbishop shall administer the 
 Bread, and the Dean of Westminster the Cup, to Him. 
 288
 
 Form and Order of the Service 
 
 At the Delivery of the Bread shall be said, 
 T^HE Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. 
 
 At the Delivery of the Cup, 
 T^HE Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. 
 
 The King then puts on His Crown, and taking the Sceptres 
 in His Hands, again, repairs to His Throne. 
 
 Then the ArcJihishop goeth on to the PosZ-Cfliniiiunio!?, 
 
 saying, 
 
 OUR Father, &c. 
 
 Then this Prayer. 
 (~\ LORD and heavenly Father, &c. 
 
 Then shall be said, 
 GLORY Ije to Ciod on high, &c. 
 
 The Choir then sing the following anthem : 
 
 Anthem. 
 
 LJ ALLELUJAH : For the Lord God Omnipotent 
 reigneth. The kingdom of this World is become 
 the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ. And he 
 shall reign for ever and ever, King of Kings, and Lord 
 of Lords. Hallelujah. 
 
 After the Anthem the Archbishop reads the final Prayers. 
 
 SECT. XVIIL 
 The final Prayers. 
 A SSIST us mercifully, O Lord, &lc. 
 
 289
 
 The Coronation of Edward VII 
 
 SECT. XIX. 
 The Recess. 
 
 THE whole Coronation Office being thus performed, the Ki/it^ 
 attended and accompanied as before, the four Swords being 
 carried before Him, descends from His Throne Crowned, 
 and carrying His Sceptre and Rinfm His Hands, goes into the 
 Area Eastward of the Theatre, and passes on through the 
 Door on the South side of the Altar into King Edward's 
 Chape/ J and as He passes by the Altar, the rest of the 
 Regalia lying upon it, are to be delivered by the Dean of 
 IVestniinsterio the Lords that carried them in the Procession, 
 and so they proceed in State into the Chapel, the Organ and 
 other Instruments all the while playing. 
 
 The Kinghemg come into the Chapel, and standing before the 
 Altar^ will deliver the Sceptre with the Din'c to the Arch- 
 bishops who will lay it upon the Altar there. The King will 
 then be disrobed of \\^\% Imperial Mantle^ and arrayed in His 
 Royal Robe of Purple Vck'et by the Lord Great Chamberlain. 
 
 The Archbishops being still vested in his Cope, will then place 
 the Orb in His Majesty's Left Hand. And the Gold Spurs 
 and King Edward's Staff are given into the hands of the 
 Dean of Westminster^ and by him laid upon the Altar. 
 Which being done, the Archbishop and Bishops will divest 
 themselves of their Copes, and leave them there, proceeding 
 in their usual Habits. 
 
 Then His Majesty will proceed through the Choir to the West 
 Door of the Abbey, in the same manner as He came, wearing 
 His Cnnun, and bearing in His Right Hand the Sceptre \\\[\\ 
 the Cross, and in His Left the Orb/ all Peers wearing their 
 Coronets, and the Archbishops and Bishops their Caps. 
 
 290
 
 Henry VII.th's Chapei, : Banners and Stalls of Knights of the Bath. 
 
 By permission of Mr. C. I'. Goerx. Taken with a " Coerz Anaslij;inat Lens."
 
 London of Jo-Day — Advertisements. 
 
 Taken in i/ioooth of a Second. 
 
 
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 %, 
 
 THE . . . 
 LONDON 
 SEASON 
 1902 . . 
 
 "J^-^'^Tg-'f .SL. 
 
 Its Sights and 
 
 AmUSE/WENTS 
 
 " How goes the world?" 
 It wears, Sir, as it grows." 
 
 "Ay, that's well known 
 lint what particular rarity? what strange ? "
 
 London of To- Day — Advertisements. 
 
 Kodak 
 
 eAMERAS 
 
 are universally used and esteemed because of their 
 
 SIMPLICITY, 
 
 and because no dark room is 
 needed for changing the films. 
 
 ANYONE CAN READILY MASTER 
 PHOTOGRAPHY WITH A KODAK. 
 
 No previous experience and no 
 technical Icnowledge required. 
 
 KODAKS - 
 
 CORONATION INCIDENTS 
 
 from 5/- to £7 7. 
 
 OF ALL DEALERS, or of 
 
 KODAK, Ltd., 43, Clerkenwell Road, E.G. ; 
 
 6o, Cheapside, E.G.; 115, Oxford Street, W.; 171 3, Regent S'reet.W.; 
 
 40, West Strand, W.C. : and 59, Brompton Road, S.W. 
 Also at 96, Bold St., Liverpool; and 72-74, Buchanan St., Glasgow. 
 
 Ask for the Coronation Kodak Catalogue.
 
 o 
 
 
 u 
 
 z 
 o 
 a 
 r 
 o 
 
 . I- 
 
 ffi 
 
 o < 
 z: I- 
 
 -■ o 
 
 a: o 
 £ a 
 
 <o 
 
 c^-
 
 "This tells us all about London's Sights and Amusements.'
 
 Notjz. 
 
 O 
 
 WING to the considerable space allotted in this 
 book this year to the Event of the Coronation, it 
 has been necessary largely to curtail the num- 
 ber of Chapters heretofore annually published 
 relating to LONDON OF TO-DAY. 
 
 It seemed to me that if I published such use- 
 ful information as I could supply on points <i 
 propos of the ** London Season/* it would give 
 my Readers all that might be reasonably ex- 
 pected in a book which, this year, extends to 
 some 500 pages including Illustrations. 
 
 The Annual will revert to its usual form 
 and matter next year. 
 
 CHARLES EYRE PASCOE. 
 
 London, March \st, 1902. 
 
 297 u
 
 Regent Street, leading to Portland Place.
 
 The Season
 
 London of To-Day. 301 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " ' I "O everything there is a season," is a sufficiently familiar 
 quotation. There is a season, the fact being made 
 more plain to the untutored mind, in that it has its initial 
 letter writ large, thus, S : there is, as every one knows, a 
 London Season. Undoubtedly it originated in the past with 
 the coming of the Court to town. In old volumes of biography 
 and magazine literature, you will find such announcements as 
 the following : " This day the Court removed to London." 
 You will find such an entry, for example, in the now forgotten 
 Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay (Fanny Burney), under 
 date January i6th, 1787 ; from which date, so runs the record, 
 " we are only to come to Windsor for an occasional day or 
 two every week." Those were the days when that clever 
 young lady friend of Johnson, Goldsmith, Burke, Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds, and the others was under bonds, so to say, as lady- 
 in-waiting to Queen Charlotte, wife of George III. You may 
 read all you care to know about her and her Royal mistress 
 in her own Diary, and in the review of that gossiping work 
 written by Lord Macaulay, to be found in his published 
 essays. 
 
 Here is an entry in the Diary which serves to show that 
 the London Season in those days was somewhat prolonged ; as 
 likewise thatthe duties of a lady-in-waiting at Queen Charlotte's 
 Court were more arduous than those of a lady's maid at the 
 date of this present writing. " St. James's I'alace, June 4th" —
 
 Piccadilly Circus at thk Theatre-hour.
 
 The Season. 303 
 
 the date of George III.'s birthday, which is still commemorated 
 at the College of Eton beside Windsor, as every one who 
 knows anything of the annual fixtures of the London Season 
 knows — " St. James's Palace, June 4th. — I have had a dread of 
 the bustle of this day for weeks, and every kind friend has 
 dreaded it for me. ... I quitted my downy pillow at half- 
 past six o'clock, and then, according to etiquette, I was quite 
 new dressed ; for on the King's and Queen's birthdays, both 
 real and nominal, two new attires, one half, the other full dress, 
 are expected from all attendants that come into the Royal 
 presence. ... I was just seated to my breakfast when I 
 received my summons to attend the Queen." At the Royal 
 breakfast all the princesses and their governesses appeared 
 " in full dress, with fans " I The " grand toilette " began at 
 eleven. What the remainder of the day was like from twelve 
 to twelve the diarist does not relate. We find, however, 
 that four days later the King and his Court removed to 
 Windsor " for the summer, during which we only go to London 
 for a Drawing-room once a fortnight, and to Kew by the way." 
 
 So that the London Season in time past began nearly three 
 months earlier than now, and ended somewhere about the end 
 of June. The Functions and Festivities of the Court have 
 always had an influence on the fortunes of the Season. When 
 Queen Victoria came to the throne, the meeting of Parliament 
 in February ushered it in ; Whitsuntide saw it at its full ; and 
 July witnessed its end. It is much the same now, though 
 there is a tendency to make May the real beginning of its 
 thousand- and-one pleasures. What those pleasures are need 
 not be stated in full here. We shall have somewhat to say 
 about those later. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Many festivities at Court were introduced after Queen 
 Victoria's marriage to Prince Albert, which contributed greatly 
 to the brilliance of the Season, to say nothing of adding largely 
 to its success from a West End trade point of view. The
 
 304 London of To-Day. 
 
 " trade " point of view has always to be considered in the 
 affairs of the London Season. In the early days of the 
 Queen's married life State functions followed each other much 
 more rapidly than now. In May 1851, for example, there 
 was a " Drawing-room " one day, and a State Ball the next ; 
 a State Concert, another Drawing-room, and a second State 
 Concert followed within eight days. There were Fancy-dress 
 balls, Banquets, and dramatic representations at Windsor 
 Castle. Almack's — later, the long-familiar Willis's Rooms — 
 was still the vogue. In regard of the general pleasures of 
 the town, the Derby and Ascot — with its State procession 
 to the course— were, as now, the great sporting- events of 
 the London Season — the " road " thither being much more 
 frequented than now. Italian Opera at Covent Garden and 
 Her Majesty's theatres — the Carlton Hotel now covers the 
 site of the last-named — was given three nights a week at 
 eight ; and Ballet formed the then popular interlude. There 
 were only nine other principal theatres in London, opening 
 nightly at seven. A triple bill — farce, play, and farce — com- 
 prised the customary bill of fare : " half-price " to the principal 
 parts of the house being permitted at nine. With respect to 
 other amusements, Vauxhall Gardens was still a popular 
 resort, and the Surrey Zoological Gardens had become its 
 competitor ; Cremorne followed later. Not a vestige of either 
 place now remains. The Royal Academy's annual summer 
 exhibition was held in the east wing of the National Gallery, 
 some of the pictures belonging to which were then exhibited 
 at Marlborough House, later to become the Prince of Wales's 
 residence. For the rest, visitors had to content themselves 
 with a plentiful collection of panoramas and dioramas ; 
 Madame Tussaud's exhibition of waxworks, Albert Smith's 
 "Ascent of Mont Blanc," Wyld's Great Globe in Leicester 
 Square — " a monster model of the terrestrial world " (a public 
 garden now takes its place) — with Gordon Cumming's Hunting 
 Scenes in Africa, Astley's Amphitheatre, Batty's Hippodrome,
 
 The Season. 305 
 
 the Polytechnic, Panopticon, and Regent's Park Colosseum. 
 Such were the pleasures of those who preceded us. 
 
 To judge from the kind of amusements which seemed to 
 satisfy our forerunners of the second half of the last century, 
 one niight suppose that London was then far less given to 
 hearing the chimes at midnight than now. But such was 
 not the case. If there were fewer theatres, there were many 
 more places of a much less reputable character — ■" Cyder 
 Cellars," " Coal Holes," " Little Back Kitchens," " Piccadilly 
 Saloons," " Casinos," " Cafes," and " Dancing-rooms," which no 
 woman of any respectability could enter, and in many cases 
 forbidden to women. The reputable Haymarket of to-day 
 was the most disreputable thoroughfare in London, practically 
 closed at night to any decent person. " Gambling-hells," 
 " rat-pits," " penny gaffs," and taverns presided over by prize- 
 fighters flourished in various parts of the town. Gentlemen 
 thought it no disgrace then to he seen in such places. After 
 the theatres were closed the " fun " began. Supper-rooms 
 remained open till three in the morning-. No one would 
 credit it that the London as we now know it under County 
 Council control was the same London to which I am referring. 
 In respect of change in the character of its nightly amusements, 
 the London of To-Day differs as greatly from the London of 
 Yesterday as the London of Yesterday from the London of 
 the days of Addison and Steele. 
 
 But I may not stay to gossip about such things. Whether 
 on the whole we have grown more moral may perhaps be 
 doubted. I once asked a well-known London clergyman, 
 who has lived all his life in one district of London, and that 
 far removed from the most fashionaljle, what was his opinion 
 on that point. He thought, " Yes, that on the whole we had." 
 Let us hope so. Certainly we seem to be a much more sober 
 people, and a people less disposed to midnight orgies. More- 
 over, we find much more interest taken in healthy outdoor 
 sports. Our reading, too, is far more varied than that which
 
 3o6 London of To-Doy. 
 
 Bell s Life hi Lo?idofi once afYbrded the majority weekly. We 
 have also many more public libraries to the good, and also 
 cricket and football and boating clubs ; and we get more 
 opportunities of recreation, and our holidays certainly are 
 more. But to return to the particular topic of this chapter. 
 ****** 
 
 There are certain Fixtures which are now common to all 
 London's Seasons alike. The greatest number in any one 
 class is undoubtedly the Public Dinner eaten in the cause of 
 Charity. Save for its virtuous purpose, this class of dinner in 
 the great category of London dinners is perhaps the most 
 to be avoided. The distinguished personages who preside at 
 them are, of all diners-about, the most deserving of sympathy. 
 There should be a new Order of Merit decreed for the 
 Chairmen of Charity Dinners who annually suffer in London 
 in this good cause. I doubt not that many a man has suffered 
 less in dying for his country. A ten-dinners president should 
 be awarded the highest class of the Order — a gold cross 
 exhibiting a man impaled, with the motto set round in 
 changeful opals : Hodie inlhi, cms tibi. But since no one is 
 more disposed to charity than when he sees something in 
 return for his money — whether stage-play, bazaar, concert, 
 recitation, chances in a lottery in Ireland, hand-dip in a lucky- 
 bag, what not ? — w^hy, let the London Public Dinner in behalf 
 of Charity never grow less in the numbers of its supporters, 
 and ever grow less in the number and variety of its speeches, 
 and of the many indifferent wines and dishes which precede 
 the portentous war-cry of " Please Silence for the Chair ! " 
 
 Next in numerical importance to the Public Dinners ccme 
 the Cricket Fixtures at Lord's and the Oval, culminating in 
 the great annual social functions of Eton against Harrow 
 and of O.xford against Cambridge. If we take no account of 
 permanence in respect of the fi.xtures of the London Season, 
 we should say that the temporary fixtures to the walls of the 
 galleries of the Royal Academy of Arts, May to August, beat
 
 The Season. 
 
 307 
 
 all others in number and variety by a good many. If all 
 the pictures sent in to the Academy in March were fixed 
 to the walls of the galleries, we should probably find their 
 number amount to a good ten thousand. It is a great mercy 
 they are not. 
 
 The number of Concerts set down for hearing during the 
 Season runs the Cricket maches pretty hard in the race for 
 supremacy. Indeed, without taking the trouble to count their 
 actual number, we might 
 at once say, without fear of 
 contradiction, that Concerts 
 beat cricket matches by a 
 full score per week. We 
 would not have it inferred 
 that all these Concerts are, 
 like Cricket at Lord's and 
 the Oval, of " first-class " 
 importance ; but that a good 
 many of them are deserving 
 larger audiences than they 
 get is matter of common 
 knowledge. 
 
 Grand Opera is a luxury 
 in London, though less of a 
 
 luxury in other cities. Whatever is in the nature of a luxury 
 must be classed among the legitimate attractions of the 
 London Season. Luxuries are the lot of any one with money. 
 Boxes on the grand tier at the Opera House may be bought 
 by any one who will tender a sufficient cheque early enough 
 in advance. Any one who has no better use for a guinea can 
 command a stall. To be recognised in a prominent position 
 at Covent Garden Theatre at least once a week in May and 
 June is an object of ambition to many who take less interest 
 in a progressive " Cycle " within the house than in a progressive 
 cycle outdoors. Grand Opera in the London Season is more
 
 3o8 London of To- Day. 
 
 or less of a fashionable function. Therefore it should properly 
 find a place in these notes. 
 
 The Theatre (as we have elsewhere remarked) is the most 
 popular amusement of London of To-Day. Lovers of the 
 classics — if there be any who consult so unclassical a piece 
 of work as this : students of Pliny, may perchance remember 
 the theatre of the iedile AI. .Emilius Scaurus, constructed to 
 hold an audience of eighty thousand, and adorned with an 
 amazing magnificence and at an extraordinary expense. If 
 we have no such theatre now, we can lay claim to 112 
 tlieatres and music-halls in London and the suburbs which 
 will seat an aggregate of some hundred thousand persons. So 
 that in the department of theatres we are running very strong 
 to-day in London. Among the functions of the Season may 
 be included the obligation to appear some few times at the 
 theatre in the fullest style of dress you can command. The 
 claims of the theatre are hardly less exacting than those of 
 the social " call," the Park, or Ascot. Dinner and the play 
 indicate the ordinary evening routine of June. This, when 
 added to the morning and afternoon routine, means a day's 
 work in comparison of which washing and scrubbing decks 
 aboard ship is a most invigorating pastime. 
 
 Writing from Neufchatel, Switzerland (where he was " bent 
 on taking things easily "), in a certain July some years 
 ago, Thackeray remarks to a friend : " Three weeks of London 
 were more than enough for me, and I feel as if I had had 
 enough of it and of pleasure." So in these days do a good 
 many other people, far less of the order pcrsonce i^rafissiiiue 
 than was William Makepeace Thackeray in his time. Three 
 weeks of the London Season are more than enough for any 
 one who works through the pleasures of the town with 
 ordinary zeal and perseverance. When you have gone the 
 round of the hardy-annual sights, you will find that you have 
 left a hundred unseen. When you have eaten half-a-dozen 
 dinners at friends' houses, you will find that you have to
 
 The Season. 309 
 
 decline a full dozen more. When you have fought your way 
 through the barricades of humanity to the hostess at one 
 grand dance, you will find you have no Hfe left in you to 
 struggle that way any more. When you have done one 
 July reception, you will wish yourself on the moors. When 
 you have done two, you will wish yourself at the bottom of 
 the sea. If you have booked a trip up the River, do that ; 
 and move in any direction thence, rather than back again 
 to London.
 
 3IO 
 
 London of 7o-Day. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A N American gentleman, whose knowledge of literary 
 ■'■ *■ affairs had been gained in the fierce stress of American 
 journalism, made the remark at a London dinner-table in 
 the hearing of the writer, that of books on London there 
 was literally no end, but that one of that class was, singularly 
 enough, still lacking. Said he, " We have no such book 
 compiled for the particular behoof of Ladies." Cogitating 
 that remark a day or two later, my eye chanced to fall on 
 an article in an American magazine in which the writer (an 
 American lady) pointed out how "travel brings out the deep 
 ethical differences between man and woman. ... In London, 
 I have often noticed that the average American gentleman 
 makes a bee-line for the famous hotels, 'pubs,' and music- 
 halls, while the average American woman goes to Westminster, 
 St. Paul's, the Tower of London, and the 
 Shops." This fact seemed to me of interest. 
 It is hardly less an experience, I am 
 thinking, of English, than of American 
 women, on their travels, that for one un- 
 selfish, whole-souled companion man, hus- 
 band, brother, friend, who will attend them 
 en their little inexpensive excursions, sight- 
 seeing, church-inspecting, shopping, and the 
 rest, nine as with one accord will begin to 
 make excuse. " I have to see a man on
 
 St. Paul's, from the Artist's Studio.
 
 312 Londoyi of To-Day. 
 
 business, I pray thee have me excused." " To-day is mail-day, 
 and therefore I cannot come." " I have bought some shares 
 X ., in the market, I go to get them, I pray thee have me 
 \pv excused." " Sorry you did not mention your plans 
 
 earlier, my dear, as in that case I might have 
 arranged to give up the day to the Tower " : 
 plausible and deceptive, after the manner of 
 man's excuses. He is prolific of them to 
 suit his own ends ; none so fruitful of 
 promises before marriage ; few so tardy in 
 their fulfilment later. Do even brother 
 and sister (might we ask) commonly 
 dwell together in unity of purpose as 
 regards seeing churches and ancient buildings, when the 
 brother has male companions lurking in the smoking-room ? 
 Do they not rather generally part at the ways ; the one 
 turning to the right hand, the other to the left ? What 
 manner of man is he, and of what affinity, who shops with 
 women and carries parcels ? I have known a promising young 
 curate to call on the cobbler with Miss Blanche's boots 
 before entering upon the holy state of matrimony, and to bid 
 her travel to Jericho for the mending of her sole after coming 
 into possession of the estate. 
 
 Truly, 'tis a wayward and but indifferent world, your Lady- 
 ships, wheresoever men are concerned. They will be found 
 vei-y selfish and untractable at best. If women were only 
 bolder and less unselfish themselves, they would soon break 
 the spirit of selfishness inherent in their lords. " Bee-lines " 
 to the famous hotels, " pubs," and music-halls would be much 
 less openly and frequently traversed, and men would be 
 oftener found tied like tamed cats to women's apron-strings 
 in " A. B. C." shops and museums ; or they would have to 
 follow the practice of Mr. Richard Swiveller, and give closer 
 attention to the advantages of an intimate acquaintance with 
 London's by-ways and least public thoroughfares.
 
 Programme of Pleasures. 313 
 
 If " the average American woman " does, however, make her 
 way forthwith to Westminster, St. Paul's, and the Tower, it is 
 probably because she has not yet been tempted in other direc- 
 tions ; or maybe she is not as yet informed of the fact that a 
 book entitled " London of To-Day " is at her service, of whatever 
 bookseller she may be pleased to order it. Otherwise one 
 might be inclined to say that she ranks far below " the average " 
 of her generally enterprising countrywomen. Far be it from 
 us to tempt any one from full and immediate consideration of 
 the glories of the ancient Abbey and metropolitan Cathedral, 
 and the historic attractions of the Tower. But given the fuller 
 programme of London's Pleasures and the lesser list of London's 
 Sights, I am persuaded that the great majority of my fair 
 Readers would find their chief interest in the first— a pro- 
 gramme beyond compare the lengthiest and most diversified 
 of any ever devised for pleasure-loving people. In the Season 
 it would extend to the dimensions of a fair-sized book. For 
 variety of entertainments, shows, sights, functions, fetes, festi- 
 vities, what you will, it is without parallel among published 
 programmes. No city in the world has ever produced one so 
 exhaustive and extensive. To suppose that any woman or man 
 could go through tlie whole list item by item and survive, is to 
 suppose an impossibility. No one is supplied with sufficient 
 physical endurance. 
 
 I recollect to have seen a clever drawing by Florence Claxton 
 published many years ago in a London magazine, representing 
 "Twenty-four Hours of the Season by My Lady's Watch." At 
 10 a.m. my lady is in bed sipping her coffee From 10 to 11 
 she is in the hands of her maid. At 12 noon she is receiving 
 the unwilling attentions of her children ; 12 to i she is engaged 
 with her dressmaker. At i o'clock she is on horseback, 
 cantering in Rotten Row ; 2 to 3 she is in her carriage, on 
 shopping bent ; 3 to 4 she is at a Flower Show. At 4.30 she 
 is trying to see the year's pictures at the Royal Academy. At- 
 5 o'clock she is driving in the Park. At 6 p.m she is lying on 
 
 X
 
 314 London of To-Day. 
 
 the sofa exhausted, attended by her maid ; 7 to 9 p.m. she is 
 at dinner, herself at one end of a long table, her husband at the 
 other, waited on by butler and three splendidly attired footmen. 
 At 9.5 she kisses her sleeping children, and goes to the Opera ; 
 II to 12.30 p.m. she is at a grand ball in Mayfair ; 2 a.m. she 
 is dancing, and 3 a.m. at supper ; 4 to 10 a.m. she is at last at 
 rest. I have omitted one engagement of consequence crammed 
 into those awful "twenty-four hours": at ic.30 a.m. my lady 
 is dressing for the " Drawing-room," and at i she is being pre- 
 sented at Court. Can any man picture a more terrible and 
 exhausting experience for a wife ? 
 
 Mr. Arthur Pendennis, who knew his London much more 
 intimately in all its parts than the majority of young men of his 
 day, tells us, in that admirable story of his life, written by 
 William Makepeace Thackeray — how is it that young ladies 
 nowadays know so little of the works of that great and 
 eminent master, in comparison of whom our popular novelists 
 of to-day are as mere students in the schools? — Mr. Pendennis 
 observes that " the pace of London life " even in his time 
 was tremendous. What is it become now.? "How do 
 people last at it, I wonder — male and female ? " asks he. 
 " Take a woman of the world : follow her course through the 
 Season ; one silently asks how she can survive it ? or if she 
 tumbles into a deep sleep at the end of August, and lies torpid 
 until the spring ? " And then he proceeds to discuss at some 
 length her several daily engagements at home and abroad in 
 London. Well might His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales 
 (now His Majesty King Edward VIL, God bless him!) say, 
 " I am happiest when I have no public engagements to fulfil ; 
 when I can go about like plain Mr. Jones ; when I can spend 
 a quiet evening at home with the Princess and my family." 
 
 What little "sight-seeing" in London this present writer 
 has indulged in, has made him much less eager at the work 
 than formerly. A London journalist sees a good deal of 
 what's going on at times, but he soon grows tired of the
 
 Programme of Pleasures. 
 
 31S 
 
 invitations sent in envelopes from the editor's room. He would 
 far sooner be lolling on the beach at the seaside than go to the 
 grandest State function at the Palace. But that's because he 
 has had a surfeit of sights ; and a surfeit of anything, whether 
 it be of dinners and dances, or of receptions and fetes, or even 
 of oysters and Chateau y Quem, is apt to breed dislike in the 
 surfeited. The visitor to Town, and especially the lady visitor^ 
 
 State Ball at Buckingham Palace,
 
 3l6 London of To-Day. 
 
 usually arrives with a fine appetite for pleasure, born of the 
 country perhaps, and plenty of fresh air — no late hours or 
 gadding about. She can usually take her fill of sight-seeing 
 and other recreations without much harm. For her the London 
 Programme should be replete with interest, and she may be left 
 to pick and choose her pleasures to her heart's content. 
 ***** * 
 
 May is the month when the time has arrived for jotting 
 them down : " Courts," Levees, House of Commons teas. 
 Racing fixtures, Cricket matches. Boating parties. Lawn-tennis 
 meetings. Archery tournaments, Military Reviews, Luncheons, 
 Receptions, Afternoon " At Homes," Dinners, Dances, Flower 
 Shows, the Opera, the Theatres, Concerts, Pictures, Exhibi- 
 tions, Earl's Court, Evening Fetes, Bazaars, Matinees, Recitals, 
 the Park, Four-in-hand meets, the Oaks, Ascot, Sandown Park, 
 Henley Regatta, Richmond, Hurlingham, Ranelagh, Eton and 
 Harrow at Lord's, Oxford and Cambridge on the same field. 
 Where shall we end ? All these engagements and events are 
 within reach of the lady visitor with an appetite for such 
 things, a full purse, and provided with suitable introductions 
 and competent escort. With suitable introductions and com- 
 petent escort she may aspire to go anywhere — she may even 
 reach the Throne Room, and in time the Royal Enclosure 
 at Ascot, the Terrace and Ladies' Gallery of the House of 
 Commons, a seat on a drag at the Coaching Clubs' meet, a 
 place in the officers' stand, Horse Guards' Parade, at the 
 Trooping of the Colour, the same in the members' stand at 
 Lord's for Oxford v. Cambridge, or Eton v. Harrow, a chair 
 on one of the best Houseboats at Henley, a well-cushioned seat 
 in a well-appointed landau for the Oaks, " Private-view " cards 
 for the Royal Academy and other exhibitions, a dinner in- 
 vitation to Hurlingham, and who shall say how many more 
 invitations to dinners, dances, and receptions elsewhere ? 
 
 Every person knows that the right kind of introductions from 
 the right quarter and to the right "set" mean possibilities
 
 Programme of Pleasures. 
 
 Z^7 
 
 innumerable. They certainly mean immediate ofter of cour- 
 tesies of one kind or another. These, in their turn, usually 
 bring others not perhaps in the reckoning. And so, in a sort of 
 " snowball " fashion, a lady may find her invitations increasing 
 to such an extent that she is herself frequently in great peril 
 of spending twenty-four hours in some such way as recorded by 
 the artist of " My Lady's Watch." American women seem to 
 me to beat the record for having " a good time " in London. 
 Their energy and enterprise in sight-seeing seem inexhaustible. 
 I never yet knew an American lady who could not yield points to 
 her English sister in the business, and beat her hollow. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 The gentleman who writes under the pseudonym of " Max 
 
 O'Rell" tells us that "the free and easy ways of American 
 
 women often startle us in Europe, but invariably charm us. 
 
 For that matter, it does not take much to startle us in Europe ! 
 
 KovAL HoRTituLi uRAi. Siiow, Temple Gakulns.
 
 3 1 8 London of To-Day. 
 
 Delightful old museum of antiquities ! . . . Not only are 
 American women more popular in France and England ; but 
 the London Season from the ist of May to the end of July, and 
 the Paris Season from the ist of April to the loth or 12th of 
 June are now absolutely run by the American women who 
 reside in the two cities, or who come to visit them every year." 
 
 That American women invariably charm us Londoners 
 needs not to be debated. That they sometimes " startle us " 
 we are not prepared to deny, having no evidence before us on 
 the point one way or the other. That they are " most popular in 
 France and in England " none will gainsay. But to say that they 
 " absolutely run " the London Season is one of those exaggera- 
 tions permitted to writers seeking to pay a compliment at the 
 expense of truth. I am assured, on very excellent authority, that 
 " the stay of American women in London is usually extremely 
 short — ^just a break in the journey, coming or going, seldom ex- 
 tending over a fortnight at best." This is a loss to London in 
 more senses than one ; but my own observation leads me to the 
 same conclusion. There are American women married, as we 
 know, into English families of rank, who take their places among 
 leaders of English fashionable society, and who therefore take a 
 prominent part in the arrangements of the festivites which mark 
 the London season. Ikit they no more " run " that enormous 
 " Vanity Fair," with its thousand-and-one shows, than I run the 
 " Flying Dutchman." They certainly contribute greatly to its 
 yearly success by their many and great personal charms, their 
 always generous hospitality, their tastefulness in dress, their 
 many intellectual parts, their delicious freedom from convention- 
 ality, their wit, kindliness of manner, and pleasant appreciation 
 of every little courtesy tendered them. What the London 
 Season would be without them no man dare say. 
 
 ***** * 
 
 I need hardly urge upon my lady Readers the advisability of 
 coming to London, if it can be so managed, in the merry month 
 of May. Then is the time when London is seen at its best and
 
 Programme of Pleasures. 3 1 9 
 
 freshest, and its season's Pleasures are not as yet become 
 exhausting. In June, London is too crowded ; and in July the 
 grand world is thinking of going away. If you should decide to 
 come in May or June, do not neglect the precaution of securing 
 accommodation beforehand. We have said somewhat on this 
 point in the chapter on " Hotels." If mere sight-seeing of the 
 conventional tourist kind be your chief object, August is as 
 good a month as any to come, for then you will have London to 
 roam about in all to yourself. Every one who can afford to g-o 
 away has already left town. Parliament is up ; the Opera 
 season is long ago come to an end ; the chief theatres, concert- 
 rooms, and art-galleries are closed ; the Park is deserted ; 
 Bond Street and Piccadilly may be crossed and recrossed with 
 impunity ; the hotels and restaurants are comparatively empty ; 
 accommodation may be had almost anywhere for the asking. 
 Nothing is going on. The Cathedral, the Abbey, the Tower, and 
 London itself alone remain to tempt the curiosity of visitors. 
 That, perhaps, is an assertion that might be challenged. From 
 a Londoner's point of view, however, it suggests a tolerably 
 correct view of the situation. Nevertheless, " the dead season 
 in town is often pleasant, doosid pleasant, begad ! " as Major 
 Pendennis used to affirm. 
 
 In the months of May and June a lady may see a great deal in 
 
 London not to be seen at any other period of the year, even if 
 
 her purse be no very full one. The following' are examples 
 
 in point. 
 
 (i) The May "Courts," so-named (the principal of the season), 
 
 at Buckingham Palace. A good view of the company 
 
 going and returning may be had in the Mall and St. 
 
 James's Park, or, better still, outside the Palace itself. 
 
 These " Courts " are now held in the evening. 
 (2) The Levees held at St. James's Palace. The display of 
 
 uniforms, diplomatic and court dress is brilliant in 
 
 St. James's Street and Pall Mall on these occasions. 
 
 The hour in each case about i, afternoon.
 
 Programme of Pleasures. 321 
 
 (3) Parliament is in full session. It may be that some friend 
 (M.P. or other) might obtain a seat in the Ladies' 
 Gallery, or at all events an invitation to "Tea on the 
 Terrace" — now grown quite a ladies' event of the Season. 
 
 4) The afternoon Parade in " the Park " (Hyde Park, that 
 is), 5 to 7. 
 
 (5) The military function known as "Trooping the Colour," 
 
 Horse Guards' Parade, St. James's Park, on May 24th, 
 the day the celebration of the late Queen Victoria's 
 Birthday. Hour, not later than 9.15 a.m if you wish 
 to see the Royalties pass and the muster of the Guards. 
 Later (10.45 a.m.) the massed Bands play in the court- 
 yard of St. James's Palace. 
 
 (6) The meet of the Four-in-hand and Coaching Clubs at 
 
 the Magazine, Hyde Park — a society affair notified 
 beforehand in the newspapers. Hour, 12 noon. 
 
 (7) A cheap and pleasant afternoon's amusement (admission 
 
 IS.) is afforded by Earl's Court Exhibition. The 
 grounds are pleasant on a fine summer's evening, and 
 the military music is excellent. Dinner at the Wel- 
 come Club suggests an agreeable interval in the even- 
 ing's entertainment, if a member's hospitality might be 
 counted on. 
 
 (8) An eye might be kept on the Times advertisement pages 
 
 for notifications of the Royal Horticultural Society's 
 Flower Show in the Temple Gardens, and the Royal 
 Botanic Society's Floral and Evening Fetes. May 
 and June. 
 
 (9) One of the most interesting of all London's annual shows 
 
 is that of the Royal Military Tournament, Agricultural 
 Hall, Islington, May — June. It would be a mistake to 
 miss it when in Town. 
 
 (10) The most splendid display of Ladies" Dress is that which 
 
 " Royal Ascot " produces. A pass to the Royal enclosure 
 is eagerly sought after and not readily obtained ; still,
 
 322 Lo)idon of To-Day. 
 
 the enterprise might be attempted by ladies of influence. 
 Failing that, there are other ways of seeing the display, 
 one of which would be by joining some pleasant party 
 going to the races. The Cup Day is the great event. 
 Month, June. 
 (ii) "Church Parade" in Hyde Park (hour, 12.30 to 1.30), on 
 the Sunday before or following Ascot, might be of 
 interest to the worldly-minded or sufficiently curious 
 student of London's manners and fashions. The 
 afternoon also (5 to 7) affords a marvellous display of 
 dress. 
 
 (12) Military Bands play in Hyde Park and St. James's Park 
 
 on Sunday evenings in the summer. The designation 
 of the regiments and the hours of playing are notified 
 in the Saturday newspapers. Some of the London 
 County Council's bands which play daily on the Em- 
 bankment Gardens are well worth listening to. 
 
 (13) Although the Sunday "Zoo" is not what it used to be 
 
 years ago as a fashionable promenade in the Season, 
 that always interesting and instructive resort in the 
 Regent's Park is of a pleasanter peacefulness on Sunday 
 than on any other day. A ticket from a Fellow (not 
 very difficult to procure) is the only way of obtaining 
 admission. Saturday is the "band" day. 
 
 (14) The great occasions at Lord's Cricket Ground are those 
 
 of the Oxford and Cambridge and Eton and Harrow 
 matches. Both are largely attended by ladies, and the 
 dress parade is worth seeing. 
 
 (15) The most delightful, perhaps, of all the annual festivals 
 
 of the London Season is Henley's Royal Regatta, in 
 early July, a sight which should not be missed. The 
 way to Henley is from Paddington station. 
 
 (16) Another interesting affair to ladies should be the All- 
 
 England Lawn tennis Tournament at Wimbledon, 
 usually held in mid-June.
 
 Progranwie of Pleasures. 323 
 
 (17) The Upper Thames resorts — -Maidenhead, Marlow, Clive- 
 
 den Woods, etc., etc. — are greatly frequented by boating 
 parties in the warm sunny days of June, July, and 
 August. We know of few pleasanter outings than that 
 of a summer day's boating excursion in the neighbour- 
 hood of Great Marlow — \\ hours' run by rail from 
 Paddington station. 
 
 (18) Nor should the nearer river resorts, such as Kew, Rich- 
 
 mond, Twickenham, Hampton Court, be lost sight of 
 in the category of London's summer pleasures. A May 
 morning in Kew Gardens, or at Hampton Court, is an 
 experience certain to be appreciated. 
 We have thus touched upon several items in London's 
 Programme of Pleasures — as distinct from London's well- 
 known sights— but it is not to be supposed that the list is 
 exhausted. Keep an eye on the daily newspapers when you 
 come to London, and you will soon realise how meagre our 
 own catalogue is.
 
 A&R C LTLWAlI EXH « 
 
 JS! t 
 
 Sights of the Town,
 
 London of To-Day. 
 
 325 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 pOLLOWIiNG is an alphabetical 
 list of the Sights of the Town, 
 
 r.^g,~ free or otherwise, with the hours of opening, 
 terms of admission, and locality of each ; but 
 : not including those which are common to the London 
 
 Season alone, which will be found stated elsewhere : — 
 
 Academy, Royal, Burlington House, Piccadilly : Annual 
 Exhibition of works by living artists. Open first Monday in 
 May to first Monday in August, 8 to 7 ; Admission, i^-. Even- 
 ing Exhibition, last week, 7.30 to 10.30 ; Admission, 6d. 
 
 Exhibition of works by Old Masters and deceased British 
 artists, ten weeks, first Monday in January, from 9 to 6 ; 
 Admission, is. 
 
 Gibson and Diploma Galleries, adjoining the Academy on 
 the east side, free daily, from 11 to 4. 
 
 Agricultural Hall (Royal), Upper Street, Islington, N. : 
 In this spacious hall are held the Dog Show in Februaiy ; 
 the Shire, Hackney, and Hunters horse shows, February 
 to March ; the Royal Military Tournament in May to June ; 
 and the great Annual Cattle Show in December, besides many 
 other occasional shows and trade exhibitions. 
 
 Albert Hall, Royal, South Kensington : Concerts, etc. 
 Choral and other Societies, Operatic, National, and Military 
 Concerts. Concerts (a military band) every Sunday at 3.30. 
 
 Art Exhibitions : Royal Society of Painters in Water 
 Colours, 5A, Pall Mall East ; Admission, i^-. ; exhibitions in 
 May and December ; open for three months. Royal Institute 
 of Painters in Water Colours, 191, Piccadilly ; exliibitions
 
 326 London of To-Day . 
 
 March to end of June, i^. Royal Society of British Artists, 
 Sufifolk Street, Pall Mall East, \s. ; April to July and October 
 to Februaiy. Grafton Galleries, 8, Grafton Street, W. ; 
 exhibition usually in May ; Admission, \s. New Gallery, 121, 
 Regent Street ; annual exhibitions from May till August ; 
 January ist till April ; 10 to 6, \s. The Institute of Painters in 
 Oil Colours, 191, Piccadilly, open November ist to end of 
 January, i^'. The Galleries of the Picture Dealers of Bond 
 Street, Haymarket, and elsewhere are open all the year 
 round. 
 
 Bethnal Green Museum, Bethnal Green (reached from 
 Liverpool Street, Great Eastern station) : Branch of South 
 Kensington (Victoria and Albert) Museum. Free daily. 
 Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays, 10 to 10 ; Tuesdays, Wednes- 
 days, and Fridays, 10 to 4, 5, or 6, according to season ; Sundays 
 in summer, 2 to 7. 
 
 Botanical Gardens (Royal), Regent's Park : Open daily 
 at 9. On Mondays and Saturdays, \s. ; other days by orders 
 from Fellows. On Sundays at 10.30 a.m. 
 
 British Museum, Bloomsbury : Entirely free. Open daily 
 at 10 ; closed at dusk. The British and Mediaeval antiquities 
 rooms closed on Tuesday and Thursday. Open every weekday 
 throughout the year except Good Friday and Christmas-day. 
 Sundays in summer season, 2.30 to 7. 
 
 Reading Room open daily to readers, January to April and 
 September to December, 9 till 8 p.m. ; May to August, till 7 p.m. 
 Closed first four weekdays in March and September. For 
 permission to see it, apply in Great Hall. Tickets of admission 
 to the Reading Room, Print Room, or Sculpture Gallery, for 
 purposes of research, reference, or study, are granted to persons 
 not under twenty-one on written application to Principal 
 Librarian. The applicant must state abode, business or 
 profession, and purpose, and must send a recommendation 
 from a householder, or some person of recognised position. 
 
 Print Room open daily to persons holding tickets, 10 to 4
 
 London's Sights. 
 
 327 
 
 January to March and August to December ; 10 to 5, April to 
 July. Sculpture Galleries open to students holding tickets (for 
 copying statues, etc.) daily from 9 till hour of closing. 
 
 Buckingham Palace, St. James's Park : To be seen only 
 by order from the Lord Chamberlain, Stable Yard, St. James's. 
 
 Carlyle'S House, Cheyne Row, Chelsea : Daily 10 till dusk. 
 
 Cemeteries : The chief London cemeteries, open from 10 
 
 Charing Cross. 
 
 till dusk, are : Brompton, Kensal Green, Highgate, Norwood, 
 Woking. Neither of them presents anything like such 
 picturesque features as those of New York and Boston. 
 
 Chelsea Royal Hospital, Chelsea : The whole of this 
 foundation for old soldiers is well worth seeing, and especially 
 the Hall and Chapel. Free daily, easily reached by " Chelsea" 
 omnibus. 
 
 Courts of Justice (Royal), Strand : The Great Hall and 
 Courts may be seen. In term time the Courts sit daily, lo to 4.
 
 328 London oj To-Day. 
 
 Crystal Palace, Sydenham : Concerts and entertainments 
 daily. Access from all suburban railway stations by London 
 and Brighton or Chatham and Dover lines at cheap fares, 
 including admission. Admission, i^-. ; annual season tickets, one 
 guinea. Daily, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. 
 
 Egyptian Hall, 171, Piccadilly: Mr. Maskelyne's magical 
 entertainment daily, 3 and 8. 
 
 Exeter Hall, 372, Strand : Headquarters of the Young 
 Men's Christian Association ; principal place of the " May 
 Meetings." 
 
 Government Offices : The chief of these will be found in 
 Whitehall as follows (on the west side) : Admiralty, Horse 
 Guards, Paymaster-General's, Home Office, Education Depart- 
 ment, Treasury, Privy Council Office, Foreign Office (its 
 apartments are the most worth seeing). Colonial Office, India 
 Office. The War Office is in Pall Mall. Somerset House, 
 Strand, is given over to the Registrar-General, the Wills and 
 Probate Offices, Exchequer and Audit and Inland Revenue 
 Departments. The Law Courts are at the Royal Courts of 
 Justice, Strand. The Public Record Office is in Chancery 
 Lane. The Post and Telegraph Office is in St. Martin's-le- 
 Grand, City. The Custom House stands on the north-east 
 side of London Bridge by the Thames. Hours of business, 
 9 to 5 or 10 to 5. 
 
 Greenwich : Royal Naval College, formerly known as 
 Greenwich Hospital. The Painted Hall and Relics, etc., 
 free on weekdays at 10, and at 2 on Sundays. Naval Museum, 
 interesting Collection of Naval Models, etc., open daily, except 
 Friday and Sunday, at 10. Chapel closed on Fridays and 
 Sundays. The Royal Observatory, Greenwich Park, may be 
 seen only by permission of the Astronomer Royal. 
 
 Guildhall, King Street, Cheapside : Grand Civic Hall and 
 extremely interesting Museum, Picture Gallery, and Library, 
 etc., free daily, 10 a.m. to 5. Library, 10 to 9. Art Exhibition 
 (annual), daily, 10 a.m. ; also Sunday, 2 to 6.
 
 Lundoii's Sii'/ils. 
 
 329 
 
 Hampton Court : Originally the I'.ilace of Cardinal 
 Wolsey, a most interesting and picturesqne relic of 'I'udor 
 times, with charming grounds, and fine collection of pictures, 
 etc., etc. Thirteen miles from London ; railway fare by cheap 
 trains in summer, i.v. 61/. ; ordinary, 2s. ()i/., 2s., and is. lut/. 
 return. Steamboats in summer from Chelsea pier. Daily 
 
 Hampton Court Palace Gates. 
 
 (except Friday), summer, 10 to 6 ; winter, 10 to 4 ; and c\cry 
 Sunday, summer, 2 to 6 ; winter, 2 to 4. Free. 
 
 Hospitals : The chief and largest of these are St. Ilarlholo- 
 mcw's, Smitliticld, City ; St. 'I'homas's, Southern 'I'liamcs 
 Emljankment, near Westminster Uridgc ; London Hospital, 
 Whitechapcl Road ; (}uy's, in Southwark, soulli side of London 
 Bridge ; St. Ceorgcs, Hyde Lark ; St. Marys, Lraed Street, 
 Paddington ; Charing Cross Hospital, Strand ; L'nivcrsity, 
 near Gower Street ; King's College, at back of Law Courts, 
 
 V
 
 ^^O London of io-l)ay. 
 
 Strand ; Royal I'rcc Hospital, Gray's Inn Road ; Middlesex, 
 Oxford Street, north side. For any special hospital, consult the 
 " London Post Office Directory "' or P'ry's " Guide to the 
 Charities." 
 
 Houses oi' Parliament, Westminster : Saturdays, lo a.m. 
 to 3.30 p.m. ; also on Monday and Tuesday in Easter and 
 Whitsun weeks, same time. Order from Lord Great Chamber- 
 lain's Office, Victoria Tower, House of Lords. 
 
 Inns of Court: Inner and Middle Temple, Fleet Street : 
 Lincoln's Inn, Chancery Lane ; Gray's Inn, Holborn. Open 
 free. The splendid old Hall of the Middle Temple and the 
 even more famous Church are among the most interesting of 
 London's sights. The Libraries may be seen on application. 
 
 Kensinc.ton Palace : Daily, free (except Wednesdays), at 
 
 10 ; Sunday, in summer, 2 to 6. 
 
 Ke\\\ I\0\ ai. Botanic CiARDEXs : Easily accessible by 
 Underground Railway, omnibus, and also steamboat from any 
 pier (to Chelsea) in summer. Open daily, free, weekdays, 12 
 to sunset ; Sundays, i to sunset ; Bank Holidays, 10 to sunset. 
 Closed on Christmas Day. 
 
 Lambeth Palace, South bank of Thames, nearly opposite 
 Houses of Parliament. Official residence of the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury. May be seen on application. The interesting 
 Library is open on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and 
 Fridays, 10 to 4 ; summer, 10 to 5, and forenoon of Tuesday. 
 Closed Easter week, Christmas, and for six weeks from 
 September 1st. 
 
 Mansion House, City : The official residence of the Lord 
 Mayor ; the Egyptian Hall and ballroom are the chief attrac- 
 tions. .Admission by order and a small fee. 
 
 National (^alllrv, Trafalgar Square : Open free on 
 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday from 10 to 4 or 
 6 ; .Students' days, Thursday and Friday. Admission, after 
 
 1 1 a.m. on Students' dajs, Gii. Sundays, in the summer, 
 2 to 6.
 
 Londoiis Sights. 33 1 
 
 National Gallery of ]'>ritish Art (Tate Gallery), Mill- 
 bank, Westminster : Daily, at 10 to dusk, free ; Sunday, in 
 summer, 2 to 6. Same regulations as National Gallery. This 
 is one of the most popular art galleries in London. 
 
 National Portrait Gallery, St. Martin's Place, Charing 
 Cross : Open free, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Satur- 
 day, 10 to 4, 5, or 6. Thursday and Friday (Students' days), 10 
 to 4 or 5 ; Admission, bd. Sunday, in summer, 2.30 to 5.30. 
 
 Natural History (British Museum of), Cromwell Road, 
 South Kensington. This most interesting museum opens daily 
 at 10. The hours of closing are : January, November, and 
 December, 4 ; Februar\', 4.30 ; March and .September, 5.30 ; 
 April to August (inclusive), 6 ; October, 5. On Monday and 
 Saturday only, from May ist to the middle of July, 8 ; and on- 
 wards to end of August, 7. Open on Sunday, in summer, 
 2.30 to 7. The collections comprise all branches of natural 
 history. 
 
 Parks and Puf.lic Gardens : These, happily, are many. 
 The principal are the charming Thames Embankment (jardcns, 
 bordering the north side of the Thames ; St. James's Park, near 
 Charing Cross, 83 acres ; the Green Park, adjacent, 71 acres : 
 Hyde Park, 400 acres ; Kensington Gardens, 300 acres (Albert 
 Memorial, opposite Royal Albert Hall) : Victoria Park, Hack- 
 ney, 300 acres ; Battersea Park (on south side of the Thames, 
 opposite Chelsea), 250 acres ; Regent's Park and Primrose Hill, 
 450 acres ; Finsbury Park, Hornsey, 115 acres; Peckham Rye 
 Park, Brockwell Park, West Ham Park, Kennington Park, 
 Waterlow I'arki'Highgate), Highbury Fields(Islington), Deptford 
 Park, Clissold Park (Stoke Xewington)- all accessible from the 
 centre of the Metropolis at the cost of ride by omnibus, railway, 
 tramway, or stcamljoat {2d. or yf). Among the most rural anil 
 breezy are Richmond Park, Hampstcad Heath, Greenwich 
 I'ark, lUishcy Park, lligligatc Woods, Iladley Common (near 
 Barnet), and last, not least, Tooting, Strcatliam, and Wimbledon 
 Commons.
 
 London^ s Sights. 333 
 
 People's Palace, Mile End, E. : An excellent institution, 
 designed to interest, and to elevate the social condition of, the 
 working-classes in the East End of London. Omnibus, or by 
 underground railway, to Whitechapel. 
 
 Practical Geology, Museum, Jermyn Street, Piccadilly : 
 Every weekday, free, 10 to 4, November, December, January, 
 and February, and 10 to 5 during other months ; on Mondays 
 and Saturdays from 10 to 10 ; closed from August loth to 
 September loth. 
 
 Public Record Office, Chancery Lane : Contains a col- 
 lection of the National Records since 1 100. Search rooms open 
 daily, with certain exceptions, from 10 to 4.30 ; Saturdays, 
 10 to 2. 
 
 Richmond : The Park and adjacent villages, etc., as 
 Twickenham, Sheen, Mortlake, Teddington, Thames Ditton. 
 By rail, boat, or omnibus, fare is. 
 
 Royal Architectural Museum, 18, Tufton Street, Dean's 
 Yard, S.W. : 10 to 4. 
 
 Royal College of Surgeons, Lincoln's Inn Fields : Ad- 
 mission to Museum only by order of members, or on application 
 to the .Secretary, first four days of the week, from 12 to 5 in 
 summer, and 12 to 4 from October to ALarch inclusive; closed 
 September. 
 
 Royal ExchaN(;e, Cornhill : Free. The new paintings are 
 worth seeing. Statues of the Queen, Wellington, Peabody, 
 Queen Elizabeth, Sir Thomas Gresham, and others. 'Change, 
 the busy time from 3 to 4 p.m. 
 
 Royal Mint, Tower Hill : Admission by order only from 
 the Master of the Mint, application for which should be made 
 some days in advance. 
 
 St. Bartholomew's Priory Church, Smithfield, the 
 oldest church in London (1123): Fine old Norman building, 
 with toml) of the first prior, Rahere. North Transept restored, 
 and reopened in June, 1893. 
 
 St. James's Palace, Pall Mail: Levres are held here
 
 334 
 
 Loudon of To-Dav. 
 
 during the Season. Apartments only by nrder of the Lord 
 Chamberlain — not easily had. 
 
 St. Paul's Cxthedrai. : Nave and transepts free ; choir 
 closed except dining di\ine service. Fees to the following 
 parts : Librar\ , whispering gallery, and stone gallery, 6(1 ; 
 golden gallery, \s. ■ crypt, M. ; ball, i.f. ; total, 3.V. Service on 
 Sundays at 8, 10.30, 3.15, and 7; weekdays at 8, 10, 1.15, 
 4. and 8 (choral). 
 
 S r. Saviour's Church, Southwark : An ancient but 
 
 West E\tr.\nce, .St. Paul's Cathedr.al. 
 
 recently restored church, proposed Cathedral for South London. 
 Notable as the burial-place of several renowned persons. 
 
 Sir John Soanf.'s Museum, 13, Lincoln's Inn Fields : 
 Pictures by Hogarth, Turner, Sir |. Reynolds, Canaletti, Ruys- 
 dael, Watteau, and Callcot. Free from 1 1 to 5 on Tuesdays, 
 Wednesday's, Thursdays, and P'ridays from April to August in- 
 clusive. Cards for pri\ate days during the recess, and for 
 students, are to be obtained from Curator at Museum. 
 
 SociKTV of Arts, Adelphi : P>arry's Pictures in tiie (ireat 
 Hall. .Admission free, daily, 10 to 3 ; Saturdays, 10 to i.
 
 London ?. Sights. 
 
 335 
 
 South Ki:x.siN(;ton (Victoria and Allx'it) MusiA'.M : Con- 
 tains a priceless collection of decorative and other art, pictures, 
 sculpture, scientific and architectural models, specimens, etc. 
 Open daily. Free Mondays, Tuesdays, and Saturdays, from lo 
 to lo; on other days from lo to 4, 5, or 6, on payment oi (n/. 
 Sundays, in summer, 2.30 to 7. 
 
 Temple Chi^rch axo Hai.i., Fleet Street : The Hall 
 (Middle Temple) and Church very interesting^. Church open 
 to strangers from 10 till i and from 2 till 4 : service daily 
 
 TicMi'iF. Bar and Law Courts. 
 
 (durin<^ a part of the year) at 10 a.m. ; .Sundays at i i a.m. 
 and 3 p.m. 
 
 Tower IjRIDc.e: \'ou may see this on a visit to the Tower. 
 It is considered one of the finest e.xamples of engineering' work 
 in the world. 
 
 Tower ok London, North-East side of London Bridge : 
 Regalia, .Armouries, etc. .\dmission, 6d. to the Armouries and 
 IJeauchamp Tower; and 6//. to Ji-wcl House. Mondays and 
 Saturdays free by tif Uets issued at the oflicc at gateway. 
 
 TovxiiEl'. IlAl.E, Whitecliapel : An institution of the highest
 
 Lotidon's SipJits.. 
 
 337 
 
 interest, promoted by the Universities, designed to elevate the 
 condition of the warking-classes in the East of London. Its 
 methods, and the place itself, are well deser\ing the attention 
 of every earnest-minded visitor to London. 
 
 LTnitkd .Service Institution, Roy.m., Banc|iieiing House, 
 Whitehall : Models of Trafalgar and Waterloo ; interesting 
 Naval and Military Relics ; models of modern war vessels 
 
 ExTRANc r, Windsor Castle. 
 
 Admission bd. daily, except Wednesdays, then by member's 
 order only. April to September, ii to 6; October to March 
 I I to 4. 
 
 Wallace Art Gallery, Hertford House, Manchester 
 Square : Free Mondays from 2 p.m., Wednesdays, Thursdays, 
 .Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4, 5, or 6 p.m. ; Sundays from 2 ]).m. 
 except winter months. 'J'uesdays and l'"ridays, 1 1 a.m. to 4, 5, 
 or 6 p.m., (id. 
 
 Wes'I-minsiicr ABr.l':Y : Chapel of Henry VII. , Chapter 
 House, and Cloisters. Free to body of Alibey ; to other jiarls
 
 338 London of To-Day. 
 
 by fee of (mL Chapels free Mondays and Tuesdays. Service 
 on Sundays — Holy Communion at 8; choral at 10 and 3; 
 daily at 8.30 ; School Service at 9.15 ; choral at 10 and 3. St. 
 Margaret's Church, on the north side (the church of the House 
 of Commons), is also worth seeing. 
 
 Westminster Hall, adjacent to the Houses of Parliament : 
 Regulations as to admission same as Houses of Parliament. 
 One of London's largest and most famous buildings. 
 
 Whitehall, opposite Horse Guards (now used as United 
 .Service Museum, which see) : Erected by Inigo Jones, 
 intended for a banqueting house. King Charles I. was 
 beheaded here. 
 
 Windsor : 22 miles from London, by South-Western or 
 Great Western Railways. Castle, in absence of the Court, 
 State Apartments open free daily, as follows : Mondays, 
 Tuesdays, Thursda)S, Fridays, and Saturdays, April ist to 
 October 31st, from 11 to 4 ; November ist to ^Llrch 31st, from 
 II to 3, and on Wednesdays, from April ist to October 31st, 
 from II to 4. Tickets obtained only at the Lord Chamberlain's 
 Stores in the Castle Yard. Official Guide Books to be had 
 where tickets are issued. Round Tower closed winter months. 
 Private Apartments are not shown to the public. Albert 
 Memorial Chapel free on same days as State Apartments. 
 Near Windsor is Eton College, and Chapel. 
 
 Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park : Admission from 
 9 a.m. till sunset ; on Monday, M. ; the rest of the week, i.v. ; 
 to children under twelve, all days, (mL ; on Sunday only by an 
 order from a P'ellow.
 
 London of To-Pay. 
 
 339 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Sights not . 
 always Seen. 
 
 I 
 
 HEARD a somewhat suljtle dis- 
 tinction drawn by a boy of ten. 
 He and some school companions were 
 blackberry gathering on Streatham 
 Common. The berries were neither 
 numerous nor ripe. Said the boy to 
 another boy : " They come by luck : 
 no, not l)yluck, by chance." It is only 
 just to add that the speaker was a 
 little, ruddy-faced Hebrew, calculated, 
 1 should fancy, ultimately to make a 
 good student or professor of philology 
 at University College, London. 
 '. " ^ There is a chance of many of my 
 
 Readers seeing some of the sights 1 
 have called attention to in this present chapter. If luck 
 prove jjropitious, they should find a means or a way to see 
 a good many more. A courteously worded letter, especially 
 if it ccme from a lady and urge some good and sufficient 
 reason, will oj)en many a door otherwise usually barred. 
 I would not seem to encourage promiscuous application. 
 One must generalh- find some good reason for soliciting 
 a favour before asking it. In my experience, favours are 
 frecjuently granted by those from whom one expects least, and 
 point-l)lank refused by those from wjiom one expects most. 
 In other words, strangers are often more willing to ser\e 
 strangers than friends to serve friends. 1 have sometimes
 
 340 
 
 Lotuion of To-Day. 
 
 been refused admission to a place by an official, or servant, 
 or steward, or clerk, which admission has later been most 
 courteously and willingly granted by its owner, (occupant, 
 or chief official. 
 
 I have compiled the following brief memoranda for the use 
 of any who may wish to consult them. I should at once say 
 that the London Palaces are not by any means easily entered, 
 
 The "Jubilee"' Corridor, Windsor Castle. 
 
 even in absence of the Court, and rarely or ne\Tr when in 
 occupation, save as a guest at State Ball or Concert, or 
 on being presented at "Drawing-room" or Levee. 
 
 1. Buckingham Pai..\ce : The State .A.partments are not 
 shown to the public ; but a letter to the Lord Chamberlain 
 (Stable Yard, St. James's Palace) might, especially when 
 backed l)y influence, gain the necessary permission. 
 
 2. St. Jamks's PaF-ACF, : The State .Apartments and Chapel
 
 Sii^/i/s not alivays Sceu. 341 
 
 Ro)al are particularly interesting ; but the like otiicial per- 
 mission is required. 
 
 3. The Roval Library at Windsor Castle, and the 
 corridors, especially where Queen Victoria's " Jubilee " and other 
 gifts are exhibited. Permission is very rarely granted ; but - 
 who can tell ? 
 
 4. The Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore : The same 
 observation holds good in this instance also. The interior 
 is most beautiful, interesting, and impressive. The inscription 
 o\er the entrance is more touching and impressive than the 
 sumptuous memorials that lie within. 
 
 5. The Royal Garden.s at \'irginia Water : Again the 
 same remark as to permission to enter ; but well worth the 
 seeing, for all the difficulty in getting leave to walk through 
 the grounds. 
 
 6. The Waterloo Gallery and St. George's Hall 
 at Windsor Castle. 
 
 In all the foregoing instances, needless to say that influence 
 with high officials or members of the Court might effect much, 
 but not so in the case of every application. 
 
 7. M.VNSIONS : Apsley House, Piccadilly ; De\onshire House, 
 Piccadilly ; Grosvenor House, Park Lane ; Dorchester House, 
 Park Lane ; .Stafford House, St. James's ; Dudley House, Park 
 Lane. If their respective owners might be willing to grant the 
 privilege of admission, those interested in paintings and works 
 of art to whom such privilege might be conceded should deem 
 themselves fortunate. These six mansions might be considered 
 representative of their order. 
 
 •X- * * * * * 
 
 8. Wealth : If I desired an impression in a short time of 
 the Wealthier side of London, I should stroll from Pond 
 Street westward through Prook Street to the (irosvcnor .Square 
 district, thence through Park Lane noithward to ( ).\for(l Street, 
 and thence westward down tlic Ikiyswater Road to Kensington 
 Palace Gardens ; thence southward to Kensington itself, and
 
 342 London of To-Day. 
 
 thence eastward to 15oiul Street again, keeping an eye to the 
 right liand (especially Sloane Street way) and to tlie left as I 
 proceeded. Some millions of pounds sterling of income must 
 Ije represented within this area. 
 
 g. Middle-class London : If, on the other hand, I wished 
 to see Middle-class London represented, I should take an 
 outside seat on an omnibus and journey (let's say) from 
 Charing Cross to Brixton, and thence to Streatham I'ublic 
 Library ; or from the same central point to Notting Hill ; 
 or from the same point to Clapham Common ; or from the 
 same point to Hampstead or St. John's Wood. 
 
 10. WoRKlNd-cl.ASS London : If to see this were my object, 
 I should hnd my way to Chelsea and Hattcrsea by omnibus 
 from Piccadilly Circus, and from the north side of Battersea 
 Park take tramcar to Clapham Junction ; or I should be at the 
 trouble to go to Liverpool Street Station and take train to 
 Bethnal Green, or from Charing Cross (Underground) to 
 Aldgatc, and thence walk to Mile End Road. 
 
 11. Riverside London: If this tempted me, I would take 
 a steamboat from Temple Pier to (irecnwich or Woolwich, and 
 thence back to Chelsea. 
 
 12. London r.v \}.\\ -. If you are really in earnest to study 
 London, watch it coming to work at 8 a.m., passing from the 
 south side of London Bridge, or Blackfriars, or Westminster. 
 Then home at lo to breakfast, to reappear again at the Mansion 
 House at 12 noon. Then to lunch, to reappear t say) at Hyde 
 Park Corner, Piccadilly, at 5 p.m lin the Season). Once more 
 home to dinner, to reappear in the Strand at 8 p.m., to see 
 London going to the play. 
 
 13. London at Night : If I wished to get a striking im- 
 pression of this, I should walk to the south side of Waterloo 
 Bridge and study the scene from that point of view, preferentially 
 about 10 p.m. on a July exening. 
 
 14. London w Plan : If I wished to be in a big crowd of 
 holiday folk, I should choose Kaster Monday or Whit Monday
 
 Si^/i/s nut always Sieii. 343 
 
 (liank Holiday; as my lime, and the Crystal Palace, or Hamp- 
 stead Heath, or Kew (lardens, or the "Zoo' for my place; 
 or a great cricket match (say Gentlemen ?'. 1 Mayers) at St. 
 John's Wood (Lord's ground), or at the Oval, Kennington, in 
 lune or July ; or the P'inal Association (the Championship) 
 Football Match in the Crystal Palace Grounds, in early April ; 
 or the Derby Day, Epsom Downs, in June ; or Margate Sands 
 on August Bank Holiday as the occasions. 
 
 15. London at Wokk: To understand what this implies, 
 make a good long day of it, omnibus riding, on Monday, having 
 spent the previous day (Sunday) strolling leisurely through the 
 streets — say from Pall Mall to the Bank of England, and thence 
 to Fenchurch Street. I can assure you it's well worth doing. 
 
 16. Paki.i.xmknt : If I wanted to see everything that might 
 be seen of this world-famous and august national assembly, 
 I should set my wits to work to know a Peer (not too aged, 
 perhaps, though age is not seldom given to kindness and 
 loquacity too), and a rising ]\LP., preferentially (if he will 
 forgive me) of the Winston Churchill type of man. When he 
 is in the Cabinet I hope he may deem the possession by an 
 American lady of a copy of this publication a sufficient intro- 
 duction to a seat in the gallery, or perhaps on the Terrace. 
 
 17. Thk Chukch : I would certainly see Lambeth Palace, 
 and ail I might see of Fulham Palace, by permission of 
 (i) the Archbishop of Canterbury, (2) the Bishop of London. 
 Of course, 1 need not name the Cathedral and the .Abbey. 
 I should try to attend service at the Temple and the Foundling 
 Chapel, at St. .Mban's, Holborn, or .\ll Saints', .Margaret 
 Street, and at the Oratory, Br()m])t()n Road. I should be 
 interested in hearing llie Bishop of London, the Dean, 
 and Canon Wilbcrforce (at the Abbey), and Dr. Parker at 
 the City Tc'm])Ie. <)lhcis may be interested in hearing 
 a good many more. They need not be afraid of not finding 
 sufficient opportunity. 
 
 18. The JUIJ1CI.\RV : Go to the High Couits of Justice
 
 344 Lundon of To-Day. 
 
 (Stnuid; in Term Time ; hours, lo to 4. Take a peei) in at 
 the Judicial Committee of Privy Council when sitting (Privy 
 Council Office, Whitehall), having- previously read up )our 
 historical " Star Chamber ■' facts, for this Committee is its 
 direct descendant. Stroll into the House of Lords when 
 sitting as the Final Court of Appeal. (Sec " Law Notices " 
 in the Times.) Make friends with a policeman at the Central 
 Criminal Court (when sitting). Old Bailey, or at Low Street 
 I'olice Court (any day), if you wish to study criminal pro- 
 cedure ; or, better, apply to the Clerk of the Court. 
 
 hi this connection I should advise seeing Inner and Middle 
 'J'emple Halls and Libraries, the Temple Church, and Lincoln's 
 hm Chapel, also the Law Listitute Library, Chancery Lane, 
 and I should much like to dine in Middle Temple Hall on 
 " Grand Day " of Easter Term. You might also see the 
 Procession of Judges first day of Michaelmas Term (October), 
 Law Courts. 
 
 19. LlTER.XTUKE : I recommend application to see the 
 Public Record Office, Chancery Lane, and Doomsday Book 
 and other MSS. of rare antiquarian and historical interest 
 therein preserved. I should further certainly go to the 
 tiuildhall Library and see its literary and other relics ; 
 and, needless to suggest, the Reading Room of the British 
 Museum, to cast a search-light glance over its vast interior 
 space filled with books. Furthermore, I should stroll into Sion 
 College, Thames Embankment (Blackfriars). I would also 
 see the Art Library, South Kensington Museum, and one or 
 other of our ordinary Public Libraries, as at Kensington 
 itself. But these make but a poor show in comparison of the 
 magnificent Public Library of the city of Boston, U.S.A. Still, 
 they have proved of immense advantage to the people. 
 
 20. SciKNClc .\Ni) Art : What shall I say, what do, where 
 begin, where end, al)out these two great subjects ? I would 
 recommend .South Kensington (Victoria and Albert; Museum 
 to begin upon. When you are in a measure familiar with
 
 Sights not always Seoi. 345 
 
 its contcrts in both branches, you will not have much appetite 
 left for more. I need not say that I am not now referring^ 
 to the mere casual, cursory, sight-seeing business, but to the 
 more earnest, thoughtful kind of — work, rather than pleasure. 
 I would also most certainly see the Natural History Museum 
 adjoining. Likewise the Museum, Royal College of Surgeons, 
 Lincoln's Inn Fields, and Sir John Soane's Museum nearly 
 opposite. Also, I should make bold to try to see the Royal 
 Observatory in Greenwich Park, and the Royal Naval College ; 
 and, if interested in artillery and national armaments, I should 
 try to see Woolwich Arsenal, not forgetting a peep into the 
 Royal United Service Museum, Whitehall. 
 
 I would see the IMackwall Tunnel, and of course the 
 Tower Bridge and also the Royal Mint on Tower Hill, 
 and the Instrument Galleries of the Central Telegraph Office, 
 St. Martin's-le-Grand ; and, before doing so, should try the 
 Mansion House " Subway," and perhaps travel a short distance 
 by the Central London Railway thereto adjoining. If I 
 wished to see railwa)- works, I would seek permission of 
 Manager, Great Western Railway, Paddington, and go to 
 Swindon, one and a half hour's journey from town. The 
 Electric Generating Station, Stowage Wharf, Deptford, may 
 be seen by order from London Electric Supply Corporation. 
 
 If I wanted to know all about Main Drainage, fLlectric 
 Supply, Gas Supply, Water Supply, Dust Destructors, etc., 
 etc., the whole range of scientific appliances in respect 
 of the purposes of Municipal Government, I would go to 
 the Clerk of London's County Council, Spring Gardens, .S.W., 
 or Chief Clerk, Board of Health, Guildhall, P2.C. ; or if to 
 know the most recent examples of modern engineering in 
 any direction, bridge-building, tunnelling, or any other, to 
 be found in London, I would apply to Secretary, Institution 
 of Civil Engineers, (ireat George Street, Westminster. 
 
 And about Art } Well, I would endeavour to see all the 
 Galleries in turn — the Wallace, Hertford House, Manchester 
 
 Z
 
 346 London of To-Day. 
 
 Square, beyond perach cnture ; and I should try to finci some 
 leading- working -artist wlio might possibly tell me something 
 about the "Studios," Chelsea, St. John's Wood, Hampstead, 
 and Kensington ways. 
 
 If I happened to be in London at that date, I should not 
 omit to note the invitations of "Show Sunday" in March. 
 Furthermore, I would seek admission to the " Private \'iews '" 
 of the Water-Colours Societies and the Academy Exhibition 
 if my purpose was to buy ; and if I thought fortune might 
 favour me, the Royal Academy Banquet and Soiree would 
 remain on the tablets till erased. 
 
 Parenthetically, I would make note of the Royal Institution's 
 Lectures, after Easter, and of the Soirees of the Royal 
 Society and Royal Geographical Society in JVIay. 
 
 I should not oniit to go to the Royal Gardens, Kew ; the 
 Royal Botanic Society's Gardens, Regent's Park ; and, of 
 course, to the " Zoo " adjoining. Last, not least, I would 
 see the Flower Show of the Royal Horticultural Society in 
 the Temple Gardens in May. 
 
 21. Music: Peradventure a visit to the Royal College of 
 Music, South Kensington, and the (luildhall School of Music, 
 Tudor Street, E.C., might interest you. The Festival of 
 the Sons of the Clergy, St. Paul's Cathedral, in May should 
 do so. For the rest, consult chapter "Concerts" and keep 
 an eye on the newspapers ; and don't forget the Alilitary 
 Bands in the Parks in the Season on Sundays ; or at the 
 "Zoo" on Saturdays. 
 
 22. Military Affairs : Aldershot is the best, indeed, 
 only, place to see a grand Field Day of all arms. In Hyde 
 Park you may (if up betimes) see a re\iew of the Brigade 
 of Ciuards in the Season. On Wimbledon Common the 
 Household Cavalry occasionally manoeuvre. At Woolwich 
 you will find the Royal Artillery in full force. Chatham is 
 the headquarters of the Royal Engineers and School of 
 Military Engineering. If keen to see any of these sights, the
 
 Sig/i/s not olivays Seen. 347 
 
 Adjutant-General's Office, War Office, might aid you. The 
 Royal Military Tournament in London in May is one of our 
 most popular sights. 
 
 23. Hospitals : If interested in this subject, 1 should see 
 Bartholomew's (Smithfield), the London (W'hitechapel), Guy's 
 (Southwark), St. Thomas's (Thames Embankment, Lambeth^ 
 and possibly St. George's (Hyde Park Corner), or St. Mary's 
 (Paddington), and the Royal \'ictoria Children's Hospital 
 (Chelsea). 
 
 24. Prisons : The Secretary of State's order '^Home Office) 
 would if granted — open the gates to you of the Convict 
 Prison, Wormwood Scrubs, of Holloway, of Wandsworth, or 
 any other prisons you might desire to see. 
 
 * * ■* -X- -x- * 
 
 An hour is no time to speak of in travelling around London. 
 Half that time may be spent in cross-traffic delays in journeying 
 by omnibus from Piccadilly to the P)ank of England at the 
 busiest times of the day. Experiences on the L'nderground 
 railwa)- will soon assure )0u of the time that may be occupied in 
 going from London in the east to London in the west, especially 
 if a change of trains be involved. Brighton is nowadays 
 become alniost a suburb of London. In so far as the journey 
 to " London-by-the-Sea" goes, it may be compassed more com- 
 fortably and conveniently than many a journey within the limits 
 of the Metropolis itself. By the '' Pullman" train which leaves 
 \'ictoria Station daily at a few minutes after ten morning, you 
 may reach "London-by-the-Sea" in a little over an hour. 
 Brighton, take it all in all, is the most popular all-the year- 
 round sea-resort in Europe, if not the world. It is a repro- 
 duction in little of London itself, only far sunnier, breezier, 
 and brighter, and much more in\ igorating ; excellent hotels, 
 many amusements, attractive shops, wide and spacious thorough- 
 fares, a promenade and drive on the sea-front excelled by no 
 other town that we know of, a very pleasant and thriving resort 
 every way. Not to know one's Brighton is to confess one's
 
 34'^ London of To-day. 
 
 ii^noranre of Kngland's l:)rightcst and most fasliionable water- 
 ing place. Co down to the lordly " Metropole " and take stock 
 of what Hrigliton has to show. You will find half the Town 
 there at the week-end. The hotel itself affords studies from 
 the life sufficient to interest, instruct, and amuse for many an 
 itUe moment ; and when the " Metropole '' ceases to interest 
 go your ways to take the air on the sea-front. The veriest 
 misanthrope or hypochondriac cannot fail to find instruction 
 and amusement alike at ISrighton- -one of our " Sights not 
 always Seen" appertaining to LONDON OK To-DAY.
 
 Luiidoii of To-Day . 
 
 349 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A^ rAS it not Emerson who complained 
 that he was plagued in all his 
 living with " a perpetual tariff of prices '" ? 
 I confess that I also am plagued the same 
 way. So, I fancy, are the majority of 
 people ; only neither they nor I have the 
 Eniersonian faculty for making this com- 
 mon-place fact of interest to the public. 
 Emerson's, if I am not mistaken, was an 
 affair of the clock. Mine — may I not more 
 fairly claim ours? — is an affair of the purse. 
 IScfore the philosopher could turn around, so to say, he found 
 his day gone, and no very handsome results shown in the 
 way of work. He was too prone to potter about in the 
 garden. If he pruned an apple-tree, he was well cnouj^h 
 entertained, and would fain have continued indefinitely (he 
 confessed) in the like occupation. Ikit the more applc-trccs 
 he pruned, the fewer essays and lectures he wrote. He was 
 therefore obliged by the "pcrj^etual tariff of prices" to curtail 
 his husl)andry in the garden. 
 
 In like manner am I warned, arc the majority of us warned, 
 not to spend too much of our time in loo alluring jjursuits : 
 in, for example, the enticements of tra\el, of sight seeing in 
 London, of hotel life (where the hotel is exceptionally [jleasanl
 
 3 so Loiuloii of To- Day. 
 
 and agreeable), of the restaurant (if the cookery and llie wines 
 ])rove to our liking), etc., etc. If I depart out of my house 
 on a day in midsummer, and take the train for Richmond, 
 and sit on the balcony of the Mansions Hotel on the hill-top 
 o\erlooking the Thames, and look out upon the busy scene 
 on the ri\-er, and later eat my frugal cut of mutton in its 
 dining-room, I am well enough entertained. Or if I journey 
 to Liverpool, and thence take the next Cunard or White Star 
 steamer to New York, and there meet some of my friends, 
 and join them in some of their summer season excursions to 
 the seaboard or to the mountains, I in that case also am 
 well enough entertained. Or, once more, if I go to Paris and 
 ])ut up at the Hotel Continental, and spend a few spring or 
 autumn da\'s sight-seeing, in strollings of mornings through 
 the 13ois de Boulogne, in going the round of the galleries or to 
 the Opera and the theatres, in eating a dinner in the evening 
 at the hotel's restaurant, I am much entertained, and would 
 fain continue in such luxurious exercises indefinitely. Ikit 
 the more I indulge myself these ways, the less work I accom- 
 plish and the less money I earn, and the nearer I find myself 
 to the road leading to bankruptcy. I cannot face the "perpetual 
 tarift" of prices." In brief, the majority of us arc plagued 
 with it more or less all our life long. Only the wealthiest 
 and the poorest can ignore it altogether ; the wealthiest, 
 because they can pay for everything they want, the poorest, 
 because they can pay for nothing. 
 
 If you or I go travelling, we must needs first of all count 
 the cost. It is quite obvious, if we have to work for our 
 mone\-, or some one works for us, that we want everywhere to 
 spend as little of it in pleasure as we can. If some one works 
 for us, that's an additional reason why we should not be 
 s|jendthrifts of the fruits of otiiers' toil. As a matter of 
 ( onunon experience, however, the less we labour for ourselves, 
 and the more others labour for us, the more prone we are to 
 extravagance. You will frequently find in your journeyings
 
 Hotels of To- Day. 
 
 351 
 
 through Hfe that the people who occupy the grandest 
 suites at hotels, who arrange the most sumj^tuous dinners 
 that money can provide, who make the tinest display at balls 
 and fetes, who love salutations in hotel corridors, and " cap- 
 pings "■ in the hall, and the uppermost seats at feasts ; you 
 will not seldom find that such people are living ostentatiously 
 or extravagantly on money which has accrued, or is accruing, 
 niainly from the labour, enterprise, or foresight of oth'jrs. 
 If they had worked for it themselves, they would not occupy 
 the grand suite, and would probably be content with a plain 
 bedroom and a seat at the table d'hote 7'/s-(i-7>/s with ourselves. 
 
 * * * * TT * 
 
 The world went very well when we were young. In no 
 way, as it seemed to me, did it go better in that part of the 
 world named London than in 
 respect of its cld-time hotels. 
 Few of the present generation 
 remember those of the Covent 
 darden quarter: the old Bedford, 
 for example, the Hummums, 
 Clunn's, and the Tavistock. 
 Those ancient hostelries, origin- 
 ally known as "coffee-houses" 
 or " taverns," represented the 
 London hotel of the earlier 
 and middle years of the past 
 century. Their fame has long 
 since been relegated to the 
 limbo of obscure reminiscence. 
 Hut no one who knew them, as 
 we once knew them, in earlier 
 lime, will gainsay the fact that 
 tiiey were classed among the ])esi of their kind in London. 
 They were ec[ually in repute for their good fare, their good 
 wines, and their comfort. To say that you were staying at
 
 35^ 
 
 Loiidoji of 1 u-Day. 
 
 the Tiivistock or the Ilummunis implied thai you were a 
 man of substance and respectability. The Tavistock was an 
 address that would command credit. It was a London address 
 that some of the foremost men — M.P.'s, merchants, traders 
 travellers from afar, officers of the Navy, Army, and others — 
 held to be of equal repute with their own. Those were the 
 days when the Harrisons ruled its destinies, and were making 
 for themselves a generous independence. 
 
 Later came the increase of West End clubs, and the building 
 
 of the Great Western Hotel 
 and the Langham. Presently 
 we got the Midland Grand. 
 Then we had the coming of 
 Mr. Frederick Gordon and 
 his able coadjutors, the Hol- 
 lands. Then followed Sir 
 Hlundell Maple. Then came 
 the distinguished personages 
 of the Savoy directorate. 
 .And, tempted by their en- 
 terprise, came the forlorn 
 beginning and successful 
 termination of the troubles 
 of the Cecil, and its pro- 
 motion to a first ])lace among modern London hotels. .'\nd 
 wow \\e ha\c four more modern hotels to be added — 
 the Carlton, Great Central, Russell, and Grosvenor. Here 
 in a nutshell, so to say, lies the century's story of London's 
 hotels. If we ha\c omitted the names of one or two of 
 London's lesser authorities in this gigantic business, it is not 
 because we do not recognise the excellent work of such co- 
 jiartners in it as the Fords, father and sons, proprietors of the 
 well-known hotel in Dover and .Mbemarle Streets. The old 
 London hotel, sacred to so many pleasant memories, has gone, 
 never to return. If in the great hotels one can hardly get the 
 
 ^ W'!^ 
 
 0'^'^f 
 ^S^ V 
 
 ^^'^i.
 
 Hotels of To-Day. 353 
 
 same personal attention as in the old, there are compensating 
 advantages. There is cleanliness, there is attractive and com- 
 fortable furniture, there is air and light in abundance, there is 
 good attendance, and there is nearly always a good cuisine. 
 Moreover, the charges in most cases do not compare unfavour- 
 ably, if the comfort which they represent be considered, with 
 those of the old-fashioned hotel. I have a bill before me now 
 for a spacious bedroom and a modest but sufficient breakfast 
 in a first-class modern hotel belonging to one of tire railway 
 companies, the total of which bill amounts to bs. 6d. True, 
 the hotel is located out of London ; but that it is as good as 
 any in London I will stake my word. I know very few 
 London hotels with a tarifit" so moderate. 
 
 While on this point, and parenthetically; m)' experience leads 
 me to say that the most economical hotels in the kingdom, 
 considered in the aggregate, are those owned by the railway 
 companies. The fare, cookery, and wines are uniformly good, 
 the accommodation is equally good, and the charges are mode- 
 rate, more so than in the case of hotels of similar rank owned by 
 private joint-stock companies. Every traveller will agree witli 
 me, I think, in saying that the Midland Grand at St. Pancras, 
 the Midland Company's Hotel at Derby, the Adelphi at Liver- 
 pool, the Queen's at Leeds and Midland at Bradford, the 
 Great Western at Paddington, and the North-Eastern Com- 
 pany's Hotel at York are not excelled anywhere for comfort 
 and good living, the tariff and charges being most fair. We 
 go so far as to say that the Midland Grand at St. Pancras 
 is one of the least expensive and best hotels in London, 
 adapted, that is to say, to the requirements and resources of 
 every class of travellers, wealthy or otherwise. 
 
 ****** 
 
 In number the hotels of London are now legion. In size 
 many of them are vast, though real!) in this respect the biggest 
 is almost puny when measured by an American standard. " In 
 splendour of appointment, in perfection of organisation, in
 
 354 
 
 London of I'o-Daw 
 
 skill of management, and in comfort of accommodation the 
 best of them are hard to beat. In most respects their charges 
 are not unreasonably adapted to the services rendered, the 
 amenities enjoyed, and the accommodation atifbrded. The) 
 
 are dear, of course, as 
 compared with the a\erage 
 cost of domestic living. 
 But no man of moderate 
 means lives at home as he 
 lives at a great hotel, and 
 if a man does not choose 
 to pay for what he gets at 
 a great hotel, there are 
 plenty of smaller hotels 
 where he can get at really 
 moderate charges exactly 
 what he chooses to pay for. 
 There is one exception, 
 however, and it is a serious 
 one. The charges for wine and other liquors at nearly all 
 hotels, restaurants, and other places of public entertainment 
 are nothing less than preposterous." So at least thinks the 
 Tinics^ and our experiences lead us w ith this opinion entirely to 
 agree. One has only to peruse the retail wine lists of the Army 
 and Navy Stores, of the Civil Service Stores, or of such a well- 
 known firm as Hatch, Mansfield & Co., and to test and com- 
 pare their wines, quality, and price with those of hotels and 
 restaurants to find how preposterously overcharged we are day 
 by day in such places in London. 
 
 (Jf London's Hotels of To-Day, some a.e al:ead\- sufilciently 
 well known, others are not so well known, and others again 
 have comparatively but rccemiy been opened. In the first 
 category stand those of the Cordon Company the Metropole, 
 Crand, Victoria, First A\enue, and the Crosvenor ; the -Savoy, 
 the Cecil, the Midland (irand, the Langham, the Berkeley, the 
 
 ' Irl "
 
 Hotels of To- Day. 
 
 355 
 
 Westminster Palace, etc. Among the second we should 
 place such hotels as the Royal Palace Hotel dii Kensington), 
 Claridge's, etc. And in the third, the Great Central, the 
 Carlton, and the Russell, in the recently revived district of 
 IJloomsbury — with two exceptions all located at the West End 
 of London, and affording e\'ery modern convenience and large 
 choice of accommodation to those in search of them — hotels, 
 in fact, where the humble and meek may be exalted four, 
 five, or more floors high, to a bedroom priced at six, five, or 
 four shillings per day ; or the mighty may remain below, 
 privileged to use the grand suite at— well, at any price per 
 day they may feel disposed to pay. Cood things are at the 
 command of the hungry at all hours of the day a la cufir, 
 or prix fi.xe^ and as per printed tariff, phrased in French and 
 moneyed in English. 
 
 In affairs of the purse, I feel sure that the Reader does not 
 invite me to his confidence. .\s a matter of course, he is 
 Ijetter supplied with cash, in pocket, on deposit, or at call, 
 tiian writers of books, whose money is usually on deposit 
 with printers or publishers. That one must be possessed of 

 
 Hotels of To-Dav. 357 
 
 the wherewithal to pay bills on presentation, in order to stay 
 at any London hotel, whether in the London Season or out 
 of the Season, is as certain as that two and two make four. 
 I have ne\'er found advice on money matters to be of much 
 practical value to any one — myself included. I have never 
 found that fixed rules as to personal expenditure at hotels 
 or at home can be depended upon. The only rule which is 
 worth a rap is that which says : " I cannot possibly spend 
 more, because I have no more to spend." My own experience 
 (/i/a/ifinii I'aleat is that you cannot save much out of £\ per 
 da)' in England when on your travels. I have travelled from 
 tiie Land's End to the extreme north of Scotland, and have 
 stayed in hotels in every part of the United Kingdom, and 
 have found that hotel and travelling expenses included, taking 
 one day with another, will average ^i per day. I myself 
 should not expect to be able to live in comfort at any hotel 
 of the first class in London for less than 15,^-. per day. One 
 has generally to pay pretty dearly in finding a really good 
 and well-managed economical hotel. 
 
 It need not be remarked of our Hotels de Luxe in general, 
 as appraised by their respective proprietors, that each is of 
 " the very highest order " as regards the hotel proper ; that 
 their several annexed restaurants, in size, decoration, and 
 equipment, are alike " unequalled " ; that all are managed 
 by the most expert and successful organisers and directors 
 (jf such affairs in the hotel world ; and all that the public has 
 to do is to enter, see, appreciate, eat, drink, sleep, and pay. 
 Eor such undoubted and exceptional advantages and excel- 
 lent management and accommodation it is very evident that 
 some one must pay. That some considerable i)rop()rtion of 
 the public does, in fact, pay, and no doubt appreciate, may 
 be concluded from the fact that the (iordon Hotels Company's 
 ordinary ^10 shares are quoted, at the date of this present 
 writing, at 16; the Hotel Cecil's /'loo-stock at 103; and the 
 Savoy's 1st Mort. Pref. Debentures ^loo-stock at 103; and
 
 35^ London of To-Day. 
 
 tliat the lloirl dc I.iixc is to-d;iy considered by many as 
 fair an investment as any offering in the commercial and 
 industrial market. On the other hand, as if to challenge 
 the absolute supremacy of this class of London's hotels, the 
 Ikulington Hotels Company's ^loo-stock is quoted at 105. 
 A good many visitors to London know the well-kept Burlington 
 Hotel in Cork Street— an interesting and well-preserved relic, 
 in so far as its interior goes, of earlier Georgian times, but 
 modernised in every other particular — and, doubtless, also 
 the well-ordered Buckingham Palace Hotel, near the palace 
 of that name ? These two West End hotels, which have 
 pursued the even tenor of their successful way for many more 
 years than we care to remember, and neither of which has 
 made any great effort to arrest the public attention by 
 continuous well-devised advertisement, formed some few years 
 since the basis of that limited company whose stock is now 
 so favourably quoted on the market. For the which result, 
 its shareholders are largely indebted to the ability and energy 
 of Mr. (jeorge Cooke, who still continues its managing director. 
 ****** 
 We can find nothing new to say about the Cordon Hotels. 
 They number in all fifteen, including the two on the Riviera 
 and the (Jrosvenor at X'ictoria Station. Imitation being the 
 sincerest form of flattery, the company and its directors ha\ e 
 good reason to l^e pioud of the number of other hotels in 
 England founded and conducted upon (iordon hotels' models. 
 And none has reason to feel more satisfied with the many 
 years of unbroken success of these hotels than their chief 
 director, Mr. Frederick Gordon, himself. There is one little 
 matter worthy of passing note in respect of the Hotel 
 Metropole. In this present musical age, when bands are 
 found playing in some of our London restaurants and hotels 
 more or less all da)' long — at the luncheon-hour, at tlie 
 dinner-hour, every hour — to the no small discomfort, not 
 to say irritation, of quiet people who wish to converse ; at
 
 Hotel s of To-Dav. 359 
 
 the Hotel Mctropole music is not given at dinner, but later. 
 A band plays in the " lounges " during the evening after 
 dinner — a far more sensible arrangement, affording pleasure 
 to a number of people. This innovation deserves recognition ; 
 for, truly, the band lousiness at dinner is not far from becoming 
 a nuisance. Kven at military messes the regimental band 
 plays only on "guest-nights." Presently we shall be having 
 the " Post-horn (ialop " at hotel breakfasts. 
 
 The success of the conveniently placed (^.rosvenor Hotel 
 at Victoria is to be noted with satisfaction. This hotel will 
 serve to revive agreeable recollections in a good many who 
 knew it in time past. Its immediate predecessor was at one 
 time the most fashionable as well as one of the most popular 
 of London's hotels. That was in the sixties. In the eighties 
 its fortunes changed somewhat, for reasons which we need not 
 enter upon. Some two years ago, it was assumed that the 
 Brighton and South Coast Railway Company had bought it. 
 In 1900, however, the fact became known that the Cordon 
 Hotels Company had leased it, and it is become largely 
 patronised, and equally successful as one of the series of 
 hotels under their control. It has been interiorly in great part 
 rel)uilt, and in whole brought up to the highest standard of 
 hotels of the day ; in a word, completely reno\'ated and re- 
 decorated, luxuriously refurnished, re-equipped from a sanitary 
 standpoint, made sumptuous throughout. To all intents and 
 purposes the Grosvenor is wholly new. Its particular locale 
 is of all others the place where a well-managed hotel of its 
 class has been much needed. It was especially needed for the 
 convenience and accommodation of travellers to and from the 
 Continent arri\ ing at or departing from Victoria .Station, and 
 it was quite as much needed by visitors whose interests lie in 
 the fashionaljle Belgravia district southward of Hyde Park and 
 westward of St. James's. 
 
 The successful relaunching of this enterprise tempts us to 
 a more than ordinary enthusiasm, and that, too, of a personal
 
 36o 
 
 London of To-Dny. 
 
 kind. We knew the Grosvcnor well in its palmiest days — in the 
 days when we were youn^, in the yoldcn days that we can 
 remember. We wish it all the success under the new manage- 
 ment its most ardent well-wisher could hope for, and all the 
 patronage from \isitors it so largely commanded in the past. 
 It should prove one of the best of the ventures of the Gordon 
 Hotels Company. This much may be said beyond peradven 
 ture, that it is the right class of hotel in the right place, under 
 the right management. Its. dinners and dining-arrangements 
 are excellent. 
 
 * * -x- * * -x- 
 
 The now well-known hotel in Russell Square has revived the 
 former glories of Bloomsljury. Time was when this part of 
 
 London was of no small 
 reputation among the 
 more fa\'Oured resi- 
 dential districts of the 
 town. It has been 
 for centuries past con- 
 nected with the for- 
 tunes, in more senses 
 than one, of the 
 Bedford family — the 
 Russells, Earls and 
 Dukes of Bedford. In 
 remote time it was the place of residence of Thomas Wriotheslev, 
 son of the Earl of Southampton, Shakespeare's patron, and 
 father of the virtuous Lady Rachael Russell. The fashionable 
 character of the district aforetime may be gathered from the 
 reference of Pope : — 
 
 In Palace Yard, at nine, jou"ll find me there, 
 At ten tor certain, Sir, in Hloomsbury .Square. 
 
 Sir Hans Sloane, among others, lived in the district ; as ditl 
 Ur. Radclitie, the well-known physician, and Lord Mansfield,
 
 A A
 
 36: 
 
 London of To-Dav. 
 
 the ^reat judge, aiul Komilly, Solicitor-General to the " Ministry 
 of all the talents," and -Sir Thomas Lawrence, the distinguished 
 painter, and the elder Disraeli, father of Lord Beaconsfield. 
 Bloonisbury was the favoured abode of the wealthier City 
 merchants and professional men down to quite recent years. 
 Readers of Thackeray will not forget the part it plays in the 
 fortunes of " Vanity Fair." Notwithstanding all the changes of 
 the City, Bloomsbury has never entirely lost rank as a desirable 
 
 The Winter Garden, Hotel Russell. 
 
 central locality to dwell In. Its old-fashioned, well-built, 
 and roomy houses have an in\iting, well-to-do aspect ; and 
 now that so man)- have been renovated and made modern 
 without and within, the neighbourhood of Russell Square is 
 become fiir more attractive than formerly. The Hotel Russell 
 gives the final touch to lasting emancipation from the dingy 
 and dreary tone that so long per\aded it. In a word, every 
 Londoner admits that this latest addition to the hotels
 
 Hotels of To- Day. 363 
 
 of London has laroiight back to Bloomsbnry a good deal of 
 the Hfe and bustle once connected with it. It is a sufficiently 
 "grand' hotel to arrest the notice of the most experienced 
 traveller, added to which its situation is central and convenient. 
 Interiorly and exteriorly too it is entitled to be classed among 
 the finest and most spacious. Its interior equipment is charm- 
 ing, and its winter garden one of the pleasantest conversation 
 halls and music-rooms in London. The Russell has " caught 
 on " with Americans, and deservedly so. 
 
 A friend, not unfamiliar with the hotel enterprises of London, 
 told me that the Hotel Russell was originally intended to l)e a 
 kind of glorified middle-class hotel, specially appealing to the 
 patronage of the econoniical, or, as he himself explained, " it is 
 to compete with the many well-supported boarding and lodging- 
 houses in the neighbourhood." If that be indeed the case, I 
 am sorry for their respective owners. But, judging from my 
 own experiences, the Hotel Russell undoubtedly takes rank 
 in popularity with the very best London hotels, and is in 
 the competition with them chiefly, taking no more account of 
 Bloomsbury boarding-houses and lodgings than the Savoy 
 Hotel does of chambers in the Temple. I wonder whether we 
 e\er shall have a first-class London hotel appealing specially to 
 the support of those to middle fortune born.'' If ever we do, its 
 promoters or directors will have to be content with a less 
 extravagant outlay on fine furniture and ornate decoration. 
 Travellers who are not wealthy care less about such things 
 than they do for homely comfort and a moderate bill. 
 
 The several vicissitudes of the Haymarket c[uarter need not 
 now be referred to. Some of us may remember it in days other 
 than these. A good many of us can recall the former fame of 
 Her Majesty's Theatre — grand opera house in competition 
 with Covent Garden. There are some of us who may probabl)' 
 cast a lingering look backward to the once desirable restaurant 
 known as Epitaux'. The Opera colonnade will also have its 
 memories for some. On the site of the old opera house and
 
 364 
 
 London of To-Day 
 
 its colonnade stands the Carlton Hotel. It would be ungracious 
 not to congratulate its directors on its success, since its locale 
 revives so many reminiscences, we'll not go so far as to say 
 uniformly agreeable, but as serving to recall a time when we 
 were not so old, and took to the pleasures of the town with less 
 jaded appetite. In that respect we do but confess to the 
 common experience of elder members of the community, whose 
 salad days are ever greenest in memory. To have heard the 
 chimes at midnight was the proud boast of Mr. Justice Shallow. 
 The Carlton Hotel has the reputation at present of being 
 " extremely swell." What that means when translated into 
 ordinary language every one knows. It usually means that you 
 must not be astonished if you have to pay pretty handsomely 
 for the privilege of being accommodated in a hotel generally 
 frequented by wealthy people. I myself should not like to go 
 to the Carlton for a week without a well-lined purse in possession ; 
 and I should be prepared to show no concern when I came 
 away if I had parted with no inconsiderable proportion of its 
 contents. But that fact need not deter others from testing its 
 many considerable merits, not the least 
 among which is its cuisine. 
 
 The great red-brick 
 
 and terra-cotta building" 
 that towers above the 
 houses in the Alaiyle- 
 bone Road (not far 
 from Baker Street) — the 
 great main thorough- 
 fare running parallel to 
 Oxford Street on its
 
 Hotels of To-Day. 
 
 365 
 
 north side, and connecting Tottenham Court Road (east) with 
 Edgware Road (west) — is the Hotel Great Central, which 
 takes its name from the Great Central Railway, whose terminal 
 London station it adjoins. This hotel is an acceptable " up-to- 
 date " addition to the greater metropolitan hotels, sufficiently 
 accessible, and likely to prove convenient to many who prefer 
 to stay a little away from the busier parts of the West 
 End. At all events it is quite as near, if not nearer, to 
 the central London thoroughfares, the shopping resorts, the 
 theatres and places of amusement than the hotels of Kensing- 
 ton. We need say no more of it than that in respect of 
 commodiousness and luxurious modern conveniences it is 
 entitled to rank among 
 the best. 
 
 In the Westminster 
 Palace Hotel we have 
 literally the " coigne 
 of vantage '' for seeing 
 the state procession 
 of the King and Queen 
 entering by the great 
 west door of the Abbey 
 for their Coronation. 
 Amply sufficient space 
 has been already given ■-' 
 
 to that event. It remains to be said of the hotel itself, that it 
 is the most popular and best patronised of this quarter of 
 London : commodious, comfortable, handsomely equipped, con- 
 veniently located for all the sights and attractions of the Town, 
 conducted in good style on a moderate tariff of charges ; a 
 hotel in ])()int of fact where one may find himself well 
 bestowed, and not less well and courteously attended to. " The 
 Westminster" mis:;lit l)e styled the rarliamentary hotel of 
 London, being much frequented by those whose business lies 
 over the way by the Clock Tower.
 
 366 London of To-Day. 
 
 In the once far from well-famed quarter of Leicester Square 
 
 we now have one or two very handsome modern hotels — which 
 
 promise untold comforts and luxuries to the traveller from 
 
 the Continent, in comparison with what he could obtain a few 
 
 years ago. 
 
 ****** 
 
 In the district of Bloomsbury (already referred to) the 
 unpretentious Thackeray and Esmond Hotels are better than 
 the best of their class thirty years ago, and the same may be 
 said of the hotels in and about Norfolk Street, and adjoining 
 the Thames Embankment. Indeed, the most modern and 
 the best example of a temperance hotel in London, is 
 the Kingsley, in Hart Street, Bloomsbury. Kingsley's is 
 a good name to conjure with. No man would have been 
 better pleased with the compliment paid him by the proprietor 
 of this hotel than Charles Kingsley himself In the minds 
 of not a few good people, the temperance hotel is generally 
 associated with dulness, discomfort, cold water, and the cant 
 of the cause. But here is a hotel of latest date, archi- 
 tecturally imposing, light and attractive within, decorated 
 and furnished throughout with much taste, provided with all 
 the modern conveniences, airy and spacious sitting-rooms and 
 bedrooms, bathrooms, electric lights, lift, charming public 
 rooms, billiard- and smoking-room, a reading-room, with well- 
 selected material in the shape of a library of modern books, 
 about the only hotel in London that has ever provided this 
 capital antidote to sluggishness and boredom : a most pleasant 
 and inviting homelike place, situated in the very centre of 
 busy London, aftbrding excellent choice of accommodation, 
 good fare, every comfort, and privacy on terms both fair and 
 reasonable. 
 
 It is unnecessary to add anything to what has been 
 already incidentally said in this book touching the Midland 
 Grand Hotel at St. Pancras in particular, and the hotels 
 of the Midland Railway Company in general. It would be
 
 368 Lottdon of To-Day. 
 
 within the truth to say that the travelHng pubHc is more 
 indebted for the comfort it now commands, in raihvay hotels, 
 dining-cars, and refreshment-rooms, to Mr. William Towle, 
 of that compan)', than to any other raihvay official, past or 
 present, in the kingdom. By his indomitable energy and 
 perseverance, and many years' personal practical oversight of 
 the hotels and refreshment department of his company, he 
 has succeeded in making it one of the best we have. It is 
 only when, on one's travels, he finds himself elsewhere than 
 on the Midland line of railway that the uniform comfort of its 
 hotels, the fairness of their tariff, the general good ordering of 
 its principal refreshment-rooms, and the capital choice of fare 
 they aftbrd, to say nothing of the dining and luncheon arrange- 
 ments on express trains c/i route, become so noticeable. The 
 writer has frequently had reason to regret, when journeying 
 on the Southern and South-Western, and even Great Western, 
 lines of English railroad, and those of Scotland too (not to 
 seem invidious), the necessities which compelled him to 
 forsake the many comforts he has experienced when travelling 
 long journeys on the Midland. Its Derby hotel, small and 
 unpretentious as it is ; its Adelphi Hotel at Liverpool ; its 
 Leeds and Bradford hotels, are among the best we have in this 
 country. Its great hotel at St. Pancras terminus in London, 
 in point of choice of accommodation and the fairness of its 
 tariff arrangements (as we have already in this chapter re- 
 marked) deserves the attention of all classes of travellers. 
 
 As for the Langham in Portland Place, it showed the way 
 many years ago to all other Hotels de Luxe in London. 
 Admirably situated in the upper Regent Street district, in a 
 well-favoured, spacious, and airy residential neighbourhood, 
 not a great distance from the open spaces of Regent's Park, 
 near to the principal shopping resorts, the theatres, and places 
 of amusement, etc., etc., and quiet and well ordered, the 
 Langham has always maintained a foremost place among 
 London's best-patronised hotels. It would be difficult, at all
 
 Hotels of To-Day. 369 
 
 events, to find one more favoured in respect of situation or 
 one which closer and better follows the lines of a first-class 
 modern hotel in regard of good management, good accommo- 
 dation, and good fare. 
 
 ****** 
 It may help the Reader to some conclusion in respect of 
 the question of actual hotel prices, if I place at her, or his, 
 disposal the following information, which was compiled for 
 the use of members of an association attending an annual 
 conference in London in 1900. It is stated to be a "special 
 tarifif," arranged to meet the requirements of members by 
 the respective hotel managers. I trust I am not guilty of 
 any breach of confidence in publishing the figures, which, of 
 course, do not represent those of the tariff for visitors ordinarily 
 in force. But, I have gone carefully through such figures, 
 and think that an additional shilling or so would in nearly 
 every instance quoted represent the full charges. For example, 
 take the Hotel Cecil. The charge c^uoted for bed, breakfast, 
 and attendance to members of the conference is (as will be seen) 
 2)S. That may possibly mean : bedroom, ^s. 6(1. ; attendance, 
 i^. 6d. ; breakfast, 2s. Add another shilling for the table d'hote 
 breakfast (or say, preferentially, i.r. 6c/.), and the result would 
 be 9.f. 6d. to ordinary visitors. In some of the instances ciuoted 
 — the Midland Grand, for example — the full tariff might be 
 taken at less, say 7s. 6d. At all events, the information I 
 venture to publish should be useful. 
 
 The Hotel Cecil, Strand, 200 rooms at 8.r. (double, 14,1-.). 
 The First Avenue Hotel, High Holborn, 50 rooms at 8.v. 
 Hotel Victoria, Northumberland Avenue, Charing Cross, 200 
 
 rooms at 8.s-. (-n/. 
 Hotel (ireat Central, N.W., 200 rooms from 6.*-. bd. to 8.s-. 6c/. 
 The Sa\'oy Hotel, Kmbankment Cardens, 6 rooms at 8.*-. (,(i. 
 
 (bath, etc., included). 
 Carlton Hotel, Pall Mall, 3 rooms at 8.s-. 6c/. 
 Midland (hand Hotel, St. Pancras, from 6s.
 
 370 London of Jo- Day. 
 
 Hotel Russell, Russell Square, from 20 to 25 rooms at from 
 
 ■js. (double, 12^-. 6d.). 
 Holborn Viaduct Hotel, 1st and 2nd floors, S.v. 6(f. ; 3rd, 4tli, 
 
 and 5th floors, js. 
 Anderton's Hotel, Fleet Street, 5,v. 6it 
 Bedford Hotel (Walduck's), Southampton Row, Russell Square, 
 
 25 rooms from ^s. (yd. 
 The Manchester Hotel, Aldersgate Street, 70 rooms at 
 
 6s. 6d. 
 The Devonshire House Temperance Hotel, 12, Bishopsgate 
 
 Street Without, 55-. to 6.f. 6d. 
 South Place Hotel, Finsbury, 50 to 100 rooms at 5.s-. gd. (or 
 
 with mid-day or evening dinner, js. 6c/.). 
 Derwent Hotel, Victoria Embankment, 14 rooms at 6.v. 
 Taverner's Temperance Hotel, Judd Street, Euston Road, 10 
 
 rooms at from y. Gd. 
 
 * Hotel Metropole, Northumberland Avenue, from S.f. 
 
 * Langham Hotel, Portland Place, from js. 6d. 
 
 * Hotel Windsor, Victoria Street, Westminster, from 6s. 6d. 
 
 * Loudoun Hotel, Surrey Street, Victoria Embankment, from 
 
 5.$-. 6d. 
 ^ Cannon Street Hotel, Cannon Street, from ^s. 
 
 * Haxell's Family Hotel, Strand, ist and 2nd floors, 6.*-. 6d. ; 
 
 3rd floor, 6s. ; 4th floor, 5,f. 6d. 
 
 * West Central Hotel (Temperance), Southampton Row, 4.f. c)d. 
 
 * Wild's Hotel, Ludgate Hill, from 4.f. 6d. 
 
 As this chapter may be consulted by ladies intending to visit 
 London alone, or in companionship of friends of their own sex, 
 I have thought it well to consider the case of those disposed 
 
 * In the case of these hotels, no special reduction was made. 
 They are included for purposes of reference. The information serves, 
 however, to indicate the lowest tariff in force at such hotels, and 
 should therefore prove .serviceable to that extent. One always has 
 misgivings in accepting as definite figures of price-lists bearing the 
 prefix " from." As a rule the lowest figures quoted are exceptional.
 
 Hotels of To-Day. 371 
 
 to economy, either from circumstances, habit, or necessity. 
 It certainly would be true to say of the majority of women 
 that they are professors and teachers of the principles of 
 economy. Not merely that, but what is rare among teaching 
 professors, they commonly practise what they preach. And 
 whereas extravagance among men, who usually command the 
 purse, is not infrequent, among women it is almost as 
 exceptional as selfishness. Few would say that the majority 
 of men are deficient in selfishness. All would, of course, 
 protest that they are singularly free from it ; but not 
 many, I fancy, debar themselves any indulgence because 
 they cannot share it with another. In the matters of personal 
 ease and the good things of life, men will take of the best, and 
 sometimes all of the best they can get : not unwisely perhaps, 
 since life is not, generally speaking, made up of the best 
 of good things — a fact not without weight in inducing the 
 Epicurean philosophy. Men, I say, will take of the best they 
 can get in the way of ease, comfort, and good living without 
 greatly troubling themselves as to who gets the remainder. 
 
 As a rule men always go to the best hotels. I am not 
 prepared to say that they act wholly selfishly or extravagantly 
 in so doing ; for it has been my experience in travelling 
 that one may go to a very second-rate hotel, for economy's 
 sake, and there pay quite as much for indifferent accommo- 
 dation and living as in one of the first class, which afitbrds 
 accommodation and fare as good as any could wish for. It 
 will be noticed that the list of London hotels I have given 
 above is a fairly representative one. A few of the leading 
 hotels of London are omitted, some perhaps because they are 
 nearly always full ; others because they are restricted in 
 accommodation. Among the first we might instance the 
 Grand, in Trafalgar .Square, and among the second such a 
 hotel as Brown's, in Albemarle Street, Piccadilly. Brown's is 
 not a hotel that all who come may enter. It is not of the 
 noble and " grand proportions " order ; although, by the way.
 
 37- London of To-Day. 
 
 if it cared to use the stock advertising phrase of the day, no 
 London hotel has greater claim to be classed among Hotels 
 de Luxe — de luxe, that is to say, not in the conventional 
 meretricious sense, but in the sense of an elegant simplicity, 
 good taste, and refinement very noticeable throughout. In 
 short, it is one of the best of our Hotels of To-Day, well 
 located in the fashionable quarter — Albemarle Street, where it 
 stands, has never surrendered its time-honoured reputation 
 as a fashionable thoroughfare — quiet, comfortable, and well 
 managed. Its cuisine, we make bold to say, is exceptionally 
 deserving of the attention of the critical, and so are its well- 
 selected wines. The diner-about in London may account 
 himself fortunate who partakes of either. We have personally 
 known this hotel for many years ; and if this reference to its 
 many merits and many comforts and to the uniform courtesy 
 and painstaking administration of its proprietors prove of any 
 service to the Reader, or to the hotel itself, we shall be well 
 content. 
 
 It is not every one who cares for the grand style of doing 
 things. Even the most illustrious relish a little privacy at 
 times ; and the great do not alwaj's desire the greatest 
 attention. We have known one of the most talked-about men 
 of the day to plump for peace and privacy in one of the least 
 imposing of our London hotels ; and many a millionaire comes 
 to London and departs out of it again without his presence 
 or whereabouts being known. There is an old saying — the 
 more public, the more private ; but this can hardly hold good 
 of hotels. The more private, the less public, is more appropriate 
 to their case. Brown's is essentially a private hotel. 
 
 Among other leading hotels in London which require to be 
 noted for the reference of my Readers are Hailey's at .South 
 Kensington, and the Royal Palace at Kensington, next 
 Kensington Gardens ; Hans Crescent Hotel, near .Sloane 
 Street ; the Buckingham Palace, \\ithin a few yards of the 
 Royal palace of that name ; the Alexandra, fronting the south
 
 Brown's Hotel, Albkmari.k Strekt, Piccadilly.
 
 374 London of To- Day. 
 
 bide of Hyde Park ; the Berkeley, in Piccadilly ; Limine r's, in 
 Conduit Street; Claridye's, in Brook Street, Grosvcnor Square ; 
 the Coburg, near Grosvenor Square itself; the Bristol, in 
 Burlington Street ; the St. Ermin's, and Windsor, and West- 
 minster Palace Hotels, Westminster ; and there are also one 
 or two small and good hotels in Jermyn Street, St. James's, 
 not to omit mention of the Royal Hotel, Blackfriars, which, 
 however, is chiefly frequented by Belgian, French, and German 
 visitors. Among other hotels in central London are Morley's, 
 in Trafalgar Square ; the Golden Cross, close at hand ; 
 Horrex's, in Norfolk Street, Strand ; the Howard, in the 
 same street ; the Surrey, the Norfolk, and Loudoun Hotels, 
 in Surrey Street, Strand ; the Temple Hotel, in Arundel Street, 
 Strand. Tranter's Hotel in the City— 6 to 9, Bridge watei 
 Square, Barbican, in the Aldersgate Street district — is a well- 
 managed and economical temperance house, whose " inclusive 
 terms" per day are bs. — that is to say, for bed, breakfast, 
 and tea. This is lower than the average. We therefore 
 note the fact for the behoof of those who may desire to live 
 in a plain way within the City's limits, for business reasons. 
 * -X- * * * * 
 
 It cannot fail of being of service to some, to know where in 
 London they may store heavy Baggage not in present use, or 
 where Pictures, Objects of Art, and similar valuables may be 
 placed in safe and careful keeping. Such conveniences are 
 amply aftbrded by the well-known " Pantechnicon," Motcombe 
 Street, Belgrave Square, the oldest established storage of the 
 kind in London. If personal recommendation carry any 
 weight, " the Pantechnicon " has it from the writer of this 
 reference, who has known this establishment, and tlic reputation 
 of its proprietors, for a full quarter of a century.
 
 London of To-Day 
 
 375 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Flats, Boarding-Houses, 
 Lodgings, etc 
 
 A COMMITTEE of London's County Council has again 
 ■'■ *- remarked upon the ever-famihar fact that London is still 
 growing rapidly. But the Metropolis is changing to an even 
 greater degree, it adds. It draws its immigrant population from 
 a wider area. 
 Neighbour- 
 hoods, which 
 were forme rl)' 
 residential, arc 
 becoming com- 
 mercial ; and 
 districts which 
 were once well- 
 to-do are be- 
 coming poor, 
 and 7'itc versa. 
 "The building 
 of Flats and of 
 large blocks of 
 buildings, too, 
 is noteworthy." 
 " That's so," as 
 they say across 
 the ocean. The 
 "Hat" is be- 
 come part and 
 parcel of our
 
 37^ London of To-Day. 
 
 metropolitan ways of living. At present it is what might be 
 termed a fashion. In some degree, it is what might also 
 be termed a necessity — for the reason that many of us do 
 not find it convenient to move out of London into the 
 country, or, shall we say, are too fashionable to migrate into 
 the suburbs ; and houses in London are growing scarcer and 
 scarcer and more highly rented. By-and-by, perhaps, the 
 Flat may become as hateful to middle-class fashionable folk 
 — I use the word "fashionable" in a general sense — as 
 Bloomsbury, when Belgravia was built up, and the swells 
 moved thither from Russell and the West-Central squares. 
 
 If that happens, what will become of the acres and acres 
 of sky-high, brick-built barrack-buildings, in many of which 
 one may hear his neighbours talk, sing, quarrel, and play 
 pianos, now so freely distributed over the Metropolis ? 
 Perchance, they will all fall into the hands of a " trust " 
 sworn to maintain rents ; or may be they will pass into the 
 hands of the London County Council (if under that designation 
 it has not ceased to exist), which by that means may help 
 to solve the increasingly difficult problem of the " Housing 
 of the Working Classes." Meanwhile, what can we have to do 
 with the topic of" Flats'' in this particular publication ? Little 
 enough, happily, except to advise the Reader who may desire 
 to rent one, to apply to one of the several house-agents 
 who advertise in the London dailies. 
 
 The " Furnished Flat " is a good deal in favour wiih visitors 
 to London. It is not always easy to be had for a limited 
 term, at a reasonable rental, in London itself. Still, there 
 are possibilities, particularly in the months of July, August, 
 and September. Outside London, in the suburbs, at such 
 places, for example, as Clapham, Streatliam, Heme Hill, and 
 Battersea Park, and even in Kensington, Hampstead, Bays- 
 water, and Chelsea, furnished flats are quite likely to be found 
 at the period of the year when Londoners themsehes are 
 holiday-making on the Continent or at the seaside. Rents
 
 Flats, Boanfiiig-Honses, Lodgings, etc. 377 
 
 at that season are what house-agents might possibly term 
 " merely nominal " ; tenants being generally willing to sub-let 
 to responsible parties, with suitable references, at a moderate 
 rent, the main object being to get careful people in possession 
 who will look after things in the tenant's absence. One of 
 the ways of hearing of such opportunities is by applying 
 personally to local house-agents. If the speediest, this is not, 
 perhaps, the least expensive, as house-agents try, of course, 
 to arrange the best terms for their clients, whereas clients 
 themselves will sometimes accept a less rent from a desirable 
 negotiator in order speedily to conclude an agreement. 
 
 For myself, I should be disposed to advertise a week or 
 two in advance in the Standard, or Daily Telegraph, or Daily 
 Gtaphic, stating requirements and the rent you are willing 
 to pay, and if you wish arrangement to be made to include 
 service ; because it is by no means easy to obtain servants 
 in London, and least of all servants who will live in flats. 
 Rents vary with localities ; but one would say that a small, 
 convenient furnished flat of four or five rooms in the outskirts 
 of London might be hired, out of the Season, for two and a half 
 to three guineas per week, possibly a servant being included 
 at board wages of (say) \os. per week. In the inner circle 
 of London, in the Bloomsbury and Marylebone districts, you 
 might succeed on the same terms ; but not, probably, in the 
 Westminster and West End locales. By keeping an eye 
 on the advertising columns of the London dailies, you may 
 find "the very thing" you want, in furnished flats, or board 
 and residence, or lodgings. 
 
 * * -x- -x- * * 
 
 The Boarding-House I approach with caution. My acquaint- 
 ance with it is, I confess, superficial ; and what little I know 
 of it is not unlikely to be tinged with prejudice. This, in point 
 of fact, is a woman's subject. Men do not as a rule take to 
 boarding-houses. Neither do women themselves, I think, of 
 choice or preference. I am speaking now of so-called private 
 
 B B
 
 378 London of To-Day. 
 
 boarding-houses of the ordinary kind. Any one may open 
 a boarding-house ; but comparatively few are experienced 
 in their successful management. There are boarding-houses 
 and boarding-houses ; but if such places are to attract visitors, 
 and to prove profitable to their owners, experience is required, 
 and skilful domestic organisation, and constant personal over- 
 sight and supervision, as in the case of the management of 
 a moderate-sized, or even larger, hotel. Yet I am afraid that 
 many ladies (some no longer young) enter upon this exacting 
 business with no special knowledge or qualification, and with 
 little of the business aptitude necessary to carry it to a success. 
 The result too often is that they sink what little capital they 
 once possessed in household furniture, heavy rent and taxes, 
 and possibly the purchase of " goodwill," and soon find their 
 last condition to be very much worse than the first. One 
 cannot withhold a measure of sympathy from ladies who, 
 anxious to add to a narrow income and willing to work, invest 
 their httle capital in a London boarding-house, hoping by such 
 means to better their condition. Some start with what they 
 term a " connection " among friends, others have not even 
 that to trust to. But, as every one knows, friends are quite 
 as likely to be exacting as other people ; and no one who 
 has to pay out money weekly for necessary board and lodging 
 anywhere will do so for long unless they find themselves 
 comfortable, and get what they have some reason to expect. 
 Now, unless a lady be experienced in housekeeping affairs 
 above the average, has a knowledge of buying well in the 
 best markets, and of catering for a number of guests of many 
 fads and differing tastes, and is possessed also of judgment 
 in the management of servants, and is appreciative moreover 
 of the advantage of occasional judicious advertising and of 
 the art of the well-devised circular, and is above all strong, 
 methodical, diplomatic, and business-like in herself ; unless 
 a lady is possessed of some or all of these qualifications it 
 seems to me that she would act wisely in keeping clear of
 
 Flats, Boarding-Ho/isrs, Lodgings, etc. 379 
 
 the Boarding- House. I can imagine few business under- 
 takings for a lady more arduous and more trying, and 
 demanding 
 more careful 
 dai ly per- 
 sonal over- 
 sight and 
 more patient 
 waiting for 
 results, than 
 this. 
 
 It is be- 
 cause so few 
 enter upon 
 the business 
 \v h o a r e 
 really fitted 
 for it, that 
 B o a r d i n g - 
 
 H o u s e s i n _ 
 
 general are '^ 
 
 so unsatis- 
 factory, alike to the persons who keep them, and the people 
 who stay in them. A really comfortable, well-managed house 
 of this character is likely enough to grow into a successful hotel. 
 I know of two of the best hotels in England which began 
 as boarding-houses ; but in each case they were started and 
 managed by men. Their original proprietors became wealthy. 
 I cannot think of one first-rate success of that kind gained 
 by a woman ; and yet women are \cry successful in hotel 
 management. Many of us can call to mind capital hotels — • 
 hotels of tlic very first rank— of which women are either 
 proprietors or managers. I myself know of one of the railway 
 companies' hotels in London for many years so managed ; 
 and two of the most comfortable I have ever stayed in on
 
 380 Loudon of To-Day . 
 
 my travels are in the hands of lady proprietors. How then 
 is it that the average London boarding-house is so unsatis- 
 factory ? One would suppose that the plan of a specified sum 
 per week, inclusive, for apartments and board, so that each 
 may know to a shilling what his or her expenses will be, 
 should be the plan of all others to commend itself to the 
 majority of visitors to London of moderate means. But the 
 dinginess and shabbiness, and all-pervading air of bankruptcy, 
 that is characteristic of so many of our London boarding-houses 
 frighten many visitors away. No one on a pleasure-trip wants 
 to be plunged into a cold bath of domestic troubles. 
 
 The best class of London boarding-houses I ha\e happened 
 upon in London are those frequented by Americans, some 
 in Bloomsbury and some in Kensington. There are several 
 in the first-named district exceedingly well-managed and 
 comfortable — in the neighbourhood of the British Museum, 
 and Bedford, Russell, and Gordon Sc[uares. A popular house 
 of this class in the vicinity of the British Museum — in point 
 of fact, facing the main entrance — is that known as Montague 
 Mansions, no inconsiderable number of whose patrons are 
 American ladies and gentlemen. I have frequently heard 
 this establishment- favourably mentioned by visitors, and as 
 it stands so central, and accessible to the main Oxford Street 
 thoroughfare west and east, it might be noted by those in 
 search of such accommodation. There are also one or two 
 excellent boarding-houses in the Cromwell Road, and I 
 doubt not other pleasant parts of Kensington, Earl's Court way. 
 And I fancy some are to be found in the vicinity of Langham 
 Place, Regent Street, and about Baker Street, and Bryanston 
 Square, and the Bayswater squares. 
 
 An advertisement in one or two of the London dailies 
 should bring a large number of replies. Prices vary according 
 to locality and the class of accommodation required : ^i 5^., 
 £1 \os., £2 2s., occasionally ^3 y. per week, for a bedroom 
 and board : three meals a day— breakfast, luncheon, and dinner.
 
 Flats, Boariiiug-Houscs, Lodgings, etc. 381 
 
 Some of the best class of London boarding-houses receive 
 transient visitors at %s. 6c/. or io.v. 6d. per day. l)Ut out of 
 the busy season some hotels will also accept from ^3 y. to 
 /"3 \2s. bd. per week for a term, for bedroom and board. 
 
 Personal inquiry of local house-agents and tradespeople 
 should be productive of results — especially in Bloomsbury, 
 Kensington, and Bayswater. 
 
 ***** * 
 
 The subject of " Lodgings " in London suggests a " large 
 order." It is one, moreover, not easy to deal with in a 
 practical way. I need not perhaps say for what reason. If 
 a friend comes to you in some country town, and asks if you 
 know where suitable lodgings may be had, it is just possible 
 that you or your neighbours may be able to lend that friend 
 some help. But if you are approached in the same way in 
 London, it is more than probable that you can lend little, 
 if any, practical help. You may be resident in Chelsea, while 
 your friend may wish to stay somewhere in the vicinity of 
 the South Kensington Museum ; or you may be living in 
 Bayswater, while she wishes to find lodgings in Bloomsbury. 
 That's very much as if a person living in Manchester had 
 been asked by some one to recommend convenient lodgings 
 in Liverpool. 
 
 If you are intending to make a somewhat lengthy stay in 
 London, I should say that, on the whole, lodgings suggest 
 the most comfortable and economical way of living — and 
 especially if you desire to be independent and alone. Comfort- 
 able lodgings, with an attentive landlady, are, in my opinion, 
 preferable in that case to most boarding-houses. But the 
 business is to find such lodgings. It seems to me that it 
 resolves itself briefly into this : (i) whereabouts in London 
 do you wish to stay ? (2) have you any friends living in that 
 particular part of London ? (3) how many rooms and what 
 is the limit of rent per week you have decided upon, and 
 for how long do you propose to stay ? If you can trust to
 
 382 London of To- Day 
 
 the good offices of resident friends, your course is tolerably 
 easy. They being willing to help, the lodgings you are in 
 need of will probably soon be found. For, as I suggest, 
 you can hardly solicit their aid unless they be living in the 
 particular locality of your choice. And it is for you first 
 of all to determine that. 
 
 If you have to trust wholly to yourself, my advice would 
 be : (i) either to advertise your requirements in the Daily 
 TdcQ-rap/i, Daily Ne^vs, or Siaudard ; or (2) to go straightway 
 to the place itself, and inquire among respectable trades- 
 people or house-agents. In that way )(H1 will almost certainly 
 get what you require. 
 
 Then it becomes a matter of definite arrangement with 
 the landlady : so much per week inclusive, with one week's 
 notice of determination of the tenancy, and necessary cooking, 
 fire, and attendance. If the landlady does the housekeeping 
 for you, she presents the detailed account weekly and you 
 pay it ; or you can do the housekeeping yourself, paying 
 the local tradesmen. 
 
 The rent of Lodgings varies with the position and fashion 
 of the neighbourhood. In the suburbs, like Brixton, Clapham, 
 Bayswater, Putney, Wandsworth, you will find them cheapest — 
 say, ^i i,v. or £\ 5.?. per week for two furnished rooms and 
 attendance. In parts of Pimlico (Belgravia) like Ebury 
 Street and streets adjoining, or in parts of Chelsea, you will 
 probably have to pay the same or a little more — more for the 
 two best rooms — say, from ^i ^s. to £\ \os. and £1 2.s. per 
 week. In the central parts of London, such as Bloomsbury, 
 you will have to pay about the same, certainly not less ; also 
 in the streets north of Oxford Street and west of Oxford Circus. 
 In streets leading out of Piccadilly west of Bond Street, or 
 in the vicinity of Langham Place or Baker Street, you may 
 have to pay a good deal more — at all events in the season. 
 In many parts of London it is not impossible to get a good- 
 sized bedroom — a kind of parlour bedroom, such as you find
 
 Flats, Boarding-Houses, Lodgings, etc. 383 
 
 in American boarding-houses — from (say) lo.f. to 12s. 6d. or 
 1 5^". per week, meals (except breakfast) taken out of the house. 
 There should be little difficulty in finding lodgings in 
 Bayswater (Westbourne Grove district) or in Netting Hill, 
 or Kensington (Earl's Court, Addison Road, or High Street 
 districts), or in Brompton, Pimlico, or Chelsea. The way 
 is (as I have said) to advertise your wants, or to make care- 
 ful personal inquiry in the locality itself among respectable 
 shopkeepers — confectioners, butchers, chemists, etc. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 Let us take the supposititious case of a stranger in London, 
 who intends to live as cheaply as possible, while seeing the 
 sights of the town. I think he might bring his expenses 
 for lodging and board within 30^'. per week. It is one of 
 Society's " new fads," we are told— it will be already old 
 when this issues from the press- to look upon the Alexandra 
 Trust (Sir Thomas Lipton's place of popular refreshment) in 
 the City Road as one of our London " shows." " Nearly every 
 day the officials of the Trust have visitors of quality ; some- 
 times a bevy of half a dozen brightly dressed ladies, who 
 take their seats together and demand the regulation Lipton 
 tea, which is a pot of tea at iht., a plate of bread and 
 butter at id., some lettuce at \d., and hd. piece of cake. 
 Besides Americans, ladies and gentlemen from other countries 
 frequently drop in to be served just as courteously as a 
 junior clerk or working man of the neighbourhood would 
 be."* If the "show" serve no better purpose, it will at 
 least suffice to exhibit in London a frugal tea for 2)kd. The 
 Trust — sometimes facetiously known as the Hotel de Lipton — 
 provides a midday meal of soup, two vegetables, meat, and 
 bread for t)hi. At any of the Aerated Bread Company's 
 depots— they number about a hundred in all, and one at least 
 is to be found in nearly every leading London thoroughfare : 
 there are five, for example, in the Strand, two in Piccadilly, 
 
 * Evening Neivs, July Jtli, 1900.
 
 384 London of To-Day. 
 
 two in Regent Street, three in Oxford Street, five in Holborn — 
 at any of these depots a plate of cold meat may be had for 
 6^/., roll and butter for 2d., cup of coffee or tea for 3.'/. — 
 total \\d. In many decent places in London a hot dinner 
 may be had for \s. I have had an excellent cut from the 
 joint, with vegetables and bread, for \s. — quite as good 
 as that charged at 2s. 6d. in many places. As regards break- 
 fast, one certainly should be able to get that in lodgings 
 for 6d. Total, then, for food per day, say 2,f. In many of 
 the London south-western suburbs, a pleasant and well- 
 furnished bedroom may be rented for somewhat about 
 \2s. 6d. per week. Lodging per week, I2.s-. 6d. ; food, 14s. ; 
 total per week, ^i 6s. 6d. But, of course, very many live on 
 much less ; and in good boarding-houses in London, ^i 5^. 
 per week for board and lodgings is considered a fair average 
 price. In many private families, boarders would be received 
 for that. The private family arrangement, where one or 
 two boarders only are received, is in general by far the most 
 agreeable and also the most economical way of living in 
 London. But the "paying guest" notion is but a phrase or 
 phase of the professional boarding-house, and not seldom 
 of by no means the best examples.
 
 London of To-Doy. 
 
 385 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 T" 
 
 \.s^^ 
 
 'HIS is a question more or less 
 relevant to the issue of the 
 visitor's day in London. So is it, for 
 that matter, in every other city, town, 
 or place he may enter or dwell in. 
 It is generally held most pertinent 
 to the day's proceedings in Paris, 
 whither we have known some to 
 betake themselves for the sole grati- 
 fication of answering it there. And, 
 parenthetically, if it be of interest to 
 any to know how we ourselves have frequently replied to 
 this question in Paris, it has been by going straightway from 
 the Gare du Nord to the Restaurant Larue in the Rue Royale, 
 a most excellent dining-place, for which reclame^ by the way, 
 we have invited no consideration of its proprietor. If we knew 
 of its precise fellow in London, in respect of uniformly good 
 cookery and excellent wines at fair prices, we should be tempted 
 to suggest the capital opportunities presented by the advertise- 
 ment pages of this publication for making its merits known. 
 
 It is not necessary, however, nowadays, to travel so far as 
 Paris for the gratification of eating the dinner a la Fran\aise. 
 You may get as nice a little dinner as you please, served in 
 tip-top style, in London, if you pick-and-choose your dining- 
 place, and are prepared to pay the score. An eminent authority,
 
 386 
 
 London of To-Doy. 
 
 who occasionally writes in the Pal/ Mall Gazette on this always 
 inviting and toothsome topic, has told us all about the renowned 
 dining-places of London, their several whereabouts, their 
 respective cuisines, their wines, their decorative appliances, 
 their company, and their bills. It is a pleasant piece of work, 
 which may be studied with interest and advantage, in book 
 form, by all who need a "pick-me-up" before dinner. 
 
 * * * * * -x- 
 
 The popularity of the table d'hote in this countr)- might be 
 traced to the influence of the gentler sex. Few authorities 
 would be disposed to say that it rests entirely on its own 
 merits. Its attractions, in so far as men are concerned, are 
 the presence and companionship of women. Its attractions, 
 in so far as women are concerned, are the presence and 
 companionship of men. Let us hasten to add in a limited 
 sense, however. The opportunity it gives for the display of 
 ladies' dress is a point not to be lost sight of, in the 
 consideration of this humble opinion of our own. The table 
 d'hote presents as a rule no great inducements to men ; in 
 respect, that is to say, of what is commonly named its menu. 
 That )ue)U( usually consists of a number of French words, 
 printed on a snip of cardboard embel- 
 lished with crest or monogram in colours, 
 the true signification of which words 
 remains to be tested by each individual 
 for himself. The price generally charged 
 for putting their meaning to the test is 
 ^s. Men who can afford to spend that 
 much daily on a dinner, prefer for the 
 most part to waste neither money, time, 
 temper, nor appetite in experiments on 
 Anglo-French cookery. Plain English 
 is more to their liking ; or why do men prefer, taking the year 
 round, the home dinner or the club dinner to any ? 
 
 I casually overheard a smoke-room consersation ot three
 
 Uliat about Dinner? 387 
 
 Americans the other day. It was on the subject of saddle 
 of mutton for dinner, therefore it could not be deemed 
 private and confidential. The unanimous opinion of those three 
 American gentlemen, who, as I gathered, had just eaten of 
 that dish, was that the saddle ruled the roast, and that, as 
 regards experience of dinners in London, neither had ever 
 before dined so satisfactorily as in the old-fashioned English 
 tavern style of thirty years ago. I had the curiosity to follow 
 the example of those three connoisseurs, and forthwith renewed 
 my own early studies of a tavern and its bill of fare. That 
 time-honoured institution I found retained all its once very 
 familiar characteristics : solid mahogany, good English waiters, 
 good English cookery, good English ale, good English comfort, 
 fair English prices, a wine list to be relied upon. Around 
 and about me were men — all men, young, rniddle-aged, old. 
 I listened to the familiar commands of Mr. Rol^ert (you will 
 find his admirable autobiography in the archives of Punch) : 
 " Boiled salmon on No. i," "saddle of mutton No. 5," "roast- 
 beef No. 3," " pint bottle of Clicquot No. 8," " rump-steak and 
 oyster-sauce No. 7," "bottle of Pommard No. 2," "boiled 
 chicken and Bath chap No. 1 1," " pint of 7 Port No. 4," "money 
 on No. 8," "boiled turbot, lobster sauce No. 9," and so on. 
 My proper portion of the saddle was served, done to a turn, 
 hot, sufficient, juicy, excellent. I congratulated the manager 
 on his stout-hearted conservatism. " Yes," said he, " I was 
 admonished by all my friends thirty years ago — 'You will 
 have to give in, you must go with the times,' etc. ' No,' said 
 I, ' I intend to stick by the English fashion ; and what's the 
 result .''—-this restaurant is the single representative of its class 
 to-day in London, unique, as people say, leading rather than 
 following the fashion, and as well supported now as ever it was 
 in its whole successful fifty years' history.' " I hold no brief 
 for the place. Its manager (as old as myself) knows me not 
 by name. He has, I doubt not, never seen this book. I give 
 him this testimonial for what it is worth. Simpson's dinners
 
 38<S London of To- Day. 
 
 in the honest English style are still among" the best in London, 
 as superior to the Anglo-French as old wine is to new. 
 
 ****** 
 
 I hold my own opinion as to whether women tind the same 
 interest in the "Dinner" question as men. As a matter of 
 everyday experience, women take a vast deal more interest 
 in it than- men, but only in so far as it relates to their own 
 homes. It would prove but a sorry experience, I am thinking", 
 for many women and for most men had it been otherwise. 
 One can fancy the frequent tribulations of wives, and the 
 persistent ill-temper of husbands. But that is not the point. 
 Are women as much interested as men in the Dining-About 
 question — in the Dining-About in London question ? I should 
 like to have that question definitely decided by competent 
 authority. My belief tends to the view that the gentler sex are 
 culpably deficient in gastronomic enthusiasm. 
 
 I never, however, yet knew a lady, no matter what her rank, 
 position, or vocation, whether of the splendid Mona Maclean 
 type,* or the no less admirable Doris Colquhoun type, or the 
 all-sufficient Lucy Reynolds type, or even of the terrible 
 Maisie type,t who was not interested in dining-about from 
 the dinner-gown point of view. I have little doubt that the 
 right worshipful Society of Lady Authors would, to a woman — 
 the society dines together every year in London, and the 
 display of dress at that dinner, I am told, is something for 
 even a man to ardently desire to see ; I believe that every 
 member of that most honourable association would lend her in- 
 fluential support to the opinion that dinner-gowns, rather than 
 dinners, constitute the chief attraction to the average of women 
 dining about in Town. 
 
 That being so, it becomes my immediate duty to direct 
 attention to the opportunities afforded by the beautiful dining- 
 salons of one of our latest West End hotels - it will add to the 
 
 * "Mona Maclean : Medical Student,"' by Graham Travers. 
 "The Light that Failed," by Rudyard Kipling.
 
 What about Dinner ? 
 
 389 
 
 pleasures of anticipation to find it — -for the effective display of 
 dinner-gowns, and especially for the exercise of the gentle 
 art of criticism, by those best practised in it, in respect, that 
 is to say, of women's Dress. A popular writer of the day tells 
 us that in order fully to appreciate 
 the pleasures of a " smart " London 
 restaurant, "a woman should be per- 
 suaded that her character and her 
 costume at least give her precedence 
 over other ladies present." It might 
 be well not to forget this. I have 
 been informed by most competent 
 authority that dinner at this particular 
 hotel beats any and every record in 
 London for diamonds and dress. " I 
 never saw such a sight anywhere," 
 remarked an American lady to me. 
 When an American lady says that, it 
 conveys much in few words. People 
 
 will say I am " puffing " hotels. " Puffing hotels," eh ? One 
 might with much more reason say I am puffing the Times. 
 
 It goes without saying that diamonds and dress suggest 
 money. And so does "a ratthng fine dinner" — I borrow 
 the words from the American lady's husband. Were I so 
 far privileged as to be consulted by a lady purposing to add 
 to the display of dinner-gowns at the hotel in view, I should 
 say " put money in thy purse " ; or, far better, wait for the 
 invitation to dinner which may come, when Paddition will 
 doubtless be handed to some one else. 
 
 I need not remark that there is a fashion in dining- 
 about in London, as in most other things. One season it is 
 the fashion to l)e seen at the Savoy, another season at 
 the Berkeley, another year at Prince's or at the Chand. 
 The Criterion's East Rooms were at one time the vogue. 
 Formerly it was the unpretentious Kettncr's. To-morrow
 
 Dinner in Town.
 
 What about Dinner? 391 
 
 it may be the Hotel Russell's turn, and the next day the 
 turn of some restaurant as yet undiscovered. This much is 
 apparent, that luxurious dining-about is now the order of 
 the day in London. Sometimes one sits amazed at the 
 evidences of splendid living he sees around him. Where 
 does all the money come from for all this lavish display in 
 the business of eating and drinking ? Certainly the women 
 do not find any considerable pioportion of it ! 
 
 Can it be of any service to you, my dear young Lady, to 
 be told all about the fashionable Restaurants of London, 
 when the utmost your father bestows upon you is 
 f^ a five-pound note at Christmas? Is there any 
 likelihood of my being of the smallest service to 
 you, Madame, in the like direction, when, if you do 
 contrive to put by a few pounds out of your meagre 
 housekeeping allowances, )'ou always spend them on 
 the children's frocks ? Why, many a man thinks 
 less of spending a couple of sovereigns on a dinner 
 in Town than you of spending a shilling on a grilled 
 mutton-chop. What think you of the following in 
 the way of a " bill " for two, at a Restaurant whose 
 rooms are crowded nightly with the rank, fashion, and smart 
 society of London ? — " I paid my bill : Converts, \s. ; natives, 
 5^. ; soup, 2s. ; Ji/ets dc sole, 4.V. ; noisettes^ i,s. ; supreme de 
 volatl/e, 6s. ; ortolans, lo^-. — I believe I was only charged for 
 the two we ate, not the four that were cooked — sa/nde, is. 6d. ; 
 pcches., 4.f. ; cafe., \s. ; champagne, £\ \s. Total, £2 \C)S. ddP 
 One may take it that the " I " is a member of the Bachelors' 
 Club. But — not to seem impertinent or inquisitive about 
 other people's affairs — would you, iMadame, might I ask, spend 
 £1 19.V. bd. on a dinner for two? I am at liberty to guess 
 that that ^3, less sixpence, would have been expended by you 
 for some more sensible pur])nse tlian mere animal gratification. 
 I ask, what is the use of my telling ladies about these 
 high-class, tip-top London restaurants? They don't pay
 
 392 
 
 London of To-Day. 
 
 shillings for cigars, shillings for cups of coffee, shillings for 
 peaches, fivepence each for oysters, twenty-one shillings a 
 bottle for champagne, seven shillings for a fowl, ten shillings 
 for ortolans. Men do, though — and well women know it. 
 
 It does seem strange, when you conie to consider, that with 
 ortolans priced at ten shillings, men don't content themselves 
 with a roast chicken (which is quite as good) at home, and 
 so save themselves the fretfulness next day begotten of 
 dyspepsia and a big restaurant-bill in the coat pocket. 
 
 We must not, however, lose sight of the Dinner-gowns 
 side of the cjuestion. What's the object of having a lovely 
 new dinner-gown, in the latest Parisian style, by Redfern, 
 if you are not to show it ? To do such a gown justice, 
 you need a grand room, ample space, plenty of lights,
 
 IVhat about Dinner? 393 
 
 artistic appointments, and a full, fine, and sufficiently critical and 
 appreciative company. You do not always find these advan- 
 tages at home. You do, however, in several dining-resorts 
 in London, but you must be prepared to pay ; you, your 
 husband, brother, cousin, brother's friend — some one. It 
 stands to reason some one must pay. No lady exhibits lovely 
 new dinner-gowns seated alone in a public restaurant in 
 London — unless, indeed, it drapes the form divine of some 
 magnificently independent and courageous New Woman. 
 Though why this should be so, who can tell ? But all the 
 same, it's the unwritten social law now prevailing. The fact 
 is that the London table d'hote is become, with a certain 
 class of people, a kind of " ritual," in which " vestments " 
 and " lights '■' play a principal part— at all events in the 
 London Season. Not to seem irreverent, it serves as a kind 
 of " high celebration " for theatre-goers and others in evening- 
 dress as a preliminary to the further and later pleasures of 
 the evening. 
 
 Following are some of the finely appointed hotel- 
 restaurants where dinner-gowns may be displayed to 
 advantage, and where also very good dinners are served. 
 The price ? For the table d'hote, say from 6 to 8.30 p.m., 
 6s. in some cases, 7s. 6d. in others, los. 6d. others. The 
 restaurant, or dining-room, of the Carlton, the Grosvenor, Savoy, 
 the Cecil, the Berkeley, the Grand, the Metropole, Victoria, 
 Russell, Langham and Buckingham Palace hotels. Great 
 Central Hotel, Royal Palace, Kensington, etc. If you will be 
 at the trouble to engage a table, and make the necessary 
 arrangements beforehand, we know of no pleasanter dining- 
 room, or one so productive of comfort, attention, good fare, 
 good cookery, and wines, as that of the excellent Brown's 
 Hotel in Albemarle Street, Piccadilly, elsewhere referred to. 
 Its reputation is second to none ; and, wliat is quite as much 
 to the point, its charges— for the daily table d'hote dinner 
 — are quite moderate as compared with some among its 
 
 cc
 
 394 
 
 London of To-Doy. 
 
 competitors. During the Season (it is well to remember) 
 the dining-room is likely to be occupied by the hotel's own 
 guests — so that an early application is advisable. Every 
 one knows Verrey's Cafe Restaurant in Regent Street. It 
 has stood where it stands for at least half a century. At one 
 time it was the sole representative in London of the highest 
 class of Parisian restaurants Now it has competitors ; but 
 
 not one of them has better 
 claim to the patronage 
 of diners-about who ap- 
 preciate good wines and 
 cookery. Its rooms are 
 attractive, and pleasantly free from 
 all sorts and conditions of men. For 
 which reason, no doubt, Verrey's is 
 largely frequented by ladies, at the 
 
 luncheon and dinner hour alike. It is a capital place for a 
 dinner before the theatre, or a luncheon in the intervals 
 of sight-seeing and shopping. The foregoing, and Prince's 
 (Piccadilly), will provide sufficient opportunity for display of 
 a Dinner-gown. 
 
 I know, of course, that ladies are neither always disposed
 
 IVhat about Dinner? 395 
 
 to appear in the dining-room in splendid attire, nor is it 
 always convenient to do so, nor is it even necessary or 
 becoming ; nor do the majority wish to dine anywhere, 
 otherwise than in a plain and simple way. It need not be 
 repeated that London is well supplied with restaurants of 
 every class where that may be done. It may be done— 
 though the expense would probably be greater than else- 
 where—at any of those restaurants already named : certainly 
 at the Cafe Verrey in Regent Street, or the Trocadero, or 
 the Criterion, Piccadilly ; also at St. James's Hall Restaurant 
 and Gatti's in the Strand, or the Holborn Restaurant, or 
 the First Avenue (facing the north side of Chancery Lane), 
 or in the Grand's grill-room, or the Cafe Monico in Piccadilly, 
 or Frascati's in Oxford Street, near Tottenham Court Road, 
 or at the Globe Restaurant in Coventry Street, Haymarket. 
 The whole of these are fairly economical — cutting your dress 
 according to your material ; or in other words, ordering 
 your dinner as best suited to the resources of your purse. 
 
 One of the best of London's popular restaurants is the 
 " Florence," Rupert Street, leading out of Coventry Street, 
 Haymarket ; and quite the best of the Italian order is Pagani's 
 in Great Portland Street, near Regent Circus, Oxford Street — 
 though somewhat " Bohemian." It is unnecessary to name 
 any of the innumerable and generally well-ordered Italian- 
 Swiss restaurants which meet tlie eye in almost every leading 
 London thoroughfare, and where the prices are moderate 
 for the dishes served. One may dine — a chop, steak, or 
 plate of meat with vegetables — at such places for \s. bd. to 
 2S. As an example of the best of the cheaper class of London 
 refreshment places (not restaurants as generally understood) 
 take the four in Piccadilly nearest the south-cast corner as 
 you come from Waterloo Place — the Aerated Bread Com- 
 pany's, the Cabin (I think one is named). Slater's, and Lyons's. 
 These four may be considered representative of their class, 
 and will serve to show the visitor to London the varied way
 
 396 London of To-Day. 
 
 in which every class of the community is now catered for 
 even at the West End of the great city. The refreshment 
 places named are well ordered, the fare served in them is 
 plain and good, and the prices charged are moderate, adapted 
 to the resources of the most economical. 
 
 ****** 
 
 A good deal of nonsense is written about old-fashioned 
 London dining-places with a literary flavour. Only one now 
 exists even in name — the Cheshire Cheese — and as much 
 like the old haunt, when literary men did frequent it, in the 
 days of Dickens and many of his intimates and allies, as 
 the old Albion Tavern, by Drury Lane (now relegated to 
 baser uses), was like the Garrick Club, to which it indeed 
 served as a kind of ballot-box. We knew that self-same Albion 
 when many of the foremost literary men, journalists, actors 
 and dramatists, lawyers and others, foregathered of nights in 
 its somewhat stuffy dining-room. We make bold to say that 
 no restaurant of London of To-Day serves so capital an 
 English dinner as did the old Albion in Coopei-'s time or the 
 Beak Street restaurant ruled by the Blanchards. Why, in 
 the name of good sense, we Londoners should nowadays be 
 so ashamed of our English dinner, it needs a more up-to- 
 date brain than ours to say. The learned Dr. Kitchener, of 
 Cookery-book fame, and Mr. "Original" Walker, litterateur 
 and metropolitan police magistrate in his day, each tell us, 
 in their dissertations on the subject, that no better dinner can 
 be had for money. 
 
 These are topics, however, of no interest to ladies in general, 
 though they may be to literary ladies, or perchance to some 
 few who come from America. 
 
 Though not pertinent to the question of Dinner, it may be 
 of service to some if I add to this chapter the following, which 
 I find jotted down among my notes : The best class of ladies' 
 luncheon I know of in London is that which the C.S.C.S., 
 Haymarket, and the Army and Navy Stores provide ; in the
 
 IV hat about Dinner? 
 
 397 
 
 first case, a choice of two soups or two fish, two oitn'cs or two 
 joints, cheese or coffee, for \s. 6d. You will not better that, 
 in my opinion, anywhere in London. I doubt if you will 
 anywhere find a luncheon at the price half so liberal in choice 
 or so good in cookery and in quality alike. The hours, 12 to 3. 
 The refreshment room is a good deal crowded in the Season. 
 But, crowded or not, the luncheon it affords is amply sufficient 
 for the purposes of what American men sometimes describe 
 as " a good square meal." I can fancy the Royal Academy 
 Schools student, or the Academy of Music student, or the 
 lady worker anywhere in the vicinity of the C.S.C. Stores 
 making that luncheon serve as an economical and nicely-served 
 mid-day dinner — of the plain-living and high-thinking kind. 
 ****** 
 " Heigho ! " sighed Hippias — every one familiar with "The 
 Ordeal of Richard Feverel " will remember Hippias, a 
 character-study deserving the at- 
 tention of all practising the modern 
 Epicurean philosophy everywhere ad- 
 vertised to-day under the nauseating 
 title de Luxe : " Heigho I the 
 general prayer should be for 
 a full stomach, and 
 the individual prayer 
 
 for one that works well ; for on that basis alone are we a 
 match for temporal matters, and able to contemplate eternal." 
 'Twas truly if remorsefully spoken, O fiippias ! self-constituted
 
 398 London of To-Day. 
 
 martyr, whose daily communing with thyself generally resolved 
 itself into the very question which stands as the headline to 
 this chapter. 
 
 The stranger, lady or gentleman, who goes about London — 
 few women, we shall still insist on saying, give more than 
 domestic consideration to this subject — unable to answer it in 
 five minutes had best at once betake herself, or himself, to 
 the nearest decent grill-room and there order a fried sole, 
 a mutton cutlet, and a plain boiled potato, sure that such 
 frugality will meet its due reward mentally, physically, and 
 pecuniarily. If the question be longer debated, merely as 
 excuse for self-indulgence, such as beckoned Hippias to his 
 doom, the shortest way would be to go for the full course 
 of London's table d'hote dinners, with or without music as 
 inclination suggests, at any of the hotels or restaurants already 
 named in this chapter, or at others you may meet with on 
 your walks through London, at y. 6d., or 5^-., or 6s., js. 6d., 10s., 
 or los. 6d , as you may feel disposed. You can hardly take up 
 a London newspaper without being advertised of their where- 
 abouts : " House dinners," " French dinners," dinners offering 
 " the finest cuisine and wines," dinners noteworthy for their 
 "Jificsse (whatever that may mean) and extensively varied 
 Mc/ju" ser\ed in marble salons, grand salons, walnut rooms, 
 in rooms decorated " Louis Quinze style," and in one hotel at 
 least "the resort of kings and princes"! 
 
 Here, for example, are three advertisements (omitting names) 
 taken haphazard from a London daily : — 
 
 The Restaurant of the World. Table d'hote or a la carte. 
 Luncheons y. Dinners 5-s-., "]$. 6c/., io.y. bd. Suppers 3^. bd. 
 Popular grill. Delightful orchestras. 
 
 The New Grill Rooms of the Hotel, Now Open. — 
 
 Table d'hote Luncheon served from 12 till 3, 2.s-. td. Table 
 d'hote Dinner served from 6 till 9, 2s. 6d. The Theatre 
 Supper served from 10.30 till 12, y. "The Finest Grill Rooms 
 in London."'
 
 IV/iat about Dinner ? 
 
 399 
 
 The Restaurant. Dinners a la carte, l^rivate Rooms 
 
 for parties. The dejeuner, ^s. The Opera Supper, 5^. Prix 
 
 fixe dinner (js. 6d.) served in the new salle a manger, '["he 
 orchestra plays daily during dinner and supper, and during 
 dejeuner on Saturday and Sunday. 
 
 I have thus tried my best to give some sort of answer to 
 a question -which, by the way, no lady would ever think of 
 raising — that seems pertinent to a book discussing among 
 other matters sight-seeing in London.
 
 400 
 
 London of To-Day. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ''T^'IME was when, 
 in symp.ithy 
 with those whose 
 purses (Hke our own) 
 are none too full, I 
 might have advised 
 that class of my 
 Readers tempted to 
 indulge in the Season 
 in an occasional night 
 at the Opera to try 
 the half-crown seats 
 in the gallery. That 
 suggestion must now 
 be eliminated from the notes I usually keep by me for reference 
 in matters touching the purse. One night last season I went 
 to Covent Garden Theatre — the time actually being 7.15 p.m. 
 of a day in early June, the opera to be performed being Gounod's 
 now very familiar " Faust." I found not merely the steep 
 stone staircase leading to the gallery already wedged in with 
 an impassable crowd, but also another crowd waiting without, 
 and extending along the street from the gallery entrance to 
 the stage-door. I then passed to the main entrance, if haply 
 I might find seats in the amphitheatre, so-called. When the 
 doors were opened a struggling crowd rushed to the ticket
 
 Grand Opera. 401 
 
 ofifice, only to find every seat already sold. And this on a 
 "Faust" night — an opera familiar to every one. 
 
 This personal experience serves to illustrate the great 
 change that has taken place of recent years in London in 
 the popularity of grand opera. In my time I ha\e known 
 the gallery and amphitheatre, perched unpleasantly near the 
 roof, and hot and stuffy at the best, so free from spectators 
 that one might pass in and out and round and about without 
 hindrance. Under such conditions I had the privilege of 
 witnessing the dclu/t of Madame Adelina Patti and other 
 singers of note. Times are so changed, and musical teaching 
 has recently become so general in England, that the opera- 
 house is now quite as crowded as the theatres. It would 
 be well, therefore, to book seats for the opera in advance, 
 and no longer to trust to the gallery for accommodation, 
 unless you are prepared to submit to the discomfort of standing 
 in a large crowd inside or outside for at least an hour. 
 * * * -x- * * 
 
 There never yet was man or woman who was not interested 
 in a question of money. Grand opera is all a question of 
 money, alike in the composer's study, and behind the curtain, 
 and before the curtain, and in the private office of the manager. 
 With the first, second, and fourth considerations we have 
 nothing to do. In the third wc confess to feel a good deal 
 of interest, and I doubt not a good many others feel the 
 same. For that reason we shall for the moment confine our 
 attention to that particular topic. 
 
 Prices, other than for the special Wagner performances, 
 given at Covent Garden last year were as follows : Boxes, 
 from two-and-a-half to eight guineas ; orchestra stalls, one 
 guinea; balcony stalls, i^s.; amphitheatre stalls, los. 6d., 
 ys. 6d., and ^s. ; gallery (unreserved), 2.f. 6//. ¥ov the Wagner 
 performances (as I read in the advertisement columns of the 
 Times last season) a few seats were available at the following 
 prices : Boxes, £2 12s. 6d. ; orchestra stalls, £1 los. ; gallery
 
 402 London of To-Day. 
 
 slips (reserved), ^s. That means that a considerable number 
 of persons desirous to go to the Opera were prevented from 
 going by reason of the high prices charged. 
 
 The general feeling on the subject was fairly expressed 
 in a letter to the Times, signed " Musician," appearing on 
 May 29th, 1900. " It is to be hoped (he wrote) the Opera- 
 house authorities will see their way to discontinuing what your 
 critic justly calls the suicidal policy of advancing the price of 
 seats by 50 or, in the case of the gallery, 100 per cent, on 
 some nights. In some cases with special castes there may 
 be some slight excuse for a moderate advance, but none 
 surely exists in the case of the late performances of ' Tann- 
 hauser,' 'Lohengrin,' and ' Fliegende Hollander,' which aie 
 frequently given at usual prices with the same caste. Most 
 people are, I think, beginning to see that one guinea for 
 stalls and other seats in proportion is an ample charge for 
 an opera performance. While giving the management every 
 credit for improved stage management, it is only after all 
 what one expects at the price. Add to all this that the 
 libraries secure the best seats and expect a large profit, and 
 the result is that on some nights prices are prohibitive, and 
 the result is empty seats. The price of the amphitheatre 
 stalls has been rising for the last few years. I was told by 
 a librarian that selling opera seats does not pay the librarian. 
 Considering how often they must get them left on their hands 
 I can believe it ; but the fault does not lie with the public, 
 which judges for itself of the value of a performance." 
 
 Quite so. It judges for itself of the value of a performance, 
 and in all probability comes to the conclusion that the 
 management of the Opera-house places a higher value on 
 it than the public is disposed to pay. It may be argued 
 that the house, nevertheless, is well-filled : we are not now 
 referring to the higher-priced seats, which are in the nature 
 of a luxury, indulged in by personages of fashion ; by people 
 who will pay anything for the privilege of being seated
 
 Grand Opera. 
 
 403 
 
 in the best and most conspicuous parts (jf the house. Our 
 interest in the matter is that of the unfashionable Londoner, 
 and visitor to London, who loves good music. We are pre- 
 pared to admit that grand Opera in the full of the London 
 Season is of itself a luxury. 
 Moreover, " syndicates," direc- 
 tors, and others do not enter 
 into operatic enterprises without 
 hope of profit. But, according 
 to all well-established usage, 
 most places of public enter- 
 tainment lend an ear to the 
 reasonable requirements of the 
 general public. The "general 
 public " has little money, and 
 little interest in Fashion. It 
 hopes to find a place at any 
 entertainment on the London 
 programme at fair prices. The 
 gallery of Covent Garden 
 Opera-house below the roof is 
 neither convenient nor acces- 
 sible ; nor does it provide an 
 audience with seats of even 
 tolerable comfort. To charge 
 five shillings for a seat in such 
 a position in the house is 
 nothing short of preposterous. 
 A half-crown is not unreason- 
 able, and seems quite sufficient. 
 A great singer and a highly trained orchestra are worth 
 somewhat to hear. So, indeed (if we may make the sug- 
 gestion), is a good l)ook worth somewhat to read. lUit no 
 one dreams of paying for editions de luxe all the time. It 
 may be hoped that we shall read no more of five shillings
 
 404 London of To-Day. 
 
 charged for a seat in the gallery of Covent Garden Opera- 
 house. 
 
 A step, though not a long one, has been made towards the 
 realisation of a national opera-house in London. A year or 
 two ago we were told that the principle of any State or 
 municipal help in theatrical enterprise was so foreign to 
 English custom that it could not hope to succeed. This 
 initial difficulty has been apparently got over, for the principle 
 is fully admitted in a report of London's County Council to 
 be a desirable one. " The encouragement of the highest 
 forms of musical art is greatly needed in London (it declares), 
 and if accorded wisely, either by the State or by the munici- 
 pality, it would be attended with very beneficial results to 
 the whole community." The sum estimated for the erection 
 of a suitable Opera-house is ^100,000. There will in addition 
 be required a sum as endowment, as a guarantee against loss 
 for a term of years. This sum is estimated at an annual 
 average amount of /^ 10,000, for a minimum of at least eight 
 years. The scheme is to give, during the autumn and winter, 
 the best operas, both past and present, in the language of 
 this country, and interpreted as far as possible by English- 
 speaking artists. At least, such are the suggestions of the 
 foremost musicians in England. 
 
 Wealthy as London is, it has but one season of grand 
 Opera in the year, and but one theatre dedicated to its 
 service. Time was when London had two — Her Majesty's, 
 on the site of which now stands the Carlton Hotel, at foot 
 of the Haymarket, and Covent Garden, its present home, 
 inseparably connected with the earlier successes of Gye the 
 elder, and in later years with those of Augustus Harris. The 
 season in most years begins in early May, and lasts for about 
 two months. 
 
 To go to the opera, to see and hear the great singers of 
 the day, and listen to the finest works of the world's com- 
 posers, admirably rendered by an exceptionally fine orchestra,
 
 Grand Opera. 405 
 
 conducted by some one of first-rate ability, are unquestionably 
 inducements with a good many ; but they are not the sole 
 inducements the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, offers 
 in the full of the London Season. It is then the great 
 rendezvous of P'ashionable Society, in which Royalty, the 
 aristocracy, the leaders in every walk of life, and the wealthy 
 have their place ; in which the dress of the ladies, no less 
 than their beauty, are points of great attractiveness ; and 
 in which display of every kind, magnificent jewels, beautiful 
 bouquets, variety of colour, and the vastness and brilliance 
 of the house itself, are to be considered in the programme of 
 the evening's entertainment. It is true one pays handsomely 
 for enjoying it ; but then look what you get for your money. 
 
 It is not too much to say that Covent Garden opera on 
 a grand night is one of the sights of the London Season, 
 well deserving the attention of those who can afford half a 
 guinea or so to see it. Especially is it a kind of sight ladies 
 love to see — wholly apart from the superior attractions of the 
 performance itself. Nowhere in Europe is there so frequent 
 change of programme in the operas produced, so that if only 
 the purse allows of it, a genuine lover of music may have 
 the choice of the best of the repertoire of his favourite masters 
 during the opera season in London — not omitting that of the 
 great Wagner, now the world's favourite. We quite well 
 remember the time when the late Carl Rosa was the only 
 manager in England who ventured to produce any of his 
 works, and those only of tlie lesser order, the words translated 
 into English by the late John P. Jackson, of the New York 
 Herald, who did as much as any man of his day to create 
 an interest in Wagner in this country and in America. Carl 
 Rosa's enterprise in this direction, and Jackson's co-operation 
 with him, are alike now forgotten save by those who knew 
 the two men, and knew also how much each did to promote 
 a taste for Wagner's music. Such men sow and others reap. 
 No one who knew their indefatigable energy and work in the
 
 4o6 London of To-Day. 
 
 seventies will begrudge this passing tribute to their memory. 
 In the one, the writer of this lost a kind-hearted, generous, 
 and appreciative friend in the province of journalism ; in the 
 other, England lost the only minager who ever succeeded in 
 making opera in English popular with the public, which he 
 certainly did during the time he conducted the affairs of 
 the company that he himself created, and which still bears 
 his name. 
 
 The mainstay of Grand Opera in London is the system of 
 the subscription, long time in operation at Covent Garden, 
 whereby the jirincipal and more expensive seats in the house 
 are subscribed for the whole season of sixty or more nights 
 in advance of the date of opening. By that means a very 
 considerable available capital is secured at the outset. The 
 working expenses are, as may be supposed, enormous, not- 
 withstanding which the profits of the Opera of late years have 
 been satisfactory to the syndicate of aristocratic and wealthy 
 personages which is generally supposed to administer its 
 business affairs. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Keith, Prowse «& Co., whose chief office is at 48, Cheapside, 
 are the principal agents for the Opera, Theatres, Concerts, and 
 other of our leading entertainments. Their branch offices for 
 the sale of tickets (open from 9 a.m. till 8.30 p.m.) will be found 
 at 3, Grand Hotel Buildings ; 167, New Bond Street ; 48, 
 Victoria Street, Westminster ; 4, First Avenue Buildings, 
 Holborn ; and at the Grand, Metropole, Lang-ham, Savoy, 
 Victoria, the Royal Palace (Kensington), and other hotels. 
 Their own programme gives all the current arrangements of 
 the Opera for the present season. They are well-known 
 London entertainment agents ; and any one arranging 
 drawing-room affairs, garden-parties, and the like could hardly 
 do better than have recourse to them for the hiring of bands, 
 professional singers, etc., etc.
 
 London of To-Day, 
 
 407 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 " T N an incredibly short space of time it 
 [the earlier English semi-scholastic 
 drama] was transformed into that won- 
 derful drama in which, as in a mirror, 
 the world of those times saw itself 
 reflected ; which in its infinite flexibility 
 adapted itself to every taste, to every 
 understanding; which in its all-absorbing, 
 all-assimilating activity disdained nothing 
 as too mean, excluded nothing as too 
 exalted ; and which in its maturest 
 manifestations is among the marvels of 
 human skill and human genius. In little 
 more than twelve years from its first 
 appearance that drama had superseded 
 every other form of popular entertainment in England." 
 
 The foregoing remarks happened to meet my eye in a notice 
 of the late Mr. John Addington Symonds's " Shakespeare's 
 Predecessors in the English Drama," published in an old 
 volume of the Quarterly Review. They seemed to me to 
 suggest the reasons for that continuous popular interest in the 
 theatre which has so strikingly manifested itself, with but 
 slight intermission, from the days of Jolm iUubage's first 
 playhouse erected by Blackfriars down to the present day, 
 which chronicles the addition almost yearly of some
 
 4o8 -London of To-Day. 
 
 recently opened house, and other projected new theatres, to 
 the already lengthy list of those now available, or in due time 
 to be opened, to the public in London. The Play whose end 
 and aim is " to hold the mirror up to nature " may, with some 
 truth, be said to liave superseded " every form of popular 
 entertainment " in the estimation of Londoners — "in adapting 
 itself to every taste, every understanding." If we are not 
 fortunate enough to be able to include in the modern repertory 
 of the acted drama many examples which are among " marvels 
 of human skill and human genius," the ever-living- plays of 
 Shakespeare himself are happily left to us, not a few of which 
 have been presented to-day in some of our London theatres 
 with a scenic splendour, a fidelity of purpose, and a complete- 
 ness of artistic effort which has never been excelled in the 
 whole history of the Theatre, ancient or modern. " The 
 demand," we are told, of the days of Queen Elizabeth, "for 
 those who could produce and for those who could act plays was 
 such that the supply, though abundant almost to miraculous- 
 ness, could scarcely keep pace with it." What, we wonder, 
 in time to come will be said of the days of Queen Victoria 
 in respect of the demand for those who could produce and 
 for those who could act plays in the latter years of Her 
 Majesty's reign ? Let the columns of such journals as the 
 Era, and the weekly dramatic notes of such newspapers as the 
 Daily News and Daily Tclcg>-apJi, testify. 
 
 ****** 
 The most popular amusement of to-day is the theatre. Our 
 small talk of the Season is of the theatre. In time past it was 
 of the Royal Academy pictures. Dinner-table conversation 
 commonly opened with that topic. Now it not unfrequently 
 opens, continues, and ends with actresses, actors, and stage- 
 plays. Sometimes it is interspersed with more or less interest- 
 ing gossip, as, for example : An actor (who shall be nameless) 
 told me that he was seated in the manager's office of a London 
 theatre when there entered a lady, needless to add, still very
 
 The Theatre. 409 
 
 charming and attractive, who in her day had been extremely 
 popuhir with the public — an actress who, in her time, had drawn 
 the town, nay, many more towns than one, here, there, every- 
 where. Said the manager, in course of conversation, " By the 
 way, Miss Fotheringay, how much did you make out of that 
 part ? " mentioning the part for which she had been famous. 
 " ^50,000," replied the lady. " And how much in addition did 
 I contribute ? " asked the gentleman. "^10,000," answered 
 Miss Fotheringay. 
 
 The point of special interest in this bit of gossip I do not 
 feel at liberty to reveal ; but it serves to suggest that " the 
 play's the thing " — not merely was in Shakespeare's time, but 
 actually is in our own ; the play itself, and the opinions, the 
 intentions, the engagements, the enterp; ises, the successes, 
 the failures, the disappointments, of dramatists, actresses and 
 actors, actor-managers, sole and responsible managers, and 
 lessees ; who not, indeed, connected with the modern London 
 stage ? Talk about the fierce light that beats upon a throne I 
 No light ever beat fiercer upon any throne than that which 
 throws its penetrating, all-pervading rays over the stage of 
 to day. Every stage-struck young lady has her stage-history 
 by heart, and every fledgeling theatre-going youth knows a 
 good deal more of that than he does of the " Commentaries " of 
 Ciesar. Our illustrated publications teem with portraits and 
 talk of our popular actors and actresses. We have clubs, too, 
 for playgoers — clubs whose doings seem to be of such pul^lic 
 interest that the daily newspapers concern themselves with 
 their quarrels. Truly, a tremendous change has taken place 
 in public opinion respecting the stage since we first made its 
 acquaintance, and sat eating a frugal supper, in company with 
 some of the members of Charles Kean's Princess's company 
 at the old American Stores, near that theatre, in the fifties — 
 Widdicombe and Shore among the number. 
 
 Listen to this, reported as falling frc.m the lips of Mr. 
 Wilson Barrett : Mr. Wilson Barrett, who, shall we net say, 
 
 D D
 
 4IO London of To-Day. 
 
 is never so much himself, as when he is seeking to convince 
 people of the vast opportunities for good the stage offers in the 
 way of inculcating the practice of the loftier Christian virtues ; 
 though it does not always take advantage of its opportunities 
 that way — if the truth may be told. The other day I was 
 spectator of a play in which virtue seemed to be going 
 headlong to the dogs in the first two acts. She turned up 
 unsullied in the third and final act ; but, as it struck me, not 
 without having come perilously near losing her character, which 
 was, of course, saved by a woman. Well, this is what Mr. 
 Wilson Barrett is reported to have said. A year or two ago, 
 in concluding an engagement at Edinburgh with "The Sign 
 of the Cross," he made a speech, and among other things said 
 this : " In these days it was absurd for the clergy to skulk 
 behind conventional platitudes. They dare not ignore the 
 stage. It had come to stay. A boy might forget his first 
 sermon, but never his first play ; and the plain duty of the 
 ministers of the Gospel was to take the Christ-like attitude 
 of helping and encouraging instead of decrying what might, 
 could, and should be one of the greatest factors for good in 
 every community." Well may the journal* from which we cut 
 this paragraph say : " Opinions have altered considerably since 
 the reverend author of the tragedy of ' Douglas ' was hounded 
 from the Kirk." It is only right to remark that the same 
 journal adds this comment : " The great majority of parsons 
 in Scotland still, we imagine, stand aloof from the stage." 
 Do the great majority of parsons stand aloof from the stage 
 in England, we wonder ? We are inclined to think not. It 
 is tolerably certain that the great majority of their flocks do 
 not, at all events in London. The increase in the number of 
 theatres of recent years in London and its suburbs would seem, 
 at least, to point to that conclusion. " Roughly speaking," says 
 the Daily AWi'.v, " London and its suburbs now possesses some 
 sixty theatres." Through the courtesy of the Clerk of London's 
 * IVfstminilcr Gazette.
 
 The Theatre. 4 1 1 
 
 County Council, I have had sent to me a typewritten hst of 
 theatres, music-halls, and places of entertainment of one kind 
 and another generally within its jurisdiction. That list fills 
 seven foolscap pag-es. Eliminating the licensed resorts of 
 minor importance, I find that we have no less than one hundred 
 and twelve theatres and music-halls of the first rank, inclusive 
 of some few of what may be deemed above the second 
 rank. And of these, according to my calculation, sixty are 
 theatres : thirty-eight being within the area of inner London, 
 and the remainder, twenty-two, scattered through the suburbs — 
 that is not including " theatres of varieties," so named. An 
 enthusiast of the drama has thus the opportunity in London 
 of going- to a different theatre every night for ten weeks, to see 
 a fresh play presented by a new company of comedians. 
 
 The London County Council's last issued list (1901-1902) of 
 applications for amusement licences gives an imposing idea 
 of the extent of the business of providing London with enter- 
 tainments. The applications altogether amounted to about 
 three hundred and twenty. They came from theatres, taverns, 
 halls, institutes, hotels, assembly rooms, polytechnics, town 
 halls, restaurants, palaces of varieties, cafes, concert rooms, 
 mission halls, Sunday schools, Volunteer headquarters, clubs, 
 drill halls, public baths, parish rooms, art galleries, and kindred 
 institutions. The greater number of applications came under 
 the heading " Music and Dancing," but twenty-two were for 
 " Stage Plays." To these should be added the theatres in 
 London and the old Metropolitan Boroughs which are licensed 
 by the Lord Chamberlain, and Drury Lane and Covent Garden 
 Theatres, which, by virtue of the Royal Patents, are independent 
 alike of the Lord Chamberlain and the London County Council. 
 
 The majority of the London theatres are well filled every 
 night. We should say that, on a modest computation, at least 
 sixty thousand persons go forth nightly to seek recreation at 
 the theatres. That means the population of many a fair-sized 
 town. It means nearly double the whole resident population
 
 412 London of To-Day. 
 
 of the City, or very nearly the whole resident population 
 of Greenwich or of Poplar. To think of the whole 
 adult population of Poplar locking their doors one evening 
 and going forth cii masse to take their seats at the 
 theatres ! 'Tis a grand idea, and should appeal to the interest 
 of the theatrical profession. Fancy some great millionaire 
 taking up the whole of the London theatres for a night and 
 opening them gratuitously to the people of Poplar, each 
 company presenting the same play. What play should it be ? 
 Here's an idea for the popular weeklies, quite as interesting 
 as some their editors invent. Put it to the popular vote : What 
 modern play would be likely to prove most acceptable to an 
 audience of sixty thousand East Enders ; and, also, what 
 Shakespearean play ? 
 
 ***** * 
 
 As regards \.\\g personnel oi \\\q London theatres, what can we 
 find to say ? There are the many favourites of the hour ; the 
 comparatively few favourites of a longer period ; and the very 
 few whose names will be remembered in any history of the 
 English stage fifty years hence. The cne name which is 
 certain to survive is that of Henry Irving, a man who has 
 done more for the actor's profession, in the way of promoting 
 and maintaining its dignity and enhancing the public interest 
 in its art, than any of his contemporaries. That name will 
 worthily rank along with those of (iarrick, Charles Kean, and 
 Macready in the records cf our stage, as of one who, by his 
 own admirable work and seriousness of purpose, succeeded in 
 raising it in the public estimation far higher than it ever stood 
 before, at all events within living memory. The Lyceum 
 Theatre, in the days of Henry Irving and lillen 'Perry, may 
 fitly rank side by side with Drury Lane Theatre under the 
 management of Sheridan, or of Covent Garden Theatre 
 with Macready at its head. Little more remains to be said in 
 this necessarily slight reference to the London theatres. The 
 daily journals advertise their nightly attractions. The Reader
 
 The Theatre. 413 
 
 needs no suggestions from us as to which theatre and company 
 of players is likeliest to be preferred by him to another. To 
 go steadily through the whole advertised list would indeed be 
 a plucky enterprise. In the way of money — the least con- 
 sideration probably in the mind of any really earnest student 
 of the contemporary stage — the necessary outlay would amount, 
 for the well-placed " stall," to somewhere about ^20 in all. 
 I know several among my neighbours who spend at the 
 very least £6 a year at the theatre. That's not much, you 
 may suggest — not more than one good " stall " a month — 
 but it means a very splendid total when multiplied by — what 
 shall we say?— fifty thousand people in London who probably 
 do the same. Well, some of the money, it may be hoped, has 
 helped to recompense Sir Henry Irving for the ^^45,000 spent 
 upon the Lyceum Theatre out of his own pocket during the 
 time he was lessee and manager.* 
 
 ****** 
 
 The stage is become an infatuation with the public. One 
 must be very much out of the world if he does not to-day 
 know one or two friends connected with it more or less 
 intimately. We are told that a well-known actor prided himself 
 on the fact that every great Public School was represented 
 in his company. As a matter of fact, we happen to know that 
 Oxford, Cambridge, Eton, Harrow, Shrewsbury, Cheltenham 
 were, at all events, at the date of this writing represented 
 in it- and in the minor positions of the profession too. Two 
 or three gentlemen who often appear in quite subordinate parts 
 in that company earn quite a respectable income by their pen. 
 As for " gentlemen-supers " these may be counted by the 
 score as belonging to almost every large theatre in London. 
 With regard to the ladies' department of the contemporary 
 stage, is there any one of us who does not know some 
 
 * Evidence, House of Commons Committee, Tlieatres, etc , 
 April 4tli, 1892.
 
 414 London of To-Day. 
 
 charming young lady already connected with it, or who does 
 not hope to be connected with it, or who does not believe it 
 to be her particular vocation in life to become an actress ? 
 It is our fortune to know — one — two — three — four — five — six 
 ladies within our own limited social circle who are in "the 
 profession," hoping all things and enduring all things ; never 
 finding rest before midnight ; travelling all around and about 
 the United Kingdom in third-class carriages (chiefly on 
 Sundays) ; living in frowzy and cheap provincial lodgings, 
 when they might be lolling on " ottomans " at home, submitting 
 to all sorts of inconveniences and separation from home 
 influences and comforts, with what motive ? I think I know, 
 and do not intend to tell. Each of the six is a lady of good 
 education, and of what the old journals used to style " genteel " 
 parentage. And, pray, why not ? Certainly why not ? Of 
 course I have seized every opportunity of seeing each of my 
 fair friends on the stage, and every way charming they looked. 
 A right regard for the facts entitles me to say that I have 
 always found great difficulty in ascertaining their exact where- 
 abouts in the company, even with the aid of a good opera-glass. 
 It makes one feel very old when he compares the present 
 state of stage affairs with that which existed in the days of 
 Charles Kean, Buckstone, Benjamin Webster, Chatterton, 
 the Swanboroughs, and other London managers. Actors were 
 actors in those days— for the most part on three or four pounds 
 a week. I doubt if the admirable Paul Bedford and his friend 
 Mr. Toole made more. I used occasionally to sit after the 
 play with four fairly well-known comedians, members of the 
 Princess's Theatre company of Charles Kean's time, whose 
 united weekly salaries would not amount to the salary of one 
 leading comedian of to-day. One of my friends, whose sole duty 
 it is now nightly to appear well-dressed and to look handsome 
 on the stage of a London Theatre, earns almost as much as a 
 fairly experienced actor of Charles Kean's time. I should 
 be inclined lo say that this change in the status of actors
 
 The Theatre. 4 1 5 
 
 has been brought about principally by Irving, the Bancrofts, 
 the Kendals, Hare, Wyndham, and one or two others. 
 
 When one has seen Sir Henry Irving, Mr. Hare, Mr. 
 Wyndham, Mr. Tree, Mr. Edward Terry, Mr. Kendal, Mr. 
 George Alexander, Mr. Lewis Waller, Mr. Cyril Maude, 
 and perhaps one or two more, he has seen those that lead 
 in England among actors ; and when among actresses 
 he has seen Miss Ellen Terry, Mrs. Kendal, Mrs. Brown- 
 Potter, Miss Julia Neilson, Mrs. Patrick Campbell, Miss 
 Maude Millett, Miss Lily Hanbury, Miss Winifred Emery, 
 Miss Mary Moore, Miss Fortescue, Miss Violet Vanbrugh, 
 
 Miss . We need not proceed further with this too 
 
 invidious list, for every actress in London is admittedly of 
 undoubted professional ability and many personal attractions, 
 and we should be the last to dispute the claims of any to the 
 title of "leading lady" in favour with the public. As every 
 one knows, if you want a hearty laugh you have only to find 
 out the whereabouts of Mr. Arthur Roberts, Mr. Penley, Mr. 
 Huntley Wright, Mr. Walter Passmore, and Mr. Dan Leno. 
 
 The Hippodrome is oneof the great showsof London of To-Day. 
 
 The Music- Hall, an outcome of the Theatre, and in some 
 respects nearly allied to it, as in the splendour of its Ballet, 
 the acted comic song of the Chevalier and Dan Leno order, 
 its occasional pantomime productions and so on : the London 
 Music-Hails run the theatres very close in the competition for 
 popular favour. The Empire, the Palace, and the Alhambra 
 are rightly among the most frequented places of public enter- 
 tainment in the Metropohs. In fact, the Variety Show is, 
 with a certain class, more popular than the stage-play. A 
 reason for that popularity may be found in the fact that 
 in many music-halls smoking and drinking are permitted 
 among the audience. Their rise from the condition of mere 
 drinking-saloons of rather a low order to the rank of the 
 theatre has been the work of the last forty years. The last 
 and by far the best of the old London music-halls was Evans's
 
 4i6 London of To-Day. 
 
 Supper-rooms in Covent Garden ; the last and worst, the 
 Cyder Cellars and Coal-hole. The Canterbury, the Oxford, 
 the Royal, Holborn (originally Weston's), the Metropolitan, 
 the Pavilion, the Alhambra, mark the growth of a better 
 class of London music-halls. The Empire, the Palace, the 
 Tivoli, the Aquarium (if that may be counted among the 
 number of such places), belong practically to the present 
 time. I think the most interesting London music-hall I 
 ever entered — considering the class of persons for which it 
 principally caters, and the locality in which it is placed — 
 is the Middlesex, in Drury Lane, under the management of 
 Mr. James Lawrence Graydon. I think I never entered a place 
 of its class better conducted, or one in which there was less to 
 offend the nicer susceptibilities in the promiscuous aggregate of 
 humanity which comprised its audience, and over which (be it 
 admitted) one cast an eye not unwilling to discover something 
 amiss. We have, indeed, made long strides in decency of 
 behaviour at this class of entertainment since the days of 
 Cyder Cellars and Coal-hole. So much, then, to the good. 
 * * * -Sfr *• * 
 
 The theatres generally open their doors at 7.30, some few 
 at 7 ; and the performance of the principal piece usually 
 commences at 8 or 8.15. There are ticket offices, open daily 
 at all the theatres, at which seats may be booked in advance. 
 The prices of admission range from \s. for a seat in the 
 gallery to ^3 3.f., £ii, 45-., or even as high as ^8 Sj-., for a 
 private box. The popular prices are : Pit, 2s. ; amphitheatre, 
 2S. bd. ; upper circle, 3^. and 4.V. ; upper boxes, 4.f. ; and dress 
 circle, bs. ; stalls, lo.f. bd. each. 
 
 Tickets for the Theatres, the Opera, Concerts, and all the 
 leading London entertainments may be bought at any of the 
 offices of Keith, Prowse & Co., which are open from 9 a.m. 
 to 8.30 p.m., at the following hotels, namely — the Grand, Metro- 
 pole, Savoy, Langham, Victoria, Royal Palace (Kensington), 
 etc., etc ; at 3, Grand Hotel Buildings ; 167, New Bond Street ;
 
 The Theatre. 
 
 417 
 
 48, Victoria Street, Westminster ; 4, First Avenue Buildings, 
 Holborn ; and at their chief offices, 48, Cheapside. Their 
 programme gives all the Theatre-bills current for the week. 
 
 PRINCIPAL METROPOLITAN THEATRES AND MUSIC HALLS, etc. 
 
 Those marked ivith au nslcrisk are Music Halls, or Variety Houses ; and it is 
 understood that the Gaiety, the Olympic, and the Globe are to be pulled down. 
 
 Marlborough, Holloway. 
 'Marylebone, 32, High Street, 
 
 Marylebone, N.W. 
 Metropole, Camberwell, S.E. 
 ^Metropolitan, 267, Edgware Road, 
 
 W. 
 ♦Middlesex, 167, Drury Lane, W.C. 
 Morton's, Greenwich, S.E. 
 NoTTiNG Hill Gate, Coronet. 
 Olympic, Wych Street, Strand. 
 *Oxford, 14 Oxford Street, VV. 
 Palace, Cambridge Circus, W.C. 
 Paragon, 95, Mile End Road, E. 
 Pavilion, 85, Whitechapel Road, E. 
 Prince of Wales's, Coventry 
 
 Street, W. 
 Princess's, 152, Oxford Street, W. 
 Queen's, Poplar High Street, E. 
 *RoYAL, 242, High Holborn, W.C. 
 *RovAL Aquarium, Broad Sanctuary. 
 ,, Camden, Camden Town. 
 RovAL Duchess, Balham. 
 Royalty, Dean Street, Soho, W. 
 Sadler's Wells, Arlington Street, 
 
 E.C. 
 St. James's, King Street, St. 
 
 James's, 5.W. 
 Savoy, Strand, and Embankment, 
 
 W.C. 
 Shaftesbury, Shaftesbury Avenue, 
 
 W. 
 Shakespeare, Clapham Junction. 
 *SouTH London Palace, 92, London 
 
 Road, S.E. 
 Standard, 204, Shoreditch High 
 
 Street, E. 
 Strand, 168, Strand, W.C. 
 Surrey, 124, Blackfriars Road, S.E. 
 Terry's, 105, Strand W.C. 
 *TivoLi, 65, Strand, W.C. 
 •Trocadero, Shaftesbury Avenue, W. 
 Vaudeville, 404, Strand, W.C. 
 Wyndham's, Charing Cross Road, 
 W.C. 
 
 Adelphi, 411, Strand, W.C. 
 Alexandra, Stoke Newington. 
 •Alhambra, Leicester Square, W.C. 
 Apollo, Shaftesbury Avenue. 
 Avenue, Northumberland Avenue. 
 Britannia, 117, Hoxton Street, N. 
 Brixton, Brixton Oval, S.W. 
 Cambridge, 136, Commercial Street. 
 *Canterbury, 143, Westminster 
 
 Bridge Road, S.E. 
 Comedy, Panton Street, S.W. 
 Court, Sloane Square, S.W. 
 Covent Garden, Bow Street, W.C. 
 Criterion, Piccadilly Circus, W. 
 Crouch End, Queen's Opera House, 
 Crown, Peckham. 
 Croydon Grand, Croj-don, S.E. 
 Daly's Theatre, Leicester Square. 
 Drury Lane, Catherine Street, W.C. 
 Duke of York's, St. Martin's Lane. 
 Elephant and Castle, 26, New 
 
 Kent Road, S.E. 
 •Empire, Leicester Square, W.C. 
 *EusTON (Varieties), Euston Road. 
 FuLHAM Grand, Fulham Road. 
 Gaiety, 345, Strand, W.C. 
 Garrick, Charing Cross Road, W.C. 
 Globe, Newcastle Street, Strand, 
 
 W.C. 
 Grand, Islington High Street, N. 
 Great Queen Street, Long Acre. 
 Hammersmith, Lyric Opera House. 
 Haymarket, S.W. 
 Her Majesty's (Tree's), Hay- 
 market, S.W. 
 *HiPPODROME, Cranbourn Street. 
 Imperial, Westminster. 
 Kennington Theatre, Kennington, 
 
 S.E. 
 'London Pavilion, Piccadilly Circus, 
 
 W. 
 Lyceum, Wellington Street, Strand, 
 
 W.C. 
 Lyric, Shaftesbury Avenue, W.
 
 4i8 
 
 Lotidon of To- Day. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A X /"E may all gather knowledge from 
 passing events. Lovers of music 
 who come to London in the season may 
 be interested in knowing that in one 
 week of early Jime — it happening at the 
 moment that I was considering their 
 interests — I counted no less than four 
 columns of advertisements of forthcoming 
 concerts in a leading London newspaper. 
 Fifty concerts of more or less note were 
 that week being given in London, in due proportion, at the 
 Royal Albert Hall, Queen's Hall, Langham Place, St. James's 
 Hall, Steinway Hall, the Salle Erard, or at some other place 
 of similar standing. The concerts ranged from a Philharmonic 
 Society's, a Patti, and a Wagner concert, each presenting an 
 imposing programme, right through a whole catalogue of 
 major engagements, in which such well-known professors as 
 Richter, Sarasate, Risler, Zwintslher, etc., etc , took part, 
 down to the more modest musical recitals of such popular 
 artistes as Mdlle. Chaminade, Miss Tora Hwass, Miss Alice 
 Hamilton, Miss Eldina Bligh, and others, not to omit mention 
 of the annual festival occasions of Mdlle. Giulia Ravogli, 
 Mr. Wilhelm Ganz, Herr Elderhorst, the Royal Amateur 
 Orchestral Society, the Westminster Orchestral Society, the 
 Royal College of Music's students, and the Guildhall School's 
 students, etc.
 
 Concerts. 4 1 9 
 
 In truth, a great programme of musical events, to get 
 through which with any earnestness of purpose would test 
 the physical endurance of the most enthusiastic and resolute 
 amateur. Two concerts of more or less note per day, one 
 morning and one evening, for a week would still leave six more 
 per day to be accounted for, or rather attended to. Such would 
 seem to be the opportunities within reach of the student and 
 lover of music in London — at all events in the season : so 
 many indeed as to warrant the conclusion that the English are 
 much more of a music-loving people than is commonly sup- 
 posed, and that an appreciation of the art is much more 
 general among^ us. Or is it all mere make-believe of apprecia- 
 tion, a mere ebb and flow of the tide of public opinion, begotten 
 of colleges and schools of music, and the fashionable latter-day 
 cult of Wagner '^ Not to be a student of Wagner to-day is to 
 confess one's self out of the reckoning, to be doomed with 
 shame to take a lower place in many ladies' drawing-rooms. 
 Yet we venture the uncultured opinion that among a large 
 number professing to find intense delight in the works of the 
 master, a good solid proportion find much more pleasure in 
 " The Belle of New York." That, at least, is an opinion I 
 have formed from listening to experiments in piano-playing 
 made by young ladies in London and its suburbs— occasionally 
 the march from " Lohengrin," but almost hourly " The Belle 
 of New York." The "popular taste for music," in so far as 
 I have had opportunity of testing it, would seem to be repre- 
 sented by a daintily dressed young lady tripping down Tudor 
 Street, carrying a violin-case in one hand and a scroll of 
 music in the other, or another young lady rattling out the 
 piano-music of "San Toy" or "The Geisha" to a male circle 
 of admirers of light opera and music-hall songs in suburban 
 drawing-rooms. If, however, it had not been for the great 
 company of undergraduate, but yet hopeful students of Wagner, 
 the professors, dons, and graduates would seldom have an 
 opportunity of hearing Wagner in London — at all events in
 
 420 London of To-Day. 
 
 opera. The untutored amateurs contribute out of all pro- 
 portion to their real interest in Wagnerian enterprise. Listen 
 to this : — 
 
 " ' Delightful to hear a little real music once more . . . 
 charming opera . . . such a pleasant change after all this 
 Wagnerian declamation.' ... It was astonishing what a lot 
 of this sort of thing you heard at Covent Garden when 
 Donizetti's 'Lucia' was disinterred for the benefit of Madame 
 Melba. And truly it gave one pause to hear it. Are our 
 fashionables really progressing in music at all ? The thing has 
 been fondly fancied. But in the light of such remarks as these ! 
 — uttered, too, with such manifest conviction and such confident 
 expectation of sympathetic response ! The very attendants in- 
 formed you as you entered in a deferential undertone that you 
 would have a little genuine tune that evening. On this occa- 
 sion at least, it was generally intimated, you could enjoy without 
 pretence or mental reservation. It was all very comic and 
 rather appalhng, of course. And yet one could not withhold a 
 certain amount of sympathy. They are men and brothers after 
 all, these Donizetti-worshippers. Do we indeed quite realise 
 what the later Wagner must mean to some of these occupants of 
 Covent Garden's stalls and boxes ? Really, under the circum- 
 stances, it is matter for amazement, if not admiration, that they 
 endure him as well as they do. How many musicians would sit 
 out a course of Donizetti and Bellini with ec^ual fortitude ? 
 Seeing these magnificent and enthusiastic Wagnerian audiences 
 which are the rule at Covent Garden nowadays, you are apt to 
 forget what a small proportion of those present are really 
 musical. The majority, of course, are nothing of the kind. 
 You never see them, for instance, inside a concert room. 
 Which being the case, most works which they hear at the 
 opera to-day must be an unspeakable bore to them. For 
 persons of this type to sit through ' Tristan ' or ' Die Walkiire ' 
 must be an act of superhuman endurance. Really we should 
 recognise our indebtedness to them, for it is they who help
 
 Concerts. 42 1 
 
 to make ' Die Walkiire ' and ' Tristan ' possible at Covent 
 Garden." * 
 
 ****** 
 
 We have three principal Concert Halls in London : the 
 Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, capable of holding some 
 thousands ; Queen's Hall, Langham Place, a splendid and 
 commodious building ; and St. James's Hall, of late renovated 
 and improved. Add to these the Crystal Palace, which on grand 
 festival occasions attracts an audience of some thirty or forty 
 thousand persons, and such minor institutions as Prince's Hall, 
 Piccadilly ; Steinway Hall, near Baker Street ; the Salle Erard, 
 Great Marlborough .Street, etc., to say nothing of the accom- 
 modation provided by the Royal College and the Guildhall 
 School of Music, etc., etc., and no one can deny that we make 
 some endeavour towards the greater appreciation of music. 
 
 It may be convenient to visitors to know that Tickets for 
 Concerts, the Opera, and Theatres, in fact, all the principal 
 London entertainments, may be bought of Keith, Provvse & Co., 
 who have offices open from 9 a.m. till 8.30 p.m. at all the 
 leading hotels — the Savoy, Langham, Victoria, Metropole, 
 Grand, etc., etc., with head office at 48, Cheapside, and 
 branch offices at 3, Grand Hotel Buildings ; 167, New Bond 
 Street ; 48, Victoria Street, Westminster ; 4, First Avenue 
 Buildings, Holborn. Their programme may be consulted as 
 to current musical events. 
 
 * IVestiiiiiisler Gazette.
 
 422 
 
 London of To-Day. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 ' I ^HERE is no public institution in England more criticised 
 year after year than the Royal Academy. Its severest 
 critics are those of its own profession. A reason perhaps may 
 be found in the fact, that the proportion of Royal Academicians 
 to the general body of artists periodically competing for 
 recognition of their respective merits by those gentlemen as 
 painters, sculptors, draughtsmen, what not, is as one to 250. 
 In other words, an average of some 10,000 pictures are sub- 
 mitted (so we understand) annually for exhibition at Burlington 
 House in April, of which nearly three-fourths are for various 
 reasons rejected. The result would be, that the Royal Academy 
 of Art numbers an annual aggregate of as many recruits to 
 the ranks of its critics as the War Office recruits to the 
 ranks of the army of the United Kingdom ! If any proof 
 were needed that the art of painting has assumed considerable 
 proportions in England, it might be found in the report that 
 somewhat over 11,000 pictures have been known to be sent to 
 Burlington House for acceptance for the Royal Academy's 
 summer exhibition. Certainly, it is a splendid total (if correct), 
 and shows that the study of art, like the study of music, is not 
 being neglected in England. 
 
 It is not far from the truth to say that the most wearisome 
 of all the Picture Exhibitions of the summer season- and there 
 are a good many exhibitions in London all told — is that of 
 the Royal Academy. " Royal Academy headache " is as rife
 
 Gossip about Galleries. 423 
 
 in May among sight-seeing Londoners as influenza in January 
 among frequenters of the theatres. In time past, it was part 
 of our own professional duties to attend at Burlington House 
 on Press View day and Private View day ; and those days 
 for us stood accursed in the calendar. If one is bent on 
 seeing all the Academy's pictures — in which case he has 
 his work cut out for him, as the saying goes — it would be 
 wise to do the job by galleries ; one gallery to-day, one the 
 day after tomorrow, one next week, and so on, and so on. 
 Otherwise, he might as well attempt at one glance to see all 
 the books in the Library of the British Museum. 
 
 The Times advertises some twenty Picture Exhibitions in 
 the months of May, June, and July, of which the chief are 
 the Academy's, the Royal Water Colours Society's, the Royal 
 Institute's (of Water Colours), the Royal British Artists, and 
 the New Gallery's, representing — what ? A total, we should say, 
 of from 5,000 to 6,000 pictures. The remaining exhibitions 
 are those of private firms and associations dealing in pictures, 
 such as Goupil's, the Fine Art Society's, Dowdeswell's, McLean's, 
 Tooth's, and others. If we counted up the whole available 
 supply of paintings in oils and water . colours awaiting the 
 verdict (or the cheques) of the public in London in May, 
 we should say that it would represent in round numbers not 
 far short of 10,000 subjects. 
 
 ****** 
 
 The popular notion of Art, of comprehensive Art with the 
 capital letter, is a gallery of modern pictures. The fresher 
 the work and more familiar the subjects, the more attractive 
 as a rule the pictures are — that is to say, when the public 
 decides for itself When the newspapers decide for the 
 public, then, of course, the public accepts the decision of the 
 newspapers. The newspapers always tell us in advance which 
 are the more popular pictures of the year, at the Royal 
 Academy's Exhibition in May, for example. Then the public 
 rushes to see them, so tliat the galleries will scarce contain
 
 424 London of To- Day. 
 
 the numbers of people who daily present themselves for 
 admission. The pictures held by the newspapers to be the 
 most important are crowded about by art amateurs who mis- 
 trust their own judgment. Which is as much as to say that 
 the public in general knows little enough about Art. Nor is 
 it over eager to learn. It likes pretty pictures, and there's an 
 end on't. It takes its taste from the popular periodicals and 
 journals of the day, which pour out in such profusion, monthly 
 and weekly, so many thousands of reams of ladies in evening- 
 gowns and gentlemen in dress-coats. The public apparently 
 never tires of these, and of actresses in this character or in 
 that, and of portraits of people, married or dead, and of 
 successive scenes of the London Season, to portray any new 
 feature of which yearly must prove as difficult to an artist 
 of any inventiveness, or originality, as to present any new 
 feature of a chimney-pot hat. 
 
 The public, I say, seem never to tire of the ladies in 
 evening-gowns and of gentlemen in dress-coats class of 
 pictures, whether photographic reproductions, black and 
 white, or in "wash" or plain pen and ink. No one can 
 fail to understand them. No exercise of the imagination 
 is necessary. Each picture tells its own story, speaks 
 for itself, so to say : " Gentleman at dinner in a di^ess-coat," 
 " Lady at large in evening-gown." If the public knew more 
 about Art, and cared less about evening-gowns and swallow- 
 tails, it would be bad times for many an artist and his 
 mate. The galleries in London containing the national 
 collections might be daily thronged with a crowd of too well- 
 taught and discriminating amateurs. As it is, you may be 
 certain, any day of the week, to find plenty of room and to 
 spare in the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square wherein 
 to study at leisure any of the masterpieces of famous painters 
 hanging on its walls. The same might be said of the galleries 
 containing the Raphael cartoons at South Kensington (Victoria 
 and Albert) Museum. The same might be said of any other
 
 Gossip about Galleries. 425 
 
 gallery containing works of the Old Masters you care to 
 name, exceiJt the Wallace (to be found at Hertford House 
 Manchester Square), which at present is new to the public 
 and every one must needs go and see it. 
 
 * * * * -it * 
 
 It takes a lifetime and no end of study to understand and 
 appreciate the Old Masters — as much or more study, in fact, 
 than to comprehend and appreciate the literary charms of 
 the poets and writers of ancient Greece and Rome. How 
 many persons are there, might we ask, taken haphazard 
 any evening in the drawing-room of the Grand, or 
 Carlton, who could read a dozen lines (say) of Homer in 
 the original and appreciate their beauty ? Similarly, how many 
 persons are there among those daily passing through the hall 
 of the National Gallery who could tell us aught worth listening 
 to touching the particular merits of this school, and of the 
 other, of this great painter, or of that, among the many schools 
 and painters represented in the galleries within ? Not as 
 many persons, I guess, as might be told on one's ten fingers. 
 That's no reason however, why we should not walk witliin 
 and try to learn somewhat about them for ourselves. Mere 
 curiosity in five cases out of six leads people to galleries of 
 Old Masters. What a delightful experience it would be to 
 some of us when we enter, to have an expert at hand able 
 and willing to discourse to us of their history and merits ! 
 
 I haxe frequently watched the ordinary sightseer roaming 
 the rooms of the National Ciallery, among the which class 
 I profess myself one. The bewildered look upon the face 
 of the old or young woman, and the Ijored manner of the 
 average man, have plainly indicated to n^e the general 
 deficiency of knowledge touching the particular merits of Old 
 Masters — especially in respect of those of them who loved 
 flatly to depict the grass-green battlefields of armour-clad 
 knights, and in richer colours the sublimer glories of angels 
 and saints. Why should we not bravely and honestly plead 
 
 E E
 
 426 London of To-Day. 
 
 our general ignorance, until such time as teachers are 
 appointed daily to instruct us, as part of the free public 
 curriculum, so to speak, of the National Gallery in Trafalgar 
 Square ? There is no greater humbug than he who professes 
 knowledge of a subject, in the mere elementary grammar 
 of which he is the veriest dunce. I have met with professing 
 experts in Old Masters in London, who in reality knew as 
 much about them as I of the mechanism of modern artillery. 
 It is just as well to be frank with one's Readers, and it 
 becomes my regretful duty to say that I am not competent 
 to lead any beyond the doors of the National Gallery. I 
 would willingly walk with them within, if I felt that I might 
 be of further service ; but I am no more learned in the Old 
 Masters — the Italian School, the Flemish School, the Dutch 
 School, the French .School — than in the Chinese language. 
 That I very greatly admire their works, and would joyfully 
 learn and understand more about them, goes without saying. 
 One cannot, however, expect to learn and understand e\ery- 
 thing in this life. The best guide to our National Gallery 
 of Pictures is its own published catalogue, to be purchased 
 in the hall. 
 
 ****** 
 Standing next to the National Gallery, with entrance at 
 its east side, almost fronting St. Martin's Church, is the 
 National Portrait Gallery— a title that explains itself. It 
 might be said to contain a large part of the past history 
 of England, as represented by the portraits of her most 
 distinguished statesmen, jurists, authors, poets, dramatists, 
 painters, naval heroes, generals, etc., and not a few of our 
 kings and queens, the great majority of such portraits being 
 original and of contemporaneous record. This collection of 
 paintings has always seemed to me one of the most interest- 
 ing in London. With the aid of the well-compiled catalogue 
 sold in the gallery, none can be at a loss to appreciate their 
 interest and value, not merely as examples of the portrait-
 
 Gossip about Galleries. 427 
 
 painter's skill in times lony past, but as bringing before us 
 as they were the men and women who have helped to make 
 England what she is. All the portraits have been chosen 
 or accepted by the authorities of the gallery with very great 
 care, either purchased or bequeathed, and several of them 
 are unique. 
 
 The South Kensington (Victoria and Albert) Museum includes 
 several galleries of valuable pictures (not to omit mention of 
 the Raphael Cartoons) in its vast and priceless treasure-house 
 of Art. Not to see what one can of the contents of this 
 museum when the opportunity serves would be to neglect 
 to see one of the most interesting, comprehensive, and 
 instructive exhibitions of art in the world. In many respects 
 it has no counterpart. 
 
 The most popular, perhaps, of the national collections of 
 pictures to-day, is the C.allery of Ilritish Art, more generally 
 known as the Tate (Gallery, on the River embankment by 
 \'au\hall Bridge (north side), easily reached by walking from 
 the House of Lords leaving it on your left — almost a straight 
 road. This gallery contains many choice and admirable 
 examples of the modern school of British art by well-known 
 representative painters, manj- of which were given to the nation 
 by the late Sir Henry Tate, by wliom the gallery was buih. 
 The pictures selected and bought yearly by the Royal Academy 
 out of the annual proceeds of the Chantrey Becjuest, so-called, 
 are also exhiljited here — a fact which contributes not a little to 
 the popularity of this gallery The pictures are modern, many 
 by artists still living. 
 
 I o\erheard a young lady say at the Tate Gallery : " This has 
 been far more interesting to me than the Royal Academy 
 exhibition, because it contains so many pictures of first-class 
 merit, and none that are not worth looking at." I will not 
 say which jjicturcs of the collection attracted the young lady's 
 attention most ; but that she should discriminate in her choice 
 proved to me that the average public is not so destitute of the
 
 428 London of To-Doy. 
 
 critical faculty as many more learned critics might suppose. 
 1 do not think I have e\er noticed in any gallery in London 
 a more intelligent and interested company of visitors than that 
 comprised in the promiscuous crowd of middle-class and poorer 
 people, of which company I formed one, at the Tate Gallery 
 on a certain afternoon a few months ago. 
 
 ****** 
 
 If you walk across the courtyard of Burlington House, out 
 of Piccadilly, you will see the main entrance to the Royal 
 Academy of Arts. Probably that fact is familiar to the 
 majority. Right of the main entrance is a door. Passing 
 through the doorwa)-, and mounting three or four flights of 
 steps, you will come to the Diploma and Ciibson Gallery. I 
 inquired of the courteous connnissionaire in attendance what 
 was the largest number of visitors he had known to enter this 
 gallery on any one day? He replied : "The most that I have 
 had is thirty-two in one day." On the occasion that I was 
 studying the pictures here exhibited, there were exactly four 
 persons present besides myself From which facts, it may be 
 concluded that the Diploma and Gibson Gallery of the Royal 
 Academy of Arts is familiar to very few. Indeed, hap- 
 pening to mention to a friend — a Londoner of the Londoners, 
 whose knowledge of art is \ery considerable— that I had been 
 looking at the pictures in the Diploma and Gibson Gallery, he 
 inquired of me where antl what that gallery is ? I told him. 
 " Dear me I " said he, " I never knew there was such a 
 gallery." 
 
 Now, the Diploma Gallery, which is open free daily from 10 
 to 4, contains the pictures, sculptures, and designis presented 
 to the Royal Academy of Arts by members on their election 
 to that body of representati\e British painters ; and the Gibson 
 Gallery is a bequest. You will find exhibited in one or other 
 of the rooms what I suppose must be taken to be examples of 
 the best work of Old and Modern Masters of the British 
 School of Painting — in a word, examples of the nation's
 
 Gossip about Galleries. 429 
 
 representative Painters from the founding of the Royal 
 Academy to the present time : Hogarth, Gainsborough, 
 Constable, Richard Wilson, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir T. 
 Lawrence, Wilkie, Etty, Sir Benjamin West, Turner, Maclise, 
 Stanfield, Shee, Grant, Landseer, Lord Leighton, Sir J. Millais, 
 Watts, and a whole host of the lesser luminaries of the Academy, 
 to say nothing of sculptors and architects. Such a collection of 
 pictures ought, one would think, to interest more people than 
 seemingly it does. 
 
 There is one single relic in the gallery — if we exclude the 
 contemporary picture of the Life School of the original academy 
 of Hogarth's time, in old St. Martin's Lane, done by that 
 painter himself: there is one relic which is of great interest^ 
 the Sitter's Chair, namely, of Sir Joshua Reynolds, first 
 President of the Royal Academy, with explanatory inscription 
 as follows : " This Chair was occupied, in turn, by the most 
 illustrious statesmen and warriors, and by the most eminent 
 lawyers, poets, philosophers, actors, and wits of the i8th 
 century. The loveliest and most intellectual women of the 
 time have sat in it. The majestic Siddons leaned her arms 
 upon it as the Tragic Muse, Kitty Fisher lounged in it as 
 Cleopatra." This chair — an ample and much-worn squarely 
 built chair upholstered in red leather — passed into possession 
 of each successive President of the Royal Academy, till the 
 late Lord Leighton presented it to that body. It is a relic that 
 suggests many interesting memories of the old world of London 
 — the London of George HI., of Dr. Johnson and Oliver 
 Goldsmith, of Garrick, Burke, Lord Chesterfield, Pitt, Fo.x, 
 "Junius," Fanny Burney, and many others. 
 
 Excepting from consideration some examples of the older 
 masters to be seen in the gallery, the question I ask myself 
 is : " Do these Diploma pictures I have been studying 
 represent the best examples of Academicians of the modern 
 British school : the school (say) of the last forty or fifty years ? " 
 That question occurs to me after a stroll through the gallery,
 
 430 London of To-Day. 
 
 it remains unanswered as I pass out still cogitating the question 
 into Piccadilly, and it continues to exercise my mind for some 
 little time. Finally, I put the question to an artist friend at 
 work in his studio — an old Academy student. He answers 
 it with a stout negative — " No." How could I expect that 
 these Diploma pictures represent their best work? "Would 
 you give of your best work, unless you were paid for it ? Artists, 
 on election to the Royal Academy, are obliged under regula- 
 tion to present a Diploma picture, sculpture, or design. Of 
 course, they present what they have least chance of selling. 
 Wouldn't you? I know I would," etc., etc., etc. The result 
 of that reasoning, which I am bound to suppose a fair 
 presentation of the situation, is that the Diploma Gallery of 
 the Royal Academy of Arts — mind you, it's a high-sounding title 
 for a gallery to be possessed of : the result, to my mind, is 
 that this gallery is of chief interest to students and others as a 
 curiosity. The pictures of the Chantrey Bequest (exhibited, as 
 we have mentioned, at the Tate Gallery) are, on the other hand, 
 those selected for purchase by the Royal Academicians from 
 pictures of the year, sent in and accepted for the annual 
 Summer Exhibition. It need not then be said which of the 
 two galleries — Tate or Diploma — is best worth seeing. 
 ****** 
 
 The great Wallace Collection (Hertford House, Manchester 
 Square)— estimated to be worth ;{," 5,000,000, but as a matter 
 of fact beyond price — is, as every one knows, open free to 
 the public. It is a marvellous collection, not of paintings and 
 drawings only, but of works of art, in the largest sense of the 
 word, of armour, furniture, porcelain, medals, ivories, enamels, 
 bequeathed to the British nation under the will of the late 
 Lady Wallace, and shown in the house where they were lodged 
 in the lifetime of the owner. 
 
 " In a museum which contains pictures, and especially pictures 
 of worldwide renown, it is the pictures which principally attract 
 the public. We have yet to be educated to wider appreciations.
 
 Gossip about Galleries. 431 
 
 And this education the Wallace Collection may well be the 
 means of advancing. Its appeal is to connoisseurs of all 
 the arts. For instance, its collection of Sevres porcelain is 
 almost unrivalled— rivalled only, if at all, by that of the Queen 
 at Windsor and Buckingham Palace — while the assemblage of 
 decorative French furniture, of bronzes, clocks, candelabra, 
 and ornamental objects of the 17th and i8th centuries is 
 not to be duplicated in this country or in France. In addition 
 we have, what England has hitherto been strangely without, 
 a European armoury, the creation of which was due to the 
 last owner of Hertford House, and who spared nothing to 
 make it complete. Such a collection serves to instruct as 
 well as to delight. It is not so much to be seen as to be 
 studied, and it is well that it should be located not in the 
 midst of the roar of traffic by Charing Cross, but in a less 
 central part of the constantly increasing capital." 
 
 In regard to pictures, you will find here masterpieces, some 
 of them beyond price, of such painters as Andrea del Sarto, 
 Velasquez, Luini, Frans Hals, Pieter de Hoogh, Rembrandt, 
 Rubens, Jan Steen, Greuze, Wynants, Watteau, Metsu, 
 Delacroix, Horace Vernet, Decamps, Ary Schaffer, Meissonier, 
 Corot, Couture, and last, not least, Reynolds, Gainsborough, 
 Lawrence, Bonington, etc., etc. For many a year to come 
 the Wallace Collection will be one of the most interesting and 
 instructive art exhibitions in London. 
 
 ****** 
 
 The Art Gallery of the Corporation of London, Guildhall 
 City, is open from 10 to 5, April to September ; 10 to 4, 
 October to March. Special exhibitions of pictures of much 
 interest are usually held here in the summer months, which 
 arc open also on Sundays, 3 to 6 p.m. Admission free.
 
 432 
 
 London of To-Day. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 SEE ALSO 
 
 " PROGRAMME OF 
 
 PLEASURES," CHAP. TI. 
 
 Some Events . 
 of the Season. 
 
 RACES. 
 
 TTIFTY or more years ago it was 
 
 in "The Critic," seeinj. 
 
 estimated by "The Druid" — 
 an authority beyond cavil in those 
 days on matters relating to horse- 
 racing — that the number of those 
 whose affections were bound up in 
 the " Guide to the Turf" was four 
 millions I We take this to have 
 been a little pleasantry on his part, 
 or an attempt, maybe, to play 
 understudy to the lead of Mr. Puff 
 that the whole adult male popula- 
 tion of the three kingdoms united was at that date not 
 much, if at all, above that number. However that may be, 
 the number can hardly, we should imagine, be very far 
 from the truth now. " Of all the pastimes which excite and 
 absorb the mind, none is more absorbing or e.xciting, none 
 more exclusively pursued by great numbers of our countrymen 
 than horse-racing."" To judge from one's own experiences, in 
 occasionally studying and surveying the Town, great numbers 
 of Londoners find an interest in the sport, especially about the 
 time when Epsom's Spring Meeting invites the "ring" to test 
 its lungs for a day or two on Epsom Downs. 
 
 Quarterly Review, No. 322, Art, V,
 
 Some Events of the Season. 433 
 
 " Horse-raciny is indigenous to the English soil. It cannot 
 be said to be derived from the horse-races of the Gi'eeks and 
 Romans, although it has many features in common with them." 
 .We left school, alas I so long ago, that we cannot say what 
 those features now might be. Strolling to our customary daily 
 train one morning a year ago, we saw a poster-announcement 
 of a minor race-meeting to be held on a certain day, at a 
 certain place, on the line of railway over which we travel. 
 That announcement would have startled an ancient Greek or 
 Roman gentleman, off to the circus. It advertised the numbers 
 of " special police and detective staff" retained to keep order 
 at the meeting. Here they are: "14 detectives (Racing), 15 
 detectives (Scotland Yard), 7 police inspectors, g sergeants, 
 76 constables. The above force will be employed (so ran the 
 advertisement) solely for the purpose of maintaining order and 
 excluding bad characters." It was to have the assistance of 
 "a strong force of county constabulary" and "a supernumerary 
 contingent of selected men from the army reserve," to say 
 nothing of men drafted from the Corps of Commissionaires. 
 
 Truly, " of all the pastimes which excite and absorb the 
 mind," our national sport of horse-racing indulged in under 
 such conditions must, one would say, give promise of unusual, 
 not to say unhealthy, mental excitement, especially to a nervous 
 order of mind. A student of our manners and customs goes 
 down to a pleasant country retreat to see a little horse-racing, 
 and he finds it in charge of half a regiment of police, drafted 
 to protect inoffensive sportsmen out for a day's holiday 1 And 
 one of his inducements to go — for the poster-advertisement we 
 have quoted would warrant such an inference — is that the police 
 will be "right there" on time (as Americans say). One 
 would think that a railway announcement of this description 
 would have the very opposite effect, of keeping most sensible 
 people away. " I feel convinced (writes a well-known authority 
 on racing *) that energetic measures should at once be taken 
 * Mr. Leopold Rothschild in the Times, October 30th, 1900.
 
 434 Loudon of To-Day. 
 
 to remedy the present state of the turf, which, every one agrees 
 is in anything but a satisfactory condition." The marvel is that 
 any decent, self-respecting- man has anything nowadays to do 
 with it, if half the stories one hears of its present condition- 
 be true. 
 
 All sorts and conditions of men, however (and some women), 
 find an interest in the sport, or what remains of it ; less, 
 indeed, in the absorbing and exciting pastime of horse-racing 
 itself than in its attendant betting. "'Tis true, and pity 'tis, 
 'tis true." From the highest to the lowest in England it 
 would be the exception, we think, to find a man who has not 
 at some time or other of his life won or lost a trifle (or more) 
 in betting. The deuce of it is that the appetite oft grows 
 by what it feeds on. A i^w pounds won in bets at a race- 
 meeting or in speculating on the Stock Exchange will some- 
 times tempt a man to so full a meal that he ends by tumbling 
 over into the gutter. 
 
 The writer of the article in the QiKH'tct-ly Review already 
 quoted held that horse-racing is " a more dangerous stream to 
 embark upon than rapid Aufidus, and will, we fear, prove so as 
 long as the betting-ring exists, and the young and inexperienced 
 are induced by three columns of sporting news in their daily 
 paper to launch their frail barque upon its waters. 
 
 " That river begins to flow in early spring. It bursts like a 
 mountain torrent at Lincoln in the end of March ; flows wide 
 and deep through Newmarket, Epsom, and many lesser places ; 
 has grown swifter and more dangerous when it revisits New- 
 market a month later ; is a seething torrent at Epsom Summer 
 Meeting, and with unabated flood deluges Royal Ascot in June 
 [Sandown Park was then unknown, nor was Kempton founded], 
 ducal Goodwood in July ; it knows not dam or ford as it 
 sweeps through Doncaster in September ; it shoots over the 
 cataracts of the Cesarewitch and Cambridgeshire in October,
 
 Sonic Eve 1 1 Is of the Season. 435 
 
 and reaches the winter sea of cahn at Warwick in the end of 
 November, 
 
 "And it is curious to observe how totally distinct and 
 separate this river of horse-racing is from the scenes and 
 people through which it passes, just as if it were a real river. 
 In some cjuiet country town (as Chichester, for instance), where 
 a grand cathedral lifts its sacred head, perpetual calm seems to 
 reign until the week of the races comes round. Then what a 
 change and contrast ! Every house and lodging is let ; every 
 cab and carriage is furbished up ; every horse and pony is 
 pressed for the occasion from many miles around ; omnibuses 
 and hansoms and nondescript vehicles from London descend 
 upon the scene ; the hotel-keeper trebles his staff of waiters and 
 cookmaids ; the parson preaches his annual sermon against the 
 races, and sends his boys on a visit, to be out of the reach of 
 temptation, and the inundation begins. They come — horses, 
 grooms, jockeys, lords and ladies, bookmakers, backers, touts, 
 welshers, cardsharpers, pickpockets, gaily dressed women, and 
 as long as the races last those of the inhabitants that stay at 
 home sit at their windows twice a day to watch the incessant 
 stream of four-horse drags, omnibuses, carriages, cabs, and 
 carts pass and repass their windows. When the races are over 
 the motley throng is swept away to another meeting : the 
 bookmaker counts his gains, the backer tries to forget and 
 underestimate his losses ; the weary landlord wipes his fore- 
 head and ejaculates a thanksgiving that the races are over : 
 and the little town gathers itself together again under the 
 shadow of the cathedral. 
 
 * -x- * * * * 
 
 " And if we visit the racecourse and take our place on the 
 Stand while the horses are going to the post, what a scene is 
 exhibited below I That roaring mob of ring-men, making the 
 face of the summer day hideous, screaming like \ultures flocking 
 to the prey, what a truly nolilc institution is this ! The less 
 custom the bookmaker has, the more frantically he screanis the
 
 436 London of To-Day. 
 
 odds ; the respectable men, with whom our ina^^n<i)nmi jtn'cnes 
 gamble away their patrimony, these are comparatively silent : 
 so are vultures when their beaks are in their prey. These are 
 the high-spirited men who cheered the Marquis of Hastings 
 when he had stripped himself of an ancestral estate to pay the 
 hundred thousand pounds which he had lost on Hermit's 
 Derby ; the men who hooted the broken-hearted young 
 nobleman into his gra\e when he could pay no longer. The 
 ring is no doubt an English institution, but we have lost many 
 English institutions of late years, and we could spare the 
 betting-ring better than any of those which we have lost. . . . 
 
 " It is only on the racecourse that betting is legitimate, and 
 only legitimate there in very small sums. But now clerks and 
 railway porters will have their wager on a horse they never 
 expect to see ; and niany a well-dressed Irus visits the course 
 at noon with the confident hope of leaving it a Croesus at five. 
 They wm sometimes of course ; but their winnings remind us 
 painfully of the highwayman's spoil : ' a purse of gold most 
 resolutely snatched on Monday night, and most dissolutely 
 spent on Tuesday morning : got with swearing — Lay by — and 
 spent with crying — ^Bring in — now in as low an ebb as the 
 foot of the ladder ; and by-and-by, in as high a flow as the 
 ridge of the gallows.' Hear ' The Druid ' on betting (' Post and 
 Paddock,' p. 67) : — 
 
 " ' Looking at the system of betting generally, not five men in 
 twenty can afford to lose, and certainly not one in twenty afford 
 to win. This may seem a paradox ; but few men, unless they 
 have a very large fortune indeed, can take settling quietly. It 
 can't be done. A young man drawing his first winnings is like 
 a tiger tastings his first blood ; he seldom stops again till he is 
 brought to a deadlock as a defaulter ; his visits are extended 
 from a few afternoons to weeks after weeks of race meetings, 
 and his mind becomes untuned to everything else.'" 
 
 All that the average visitor to London would wish to know
 
 Some Events of the Season. 437 
 
 of the winding course of the river thus figuratively sketched is, 
 what part of it is Hkely to prove of most interest to him ? 
 Our answer to that cpiestion woukl be : Epsom Summer 
 Meeting (June), which inckides the race for the Derby and 
 the Oaks ; Royal Ascot (June) ; and ducal Goodwood (July), 
 with certain intervening London meetings, as those of Sandown 
 and Kempton Park. To describe, or attempt to describe, 
 the scene at any of the great popular racing anniversaries 
 near London, would be to enter upon mere repetition of 
 what has been done by other and abler writers a hundred 
 times before. We take the liberty to suggest to the Reader, 
 stranger to such sights, to see the race run for the Derby, 
 or the Oaks ; to be present at Ascot Meeting on at least 
 one day of the week, the Cup Day for choice ; and to find 
 his way to Chichester and thence to Goodwood (the Duke of 
 Richmond's place), if he feel in the humour for a pleasant 
 day's country outing about two hours' railwa)- ride from 
 London on tlie Brighton and I'ortsmoutli line. Sancloun 
 (Esher is the station on the South-Western Railway) may 
 well engage his attention for a day, if he keep an eye on 
 the racing news for June or July. 
 
 CRICKET MATCHES. 
 
 Even if you are no cricketer yourself (which is possible) 
 a first-class Cricket match at Lord's, or at the Oval, in 
 the season, is well worth seeing. The one class of annual 
 visitors to London who, api)arently, tliink otherwise are 
 Americans. I never knew an American who found much 
 to interest him in cricket. He declares for his national game 
 of "base-ball." I recollect being present at a basc-l)all 
 match at Harvard — the O.xford of America — and am free 
 to admit that I found much more to hold my attention in 
 base-ball, tiian I e\ er found conceded by an American looking
 
 438 London of To-Day. 
 
 on at the English game of cricket. The average American 
 cannot comprehend our extraordinary interest in the game, 
 because he generally fixes his attention on the operations of 
 the field, which he frequently fails to understand. Put him 
 up before the wickets at Lord's, with (say) Jones of Australia 
 bowling, and probably he would find his opinions of cricket 
 changing. Place him out in the field (say) as wicket-keeper 
 to the balls delivered from the same hand, and he would 
 probably find his opinions changed altogether. At all events 
 it can do no harm to suggest to American readers of this 
 publication that they should see a first-class match at 
 Lord's, such, for example, as that of All England against the 
 Australians. I am inclined to think that this is a sight 
 which would impress them with the absorbing interest shown 
 by all classes of Englishmen in the national game. Although 
 it happened to be "Cup Day" at Ascot— was it last year or 
 the year before ? — when one of the great matches at Lord's 
 was on, no less than 20,541 persons paid for admission to 
 see it, not including members of the AI.C.C. and their friends, 
 4,000 more. Some days before the match all the £z seats 
 on the grand stand had been taken, we were told, and only 
 a few at 30.V. were left. Nearly a thousand 1 5.V. tickets on 
 the new- mound stand had also been applied for, and ap- 
 plications, both personal and by post, were pouring in for 
 accommodation. I dare say Aniericans may be able to top 
 this record at one of their great base-ball matches ; but I 
 doubt if many of them would be disposed to find !?io for a 
 seat for witnessing the contest. Maybe I am wrong. 
 
 ****** 
 Every one knows that one of the great London functions of 
 July is the match of Eton against Harrow. The spectators 
 who then assemble at Lord's are of quite a different order 
 from those who go there to see the great " sporting " matches 
 played, such as that we ha\e referred to, or those between 
 the Gentlemen and Players (another name for professionals)
 
 Some Events of the Season. 439 
 
 of England, or between Oxford and Cambridge, or County 
 against County, and so on. The Eton and Harrow match 
 is an affair of bonnets, dresses, frock-coats, lobster-salads, and 
 champagne — a very "swell" picnic in fact, in which many 
 hundreds of the boys of those two great Public Schools take 
 part. The Inter-universities match (Oxford 7'. Cambridge) 
 runs it pretty close as a society function. It is not difficult to 
 understand why. But there is more serious interest shown by 
 the general body of the public in this match than in the other. 
 
 The matches at Kennington Oval mean real cricket, without 
 the dresses and the junketing. The people — often many 
 thousands in number — who go to the Oval go there to see 
 the game, the whole game, and nothing but the game. 
 
 As most Londoners know, the famous cricket ground at 
 Lord's (St. John's Wood) has been quite transformed. In 
 answer to the public complaint that unless visitors to the 
 ground were members of the Marylebone Club, or menibers' 
 friends, they could obtain no seats at the great matches of the 
 season, a huge semi-circular bank of iron seats is raised around 
 the ground, which gives to the public 12,000 additional free 
 places. Some 30,000 people are now enabled in comfort to 
 look on at the great matches. Formerly, the passages on 
 such occasions around the ground were blocked by thousands 
 for whom there were no seats, and the huge crowd encroached 
 on to the grass. The immense crowd of people saw nothing 
 for their money, while hundreds of members' seats were un- 
 occupied. To-day a Imge amphitheatre surrounds Lord's 
 Cricket Ground. The old racquet and tennis courts, which 
 were removed to make room for this bank of seats, now stand 
 behind the big pavilion, and above the seats is a new tier 
 of private boxes. Every one who pays sixpence for their 
 entrance will always now find a seat at Lord's during all 
 the great matches of the year. The cricket ground would 
 not now be recognised by those who only knew it twenty 
 years ago.
 
 440 
 
 London of To- Day. 
 
 HENLEY REGATTA. 
 
 In the long catalogue of London's Season's sights, there is 
 none so well calculated to delight and impress the stranger 
 as the July anniversary known as Henley Regatta. It con- 
 tinues for three days, and attracts \isitors from all parts of 
 the kingdom to the picturesque little country town (on the 
 
 (ireat Western line of railway) bordering that part of the 
 Upper Thames where the Regatta is held. Henley is the great 
 gala occasion of the English boating season, and the \isitor 
 who fails to see the Regatta, if it happens he is in London 
 in early July, will lose one of the principal sights of London's 
 season. 
 
 The Upper Thames as a rowing resort is second to no other 
 in the world, and Henley's annual festival may claim to be the 
 prettiest uf the many pretty sights to be seen in summer on
 
 Sonic Eve 1 1 Is of the Season. 441 
 
 that part of the river. Given fair weather, blue skies, and 
 gentle breezes, a pleasant party of youny people, and the 
 yenerous hospitalities of lawn or house-boat ; and surely never 
 was there greater certainty of three days' full enjoyment. 
 Apart from the boat-racing, the scene itself is one not likely 
 to be forgotten by the visitor who sees it for the first time ; 
 the picturescjueness of the old-world town of Henley itself, 
 the grassy lawns sloping to the river banks, the gaily pennoned 
 tents, the striking decorations and floral attributes of the 
 house-boats, the crowds of well-dressed spectators and boating 
 men, their wives, sisters and cousins, the bands of music, the 
 
 swarms of irim-ljuilt wherries, the charm of all the colours 
 of the rainbow shown by the boats floating on the waters, in 
 brief, " the princely flood with every pleasure stored," these 
 comprise the general attractions of Henley during the regatta 
 week. When one has seen Ascot, Henley, and Cowes during 
 the carni\al week, he may say that he has seen three of 
 the most attractive sights England — or, for that matter, any 
 other land — has to show. And, until he has seen them, he 
 has something still left of sights worth seeing in the world 
 of pleasure. 
 
 The scenery of the more popular reaches of the Upper 
 Thames, particularly at Maidenhead, IVIarlow, and Henley, is 
 
 FF
 
 44- London of To-Day. 
 
 very beautiful. At the beginning of the boating season in 
 May, the woods of Cheveden and Quan\' are in the full glory 
 of their delicate spring foliage. The river-side meadows are 
 bright with king-cups and cuckoo-flowers, and on the eyots 
 the beautiful snow-flake or summer snowdrop may be found 
 by those who know the habits of this rare flower. The lovely 
 foliage of the chestnuts and hawthorns contributes to the 
 beauty of the scenery, which it would be hard to match in 
 any part of England. 
 
 The Regatta season of the Upper Thames begins with 
 Henley in July, and is followed by such popular fixtures as 
 those of Kingston, Staines and Cookham, Walton and Bourne 
 End, Goring, Molesey, Windsor and Eton, Reading, Marlow, 
 Wargrave, Shepperton, and Maidenhead. 
 
 THK TROOPING OK THE COI.OUR. 
 
 The military ceremony known as Trooping of the- Colour 
 takes place on the Horse (iuards' Parade on the late Queen 
 Victoria's Birthday, May 24th. We believe it is to be continued 
 as a national celebration. It is a function which attracts a good 
 many of the upper ten thousand— Lords, M.P.'s, and others — 
 and a very large crowd of ordinary spectators. The troops 
 taking part in it are the King's Life Guard and Household 
 Ca\alry, augmented for the occasion with officers, and Band 
 in State clothing ; supplemented also by another squadron 
 of the Household Cavalry ; and, as regards infantry, by the 
 Brigade of Guards stationed in London. Tickets for special 
 seats and positions from which to view the ceremony, which 
 is always attended by Royalty, and which takes place early — 
 at 10 a.m. namely — are difficult to be had. The better way 
 of securing an invitation is through the courtesy of an officer 
 of the Guards direct. Distinguished visitors might apply to 
 the Adjutant-General, Horse Guards, S.W., or the General
 
 Sonic Events of the Season. 443 
 
 Commanding the Home District, same address ; and it might 
 be well to do so at least a fortnight in advance, for tickets 
 are eagerly sought and the available space is limited. After 
 the ceremony, the combined Bands play a selection of music 
 at the relieving of the Guard, St. James's Palace. 
 
 The trooping of the colour by the infantry of the Hon. 
 Artillery Company and the parade of the batteries of horse 
 and field artillery also takes place on the day aforesaid. 
 Four o'clock is the hour of assembly, and the .Artillery Cround 
 in Finsbury, which the Company has occupied since 1650, is 
 the place. 
 
 ETON .\ND H.\RROW ANNIVERSARIES. 
 
 Interesting and time-honoured functions of the season are 
 Eton "4th of June" and Harrow "Speech Day." It happens 
 so, because these two among the Great Public Schools 
 of England are at once the most aristocratic and the nearest 
 London. The one commemoration falls on the date stated, 
 the other early in July, and it need hardly be said are of chief 
 interest to past and present scholars and their relations and 
 friends. In the hope of renewing an old interest in one of 
 the twain, I wrote to its headmaster for permission to hear 
 the speeches. The courteous reply was that as the " available 
 space is extremely limited, and the number of persons who 
 have a right to be present far exceeds the sitting room," no 
 promise in my favour could be made. E\ery one who may 
 be interested in such commemorations cannot, therefore, hope 
 to gratify his curiosity in desiring to witness them. Eton's 
 is fixed by way of celebrating the birthday of George III., by 
 whom this school (within view of his favourite residence, 
 Windsor Castle) and its scholars were specially favoured. 
 Harrow's " Speech Day " publishes abroad its distinguished 
 position among the English public schools, without any
 
 444 London of To-Day. 
 
 reference, we believe, to birthday or any other day, whether 
 sacred to the memory of king, prince, or governor, or head- 
 master, or of worthy John Lyon, yeoman of the hamlet of 
 Preston, founder of this school. " Visions of dreamland," 
 " echoes of boyhood," to recall for a brief spell "what you were 
 like in your work and your play" — these are the principal 
 inducements which lead men to take part in these pleasant 
 yearly commemorations — made up of school and other 
 speeches, cricket, lunching, lounging, hand-shaking, house- 
 visiting, school singing (if we are not mistaken in the case 
 of Harrow), and a boat procession and concluding fireworks 
 (in the case of Eton). May each school "flourish in immortal 
 youth," and ever seek strenuously to maintain the fair fame 
 of the great public schools of England — schools which have 
 done as much to promote her well-being and advancement as 
 any institutions known in her history. Let me add that both 
 schools are well worth seeing and easily reached by train 
 (half-an-hour's run) from London. 
 
 COACHING MEETS. 
 
 On the north side of Rotten Row, in Hyde Park, there is 
 a Powder Magazine, possibly reserved to the use of the 
 Brigade of Guards in London. On the Wednesday (usually) 
 before the race for the Derby, and on the Wednesday 
 after, between 12 and i noon, the road in its vicinity is the 
 scene of the opening meets of the Coaching and Four-in-hand 
 Clubs. For people fond of that sort of thing — a sight of 
 well-selected teams of showy horses in the fittest of fit 
 conditions, splendidly groomed, and admirably turned out, 
 an equally well-turned-out four-horse coach behind each team, 
 outside of which coach are seated ladies and gentlemen well 
 known to every one in London Society, but quite unknown 
 to the great majority outside the charmed circle : for people
 
 Some Events of the Season. 445 
 
 interested in such sights, these two may be noted as ranking 
 first of their kind in the world, between them the two chibs 
 were able last year to muster no less than sixty-one coaches — 
 thirty-four at the meet of the Coaching Club and twenty-seven 
 at that of the Four-in-hand. That probably represents an 
 aggregate of at least ^30,500 of money value, which serves 
 to remind us that Hyde Park in the season is the finest 
 parade ground for studying horseflesh in Europe. The 
 morning between 1 1 and i and the afternoon between 4.30 
 and 7, May and June, will show you all you want to see 
 that way — in Rotten Row in the one case and on the Drive 
 skirting the Park in the other. 
 
 FLOWER SHOWS 
 
 Two of the most charming and popular Flower Shows given 
 in London are those of the Royal Horticultural Society, 
 held, by permission of the Benchers, in the Inner Temple 
 Gardens, and of the Royal Botanic Society, held in its own 
 beautiful gardens in the Regent's Park — the first-named 
 generally at the beginning of June ; the second, known as 
 the Special Floral Fete, towards the end of that month, when 
 the season is more advanced. To these a third should be 
 added, namely, the Rose .Show at the Crystal Palace, this 
 year held in July. The most beautiful and rare flowers of 
 the summer season, military bands of music, a great and 
 gaily dressed company of visitors, and pleasant promenades 
 in a pleasant setting of well -laid-out gardens : these comprise 
 the main attractions of such floral exhibitions. It is to be 
 regretted that each of the two societies named has had to 
 struggle against adverse influences of recent years, notwith- 
 standing the excellent work each is doing and has for many 
 years done for the science of flower-culture.
 
 446 London of To -Day. 
 
 ROYAL IMILITARV TOURNAMENT. 
 
 There is no waning in the popularity and success of the 
 Royal Mihtary Tournament, held annually in May at the 
 Rojal Agricultural Hall, Islington, ^'ear by year the great 
 show has developed and grown until it is become one of 
 the most popular in the London season's round. The twenty- 
 third display to be opened this year in May, by their Majesties, 
 the King and Queen in person, ends in June. 
 
 In some respects the general features of the Military Tourna- 
 ment are familiar, but the indefiitigable energy and genius for 
 stage management displayed by the head of the staft" in 
 London has invested exen the most familiar of them with novel 
 features, and made them as welcome as ever. He would be an 
 unenviable individual whose pulses fail to beat faster while watch- 
 ing the drive of Royal Horse Artillery, or who fails to take a keen 
 interest in the sword fights and gymnastic feats, or the displays 
 by military cyclists, ca\alry troopers, Royal Naval seamen, and 
 the rest. The success which attends the Royal Military Tour- 
 nament is due, in great measure, to the deep human interest 
 attaching to it. There is one matter in which the management 
 is laudably consistent. The Tournament is entirely for the 
 benefit of military charities, and it is pleasant to see that the 
 monetary addition to their revenues does not exhaust the possi- 
 bilities of the yearly e.\hibition. At the dress rehearsal, which 
 precedes the opening day, the audience is composed almost 
 entirely of children from the military schools and institutions, 
 some 6,000 in number. Big contingents come from the Guards' 
 Industrial Home, the Soldiers' Daughters' School, the Patriotic 
 School, the Royal Caledonian Asylum, and the Sailors' Orphan 
 Daughters' School. One gallery is all a big patch of scarlet, 
 where nearly 600 veterans from the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, sit 
 watching and wondering at the changes that have come in 
 soldiering since thev themsehes carried the rifle.
 
 Sonic Events of the Season. 447 
 
 MILITARY KKVIEWS. 
 
 The best opportunity for seeing anything in the nature of a 
 Mihtary spectacle on a large scale will be found at Aldershot, 
 about an hour's railway ride from London (Waterloo), on 
 the South-Western line. Some 20,000 officers and men are 
 there quartered, representative of every branch of the Service. 
 Reviews are generally notified beforehand in the newspapers. 
 A review of the Brigade of Guards stationed in London takes 
 place generally in May, in Hyde Park. Woolwich, near 
 London, is the Royal Artillery headquarters ; and Chatham, 
 not far away, that of the Corps of Royal Engineers. An 
 inspection of the Corps of Commissionaires (old soldiers) is 
 held in the grounds of Chelsea Hospital on the Sunday nearest 
 Waterloo Day — June i8th. Visitors will find welcome at the 
 interesting inspection of the Duke of York's School (for the 
 sons of old soldiers) near Chelsea Hospital. Brigade drill of 
 metropolitan regiments of Volunteers may be witnessed on most 
 Saturdays in the season on Wimbledon Common. 
 
 The National Rifle Association's annual meeting takes place 
 in the second week of July at Bisley, near .Woking, three- 
 quarters of an hour's ride from London (Waterloo) ; that of 
 the National Artillery Association at Shoeburyness, at the 
 mouth of the Thames, the first week of August. 
 
 EARL'S COURT. 
 
 A writer in fnith a year ago said of PLarl's Court Exhibition 
 that " never since London existed has amusement been pro- 
 vided for it in greater abundance and in healthier shape than 
 here." Fine weather has a good deal to do with the success of 
 outdoor summer exhibitions, and in that respect "Earl's Court " 
 — as it is shortly named Ijy Londoners -has been hitherto 
 exceptionally fortunate.
 
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 London of To-Day. 
 
 449 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Parks and 
 Gardens . 
 
 A PART from their many picturesque landscape and floral 
 charms, and the interest of the daily promenade, all the 
 principal parks and most of the open spaces of London have 
 of recent years added music to their attractions. In the 
 summer months, military bands play in Hyde Park and the 
 Green Park on Sunday evcnin<,'s ; and in the pleasant j^ardens 
 
 Press Rand Concert, Temple Embankment Gardens.
 
 450 London of To-Day. 
 
 of the Thames Embankment the County Council bands play 
 at certain hours on weekday afternoons. One of the best 
 examples of these open-air concerts is that provided by the 
 so-called " Press Band," between one and two daily, in the 
 Embankment Gardens near the Temple, during June and July. 
 Nearly all the parks, commons, and open spaces in and around 
 London are provided in the summer months with these popular 
 County Council concerts. That they are much appreciated 
 may be judged from the promiscuous crowd which daily 
 gathers to listen to the Press Band, and to express by 
 generous applause its gratification at the excellent rendering 
 of the music. 
 
 ***** •* 
 
 The principal of London's parks, it need not be said, is 
 Hyde Park, commonly known as " the Park." It is easy to 
 discover how it became thus distinguished Ever since the 
 reign of the Stuarts it has been the favourite rendezvous in 
 summer of fashionable society for riding, driving, and the 
 promenade. First the north side of Rotten Row, and after- 
 wards its south side, became the resort in the Season of 
 the wealth, beauty and fashion of the town. This was the 
 case all through the last century, and e\en liefore then. 
 Some ten or fifteen years ago questions began to be asked 
 in Parliament, as to greater facilities of ingress and egress 
 being granted for cyclists and others on wheels. Whenever 
 such questions as these crop up, intimating that public resorts 
 like Hyde Park are not reserved as an airing ground for one 
 section of society alone, fashionable folk begin to feel fidgety. 
 It is not impossible that they might ha\'e wished to make 
 Hyde Park a kind of Hurlingham reser\ed chiefly to them- 
 selves. But whatever the reason, there is little doubt that 
 " the Park " has been losing importance of late as a social 
 rendezvous. The Drive, from five to seven, when the season 
 was at its height, used to be one of the principal attractions 
 of London. The promenade was crowded ; chairs were in
 
 Parks and Gardens. 45 i 
 
 eaj^er request ; pietly faces and smart dresses abundant, as 
 the long procession of carriages passed and re-passed along 
 the wide and well-watered roadway. It was a sight to show 
 the stranger, and the Londoner took pride in the fact. The 
 files of carriages moved in an almost monotonous parade, and 
 then, from time to time, there would be a pause, and a burly 
 policeman, full of importance, trotting his horse up the 
 roadway, and clearing the course, was the signal that the 
 Queen or the Princess was approaching. But those times 
 are passed away. The famous Drive is now little more than 
 a thoroughfare for cariiages. 
 
 As the Daily Navs says with some truth, " No painter would 
 select it for a subject, as De Wittis did in the seventies, or 
 no black and white artist would people it with portraits of 
 painters, historians, politicians, prime donnc, as did Dicky 
 Doyle in the sixties. It has lost its prestige. The coup de gnicc 
 seems almost to have come with the last year of the century 
 and the appearance of the motor-car amongst the carriages." 
 It has been the same with Rotten Row, always so charming 
 on a summer's morning. The attractive cantering ground 
 is there, and riders come and go, but it is not the social 
 rendezvous it used to be when we first knew it forty years 
 ago. It seems chiefly in request now for the prosaic purposes 
 of health. "We are far from the days when M. Taine wrote 
 his famous description of the English miss riding with her 
 father, and picking up the politics of her country as she 
 listened to him discussing them with his friends. The I'ark 
 has gone sadly down, and the English miss gone bra\ely 
 forward since those days. It may be that Londoners are 
 becoming more energetic. If we drive, we get a little out of 
 town, rather than keep within the same ring fence. If we 
 ride, even for exercise, we adopt a more heroic programme 
 than a mild trot up and down 'the Lady's Mile.'" Whatever 
 the cause, the Park has lost prestige, a fact not to be omitted 
 in the historv of the chansjes and variations of London
 
 452 
 
 London of Tn-Dav. 
 
 fashionable life. We are far from saying that Hyde Park 
 makes no show n(nv worthy of the foreigner's attention. That 
 certainly is not the fact. In May and early June, especially 
 on Sundays, " after church," it attracts a large crowd of 
 fashionable people ; and, on the south and east sides more 
 particularly, is a very delightful promenade. 
 
 ****** 
 A walk down Piccadilly, past Hyde Park, as far as the 
 Cavalry Barracks, brings you within ten minutes' walk of 
 Kensington Gardens. These gardens, 
 which lie contiguous to, and practi- 
 cally form a part of, H)-de Park, and 
 for which the public is indebted to 
 the taste of William of Orange, Queen 
 Anne, and Caroline (the complacent 
 wife of George II.), have been a 
 fa\ourite resort of Londoners for more 
 than a century and a half. The 
 ladies of Queen Anne's days here 
 loved to display their rich brocades 
 and glossy damasks, while the wits 
 and politicians of the Augustan age exchanged polished 
 sarcasms on Stuart or Hanoverian, according to the political 
 likings of the gossip's party. W'hat was at that time the 
 close preserve of the Court and aristocracy is now a public 
 park for the people of Bayswater and Kensington. Nursery- 
 maids and children in the morning, and grown-up folk in 
 the afternoon, have taken the place of the Court ladies and 
 the wits of the " Augustan age." " The Gardens," separated 
 from Hyde Park by a sunken wall and a bridge across 
 the Serpentine, are a triumph of the landscape gardener's art. 
 The trees are planted with discrimination, and the foliage is 
 luxuriant. The surface undulates, and the paths wind now 
 along the shore of a lake, now under a leafy archway, and 
 now into an open space, bedded mil with rlowers of brilliant
 
 Parks and Gardens. 453 
 
 hues. Kensington Palace (now open to the public every 
 day but Wednesday), which adds to the picturescjueness of 
 the Gardens, was originally the residence of the Earl of 
 Nottingham, and was purchased from him by William III. 
 Within it Queen Mary, the consort of that king, died ; and 
 Queen Anne subsequently occupied it, giving those splendid 
 /(S/es, which were attended by all the great world of London, 
 attired in brocaded robes, hoops, • flycaps, and fans. She, 
 too, died within its walls ; as also George II., who, with 
 Queen Caroline, had spent most of his time here. In later 
 years it became the home of the Duke and Duchess of 
 Kent, to whom, on May 24th, 1819, was born Alexandrina 
 Victoria, her late Majesty. It was here that news was 
 brought her of the death of William IV., she receiving the 
 messengers just as she had left her bedroom, " in a loose 
 white nightgown and shawl, her nightcap thrown off, and 
 her hair falling upon her shoulders, her feet in slippers, tears 
 in her eyes, but perfectly collected and dignified." The 
 Broad Walk in Kensington Gardens was some years since 
 the fashionable promenade of the inhabitants of Bayswater 
 and Kensington on Sunday afternoons, between four and six 
 o'clock. 
 
 ****** 
 It was Henry VIII. who unconsciously endowed the in- 
 habitants of London with what promised at one time to be 
 the prettiest of all the parks — that which skirts St. James's 
 Palace. " But there is nothing here," remarks a chronicler 
 of London, " to fill a man with envy by reminding him of 
 the unecjual distribution of the world's honours and riches. 
 Whatever his poverty, he can find rags to match his own ; 
 and, if he be splenetic, he may, as Goldsmith says, meet 
 companions with whose groans he may mingle his own. 
 The pinched faces of the ' lower orders ' (as the labouring 
 classes are sometimes called in England) may be seen as 
 often as others ; and the hands are not dainty which share
 
 454 Loudon of To-Dav. 
 
 the contents of wicker luncheon-baskets and paper parcels 
 with the water-fowl on the lake, which are said to be the 
 direct descendants of those introduced by Charles II." This 
 is so within the park enclosure, no doubt, though at times 
 of the day and at certain periods of the year it makes some 
 show of gentility. Being on the high-road to the clubs and 
 Government Offices, a steady stream of " the well-to-do " 
 flows daily through the " Mall " ; and on " Levee " and 
 "Drawing-room" days it is thronged with gay carriages, 
 whose occupants are proceeding to pay their respects to 
 royalty. To the student of contemporary manners, the hour 
 between one and two, afternoon, passed in St. James's Park 
 on such occasions (the daily papers announce the precise 
 dates), will bring some entertainment. The Green Park 
 adjoins Piccadilly on one side and St. James's on the other. 
 It consists principally of greensward, but there are some fine 
 trees in the north-western part, and some pretty flower beds. 
 The broad road skirting the park from Buckingham Palace 
 is named Constitution Hill, at the top of which stands an 
 equestrian statue of the first Duke of Wellington, erected 
 there in recent time in place of the gigantic monstrosity 
 which for so long disfigured one of the finest thoroughfares 
 in London. 
 
 ****** 
 Regent's Park, perhaps the best arranged public space in 
 England, always repays a visit ; but twice a year it presents 
 special attractions. In April, its blooming shrul^beries and 
 crocus-covered grass give a combination of beauty and 
 fragrance hard to match ; in August, its summer display is 
 seen at its best. The brilliant and tasteful mass of blooms 
 around the Broad Walk are then in their prime. The plan 
 adopted by the authorities in the Park, of concentrating the 
 greater part of the floral display in the lines of beds on 
 either side of the Broad Walk, enables them to produce a 
 far more striking effect than if they scattered the plants more
 
 Parks and Gardens. 
 
 45 5 
 
 generally about the four hundred odd acres under their care. 
 Largest of all the parks, it was laid out under the direction of 
 the Prince Regent, afterwards George IV., in the year 1812. 
 It was formed out of Crown lands, and derived its name 
 from the title of the prince who gave it to the people. It 
 is a beautiful open space, enriched with lakes, plantations, 
 shrubberies, and flower beds. North of it rises the broad, 
 gradual slope and cone-like summit of Primrose Hill, worn 
 bare these many years by the feet of the multitude. 
 
 Battersea Park, on the south bank of the Thames, west- 
 ward, opposite Chelsea, is a grand pleasure-ground of the 
 people, which has also become a fa\ourite resort of the 
 aristocracy (principally ladies) for cycling purposes — in respect 
 of which its broad and well-made road on the embankment 
 side forms one of the finest and most spacious wheeling- 
 tracks in England. In the mornings of summer a steady 
 
 Cycling in P>aiikrsf.a Park.
 
 456 London of To-Day. 
 
 stream of lady cyclists may be seen makiny for Ikittersea 
 Park across the bridge, from the regions of Belgravia, 
 Mayfair, and the "squares."' Richmond Park is its only 
 competitor. 
 
 ****** 
 
 The Royal Botanic Society's Gardens, now more generally 
 open to the public than formerly, are located in the Regent's 
 Park, and occupy the chief part of the space within its inner 
 circle. They contain a rich and cht'uming collection of exotic, 
 as well as nati\'e, plants ; and hither, at certain seasons of 
 the year, on certain days (duly notified in the newspapers), 
 come a multitude of fashionable folk to the exhibitions and 
 flower shows of the Society. Its Spring Exhibitions of Plants 
 and Flowers and Summer Exhibitions of Plants, Flowers, 
 and Fruits are deserving the attention of all who delight in 
 such things. 
 
 The great attraction of the year is the Evening Fete and 
 Floral Exhibition. There are also " special exhibitions " 
 during May and June, and " promenades " every Wednesday, 
 from the first Wednesday in May to the first Wednesday 
 in August. 
 
 ****** 
 
 The Zoological Gardens occupy a triangular space of about 
 fifteen acres at the north end of Regent's Park Broad Walk, 
 and along the Regent's Canal. This spot has long been the 
 pride of London, and no expense or care is spared to make 
 it the most interesting and complete zoological exhibition in 
 the world. The "Zoo" in time past was* as fashionable a 
 resort as Rotten Row. It was the custom of the "upper 
 ten " to resort thither on Sunday afternoons, and promenade 
 in its pleasant avenues enlivened by the sights and sounds 
 of a bewildering variety of the animal world. As admission 
 to these Sunday rendezvous was only to be had by permits 
 from a Fellow of the Society, the general public were
 
 Parks and Gardens. 457 
 
 excluded, and the " best people " had the spacious grounds 
 to themselves. In later years the "Zoo" has become less 
 fashionable on Sundays, though this day is still set apart 
 for the admission of Fellows and their friends. In striking 
 contrast with these exclusive gatherings is the multitude 
 which invades the " Zoo '' on Monday, which is the " popular- 
 price " day, when a sixpence opens the gate to the neediest. 
 Then you may see troops of sturdy, good-natured, wondering 
 folk — men, women, and children — who come here, not to see 
 each other, but to stand amazed at the animal show, to ride 
 on the elephants and camels, and see the hungry lions fed, 
 and gaze amused at the antics of the monkey community 
 in their cage. On other days the price of admission is a 
 shilling, and large crowds of people frequent the "Zoo" on 
 Saturday afternoons, when a cavalry band plays near the 
 refreshment pavilion. It may be useful to add here the 
 feeding times of the animals : — Pelicans, 2.30 p.m. ; otters, 
 3 p.m. ; eagles (except Wednesdays ; why, we cannot con- 
 jecture), 3.30 p.m. ; lions and tigers, 4 p.m. ; sea-lions, 
 4.30 p.m. ; diving birds in the fish-house, noon and 5 p.m. 
 ****** 
 Kew Gardens, though lying somewhat without the boundaries 
 of London proper, on the left river-bank beyond Mortlake, 
 rightly belong to the principal pleasure places of the people, 
 whether citizens or strangers. Those who would see them 
 at their best, should choose the balmy days of spring or 
 early summer for their trip, which may be made either by 
 steamboat or rail. If choice be made of the first, then from 
 any river pier direct to Chelsea, whence the boats start hourly 
 in the summer season ; if of the second, from almost any 
 metropolitan or underground railway station westward pointing. 
 Of all the pleasure-grounds of London, Kew Ciardcns are 
 the most delightful. It is an inspiration to walk here on 
 the deliciously fresh and springy turf in spring-time, and to 
 wander away under the cjuivering gold of the " arboretum," 
 
 GG
 
 458 London of To- Day. 
 
 when the oaks and the hmes and the stately beech trees 
 have put on their sumptuous colourhig. A copper beech 
 with a brilhant sun behind it, and the deep bhie of an 
 April sky overhead, is a picture to go into raptures over. 
 There are some magnificent oaks in these grounds, and 
 they are wonderfully beautiful at that season of the year. 
 Unless one is fortunate enough to be a resident in the 
 neighbourhood of Kew Gardens, and able to take daily strolls 
 about them, he is almost sure to be just too late or just too 
 soon for some supremely beautiful object there to be seen. 
 But he may rest assured that whenever he goes to Kew he 
 will find not a little to attract his admiration. 
 
 ****** 
 There is no feature of London of To-Day that has brought 
 the writer more pleasure to refer to in this publication, than 
 the continuous growth of its parks, pleasure-grounds, and 
 open spaces. The increase in their number within recent 
 years has been little short of marvellous ; and the several 
 societies, councillors, philanthropists, and others who have 
 devoted time, labour, and money to the development of this 
 most important branch of London's social progress and im- 
 provement are deserving the heartiest thanks of the citizens. 
 Not only have our London pleasure-grounds been greatly 
 added to, but more attention is now given to their oversight 
 and care, and to the way in which they are laid out, pre- 
 served, and adapted to public enjoyment ; in the arrangement 
 of flower-beds, for example, plantations, gardens, ornamental 
 waters, and reserved spaces for cricket, lawn tennis, and other 
 outdoor games ; and last, not least, in the liberal provision 
 of open-air concerts. Truly, it is has been said that this London 
 of ours will soon be a city of gardens and open spaces. Ere 
 long it will have nothing to envy in the tree-planted cities 
 of the Continent. A few years ago the people of the 
 metropolis had the Parks only, and not too many of them. 
 The richer cjuarters had the tharm of leafy scjuares ; but in
 
 Parks and Gardens. 459 
 
 the poorer no trees or flowers, no sight of growing grass or 
 expanse of sky, brought sweetness or freshness, or a touch 
 of distinction into the dismal monotony of never-ending streets 
 and courts. At all points of the compass Parks and Gardens 
 are spreading in London. The wilderness is beginning to 
 blossom like the rose. 
 
 Taking parks and commons, gardens and playgrounds, 
 burial grounds thrown open and planted for the enjoyment 
 of the living, it is computed that within the Metropolitan 
 area, or very little beyond it, there are some 250 open spaces, 
 covering more than 22,000 acres, which are secured to the 
 public for ever. The west of London is still most richly 
 endowed : a little judicious management will enable a man 
 to walk from Kensington High Street to Charing Cross with 
 grass and trees on either hand, and to be scarcely aware that 
 he is in the neigbourhood of houses. Taking Palace Gardens, 
 Kensington, as his starting point, making his way through 
 the sylvan alleys of Kensington Gardens, on through Hyde 
 Park, crossing the road over to the Green Park, striking across 
 to St. James's Park, he emerges out of the grace and stillness 
 of cultivated nature to tind himself at the entrance of the 
 Strand. Should he care to continue his walk through the 
 pleasant Gardens of the Embankment and those of the 
 Temple he would find himself near the heart of the City, and 
 trees may yet be found there. 
 
 In London we happily have innumerable resting-places of 
 green. There are the larger expanses in the East — Victoria 
 Park, Hackney Downs and Marshes, West Ham and 
 Wanstead Parks, above all Epping Forest. In the East 
 Central district may yet be seen the trees of Chiist's Hcspital 
 and of an adjoining garden, formerly a neglected burial 
 ground, now an inviting retreat for rest. The Southern 
 and South-Eastern districts, besides commons, heaths, and 
 Peckham Rye, furnish (Greenwich, Kennington, and South- 
 Nvark Parks ; Dulwich Park, Brockwcll Park, Myatt's Fields
 
 460 London of To-Day. 
 
 and Maryon Park. The North-West is a favoured district, 
 with its breezy hill-tops, and all the Hampstead region. The 
 North has Finsbury and Clissold Parks, Highgate Woods, 
 Highbury Fields, and Waterlow Park. Away in the South- 
 West are Richmond Park and Wimbledon Common, to say 
 nothing of Tooting and Streatham Common ; the last affording 
 one of the finest views around London. 
 
 * * * * -it •* 
 
 .Among the more pleasant and interesting of London's 
 gardens and open spaces (other than these mentioned), I 
 might briefly indicate the following : — 'i'he Thames Embank- 
 ment Gardens, Charing Cross to the Temple, near which 
 (as we have said) the Press Band plays daily, i to 2, in June 
 and July ; the Temple Gardens ; those of Lincoln's Inn 
 (the open space in the adjoining Lincoln's Inn Fields is open 
 to the public) ; the historical patch of green, which deserves 
 better preservation, in Gray's Inn ; the noon-day resting-place 
 at St. Paul's Cathedral ; the Gardens of the Tower of London ; 
 the quadrangle of Toynbee Hall, Whitechapel ; A^iu-xhall Park, 
 Lambeth ; the park at Peckham Rye ; Dulwich Park ; and 
 certainly the pretty grounds of Prockwell Park at Heme Hill. 
 These suffice to show the great diversity of rural charms still 
 to be found in over-built London.
 
 Tca-RooDis for Ladies. 
 
 461 
 
 "i"'<»*«V^^ 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 WAS about to say that no city in 
 the world beats London's record for 
 Tea-chinking, but that I am unable to 
 substantiate the fact, knowing nothing 
 i of St. Petersburg's or New York's or Yokohama's or 
 Peking's record that way.* But, to judge from the 
 number of tea-rooms and similar places in London, where 
 the teapot is in evidence and constantly in use morning, 
 noon, and night, one would say that London must consume 
 daily an immense quantity of that beverage. Tea used to 
 be a good deal of a woman's drink ; it is now indulged in 
 by men quite as frecjuently as l)y women. .Some men are 
 even more fastidious than women as to the contents of the 
 teapot, being much more careful as to the quality and descrip- 
 tion of tea they buy and the way in which the beverage is 
 made. A good rule to adopt, when you are " longing for a 
 cup of tea" in London, is to accept of none at any refreshment- 
 place where tlie separate teapot system is not in operation. 
 " Stewed tea," or tea served scalding hot from an urn, where 
 it has probably been "stewing" or boiling for an hour or more 
 over a gas jet, is one of the most pernicious drinks in which 
 any can indulge. Tea handed to you fresh-made in a small 
 earthenware pot is the right kind of brew, and insist on having 
 
 * The consumption of tea in this country, I find, excjcds that of 
 all the other European countries and the United States together. 
 Between 1884 and 1899 the total amount of tea imported into this 
 country for home consumption rose from 175 million pounds 10242 
 millicns, an increase of 38 per cent. In 1884 the tea consumption 
 per head in this country was 5 lb. In 1901, this rore to norly 6 lb.
 
 462 
 
 Loudon of To- Day. 
 
 it so. I have often thought that it might be well, too, if we 
 might have the description of tea we most prefer — China, or 
 Ceylon and Indian mixed, or Indian, or Oolong, or another. 
 This, perhaps, is expecting too much, although I believe that 
 some of the better class of London tea-rooms do permit such a 
 choice. Why not a tea list, just as we have a wine list ? 
 
 Parenthetically, I know of but one place in all London where 
 coffee is served fragrant and good, and that is at the unpreten- 
 tious Groom's Coffee-house on the west side of the gate of 
 the Inner Temple in Fleet Street. Truth 
 to say, Groom's is ancient, stuffy, 
 inconvenient, and at midday 
 insufferably crowded ; 
 but its coffee is good. 
 
 I am sorry to add tlial 
 its hospitality is not 
 extended to ladies. It 
 is indeed the last sur- 
 viving relic of the 
 old-fashioned coffee-rooms of London 
 reserved to the uses of gentlemen only. 
 It supplies well all that it modestly professes to supply ; and 
 one regrets that Groom's, in this age of unceasing enterprise, 
 has not extended its operations, or carried its sensible and 
 well-appreciated way of treating its customers to other and 
 more modern quarters. It may interest some to know that 
 the business of Ciroom's is carried on by women. In its time 
 it must have been patronised by many of the most eminent 
 men on the Bench and at the Bar, and, for aught I know to 
 the contrary, in the Senate, and probably by half the members
 
 Afternoon Tea.
 
 464 London of To-Day. 
 
 of the Law Institute, and most of the students of the Inns of 
 Court. It is astonishing that so simple and yet so keenly 
 appreciated a beverage as a good cup of coffee is so difficult 
 to be had in London. 
 
 The " Mecca" cafes, so named, to be found all about London, 
 meet with a good deal of appreciation from men. But that 
 fact does not induce us to take the palm from where we have 
 bestowed it. The worst coffee is generally to be found in 
 London restaurants, and the worst of all in some of our railway 
 refreshment-rooms controlled by contractors. 
 
 The best Tea-Rooms in London for ladies are to be found in 
 and about Regent Street, Piccadilly, and Bond Street. On 
 the whole, Fullers and Bonthron's establishments provide the 
 best examples of this class of refreshment place in Regent 
 Street for the excellence and tastefulness of their confectionery, 
 to say nothing of the quality and niceness of their teas. This 
 is the opinion of many ladies who have done me the favour to 
 furnish their views on this inviting topic. Fuller's popularity 
 is such that the firm needs no special reference in these pages. 
 There are no London confectioners who excel them in the 
 attractiveness, deliciousness, and variety of the sweetmeats 
 they make, and that is the verdict of the majority. They have 
 branch shops in the .Strand (north side, near the Lyceum pit 
 entrance) and in Victoria Street. Bonthron's place is 106, 
 Regent Street, the entrance being round the corner in Glass- 
 house Street ; Slater's and the Cabin, in Piccadilly (good, 
 cheap, popular places, of the character of Lyons's) ; the Rose 
 Tea-Rooms, in Langham Place ; Hill's, in High Street, 
 Kensington ; Buszard's, in Oxford Street ; the Bungalow, in 
 Conduit Street ; Mrs. Robertson's, BarbeUion's, the Oak House, 
 and the Ladies' Tea Association in Bond Street ; Charbonnels, 
 in the same thoroughfare ; Stewart's, at the Piccadilly corner 
 of Bond Street, should also be mentioned. All these addresses 
 are useful for noting. 
 
 Messrs. Swan and Edgar (a lady tells me) have an excellent
 
 Tea-Rooms for Ladies. 465 
 
 luncheon and tea-voom, and also many of the other leading 
 London shops and nearly all the Kensington ones, such as 
 Barker's, Harrod's Stores, Whiteley's, etc. In the last chapter 
 I have remarked that the Army and Navy Stores, Victoria 
 Street, supply excellent, cheap, and attractive luncheons to 
 ladies shopping, and the Civil Service Stores in the Hay- 
 market also. Tea may now be had in most of the London 
 parks, notably at kiosks in Battersea Park, and tea tents and 
 tables in the Park between Kensington Gardens and Hyde 
 Park — in the summer season only. 
 
 BONTHRON & CO., 
 
 ENGLISH AND FOREIGN BAKERS 
 AND CONFECTIONERS. 
 
 Early Breakfast Rolls supplied to all parts of the West End. 
 
 Ladies Shopping in Regent Street and Neighbourhood 
 ^vill find our 
 
 Ngw f)ining and Ti3a l^ooms 
 
 Replete with every Convenience, 
 FULL DINING MENU DAILY. 
 
 50-52, GLASSHOUSE STREET. 
 106, REGENT STREET. 
 
 (Next Door to Stereoscopic Co.)
 
 London of To-Dav — Advertisements. 
 
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 471 
 
 \ND do you think (asks Mr. 
 Sneer, in Sheridan's well- 
 
 known dramatic piece, 'The Critic') : 
 and do you think there are any 
 wlio are influenced by this?" "O 
 iud I yes, sir. The number of 
 those who undergo the fatigue of 
 judging for themselves (answers the fluent chief personage 
 of the play) is very small indeed." 
 We need not be too precise as to the topic which led up to 
 this conversation ; but it had some relation to art. It would 
 probably be agreed by the majority of artists — whether in the 
 profession of literature, or painting, or the stage — that the 
 number of those who undergo the fatigue of judging for 
 themselves is, indeed, very limited. Ask a painter, hopeful of 
 Academy distinction for 1902, what his opinion on the point 
 is? Or an author (especially him of the poetic temperament), 
 occupied on his life's work, how many friends he can count 
 upon to deliver judgment upon the first half-dozen pages of 
 his MS.? Or, again, ask actor or playwright how man)- 
 persons either can count upon to "judge for themselves" 
 (otherwise, perhaps, than through the medium of a couple of 
 complimentary "stalls") of the interest of his ])articular con- 
 tribution to the drama or to stage art ? 
 
 Recognising, then, how extremely diflicult it is to bring people 
 to the point of judgmg for themselves, we ha\c taken the 
 liberty of endeavouring to save them a good deal of trouble in 
 that direction, by pointing out in the following pages some of 
 the London Shops, of the merits of which we have formed a 
 judgment at once satisfactory and conclusive to ourselves.
 
 London of To-Day — Advertisements. 
 
 l^f(LT 
 
 To H^iR rtAksTy 
 
 
 c©TciHi 
 
 --^Ke^ent Otreet, 
 
 London . w. 
 
 GOWNS, 
 JACKETS, 
 
 AND 
 
 COATS. 
 
 TARTAN RIBBONS, 
 SHETLAND SHAWL, 
 HAND-KNIT HOSIERY. 
 
 SUITS, 
 PLAIDS. 
 
 AND 
 
 RUGS.
 
 London of To-Day. 
 
 473 
 
 -^-^°c^§)^ 
 
 
 VERY one is convinced of the 
 importance of the Shops in 
 any summary of the attractions of 
 London. Their interest to visitors 
 cannot be gainsaid or overlooked. 
 The omission of the shops from the 
 category of London's sights would 
 be fatal to any correct impression 
 of London as a whole. The shops 
 comprise one of its most attractive features ; the most 
 interesting and attractive, indeed, of any, in the view 
 of no inconsiderable proportion of those who daily flock 
 into London. To imagine London of To-Day a huge 
 city of unsightly, lofty, smoke-begrimed, "sky-scraping" 
 stores, destitute of any window displays of tasteful, 
 novel, and pretty things ; of ladies' fashions in costumes, of 
 silks, satins, laces, hats, furs, and the like ; goldsmiths' and 
 silversmiths' wares and jewellery ; pottery, glass, china, furni- 
 ture, bric-;\brac ; pictures, engravings, books, and the rest; 
 to imagine this would be to imagine a city the most unlovely 
 and depressing in the world. Deprive London of its Bond 
 Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly, Oxford Street, Knightsbridge, 
 Buckingham Palace Ro.id, Kensington High Street, West- 
 bourne (irove, and of the manifold attractions of their Shops, 
 and what have we left in London to l)id us tarry for long in 
 its streets ? 
 
 In the eyes of tlie majority of women, ihe shops of the 
 West End pro\ide the chief attractions of town. (Granted 
 
 H II
 
 474 
 
 Londun of To-Day. 
 
 the full liberty of London, with the essential provision of a 
 
 handsome cheque or well-filled purse, and no amusement the 
 town affords offers half the fascination 
 for women that shopping does. Even 
 the minor pleasure of merely looking 
 in the shop windows is by no means 
 lightly esteemed, as an occasional relief 
 from the not uncommon monotony of 
 domestic affairs. Among ladies visiting 
 tow n, from the provinces or abroad, from 
 the colonies, America, or elsewhere, it 
 is beyond question that "the Round of 
 the Shops " is, oftener than not, set 
 down as one of the most important 
 engagements of a visit to town. No 
 
 apology, then, is needed for adding the following chapters 
 
 to the information aheadv given in this book. 
 
 Time was when ladies went shopping in London elsewhere 
 than in the present fashionable and highly favoured districts 
 of the West End. St. Paul's Churchyard, Ludgate Hill, 
 Tottenham Court Road, and even Leicester Square were 
 much frequented for that purpose fifty years ago. The two 
 last-named localities have still their attractions, in respect 
 of two well-known and long-established drapery houses ; and 
 St. Paul's Churchyard, hemmed in as it is on its south side 
 by extensive "dry goods" stores in the wholesale line, has 
 on its northern side three or four attractive shops, doing a 
 considerable retail trade in ladies' dress, principally with 
 visitors from the provinces and eastern suburbs. Ludgate 
 Hill has long since lost the shawl shops for which it was 
 famous in the fifties. No one ever sees shawls now such as 
 were then worn. Ludgate Hill, however, still commends itself 
 to the attention of mothers on the look out for bargains in
 
 Shopping Resorts and Shopping. 475 
 
 boys' clothing, or of housewives interested in carpet-buying. 
 Fleet Street may be said to be given over to the business 
 of advertising shops, rather than of trafficking in such wares 
 as shops display. The Strand, from Fleet Street to Charing 
 Cross, may be styled a man's thoroughfare, save, perhaps, 
 as to its westernmost end. Charing Cross itself, and its 
 extensions of Cockspur Street on the south side and Pall 
 Mall on the north, show no better examples of London shops 
 for ladies and gentlemen alike, than the well-known silver- 
 smith's next the National Gallery, the well-known furnishing 
 establishment in Pall Mall East, and the equally well-known 
 watchmaker's at the corner of Spring Gardens — each firm 
 of the highest repute in its way. 
 
 A very convenient starting-point for shopping is Charing 
 Cross, the great hotel centre of London, for you plunge 
 forthwith i/i incih'ns rrs, as the Latinists say : you are in the 
 time-honoured central circle of West-End London, whence the 
 four-miles cab system radiates. Few Londoners themselves 
 know whereabouts the four-miles radius ends ; but no matter, 
 for "cabby" himself always knows, and exacts from a fare 
 travelling outside its limits the uttermost shilling allowed by 
 the regulations. Vou can hardly do better than reach Regent 
 Street by way of Trafalgar Square, for hereabouts (as I have 
 remarked), particulavly on the north side, named Pall Mall 
 East, are shops of excellent repute : Hampton's, to wit. One 
 of the delights of shopping is to discover that which is new. 
 Few women leave home or hotel with any pre-arranged plan. 
 They have no definite idea, as a rule, of what they wish to 
 buy. Purse in hand, and properly filled, they only know 
 that they must buy something ; and the newer, the better. 
 Of course, I am not now referring to the purchase of necessary 
 articles of dress, or to periodical visits made to dressmakers 
 and milliners. The puzzle to most men of studious or 
 inquiring mind is, how women "out shopping" contrive to 
 make up their mind at all. They rarely say to themselves,
 
 476 
 
 London of To- Day. 
 
 " I am going to one London shop, and do not propose to 
 be diverted a yard from it"; still more rarely do they make 
 for one department of that shop and confine 
 their attention to it. Half of the pleasures of 
 shopping would be gone, in making a rigorous 
 rule to go direct to one department of an 
 establishment, and to close the eyes to the 
 attractions of all the others. It would be bad 
 times for the dressmakers and milliners if 
 women did their shopping like men. Even 
 if women buy nothing, they always like to 
 be tempted to buy. To " price " things, and 
 to see the fashions, is a legitimate part of 
 the business of shopping. Shopkeepers are far 
 too wise to attempt to stay any inclinations in these directions, 
 albeit "pricing things" tends at times to irritability and vex- 
 ation of spirit on the part of shopmen. 
 
 For more than fifty years Bond Street has held the 
 reputation of being the most fashionable Shopping Resort in 
 London, and it still maintains that distinction. Regent Street 
 may advance a claim to the honour ; but no Londoner who 
 knows his London intimately will dispute that Bond Street 
 enjoys a larger share of the patronage of the aristocracy and 
 wealthier residents of the Court quarter than any other street. 
 Regent Street is the Mecca of provincial and suburban 
 pilgrims and foreign visitors, and none will gainsay its prestige 
 as the sightliest and best-planned London street — the show 
 street, indeed, of London —whose brilliant array of well-kept 
 shops, with their well-displayed wares of every kind and 
 description, have long ago made it also one of the best 
 appreciated Sights of London, at all events in the eyes of 
 visitors. Some of its shops are without counterpart elsewhere, 
 as, for example, its long-famed warehouse of Jay's, Limited ; its
 
 A June Mcrning in Regent Street.
 
 478 London of To- Day. 
 
 "Tartan Warehouse"' of Scott Adie ; its "Irish Warehouse'' 
 of Messrs. Inghs and Tinckler ; its " International Fur Store " ; 
 its " Liliputian Warehouse " of Messrs. Swears and Wells ; its 
 well-known shop for the sale of Liberty's wares, Japanese and 
 Eastern goods, and also home-manufactured fabrics ; its head 
 establishment of Mr. Goodyer, long time a professor in the art 
 of cliarming the eye with brilliant window display of draperies, 
 silks, satins, and damasks in loveliest array of colours ; the 
 Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Company's headquarters estab- 
 lishment, with its exhibition of gold and silver work ; the 
 spacious Belfast Linen Warehouse of Robinson and Cleaver ; 
 Fuller's American confectionery head depjt and so on, and 
 so on. One shop alone in Regent Street makes no display of 
 what it has at command within, and that bears the name of 
 Tiffany, of New York. In this respect it may be likened to the 
 plainly dressed Ambassador from America standing in the 
 midst of a splendidly uniformed and much decorated Court. 
 Possibly its very lack of display proves its best advertisement. 
 There is only one other famous shop in London less ornate even 
 than Tiffany's, and that is Garrard's, whose establishment in the 
 Haymarket gives no token to the passer-by of the wealth of 
 gold and silver wares to be found within. 
 
 Regent Street is the Mecca, we repeat, of provincial and 
 suburban pilgrims, and, needless to add, of foreign visitors. 
 There are other shrines, however, well enough known to 
 ladies who live in London : to wit, Knightsbridge, and the 
 Sloane Street locale ; Buckingham Palace Road ; High Street, 
 Kensington ; the north-east part of Tottenham Court Road ; 
 Westbourne Grove; the Brompton Road, Fulham ; King's Road, 
 Chelsea ; High Road, Streatham ; the Pavement, Clapham ; 
 the Promenade, Brixton Road ; Newington Causewa)-, etc., etc. 
 As a rule, each huge drapery establishment has its own London 
 radius, though seme may extend their connections by parcel 
 post and special delivery all over the metropolis and far into 
 the provinces. These imposing concerns arc independent, to
 
 Shopping Resorts and Shopping. 
 
 /:q 
 
 Regent Street (Langham I'lacej. 
 
 some extent, of counter trade. They have vast shop frontages, 
 no doubt, but they do not rely upon tlie display of goods 
 or window dressing. Much business nowadays is transacted 
 through the " medium " (such is the professional phrase) of 
 illustrated catalogues and sample post— by which a lady is 
 able to do her shopping at her own fireside, so to say. Regent 
 Street, and in the same breath may almost be mentioned 
 Oxford Street east and west of Oxford Circus and leading north 
 to Langham Place, and as to its upper parts, Tottenham Court 
 Road — though the distinction and the difference is freely to be 
 acknowledged -have attractions superior to those of many other 
 pnrts of London. Regent .Street still holds pre-eminence, not- 
 withstanding the severe and increasing competition of the 
 suburbs. Could the whole of London's suburbs bring together
 
 480 Loudon of To- Day. 
 
 any finer show of sparkling jewels than may be found in one 
 Regent Street firm's windows ? Could Paris itself even surpass 
 the delicate colour harmonies which are here to be seen, in 
 cashmeres, silks, and brocades, and softest of fabrics ? Where 
 else is there greater variety to charm the eye, whether it be in 
 gowns, or wraps, or furs, or brocades, or finest linens, or painted 
 fans, or leather goods, or silver ornaments, or faience, or 
 bronzes, or ceramics of every kind, not to forget mention of the 
 charming display always made at Fuller's confectionery store. 
 Fuller's is one of the prettiest and daintiest window displays 
 in London, and apparently changing every day. No other 
 confectioners come anywhere near them in the art ofwindoA'- 
 dressing, and surely this firm leads in the attractiveness and 
 excellence of its sweetmeats. 
 
 It is curious that Bond Street, so much less convenient 
 for foot-passengers, and so much less spacious for carriages 
 and cabs, should have maintained its place for much more 
 than half a century as London's leading Shopping Resort. 
 There is little doubt that its past history had somewhat to 
 do with the fact. Originally a street of private residences 
 of the aristocracy, and later the locality of lodging-houses 
 and hotels of the highest class, it never lost favour with the 
 well-to-do of St. James's and Mayfair. When, in due course 
 of time, its lodging-houses — many eminent men and women 
 lodged in them — became shops, they were eagerly rented 
 by the more famous of the goldsmiths and jewellers from 
 the City side of London, of whom two remain to this day. 
 They, in their turn, attracted the high-class dealers in bric-a- 
 brac, china, old furniture, and pictures, and of tailors, hatters, 
 hosiers, and, later. Court milliners and dressmakers ; and so 
 Bond Street became what it now is — the leading street of 
 shops in London, and certainly one of the streets of Europe.
 
 Loudon of / o-D(\v—Advcrtisenieuts. 
 
 LTD., 
 
 HOOK, KNOWLES&Co/^ 
 
 Boot ana $l)oe l))anufacfurer$ 
 
 TO THE COURTS OF EUROPE. 
 
 JGv; Special Ilppointmcnt to 
 
 IF^cr /iRajcstg Queen BlejanCira. 
 66 & 65, NEW BOND STREET. 
 
 Speciality- LADIES' HUNTING AND RIDING BOOTS. 
 
 Gentlemen's Department, No. 65. 
 
 "JAEGER" TAILORS 
 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 
 UNITED KINGDOM. 
 
 
 ^^^ _ /"x jjQi 
 
 r^a^ 
 
 
 GENERAL 
 
 
 AND 
 
 
 SPORTING TAILORS. 
 
 42, CONDUIT 
 
 STREET, LONDON, W.
 
 London of To-Day — Advertisements. 
 
 I The One Place for Good I 
 I Table Linen in London I 
 
 " fKTRiPT FROM i C.llfiTnMFR' H I FTTFff ■ 
 
 EXTRACT FROM A CUSTOMER'S LETTER: 
 
 "... Such custonaers as myself, having still in 
 use a table cloth and parts of others, boug:ht by my father 
 nearly ninety years ago, feel that the old shop was the one 
 place for good table linen in London." 
 
 m 
 
 ILSONS 
 
 Sviccefsors Ltd. 
 
 During ihe whole of the xXIXETEENTH CEXTUKV, having 
 maintained a reputation for keeping, at 159, Bond Street, the 
 very be.st antl most 
 
 ARTISTIC TABLE LINEN, 
 
 have commenced the TWENTIETH CENTURY at 
 188, REGENT STREET, where they intend to increase, 
 if possible, their reputation by continuing to supply the same 
 old-fashioned qualities in 
 
 DAMASKS, SHEETS, HOUSE LINEN, etc., 
 
 and the Newest Designs and Latest Novelties in 
 
 CURTAINS,TEACLOTHS,HANDKERCHIEFS, 
 
 ETC. 
 
 Their Illustrated Catalogue will show 
 
 th.it their Prices are most Moderate. 
 Time will show 
 
 that the (Quality of their Goods is Unefjualleil. 
 
 A POINT FOR AMERICANS. 
 
 Messrs. Wilsons' having an Ajjency in New York, deliver 
 Goods in America, Freight and Duty Paid, saving Cus- 
 tomers worry and expense. Send for particulars. 
 
 188, REGENT ST., LONDON, W. 

 
 Loudon of To-Day. 
 
 483 
 
 mc. 
 
 T^ZERE it net for tlic presence of Ladies and the con- 
 tributory brightness and elegance of Ladies' Dress at 
 th2 various functions, entertainments, shows, and festivities of 
 the London Season, it would, after all, make no great show 
 in the calendar. What, for example, is the chief feature of 
 the Royal Drawing-room other than the personal presence 
 of Royalty ? The beauty of the Dress and other personal 
 charms of those presenting, and to be presented, at Court. 
 What is the most imposing characteristic of the Grand Opera- 
 house in the months of May and June ? What else but the 
 splendour of the audience, cf which ladies of rank, fashion, 
 and beauty, in the most charming of full-dress, comprise 
 the most attractive part. What is the most pleasing feature 
 of the Lawn at Ascot? Unquestionably the dresses of 
 the ladies. What is it that contributes so materially to the 
 ])rilliance and successful arrangements of the Ball, the Dance, 
 the Dinner-party, the Garden-fete, the Reception, and the 
 rest ? Nothing so much as the elegance and taste shown in 
 the gowns and costumes of the ladies present. What is it 
 that has made Henley Regatta so world-f;unous as a river- 
 scene? Little else but the famous beauty-^^how and the charms 
 of colour displayed by the many graceful women who frequent 
 it. Finally, what is there in connection with the promenade 
 l)ordering the "Drive'" and the "Row" in Hyde Park, other 
 than those admirable effects produced by the landscape- 
 gardeners' art in the planting and arranging of trees, shrubs,
 
 484 Loudon of To-Day. 
 
 and flower-beds contiguous thereto, which has given " The 
 Park "a name and a fame for interest and beauty throughout 
 Europe : indeed, throughout the whole world ? What but the 
 marvellous display of women's Dress in the London Season, 
 especially in the week after Ascot, which attracts more eager 
 sightseers among the gentler sex than any other sight which 
 London has to offer ? 
 
 An American lady assures me that the finest display of 
 Dress she has ever anywhere seen — which is conceding a 
 great deal on an American lady's part - is that exhibited in 
 Hyde Park, at what is flippantly known as " Prayer-book 
 parade," on the Sunday following Ascot. My American 
 friend would undoubtedly be entitled in her own land to the 
 prefatory distinction " traveled," an adjective which every good 
 dictionary of the English language admits as proper when spelt 
 with two " ll's," but which is rarely made use of by us thus — 
 " a traveled Englishwoman." However, there is not much 
 in this point, except as showing our own aptness at criticism. 
 The point of real interest is that the show of Ladies' Dress 
 in London in the full of London's Season meets with the 
 enthusiastic approval of an American lady, who herself, by 
 the wa)', exhibits a very pretty taste and style, studied (as I 
 happen to know) in the leading dressmakers' salons of Paris 
 and London, whence originate all the most charming examples 
 in woman's dress to be seen in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, 
 Chicago, and other noteworthy American cities, at balls, 
 receptions, dinner-parties, and so on. 
 
 ****** 
 
 " There is no mistaking American tourists," a London daily 
 tells us. " There are more of women than men, and nearly 
 all the former are dressed alike. More than half of them 
 wear glasses— frameless pince-nez. Seven-tenths of them 
 affect a felt hat with the top knocked in, and a speckled
 
 Round the Shops. 485 
 
 handkerchief twisted around it. Four-fifths wear tailor-made 
 and well-cut tweed costumes, the coat basqueless and clipping 
 the waist like an ardent lover's arm. AU display the pendant 
 reticule, which no American lady who travels is ever seen 
 without when walking." No one will say that, in these 
 particulars, American ladies show less taste than English 
 ladies. The "pendant reticule" has not yet "caught on" 
 in England to any great extent ; but probably it will, and then 
 Oxford Street and Regent Street and Bond Street will probably 
 improve upon it. But this by the way. 
 
 As for the "tailor-made and well-cut tweed costumes," these 
 surely discover the world-wide fame of Redfern— of our own 
 Redfern, of Conduit Street, London, W. — who first gave to 
 the world the most permanent and pleasing fashion of our 
 time— the tailor-made dress for women. We guess none can 
 beat it for style, fitness, and finish. Ask men, who are ever 
 the keenest and most exacting critics of women's dress, which 
 is the costume most befitting and attractive in their eye ? The 
 "tailor-made" they will all tell you, as being the lady's " walking- 
 habit " nearest allied to the lady's "riding-habit," in which all 
 women appear to so much advantage when the habit is well 
 cut and really well made. Redfern's sahvis in Conduit Street 
 display, season by season. Spring, Summer, Autumn, and 
 Winter, the most original and charming examples of latest 
 fashion in Dress for ladies, adapted to their every require- 
 ment — Dress for evening wear, for balls, dinner-parties, the 
 theatres, for riding, driving, walking, travelling, sporting 
 purposes, for yachting, etc., and, needless to add, for all the 
 functions of the Court. No one will dispute Redfern's pre- 
 eminent position in London as arliiters of the mode for 
 women. 
 
 Dressmakers "by appointment" — such is the official and 
 highly esteemed designation and privilege — to half the Royalties 
 of Europe, among whom are, of course, included the several 
 Royalties of this kingdom united ; the Firm would fail in the
 
 486 Loudon of To-Dav. 
 
 first essential of such a position, if it were not "arbiters of 
 the mode " in respect of Ladies' Dress. It must needs originate, 
 design, and promulgate to the world of fashion the most stylish 
 and attractive mode : or what becomes of its leading position ? 
 Princesses are never content to follow in such matters ; they 
 lead. Other ladies follow, and generally consider themselves 
 fortunate if they are not left too far behind. To make a long 
 story short, if a lady wishes to see what London has to show 
 in the way of latest styles in Dress, she should stroll through 
 the rooms of Redfern. 
 
 There is one shop in Regent Street, on the west side, 
 No. 115 — 115A, Scott Adie's to wit, which is one of the land- 
 marks of the Town. It is the Scotch Warehouse of London 
 entitled to the distinguished prefix "Royal" — a place famed 
 throughout Europe for its Scotch goods — Tartans, Shawls, 
 Scotch Rugs, Plaids, Hand-knit hose, Highland Jewellery, and 
 the like. Every article of dress of genuine Scotch manufacture 
 may be bought here, alike for ladies and for gentlemen. It 
 is within the truth to say, that for its specialities in the depart- 
 ments named, the shop of Scott Adie has no counterpart in 
 London ; a genuinely high-class establishment of long and well- 
 earned repute for the sale of Scotch goods for dress purposes. 
 ****** 
 
 The sign of the Shamrock is a pleasing and attractive sign. 
 It stands as the trade-mark of Messrs. Inglis and Tinckler 
 ("the Irish Warehouse "), No. 147, Regent Street. Yor many 
 years their Firm has been famed for its Irish Laces, Irish 
 Linens, and Irish Poplins, and particularly for its " Hand-loom 
 Table-cloths and Napkins" of Irish manufacture. A capital 
 place this for buying any of these charming, characteristic, 
 and high-class productions of Ireland ; not to omit mention of 
 such things as fine Irish cambric pocket-handkerchiefs, hem- 
 stitched and initialed, which always appeal to the fine taste
 
 Rotiud the Shops. 487 
 
 of American ladies and gentlemen. Inglis and Tinckler show 
 a large assortment of new and novel designs in damasks and 
 laces, as inexpensive as they are good. 
 
 It is common knowledge that the International Fur Stores 
 (163 — 165, Regent Street) is a flourishing branch of Jay's, 
 and truly Jay's is a London firm of repute. We happened 
 upon an advertisement of Jay's the other day, published week 
 after week in a volume of the lUiisiratcd Louion Ne^vs for 
 1848, notifying all and sundry, the ladies of London, what 
 splendid store of new style silks, satins, shawls, mantles, 
 bonnets, and fashionable costumes (only women's dresses were 
 not called costumes in those days) were there and then on 
 exhibition at the (even then) well - known establishment 
 standing at the corner of Regent Street, Oxford Circus. 
 On the same same side of Regent Street, about midway 
 between the two " circuses," so named — Oxford Circus and 
 Piccadilly Circus— are the International Fur Stores, the 
 leading house in London for furs for women and furs for 
 men. There is no single variety, used for modern purposes 
 of dress, of which an example may not be found here ; an 
 example of the best, alike in the quality of the natural skin, 
 the dressing, the dye, the make-up, and the fashion — black 
 Russian sable, ordinary sable, sea otter, silver fox, the beautiful 
 white Arctic fox, seal, ermine, chinchilla, mink — whatsoever 
 fur )ou ma)- admire most. These are fashioned into mufts, 
 ties, boas, capes, cloaks, and trimmings for women, and into 
 coats for men : coats for travelling or for cold, wintry nights, 
 coming from the club or the House of Commons (every 
 observant man of the town knows the fur-lined House of 
 Commons coat) and women's cloaks, very charming in colour, 
 fit, fashion, and trimming for chilly nights, coming from 
 threatres, dinner-parties, balls, and the like. The conclusion 
 of the whole matter is this, that the reputation of the
 
 488 
 
 London of To-Day. 
 
 International Fur Stores is second to none in London for 
 the variety, quality, and fashion of the wares there on show 
 and there dealt in. 
 
 On the east side of Regent Street (Nos. 174 an 1 198) almost 
 fronting Conduit Street, are two of the shops of Mr. F. 15. 
 Goodyer, whose excellent taste in window display of coloured 
 fabrics for furnishing and decorative purposes has long made 
 these among the more attractive shops of this thoroughfare, 
 for what might \ery well be known as " Goodyer wares." The
 
 Round the Shops. 4S9 
 
 two shops combined have as varied a collection of pretty, 
 artistic, and original designs in cretonnes, muslins, printed 
 velvets, tapestries, silks, etc., adapted to all kinds of interior 
 decoration ; and also of quaint and original furniture, chairs, 
 screens, tables, overmantels, book- cases, bedsteads (in wood- 
 work), and the like, as Regent Street has to show. 
 
 In making reference here to Mr. Goodyer's places, we 
 commend to the attention of any who may be interested in 
 the gold, gem, enamel, and silver jewellery of British India, 
 the interesting and beautiful collection of such work which 
 he exhibits, and which, we believe, are unique of their kind. 
 Any lady who might wish to purchase for herself a pretty 
 and really artistic necklet entirely out of the common, or 
 any gentleman who might be desirous to make a gift to a 
 lady of such an acceptable article of jewellery, could hardly 
 do better than to see what the Goodyer shops have that 
 way to show. I doubt if any London house has a more 
 interesting collection of pretty things from the Indian Pre- 
 sidencies : jewellery, for example, from Delhi, Lucknow, 
 Jeypore, and Agra — some of it antique and rare, the most 
 of it admirably selected, and all of it charming in design 
 and colour, particularly in the disposition and setting of the 
 gems ; decorative fabrics, embroideries, and curtains from 
 Umritza and Kajputana ; Indian carpets and rugs from 
 Beejapur, Jubblepore, and Agra ; decorative pottery from 
 Mooltan, Azimghur, and Bombay ; decorative tiles from the 
 Punjaub ; Bombay hand-carved blackwood furniture ; inlaid 
 metal works from Beder, Moradabad, and Poona ; to say 
 nothing of a miscellaneous collection of native arms, shields, 
 musical instruments, idols, toys, etc., etc. 
 
 The whole of these things are well deserving the attention 
 of American and other visitors unfamiliar with the exquisite 
 work in enamels, metals, gold, and silver that British India 
 produces. Some of the jewellery and other articles on exhi- 
 bition at Goodyer's are the reverse of expensive, while, apart 
 
 I I
 
 490 London of To-Day. 
 
 from their intrinsic value, tliey possess the merit of being 
 curious and uncommon. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Examples of what latter-day enterprise has accomplished, 
 in changing the long-established business traditions of a great 
 and notable trade, may be found in the goldsmiths' and silver- 
 smiths' shops. Those establishments are among the most 
 noteworthy and attractive in the always attractive Broad 
 Street. The goldsmith's is one of the oldest trades extant, 
 as it is also one of the least amenable to change ; in that 
 respect influenced not a little, doubtless, by the high position 
 it commands, as one of the recognised interpreters of the 
 Fine Arts. Workers in the precious metals have ever ranked 
 among the most skilled and talented handicraftsmen of 
 every age and country. That fact has contributed in some 
 measure to make their business least disposed to new enter- 
 prises. The goldsmith's might with some truth be styled the 
 most conservative of all the trades. To break away from its 
 old business methods, of appealing chiefly to the patronage 
 of the wealthy rather than to the popular support, and to 
 modernise those methods, so to say, required not less courage 
 than enterprise. 
 
 At No. 172, New Bond Street, is the so-named "Quest 
 Gallery"— the latest development of the goldsmiths' and 
 jewellers' trade at the west-end of London. It is, in fact, 
 the branch retail establishment of that old and well-known 
 City house, Johnson, Walker, and Tolhurst, of 80, Moorgate 
 Street, E.C., manufacturing goldsmiths, silversmiths, and 
 jewellers. In the " Quest Gallery " itself you may perchance 
 pick up a good piece of old gold or siher ware ; a good bronze 
 or two ; some choice and interesting specimens of intaglios and 
 cameos ; examples of Old French watches, of old miniatures, 
 and ivories ; of work in the precious metals, and the like. 
 In the shop itself )ou will find displayed many charming 
 illustrations of modern fashionaljle jewellery, among not the
 
 Round the Shops. 491 
 
 least noteworthy of which is the sapphire set work for which 
 this Firm has gained considerable reputation. We doubt 
 if there be another house in London which offers, in so large 
 choice and \ariety, Jewellery of which sapphires form the 
 most distinctive and attractive feature. For gems of every 
 kind, set and unset, 172, New Bond Street, is an address 
 well worth noting. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 A Regent Street firm, whose claim to notice in these pages 
 every one who knows London will allow, is that of Wilson's, 
 No. 188 in that thoroughfare (lately transferred from Bond 
 Street), famed for its linens. For tasteful table purposes, the 
 damasks, wrought in divers patterns from original designs of 
 some of our foremost English artists, which Wilson's have on 
 sale are not excelled by any house in London. Ladies who 
 might wish to inspect some of the most beautiful and artistic 
 productions in this class of work, for tablecloths, table-napkins, 
 teacloths, etc., etc., would do well to see what this firm has to 
 show. And not only in that line do Wilson's especially excel, 
 but in others collateral to it; as in daintily embroidered hand- 
 kerchiefs, curtains in lace, applique, etc., fashioned from their 
 own exclusive designs, needless to add, in the best possible 
 taste. Wilson's is one of Regent .Street's most interesting shops. 
 Considering the excellent quality and admittedly high standard 
 of its productions, the prices asked for them are moderate. At 
 all events, it is cheaper in the long run to go to a house whose 
 wares are of this character, rather than to another which makes 
 no claim to special merit on the artistic side of its pro- 
 ductions. Well-known artists like Walter Crane, Day, and 
 Anning Bell are not at the beck and call of every one. They 
 look to have their designs skilfully reproduced, and that result 
 is obtained in Wilson's linen factory. It may be mentioned 
 that the firm has now an American branch house at 100, William 
 Street, New York. Its sole London address, we repeat, is now 
 No. 188, Regent Street.
 
 492 London of To-Day. 
 
 It would appear from report (and general observation, too) 
 that Englishwomen are giving more attention than formerly to 
 what a lady journalist slangily names, their "foot-gear." It 
 used to be said of our countrywomen, that they have the 
 prettiest faces and ugliest feet of any women. But this state- 
 ment is in part untrue. That they have the prettiest faces in 
 the world, the world \ery well knows. As to their feet, 
 these are generally considered by competent critics to be not 
 less attractive than their faces, except that, in times past, 
 English ladies would insist on being shod in what are known 
 among men as " roomy " boots. The fashion of the shoe for 
 walking purposes brought about a change in that respect. An 
 ill-fitting ugly shoe no lady dare wear. Well-fitting, filmy 
 silken hose, at 35.i-. a pair, required a neat and pretty shoe to set 
 the stocking ofif. Ladies gave greater heed to the fit and 
 appearance of boots and shoes for walking purposes, and there 
 are no women in the world who now wear neater and daintier 
 or better made boots and shoes than the English. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Such a firm as Hook, Knowles & Co., of 66 and 65, New 
 Bond Street, has no superiors and few equals as makers of 
 ladies' boots and shoes, no matter in what city a lady may 
 make search — in Paris, Vienna, Brussels, New York, where- 
 soever she will. The notion that only Paris can produce 
 pretty boots is long since exploded. American ladies of fashion 
 quite as often have their boots made in London as their gowns. 
 Hook, Knowles & Co. have many American customers, as well 
 among the elite of those married and resident in London, as of 
 those who yearly visit London. The firm holds a special 
 warrant of appointment as boot and shoe manufacturers to the 
 Princess of Wales, now H.M. the Queen Ale,xandra. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Mr. Joseph Box, of 187, Regent Street, also has a long- 
 established reputation (his business dates from 1808) as a court
 
 Rniiin/ flir Shops. 493 
 
 bootmaker, well-known to the fashionable world of London. 
 The lady who signs herself " Ardern Holt " in the (^ucen (the 
 ladies' newspaper of London) tells me that Mr. Box is not only 
 a master of his craft, but an artist of exceptional ability, in the 
 designing- and making of boots and shoes for women. 
 
 * * * * -x- * 
 
 One of the best authorities on the two following subjects 
 sends us these notes : A very admirable dressmaker is Madame 
 Marie Rice, 38, Alfi'ed Place West, opposite .South Kensington 
 Railway Station, not costly, but quite up to date, and capable 
 of furnishing a bride with an outfit such as she would be proud 
 to wear, as also her attendant bridesmaids, for a very moderate 
 sum. An evening dress carries a certain amount of style with 
 it, and a dowdy one is intolerable ; but in these hard times, 
 with an Income Tax of a shilling in the pound, we are some 
 of us appalled at the prices we are asked to pay, and hail 
 with delight a modiste like the present one, who will turn 
 you out as you should be turned out, leaving you at least a 
 few bawbees in your purse. 
 
 ****** 
 
 No lady is considered well-dressed nowadays without being 
 Men coiffcc. There is an art in the arrangement of hair 
 compassed only by first-class hairdressers, such as Messrs. 
 Dubosch & Gillingham, 285, Regent Street, who understand 
 the scalp of the head and the structure of the liair ; so that, 
 even when restoring the colour of the tresses and bringing 
 them quite up to date, they are not likely to do anything 
 injurious to either. They study the form of the head, and 
 in constructing those additions which so many women almost 
 inevitably have to fall back upon, they would not spoil the 
 shape by any redundancy that would interfere with the outline. 
 Their "transformations," which mean an entire head-dress 
 slipped over the natural hair, greatly favoured by those who 
 mix a great deal in the world, and who are often pressed for
 
 494 London of To-Day. 
 
 time, cannot be surpassed. The Romney style is the keynote 
 of fashion just now ; and Messrs. Dubosch and GiUingham are 
 past masters in the art of producing this. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 It may be that this book will be seen and consulted by others 
 than visitors to London ; by some, for example, who con- 
 template making a more or less lengthened stay here, or 
 possibly of presently permanently residing in London or in 
 its suburbs. If the question of Furnishing a house, flat, or 
 rooms should enter into their calculations, there can be no 
 harm — on the contrary it may pro\'e of some service — to call 
 attention to the facilities which Messrs. Norman and Stacey, 
 of Tottenham Court Road, offer in this generally important, 
 and sometimes the reverse of easy to be accomplished, business. 
 Their firm has gained considerable reputation in England, not 
 merely as extensive house furnishers in the ordinary sense 
 but as a firm ready to grant unusually favourable and equitable 
 conditions of payment, to customers who may desire some 
 concession in the way of "credit'' ; or, possibly, to pay for 
 some part of such furniture as they may require, on what is 
 now very well known as the "hire-purchase system." This 
 firm's new premises in Tottenham Court Road (252 — 256) dis- 
 play a large and attractive choice of every kind of excellent 
 and artistic household furniture ; and the firm itself is ready 
 to give every information, to supply illustrated catalogues, 
 price lists, and brochures, and to explain in detail to cus- 
 tomers the various advantages and facilities they are ready 
 to afford.
 
 Loudon of To-Day — Advertisor.enti^. 
 
 " <3V[r. IVhitaker can advise yon upon all 
 the latest ■proprieties of dress ^ and turn you 
 out in faultless style if you elect to con- 
 sult himy 
 
 *Whitaki:p & (^ 
 
 Court, Milikiiv, & Sporting 
 
 T AILQPS, 
 
 43, Conduit Street, 
 
 LONDON, W. 
 
 And at rra 
 
 19, Castle Street, 
 
 LIVERPOOL. 
 
 And .^>- 
 
 518, Fifth Avenue, 
 
 NEW YORK.
 
 London of To- Day — Advertisements. 
 
 WOODROW, 
 
 46, Piccadilly, 
 LONDON, W. 
 
 ladies'ridTnghats 
 
 a Specialite. 
 
 Every Kind of HAlTor 
 Dress&SportingWear . 
 
 PANAMA HATS for 
 Ladies& Gentlemen. 
 
 Largest Stock in Europe. 
 
 FACTORIES: 
 
 LONDON and STOCKPORT, 
 
 and at 
 
 MANCHESTER, LIVERPOOL. 
 GLASGOW, and DUBLIN. 
 
 t'iti/ A)It1>-fss : 
 
 42, CORNHILL, EX. 
 
 JOSEPH Bex. 
 
 Court Bootmaker, 
 
 1iS)\> Hppotntment to (Siucen aicjan^ra. 
 
 187, REGENT STREET, W. 
 
 ESTABLISHED 1808. 
 
 Illustrated List 
 forwarded. 
 Post Free.
 
 London of To-Day. 
 
 497 
 
 Gentlemen's Dress. 
 
 Professors of the Art 
 in London . . . . 
 
 I 
 
 T is unnecessary to quote 
 authorities for the serious- 
 ness of this subject. A hunch-ed 
 might be adduced within the 
 range of our own reading, from 
 Shakespeare to Thackeray. We 
 might quote Sterne, for ex- 
 ample, as to the expedience of 
 never betraying the poverty of 
 the purse by the shabbiness 
 of the clothes. We might have 
 recourse to Lord Chesterfield 
 the Lettered to show how essen- 
 tial it is to appear well-dressed 
 in the company of one's equals, 
 and of what paramount import- 
 ance it is to appear so in the 
 company of one's superiors. We 
 might quote Lord lieaconsfield 
 (in his earlier years), as to the 
 wisdom of always being on the best terms with one's tailor, 
 who may make or mar us as he will. And we might refer 
 to Thomas Carlyle as to the unquestioned supremacy of the 
 tailor in the high art of fashioning man. Authorities might 
 be quoted, ancient or modern, by the score ; but it is cjuite
 
 498 London of To-Dav. 
 
 needless to do so, since e\ei'y gentleman knows that his 
 dress is as important to his success in life as a knowledge 
 of affairs. In point of fact, a man's knowledge of affairs, 
 however extensive and well-grounded, would be of little worth, 
 except his tailor first of all took him in hand, and clothed him 
 in such fashion as allowed him to make a creditable appearance 
 before the world. Did ever any one know a successful man, in 
 the hey-day of his career, who was right-down badly dressed 
 from hat to boots ? 
 
 Name me a bishop, or a judge, or a general, or a diplomatist, 
 or distinguished civilian, or successful consulting-physician, 
 or Q.C., or financier, or pushful M.P. (well on his way to 
 Cabinet rank), or Stock Exchange man, or leading West End 
 tradesman, or rich Colonial, or wealthy American (to whom 
 Europe is a mere happy hunting-ground for kings, princes, 
 dukes, lords, in order to tell them good stories) ; name me a 
 single instance, I say, of one of these, who has not fought 
 his way upward by the aid of his Tailor. Ingratitude (as some 
 of us know full well) is one of the commonest characteristics 
 of humanity ; and it is only when the successful man has 
 attained the very summit of his ambition, and has grown old, 
 and taken to reading Ecclesiastes, and its counterpart of the 
 Apocrypha, in place of the Morniiii^ Post ; it is only then 
 that he pushes away the ladder which has helped him upward, 
 and takes to clothing himself like a Metropolitan pauper out 
 for his monthly holiday. 
 
 I should say that no professional man knows the world 
 of men so well, or has been made the sharer of so many 
 men's confidences, as a great London Tailor. If, in the 
 course of my own professional pursuits, it happens that I wish 
 to make sure of some fact touching London Society, or to 
 be accurately informed on some official or private regulation 
 touching the Court, or to be told what such or such a 
 personage's career has been in this line or in that, or 
 " Who's who," or " What's what," in London of To-Day
 
 Gentlemen's Dress. 499 
 
 generally ; I have but to send my card in to some one of my 
 old professional friends of Bond Street, Conduit Street, Savile 
 Row or St. James's, and after half an hour's conversation in 
 the inner room what I carry away with me might make very 
 pretty copy for TriitJt. Rut, as all my professional friends 
 are gentlemen, and I myself lay claim to the same rank, 
 nothing leaks out that should be deemed confidential. 
 
 It is everywhere conceded that in the high art of fashioning 
 Gentlemen's Dress, London rules the world. That interesting 
 fact further implies that the West End rules London. The 
 West End, therefore, holds the premier position in the tailoring 
 world. Even the more famous of the City's tailors, gentlemen 
 who " rig out " (as the vulgar say) the Stock Exchange 
 "swells" — and, by the Lord Harry! some of its members are 
 " swells " indeed — will admit that they borrow all the best 
 ideas for their most artistic productions from the West End. 
 One exception, perhaps, might be made. The Stock Exchange 
 generally designs its own waistcoats ; and for beauty of colour 
 they are not less charming at times than the breast-plumage 
 of parrots or cock pheasants. But as a rule Stock Exchange 
 gentlemen have no time for thinking out clothes. All their 
 time is taken up with thinking out money. At the West End, 
 on the other hand, gentlemen do not employ their time that 
 way. Money is already theirs, thought out and piled up for 
 them by others. The result is, that those gentlemen have all 
 the greater leisure for attending to the designs and details 
 of Dress — of course, under the advice and inspiration of its 
 more famous professors, practising westward of the City. 
 
 That sober mean of colour and cut which never detains the 
 eye for a moment may be considered the perfect style in the 
 Dress of a Gentleman. It is ridiculous to suppose that one 
 may attain it, any more than he can attain perfection of style in 
 anything else, without advice or training. Here and there in
 
 500 London of To-Dnv. 
 
 some departments of life one may happen upon the inborn 
 genius, " the infant prodigy," the youthful inventor, and the 
 like ; but, as we know, he is most rare. The " infant prodigy " 
 and "the youthful inventor" in respect of the creation of style 
 in Gentlemen's Dress is rarer than the egg of the Great Auk. 
 The creative faculty even among acknowledged Professors of 
 the art and science of Dress is reserved to few. You certainly 
 do not find it among the numerous professing " Professors " of 
 London, mere students and copyists, who, borrowing ideas and 
 fashions from greater artists, advertise in our more frequented 
 thoroughfares cloths and clothes at prices some 30 to 50 per 
 cent, below those that rule in Conduit Street, Bond Street and 
 Savile Row, and the West End generally. .Stylish material 
 and fashionable clothes, well cut and well finished, mean 
 money, good salaries to " cutters " and good pay to journey- 
 men, and " reserved rights " to the master Tailor himself, as 
 regards first choice of material from the manufacturer. Some 
 patterns of cloths of latest fashion and choicest materials and 
 finish can only be procured from certain manufacturers, who 
 supply them only to certain well-known West End houses. 
 Imitations may be had — to the detriment, be it said, of the 
 manufacturer himself and his original customer ; but the copy is 
 no more the real thing than meretricious "Brummagem" ware 
 is old English silver ware, such as is supplied by our old sup- 
 porters Lambert's, the well-known goldsmiths and silversmiths 
 of Coventry Street. Any West End London tailor of repute 
 will tell you that we are right ; and that the reason why his end 
 of the town maintains its unquestionable supremacy in fashion- 
 ing Men's Dress is, because there you are certain of getting the 
 litest patterns and best materials from the manufacturers, and 
 the most perfect style and cut from the hands of the most 
 skilful " cutters." A good " cutter " can command a salary the 
 equal of a year's pay of a general : ^15 a week in some cases, I 
 am told. ^500 a year is not uncommon. One cannot but feel 
 honoured by the attentions of such a man.
 
 Gentlemen's Dress. 50 1 
 
 Every one who knows his London — all gentlemen who know 
 their London — should be already well informed of its dress 
 regulations. These may be unwritten ; but they are as well 
 understood and recognised as those officially published to the 
 Army and Navy. For the Park, afternoon calls, luncheons, 
 garden-parties, receptions, weddings, and similar social func- 
 tions—the frock coat and the silk hat, typical of the polite life 
 of to-day. Intermediately would naturally come the white or 
 black waistcoat, and thence in uninterrupted sequence, well-cut, 
 well-fitting trousers, of a pattern not too pronounced. Lastly, 
 well-made, well-fitting boots. As to neck-ties and gloves, 
 considerable latitude of taste is permitted in these. Some 
 gentlemen have an eye for colour, as regards ties ; some prefer 
 " half-tones," some plain black-and-white. Harborow, of Bond 
 Street (east side, near New Burlington Street), should be able 
 to pronounce judgment, without need of appeal, as to these. 
 Harborow might be styled the oldest leading authority in 
 London on this interesting subject, just the same as Herbert 
 Johnson (New Bond Street, No. 38) would be acknowledged 
 as leading counsel in the supreme court of Fashion touching 
 hats and (incidentally) caps. Of a gentleman who holds Royal 
 warrants of appointment to such illustrious personages as 
 the King, the Prince of Wales, the Czar of Russia, the King 
 of Denmark, the Duke of Connaught, and half-a-dozen other 
 European princes besides : of a gentleman so exceptionally 
 favoured and well recognised, nothing more need be said. 
 Unless, perhaps, the writer might be allowed to make this 
 further obser\-ation — that he has been privileged to know and 
 to deal with Mr. Herbert Johnson and his partner for some 
 fifteen years, and that their never-failing courtesy and attention 
 are appreciated by at least one among their numerous 
 customers. 
 
 A friend who has given no little time and attention to study- 
 ing the leading shops of the fashionable quarters of the town is 
 good enough to remind us of another well-recognised master
 
 502 London of To-Day. 
 
 of the mode in respect of hats for gentlemen and ladies alike is 
 Woodrow, of Piccadilly, No. 46. The advertisement of his 
 claims on the attention of well-dressed men and women will be 
 found at page 496. Every one asks to have an alternative 
 choice offered them, and we readily make this concession to a 
 very reasonable demand. Woodrow also is a hatter of fashion. 
 ****** 
 
 It has been often remarked by men of taste — I should say, 
 rather, by experts in critical observation, keen judges of style 
 and students of character, too — show them a man's boots, and 
 they will tell you what manner of man he is. There is a good 
 deal of truth in this saying. You may almost always discover 
 the real " swell " by his boots, and equally surely, by the same 
 token, read his less genuine fellow. One might almost read 
 the House of Commons by its boots. It would, I should say, 
 be comparatively easy to read the occupants of the Treasury 
 Bench by their boots. Did not clever Mr. Harry Furniss once 
 give us a sketch-map in PuncJi of Treasury Bench and Front 
 Opposition boots ? Now that's a good idea for a Harmsworth's 
 or Pearson's home journal prize competition : Sketch-map of 
 Parliamentary boots ; to find their respective owners. Prize — 
 one hundred pairs of army boots, warranted fit to march in, 
 and guaranteed of pliable, well-tanned leather ; to be presented 
 to the War Office as samples. Another idea might be : Map 
 of leading actresses' boots : to find their respective makers ! 
 That's a prize competition, if you like. Advertisers might be 
 disposed to send offers. Perhaps some shoe " trust " or 
 company, which turns out the "best" boots of the day, might 
 consider the notion. But these interesting suggestions, paren- 
 thetically. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Hook, Knowles 6c Co., of New Bond Street (their gentlemen's 
 department is No. 65) enjoy a reputation as bootmakers second 
 to none. You could not better their boots, even if vou were at
 
 Gentlemen'' s Dress. 503 
 
 the trouble of trying, either in style, fit, finish, or make. The 
 fact that they never advertise such assurance to the world at 
 large is no reason why we, who include this firm among others 
 we have known for many more years than our vanity cares 
 to recall, should not do so — at all events for the reference of 
 American gentlemen of fashion, who may be tempted to scan 
 these pages for information on points relating to dress. This 
 firm are makers "to the Courts of Europe "' ; and, for aught we 
 know to the contrary, their reputation may have extended to 
 the fashionable quarters of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, 
 and Washington. We certainly hope so. 
 
 -;!• -s- * * * * 
 
 And now we turn to the most important question of all — 
 " How about a really good London tailor ; the artist whose 
 productions would be everywhere accepted as conveying the 
 impress of style — style in material, fit, and finish alike ?"' We 
 can name four right away in the Bond and Conduit Streets 
 district alone : Hill Brothers, of 3, Old Bond Street ; 
 Whitaker & Co., of 43, Conduit Street ; Shelton & Co., of 
 180, New Bond Street ; and the place under the personal 
 management of Mr. Askew at 42, Conduit Street. In consulting 
 any one of these four well-known firms you cannot possibly 
 go wrong. Indeed, you might quite like^)' find it to your 
 advantage to consult all four in turn. Thus, you might become 
 possessed of a wardrobe such as the greatest "swell" that 
 ever trod "the Lawn" of Ascot in July, or perambulated the 
 shady sides of Pall Mall and Piccadilly in June, might look 
 upon with envy. To say that you know not Hill Brothers, of 
 Old Bond Street, is to confess ignorance of the leading tailors 
 of the political, social, military, and naval world of London. 
 What more need be said about them? Their reputation that 
 way extends back at least seventy years. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 As for Whitaker's, of Conduit Street Let me think, Mr. 
 
 Whitaker, how long have I had the pleasure of personally
 
 504 London of To- Da v. 
 
 knowing \ou, and, if I may say so, of admiring your skilful 
 illustrations in the ditficult art of draping the male figure? How 
 long is it since you first taught me what was meant by the 
 phrase " well-dressed " ? One was considerably younger then 
 than now, and more willing to learn, and apt as a pupil. 
 Forty years ago, b)' the Calendar ! 'Tis a good round sum 
 in years, and implies a mutual confidence, and, may I not 
 add, friendship ? Let this testify to the fact, at all events, on 
 my part. I shall venture once more to print here a pleasant 
 little anecdote of a man of letters, known to all of us. When 
 Goldsmith (as we remember) was chaffed by Garrick, on the 
 first appearance in public of the famous " bloom-coloured "' 
 coat, in regard of whether it was quite the style of coat for 
 a literary man, who found it difficult at times to pay his bill 
 for board and lodging, and, at all times, his tailor's bill : 
 " Well, let me tell you," said Goldsmith, " when my tailor 
 brought home this coat — ' Sir,' said he, ' I have a favour to 
 beg of )0u. When anybody asks who made your clothes, be 
 pleased to mention John Filby, at the Harrow, in Water 
 Lane.'" Just so. Mr. John Filby, " at the Harrow, in Water 
 Lane," was wise in his generation, legitimately doing his best 
 to increase the number of his patrons. When any really first- 
 class tailor or other artist of our acquaintance solicits a similar 
 fa\our of us, we are not disposed to withhold it from any fear 
 of being " pin-pricked " by conscience. Every one is liable to 
 be " pin-pricked " at times. The thing is to avoid that liability 
 as much as possible in the business of " trying-on " coats. Too 
 many pins on such occasions may suggest uncertainty or a 
 falling-off of skill on the artist's part. That can never happen 
 in the studio of Mr. Whitaker so long as his is the directing 
 eye and hand. His address, as we have said, is 43, Conduit 
 Street, near New Bond Street ; and we have been pleased 
 lately to learn, that his fame has encouraged him to open 
 a place in New York, at No. 518, Fifth Avenue, under his son's 
 direction.
 
 Gentlemeft s Dress. 505 
 
 A door or two away, namely at No. 42, Conduit Street, is 
 another tailoring depot, of not less repute (in so far as 
 this particular establishment is concerned), in the skilful 
 cutting and making of coats, waistcoats, trousers, overcoats, 
 walking-suits, etc., etc., for gentlemen of fashion, than in 
 the manufacture of that class of modern clothing, for which 
 this firm is especially known. Whenever I have occasion 
 to call here, I at once ask for Mr. Askew. Why? For 
 the same reason that whenever I have occasion to go to 
 my hairdresser's (which, alas, now is very seldom, since 
 the once luxurious crop that grew on my scalp is no longer 
 worth cultivating), I solicit the attention of his foremost 
 artist. I have sometimes seen gentlemen at Truefitt's, 
 waiting patiently for an hour in that firm's exquisitely scented 
 and elegant saloons, till they could be submitted to the 
 professional treatment of the artist of their faith and pre- 
 dilection. This, however, by the way. If you elect to 
 have recourse to the Conduit Street tailoring depot of 
 Askew's, everywhere noted, as all know, for his pure wool 
 suits, ask for him, and see that you get hi.n, for in that 
 case you will find yourself in the hands of an expert in all 
 pertaining to the right clothing of right-minded man ; a man who 
 has had experience of and appreciates the lightness, warmth, 
 durability, and excellence of texture of clothing fashioned of 
 pure wool. Compare a sample of made-up-to-please-the-fancy 
 cloth, such as some of the cheap " advertising " shops sell, 
 with a sample of cloth made of pure wool ; and half an eye 
 will suffice to detect the softness and elasticity of the one 
 and the hardness and stiffness of the other. If this be a 
 "puff," we submit it to the critical dissection of any bold 
 enough to dispute the advantages of pure wool in the manu- 
 facture of our outer wear. 
 
 **-/<■*** 
 There must be many well dressed men of New York 
 and Boston, who were customers of the late Mr. Smalpage, 
 
 K K
 
 5o6 London of To-Day. 
 
 of Maddox Street ; ;ind who thus came under the hands of 
 his indefatigable aide datelier for so many years, Mr. Shelton. 
 Mr. Shelton has recently set up the sartorial standard — 
 and a very high standard it is too — at i8o, New Bond 
 Street, opposite Burlington Gardens. You may recognise 
 his place by the sign just over, and at right angles to, the 
 old-fashioned doorway : " Shelton and Co., Tailors, from 
 Smalpage and Son." "Old-fashioned doorway" we say, 
 because tradition has it that this was one-time the town 
 house of Mr. Sheepshanks, who bequeathed the Sheepshanks' 
 Gallery of Pictures, Victoria and Albert (South Kensington) 
 Museum, to the nation. Tradition possibly speaks truly 
 in this case ; for the rooms of Shelton and Co., display a 
 fine old ornamental ceiling, and still more interesting fire- 
 place, indicative of an artistic taste on the part of some 
 former occupant, of the early part of the past century. But 
 this incidentally. The professional taste and skill of Mr. 
 Shelton were acquired by forty years' practice in the saloiis 
 of the late Mr. Smalpage, of Maddo.x- Street. Since we 
 ourselves had the pleasure of knowing that once well-known 
 gentleman for all that number of years, we have the greater 
 pleasure in notifying the present whereabouts in London of 
 his indefatigable and painstaking lieutenant. To say that 
 he has a fine knowledge of the fitness of things sartorial ; 
 to wit, nice judgment as to what is fittest to be worn by a 
 gentleman, for this or for that purpose, or on this or that 
 occasion ; is of undoubted skill in the art of fashioning 
 the cloth to fit the man, and in the style most suited to 
 him ; to say this much of Mr. Shelton, is to say no more 
 than that to which he is justly entitled. In brief, he is an 
 excellent tailor, well deserving this recommendation of an 
 old customer of the Maddox Street days. 
 
 -X- * -x- * * * 
 
 It is passing strange that in the very spot where the world's 
 wealth is supposed to be stored in the greatest abundance one
 
 Geiit!ejuens Dress. 507 
 
 should be able to find the greatest number of persons disposed 
 to economy. Possibly it may be for that very reason, that the 
 world's wealth lies stored there. However this may be, if you 
 want to buy good thmgs cheap, you must go to the City 
 rather than to the West End of London. You always get 
 the cheapest and best luncheon, for example, in the City ; and 
 certainly the best of the midday shilling dinners. Hidden 
 away in its courts and corners you will find first-class tradesmen, 
 bootmakers, haberdashers, hatters, tailors, and the like, doing 
 a very snug little business with gentlemen daily occupied in the 
 City. It is hardly necessary to say that "gentlemen daily 
 occupied in the City" — in the City of London, at all events — 
 exhibit, for the most part, a very pretty taste and style in dress. 
 It is part of their business to appear well-dressed. No sensible 
 man in commerce or finance goes about looking like a pauper. 
 He may do so, perhaps, if he is known to all the world as a 
 " five-figures-income " man, or a wealthy duke or lord ; but not 
 else. If you want to know how well you may dress for com- 
 paratively little money — that is to say, in comparison of ruling 
 prices Bond Street way — you should consult Mr. Bailey (afore- 
 time Woodman & Bailey), 43, London Wall, within the City's 
 limits. His province is to assure gentlemen of economical ten- 
 dencies that a well-cut frock-coat, waistcoat, and trousers, of 
 good material, well turned-out and well finished, need not cost 
 a prudent man the best part of a ^10 note. You cannot expect 
 to see much change out of a ^10 note when you begin to traffic 
 in stylish frock-coats, waistcoats, and trousers anywhere west 
 of Pall Mall. In the City you do expect to see some change. 
 At all events, Mr. Bailey might show you what he is prepared 
 to do in the way of making a capital suit of clothes for con- 
 siderably less than you commonly pay at the West End.
 
 5o8 
 
 London of To-Dav. 
 
 Some other Shops 
 and Stores .... 
 
 Esii 
 
 ,ii 
 
 tm 
 
 I 
 
 
 HAVE somewhere read th.it 
 no man with less than a 
 thousand pounds a year, can afford 
 to have private opinions on certain 
 important subjects. I take it that 
 this dictum emanated from some 
 much too clever dealer in sarcasm. 
 One of the most important subjects 
 on which a man may have and hold 
 private opinions is on the subject 
 of Books. \'iewing the matter 
 generally, it might with some truth be added that the fewer 
 pounds a year a man can count upon in the way of income 
 — supposing him to be of a literary turn of mind, which, as 
 we know, not seldom implies no great love of money/rr sc — 
 the greater value he sets upon those opinions, and the stouter 
 he holds to them. In brief, whatsoever a man may miss in the 
 way of mundane happiness, by reason of his narrowness of 
 means, is well compensated for by the happiness he may enjoy 
 in the world of literature. In that event his "private opinions" 
 will almost surely tend towards an affection for the old authors, 
 and a desire to become possessed of their representative works. 
 The probabilities are that if his income did reach to the full 
 thousand pounds a year, whereby his right "to have private 
 opinions on certain important subjects " became estabhshed, no 
 inconsiderable part of it would be spent in making additions to 
 liis library. 
 
 Old authors are like old friends : vou cannot have too manv
 
 Some other Shops and Stores. 509 
 
 of them They have stood the test of years of friendly inter- 
 course, and the more you see of them the more desirous you 
 are to see them and to add to their number. 
 
 Friend after friend departs, — 
 
 Who hath not lost a friend ? 
 There is no union here of hearts 
 
 That finds not here an end. 
 
 But old authors survive. They are generally the last of a man's 
 treasures to be parted with when adversity comes ; and even at 
 the worst he will commonly contrive to keep two or three of his 
 
 favourites, to be the last surviving companions of his solitude. 
 
 ****** 
 
 To a bookish man, the more interesting of London's shops are 
 those of the booksellers. Among the number of these, the 
 store which makes a show of very choice and rare books, early- 
 printed first editions, old dramatists, Shakespeare folios and 
 quarto, Elizabethan literature, fine copies of the essayists, 
 coloured-plate books, choice engravings, illuminated and other 
 MSS. ; that store which makes the finest show of such things 
 as these will be found the most interesting of any. A second 
 glance at the contents of the windows of Robson & Co.'s store, 
 23, Coventry Street, Piccadilly, will probably act as an invitation 
 to walk within ; that is to say, if you are desirous of the better 
 acquaintance of old authors, or of some of most repute to-day 
 among the moderns. We need add no more than this, that 
 Mr. Robson's collection of old engravings is one of the most 
 interesting and carefully selected in London, deserving the 
 inspection of any from America or the Colonies who contem- 
 plate such purchases. Seepage 512. 
 
 There are lots of problems in this world difficult of solution. 
 One that has puzzled me a good deal is, why a discount of 
 25 per cent, off the published price should be conceded by 
 a bookseller to the haphazard purchaser of a book ? And 
 a still more perplexing problem is, why, if one bookseller 
 makes the substantial reduction of 25 per cent, to the 
 purchaser, every other bookseller should not make the same ?
 
 5IO Loudon of To-Day. 
 
 And yet a third perplexing problem in this connection is, 
 why any discount at all ? My tailor makes me no sort of 
 concession on his customary charges ; my hatter holds me 
 liable for the full price of my hat ; my bootmaker would 
 bow me outside his door if I ventured to deduct even lo per 
 cent, off the published price of the boots he delivers to me. 
 If I go to a hotel, I am bound by the printed tariff and pay. 
 If I e.it my dinner at the Grosvenor Hotel, I have to pay 
 the full six shillings for the table d'hote. Wheresoever I travel 
 I find no sort of concessions made, whether in the matters 
 of railway fares, or lodging, or board. Why, in the name 
 of all that is interesting to know, if I — calculating all the 
 outlay, and all the probabilities, and all the risks — should deem 
 it just to publish (for example) this book entitled " London 
 of To-Day " at y. bd. ; why, I want to know, should not 
 e\^ry bookseller get every penny to which he may be entitled, 
 in doing me the kindness to promote its circulation ? Why 
 should the public which wants books (as we hope we may 
 take for granted) receive any greater concession in purchasing 
 books than the public gets in purchasing loaves of bread, 
 legs of mutton, sirloins of beef, flagons of wine, or pounds 
 of tea, or any other commodity necessary (or unnecessary) 
 to its comfort and sustenance ? This is a problem which 
 vexes me sorely at times ; and the more I try to solve it, 
 the more it baffles my comprehension. Books are a great 
 deal more necessary to one's " comfort and sustenance," at 
 all events, than flagons of wine. 
 
 However much I and other more or less interested parties 
 may be baffled in trying to solve the " 25 per cent, off" mystery 
 in respect of the sale of books, the fact remains that "25 per 
 cent, off" the published price of new books is conceded to 
 purchasers by many of the London booksellers ; Messrs. 
 Trusloxe, Hanson, and Comba among the number. One may 
 as well register their precise London addresses : 6b, Sloane 
 Street, S.W., and 143, Oxford Street, W. ; for although we
 
 London of To- Day — Advertisements. 
 
 ROBSON & CO., 
 
 23, Coventry Street, Piccadilly, W. 
 
 CHOICE AND 
 RARE BOOKS. 
 
 Fine Mezzotints, 
 and other Portraits 
 and Prints. 
 
 MILITARY AND 
 NAVAL PRINTS. 
 
 Illuminated MSS. 
 
 [See next pa ^e. 
 
 Truslove, Hanson & Comba, 
 
 LIMITED, 
 
 Discount Booksellers, Publishers, 
 and Stationers, 
 143, OXFORD STREET, 
 
 6? SLOANE STREET, 
 
 LONDON. 
 
 A large and varied Stock of Modern Books. 
 Baedeker's and other Guide Books to London, 
 
 Great Britain and the Continent. 
 
 3d. in the is. discount allowed off nearly all 
 
 New Books.
 
 A Selection from 
 
 ROBSON & CO.'S LIST, 
 23, Coventry Street, Piccadilly, W. 
 
 Mezzotints — 
 
 " Daughters of Sir Thos. Frankland." By Wm. 
 Ward, after J. IIoi'PNER, ]\..A. 
 
 " Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire." By Valen- 
 tine Green, after Sir Joshua Reynolds, P. R.A. 
 
 Fine Portraits, in Mezzotint and Stipple. 
 
 Fine Coloured London Views, etc. 
 
 Plates by Hogarth, Gilbray, Rowlandsun, George 
 an 1 Robert Cruikshank, John Leech. 
 
 Old Colour Prints after Mori. and, ^V. R. Higg, 
 Wesiall, H. W. Bumjury, etc.
 
 So)ite other Shops and Stores. 513 
 
 protest against the discount system as regards our own greatly 
 cherished literary bantling, we have no objection to paying gd. 
 in place of i^-. for any publication which we may desire to 
 buy ourselves ! Messrs. Truslove will pardon us when we say 
 that we detest the discount system ; but, nevertheless, take 
 always very great pleasure in paying their firm y, gd. per 
 volume for the "Authentic Edition "of Charles Dickens's works, 
 in place of paying 5^. per volume anywhere else. Their offer 
 of other charming editions of works of the day also tempts 
 us more at their price than at others elsewhere ; and much 
 more than any other books, their offer of the Centenary 
 Edition of Carlyle's works (30 volumes) at ^11 15^-., rather 
 than at ^15 \t,s. 6d., at some less generously disposed book- 
 sellers, supposing we feel too lazy to walk to Sloane Street. 
 Our protest is, after all, purely selfish. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Not far from Piccadilly, on the north side of Coventry 
 Street, Nos. 11 and 12, is that of one of the oldest and best- 
 known of the goldsmiths and silversmiths of London, Lambert. 
 Their store contains probably one of the largest collections of 
 old gold and silver plate in the world, certainly the largest in 
 London. If you are a connoisseur of old plate you will find not 
 a little to interest you even in a cursory glance at the exhibits 
 made in the windows of Lambert, especially in respect of the 
 examples of ecclesiastical ware, cups, chalices, pattens, and the 
 like, to say nothing of early English examples of silver-ware, 
 loving-cups, bowls, candlesticks, tea-pots, cruets, cream-jugs, 
 dishes, salvers, and so on. But, inside is a veritable museum of 
 secondhand plate ; and it would go hard with a collector if he 
 could not pick up some good specimens of the several periods 
 at Lambert's in Coventry Street. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Steward & Co., of 406 and also 457, Strand, arc makers of 
 optical instruments of long-established repute, well known to
 
 514 London of To-Dav. 
 
 travellers, tourists, sportsmen, and rifle-shots the world over. 
 We believe we are right in saying that it was in the early days 
 of the National Rifle Association's meeting at Wimbledon, this 
 firm first became distinguished for the thoroughness and excel- 
 lence of its work as opticians. Since then, now nearly fifty years 
 ago, that reputation has extended to India, Canada, and the 
 Colonies, wherever, in fact, riflemen co-operate with the parent 
 institution in London. As makers of binocular, field, marine, 
 and tourist glasses of fine definition and power and large field 
 of view. Steward's have few their equals and none their 
 superiors. This fact has been frequently stated in former 
 supplements of " London of To-Day," and we once more repeat it 
 for the behoof of any American or Colonial visitor who might be 
 desirous to have the address of a good optician in London. 
 
 Simliarly, we append the address of Hooper & Co., Ltd., coach- 
 builders to a whole array of English and other " Royalties," of 
 54, St. James's Street, S.W. I must own (as a correspondent ot 
 the Tatler, of Queen Anne's time, once wrote of " Charles 
 Lillie, perfumer in the Strand ") : " I must own their circum- 
 stances are so good, and well known, that they do not need to 
 have their fame published to the world. . . . They would be 
 rather proud of the honour, than desirous of the profit which 
 might result from your recommendation." A firm such as 
 Hooper's — who, by the way, hold a record as coachbuilders 
 extending back a century all but six years — needs no recom- 
 mendation of us. The only advantage they could possibly 
 hope to gain from this brief note is, that, peradventure, it might 
 fall under the eye of some stranger in London, willing to be 
 directed to what is admittedly one of the most eminent firms of 
 English coachbuilders in London, holding "warrants of appoint- 
 ment " to many Royalties ; among the number, our late Queen, 
 our present King, the Prince of Wales, H.LM. the German 
 Emperor, H.LM. the Emperor of Russia, H.M. the Queen of
 
 Some other Shops and Stores. 515 
 
 the Netherlands, etc., etc. Their address (as we have said) is 
 54, St. James's Street, west side, a few yards from Piccadilly. 
 
 At Holland Gate, Kensington — with a trade-record extending 
 over considerably more than a century— is the London factory 
 of Henry Whitlock, Limited — carriage builders, designers of 
 carriages, repairers of carriages, carriage furnishers, makers 
 of harness, etc. ; a good place for cogitating a purchase, since 
 it offers 500 carriages of every description, new or second-hand, 
 on sale or hire, with the option of purchase at prices economical. 
 As regards originality, quality, durability, and elegance of design, 
 Messrs. Whitlock claim for the carriages built by them "the 
 highest attainable perfection in modern coach-building." 
 
 One of the most popular and interesting "Amateur " pursuits, 
 or pastimes (as you will), of the present day is Photography : 
 indulged in by every one, from kings to the least distinguished 
 or potential of their subjects. It is a heresy to which we 
 personally plead guilty, and accept the inevitable professional 
 reprimand with as good grace and corresponding humility as 
 we can show, that " Amateurs " of to-day have produced 
 some of the most artistic and admirable examples of photo- 
 graphy we have been privileged anywhere to see. To do 
 such work as we have sometimes noticed and admired in the 
 annual exhibitions, and in some of our best-known publications, 
 implies that the several artists must have been not only first- 
 rate and capable workmen, but they must have had good tools 
 to work with — the best class of photographic outfits, cameras, 
 lenses, and the like. 
 
 It may be that many Readers of this Annual follow this 
 fashionable pursuit of Photography. We may take it for granted 
 that they do. It will therefore serve a useful purpose if we 
 take leave to remind them that in London they may study
 
 5 16 London of To-Day 
 
 and obtain all the best, most recent, well-tried, and approved 
 developments in Photographic Outfits for the world throughout ; 
 for tropical or Arctic parts, mountain, valley, field, or studio, 
 yachting, ocean travelling, or railway travelling ; in a word, 
 appertaining to the art of Photography at large. 
 
 It must suffice if, in few lines we direct attention here to 
 some of the more conveniently accessible and prominently 
 known of London's Makers of Photographic Outfits and 
 accessory apparatus and materials in general. 
 
 To wit : the retail establishments at the west-end of the 
 Town of the world-wide, extensively patronised Kodak 
 Company: Nos. 171-3, Regent Street; 115, Oxford Street; 
 and 59, Brompton Road. To write at length of the Kodak 
 Company's manifold resources and excellent workmanship is 
 to waste space in telling what every one interested in this 
 subject already knows. 
 
 Ross', leading Opticians and makers of Cameras and 
 Lenses, etc., of in, New Bond Street, are equally favourably 
 known in the supplying of every essential of the practice of 
 Photography, whether indoors or in the open. Their illustrated 
 price-lists afford full and interesting particulars of the various 
 specialities for which they have gained reputation, or been 
 awarded Medals of Honour, etc., at the great exhibitions. 
 Ross' has been established in London for some seventy years, 
 a fact which should serve to commend their place to the 
 attention of visitors who wish to know of what is most recent, 
 convenient, or approved in the design and make of photo- 
 graphic apparatus for studio or field purposes. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Every photographer, of course, knows of Goerz's Lenses ? If 
 he does not, then truly he has somewhat yet to learn. When
 
 Some other Shops and Stores. 5 1 7 
 
 he has learned to a determinate degree by practical exami- 
 nation, use, and experience of the importance, efficacy, and 
 fitness of the Goerz Lenses in the practice of his art, pro- 
 fessional or amateur, he will be willing to concede that some- 
 thing worth knowing has been gained, which he will surely 
 turn to profitable account, on his forward way to the grand 
 prizes of Honour at the exhiliitions in London and elsewhere. 
 Goerz's world-known Lenses, and their Field-glasses also, may 
 be bought in London at the London Stereoscopic Company's 
 place in Regent Street, and also of every optician and photo- 
 graphic dealer of repute. 
 
 As pertinent to these several matters, reference is properly 
 due here to the prestige gained by the Warwick Trading 
 Company — whose central London address is 4 and 5, Warwick 
 Court, Holborn — as being the head-quarters for everything 
 connected with that popular and attractive feature of many 
 of our places of public entertainment, known as "Animated 
 Photography." Visitors from America or the Colonies desirous 
 of seeing the latest and most perfect reproductions of Current 
 Events, as recorded by the " Cinematograph," would do well 
 to go to Warwick Court. This company's Films have been 
 exhibited at every well-known place of entertainment in the 
 United Kingdom. 
 
 The same is to be said of the work of L. Gaumont & Co., 
 of 25, Cecil Court, Charing Cross Road, whose advertisement 
 on this timely and interesting subject, specially ap'opos of the 
 Coronation and its attendant processions, will be found on 
 page 469. Many an enterprising American, having an eye to 
 the " F'all " Lecture Season of his native city or town, would 
 be glad, one would say, to have the whole Royal ceremony 
 set forth for the entertainment and enlightenment of his friends 
 and fellow-citizens when winter comes again. Gaumont & Co. 
 are good people to consult with- -o(|iially willi the F^irm already
 
 5 1 8 Londo)i of To-Day. 
 
 named. The sole agents for the United Kingdom for " Plan- 
 chon's Fihiis and DayHght Spools " (Lumiere Emulsion) for 
 use in Daylight-loading Hand Cameras are this same firm of 
 L. Gaumont & Co. They are, needless to say, makers of 
 "Cinematograph" apparatus. The visitor who may be in- 
 terested in the particulars we have mentioned will be glad to 
 note their address.
 
 UMER Trips 
 AND Excursions 
 
 Snp^lfiiiciilarY A'('.'<'.f a)id Suggestions, in- 
 tended chiefly for Colonial and American 
 Readers of this Publication , who may he 
 intending to tnake Trips and Excursions 
 in England, before, or after, seeing London
 
 London of To-Day — Advertisements. 
 
 England & Scotland. 
 
 GREAT NORTHERN and . . . 
 NORTH=EASTERN RAILWAYS. 
 
 East Coast "Express'' Route. 
 
 SHORTEST and MOST POPULAR ROUTE 
 
 BETWEEN 
 
 LONDON 
 
 (King's Cross Station) 
 
 AND 
 
 Se OTLftN D. 
 
 CORRIDOR DINING CAR SALOONS 
 
 (First and Third Class) are run between London {King's 
 Cross) and Scotland on certain Day Trains. 
 
 SLEEPING CARS 
 
 are attached to all the Night Trains between London 
 and Scotland. 
 
 FIRST AND THIRD CLASS CORRIDOR CAR= 
 RIAGES, Fitted with Lavatories, and Heated thoroughout 
 by Steam in Winter, are run on the Through Express Trains. 
 
 CHARLES STEEL. General Manager, G.N.R. 
 GEO. S. GIBB, „ ,, N.E.R.
 
 London of To-Day. 
 
 521 
 
 s 
 
 The Excursion 
 Season . . . 
 
 IX good months of the year, the 
 six pleasantest months of the 
 year — May to October namely — are 
 appointed as the season of railway 
 excursions in the United Kingdom. 
 Ireland has lately opened up its more 
 picturesque parts to tourist traffic, 
 and is making corresponding show of 
 enterprise in the way of building up- 
 to-date hotels, affording more modern 
 and comfortable accommodation for travellers than formerly. 
 
 The official tourist and excursion arrangements of the several 
 British and Irish railway companies are published annually, 
 about May ist, and furnish very agreeable reading to those 
 of us not blessed with over much money. These publications, 
 which are wholly practical and not descriptive of places and 
 things, serve to tell any one who may be interested, how 
 much money in the way of fares may be saved, and what 
 exceptional trips and tours (circular and otherwise) may be 
 undertaken, during the above-stated period, May to October, 
 holiday-making in the United Kingdom. As compared with 
 the ordinary passenger fares in operation, those framed for the 
 Tourist and Excursion Season show very desirable reductions. 
 Moreover, the so-called " stop-over " and similar privileges 
 are largely extended. Return tickets, for example, are, with 
 rare exceptions, made availaljle to December 31st — that is to 
 say, to the close of the year ; and for long distances will permit 
 
 LL
 
 52 2 . London of To-Day. 
 
 of the holder breaking his journey and making excursions 
 en route, as the incHnation suggests. 
 
 I need not say that this concession is not only a great con- 
 venience, but means a not inconsiderable saving of money. In 
 point of fact, by careful study of the " Tourist Programmes," it 
 win be found that on all the railways the "stop-over" or 
 " break-of-journey " privileges will admit of persons making all 
 sorts of pleasant circular and other trips and excursions not 
 generally permissible on the like conditions, except in the 
 tourist season ; although, by the way, no more enterprising 
 railway company exists, in so far as relates to cheap and 
 special travelling facilities on its own system, all the year 
 round, than the North-Eastei'n, later referred to. 
 
 It has been my good fortune to pass over nearly e\'ery tourist 
 track in England, Scotland, and Ireland ; not much to boast of 
 in the globe-trotting way, but yet a sufficiently instructive and 
 interesting experience. That experience makes it all the more 
 difficult to name any one particular part of our country as 
 likely to have greater attractions for Colonials and Americans 
 than another. I am not now referring to the beaten track, 
 embracing the more familiar show-places, such as Shakespeare's 
 country, the Lake District, the Land of Burns, the Waverley 
 country, York, Chester, etc. My meaning is this, that having 
 in mind all that I have seen of the historic places and picturesque 
 beauties of Yorkshire ; of the romantic coast scenery of Corn- 
 wall, south and north ; of the dales and steeps of Derbyshire ; 
 the sweet pastoral country of South Devon, and the rugged 
 rockland and moors and hills of North Devon ; of the grand 
 coast-wise and inland scenery of Northumberland and the 
 Border-land ; of the interesting and charming district of 
 Sherwood Forest — "The Dukeries," so named; of the breezy 
 uplands and lowlands of Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Kent, Sussex, 
 Surrey, and the rest : having seen so much, I say, of the 
 beauties of our land, presenting a kind of embarras de 
 richesses to one so favoured, it is not easy to advise the
 
 Suiiifiier Trips and Excursions. 
 
 523 
 
 stranger where it were best to turn for a touring trip likely to 
 afiford the best impressions of the manifold charms of the 
 old country within the limits of a brief summer holiday. 
 Recognising that difficulty, and remembering also the title 
 and chief purpose of this publication, I must content myself 
 with merely offering in this supplementary chapter a few 
 brief notes of trips and excursions, such, perchance, as may 
 tempt a stranger to a better knowledge of England, when he 
 has seen, or arranged to see, all that he desires to see of London. 
 Ruskin likens England to a little garden barely sufficing for all 
 
 Hatfield. 
 
 its children to play about on the lawns. The simile is apt and 
 pleasing, suggested, no doubt, by his own keen appreciation 
 of the picturesque and beautiful in Nature, and desire to pre- 
 serve as much of both as possible, in the land he loved so well, 
 from the hand of the latter-day despoiler — the engineer, the 
 builder, the manufacturer, the miner, the enterprising prospector 
 generally. The " lawns," of course, are the rural nooks and re- 
 treats and pleasant places of old England generally, so dear to all 
 of us who have had the good fortune to become acquainted with 
 their attractions when roaming through the country in summer.
 
 524 
 
 London of To-Day. 
 
 None can say that that section of the " httle garden " named 
 Yorkshire has hitherto escaped the attention of the makers of 
 England's wealth and propagators of her commerce. It is the 
 part of all others noted for its mines and its manufacturing 
 industries, conspicuous in almost every direction. Yet it is 
 doubtful whether any other English county has so well pre- 
 served so much of its original picturescjueness and interest, as 
 illustrated in its many existing memorials of England of the 
 olden time : its ancient abbeys, churches, and cathedrals ; its 
 famous castles and country seats ; its old-world towns and 
 
 AlL^'l 
 
 Lincoln Cathedral. 
 
 villages ; its historic remains, serving to recall nearly every 
 stage of England's history. Certainly no part of Ruskin's 
 "little garden" is so teeming with interest for the traveller who 
 comes to our country hoping to revive some of those scenes 
 and events of which he has read in English literature — in books 
 descriptive of early Roman, Saxon, and Norman times ; of the 
 times of the Plantagenet kings and of those of the houses of 
 Lancaster and York; of the Tudor period also ; and of the 
 stirring days of Charles I. and the Civil War, culminating in 
 the Commonwealth, and the protectorate of Cromwell. Nor
 
 Summer Trips and Excursions. 
 
 525 
 
 are any of the " lawns " nowadays available for holiday pur- 
 poses more extensive and inviting than those of the ridings of 
 Yorkshire. 
 
 He would be a venturesome adviser of the American tourist 
 who should attempt to divert him for long from the road leading 
 to London. That is the goal to which the majority of his 
 countrymen, and indeed most other travellers, sooner or later 
 direct their steps. It is not our intention, at all events in this 
 present instance, to seek to alter his plans for getting to 
 London, probably from the landing-stage at Liverpool or 
 
 York. 
 
 Southampton Docks, as quickly as possible. London he will 
 perforce see, and partake of its Season's pleasures, and we 
 trust with every satisfaction to himself and to those who 
 may accompany him. But, London duly accounted for in 
 the projects he has made for himself, we take it he is ready to 
 consider any further suggestions for his holiday in England 
 we might have to offer. No more promising suggestion 
 can we make than that he should consider the attractions pre- 
 sented by the East Coast Route from London (King's Cross) to 
 Scotland. This route traverses some of the most interesting 
 parts of England. The East Coast Route lies through York-
 
 526 
 
 London of To-Day. 
 
 shire, and in Yorkshire he would do well to stay for a while 
 to see some of the many places of historic interest to which 
 reference has been made, to say nothing of its considerable 
 claims to notice as a tourist resort generally. The East Coast 
 Route is the greatest of our show-routes through England into 
 Scotland — " greatest " in the colloquial sense of the word — 
 in interest, in picturesque charm, in the comforts of travel, in 
 extent, promise, and opportunity to the stranger ; and it is 
 the shortest and quickest route to Scotland. 
 
 To name a few only of the famous places for seeing which 
 
 Scarborough. 
 
 facilities are afforded by this route. They will be found to 
 include Hatfield, the home of the Cecils ; St, Albans, with its 
 abbey ; Cambridge and its colleges ; Peterborough and its 
 cathedral ; Crowland Abbey ; Lincoln, with its cathedral ; the 
 Sherwood Forest district, surnamed "The Dukeries " ; Belvoir 
 Castle, near to Grantham ; Doncaster ; York (of surpassing 
 interest from the historical standpoint), with its magnificent 
 Minster, ancient walls and city gates, and the many pleasant 
 places also for which that city might conveniently serve as 
 a touring centre, as Knaresborough, for example, Harrogate, 
 Ilkley, and Ben Rhydding, far-famed Bolton Abbey, Ripon,
 
 Summer Trips and Excursions. 
 
 527 
 
 and Fountains Abbey, etc. Then there are Coxvvold, the home 
 of Laurence Sterne (a dehghtful old-world village), Richmond 
 and its castle, Helmsley, and Rievaulx Abbey ; the popular 
 pleasure resorts such as Scarborough, Whitby, Filey, and 
 Bridlington, Barnard's Castle, Richmond, Raby Castle, Durham, 
 whose castle and cathedral combined are among the sights 
 of England, excelled by few, Newcastle, Hexham and the 
 extensive relics of the Roman Wall, Alnmouth and Alnwick 
 Castle, Bamborough Castle, Chillingham, the Fame isles and 
 Holy Island, and lastly the Cheviots, the historic Scottish 
 
 Fountains Abbey. 
 
 borderland, Melrose, Abbotsford, and Edinburgh the beautiful 
 — one of the most beautiful cities, indeed, in all Europe. Truly, 
 our itinerary thus far, in the many attractions and variety of 
 interest it presents would be hard to match in any country. 
 
 From Edinburgh this East Coast Route lies across the Forth 
 Bridge, by St. Andrews, and Tay Bridge, Dundee, Arbroath, 
 Montrose, to Aberdeen, Ballater, Braemar, and Balmoral. Or 
 the tourist may travel via Perth, and thence by Highland 
 Railway to Dunkeld, Pitlochry, Killiekrankie, Bliir Athol, Kin- 
 gussie, and Aviemore, and so to Inverness, the capital of the
 
 528 Loudon of To-Day. 
 
 Highlands. An alternative way, following the Aberdeen route 
 as above stated, is to travel thence by Great North of Scotland 
 Railway to Huntly, Keith, Elgin, and Inverness. Whichever 
 way you go, whether direct (as suggested) to the Northern 
 Highlands or %'id Glasgow, and thence to the Western High- 
 lands, to view the lovely and romantic scenery of lochs Lomond 
 and Long, the Trossachs, Ben Nevis, Fort William, Banavie 
 and the Caledonian Canal, lochs Awe, Tay, and Etive, and Oban 
 (whence you may make seaward excursions to Staffa and lona, 
 and landward to the Pass of Glencoe) : whichever way you 
 
 Durham Cathedral. 
 
 turn towards your journey's end in Scotland, rest assured that 
 the choice of the East Coast Route from London cannot fail 
 of bringing untold enjoyment to a tourist as yet unacquainted 
 with its manifold attractions. 
 
 How is it that Americans, who come to England year after 
 year in summer for holiday purposes, almost wholly ignore the 
 attractions of the south-western and westernmost parts of it, 
 of those counties, for example, traversed by the London and 
 South-Western and Great Western lines of railroad ? In 
 arriving at or departing from Southampton by the American 
 Mail steamships, or those of the North German Lloyd's, the
 
 Summer Trips and Excursions. 
 
 529 
 
 innumerable opportunities afforded by the first-named company's 
 railroad are immediately within reach. In landing at Plymouth 
 — no steamers for America, I think, depart from that port — 
 Amei'icans are on the very border-line of Cornwall, than 
 which, no part of the old country is more charming and 
 diversified in point of scenery, and more replete with interest 
 to tourists who have a fondness for finding themselves in 
 quaint old towns and villages, not generally visited even by 
 the ubiquitous summer excursionist of England itself. I have 
 frequently endeavoured to enlist American interest for this side 
 
 •■•r.»jtr.~Jir.«a!«!>;- 
 
 HOLYROOD. 
 
 of England, so rarely done justice to in guide-books, compiled 
 for the special enlightenment of Transatlantic travellers. 
 
 Southampton, by reason of its proximity to London, has of 
 recent years very largely competed with Liverpool as the 
 port of arrival or embarkation for Americans. It is passing 
 strange that they do not as yet appear to realise how many 
 interesting " show-places " lie within easy distance of that port, 
 and what an unexplored picturesque part of England lies 
 before them in the counties of Hants, Wilts, Dorset, Devon, 
 and Cornwall, in comparison of the very familiar parts of 
 Cheshire and Warwickshire, almost inevitably visited by nine
 
 530 London of To-Day. 
 
 out of every ten • Americans who arrive at, or depart from, 
 Liverpool. No one would seek to deprive Stratford-on-Avon 
 of any of the fame and glory that belongs to it as the birth- 
 place, home, and burial-place of Shakespeare ; nor Kenilworth 
 of any of its widespread interest as a relic of Tudor times ; 
 nor Warwick of any of its attractions to tourists, as being 
 possessed of one of the grandest historic castles in England ; 
 nor Chester of its pre-eminence as a cathedral city and old- 
 world town. But Winchester, within half an hour's railway 
 ride of Southampton ; Salisbury, not a great distance away ; 
 and Exeter, the county town of Devon — each lying on the 
 
 Balmoral. 
 
 London and South-Western line of railway (the direct route 
 to and from Southampton and London) — are most assuredly 
 well entitled to the notice of touring Americans. Each possesses 
 a cathedral of surpassing beauty and interest. Winchester 
 might certainly vie with Chester in its old-world associations. 
 Salisbury stands near to Salisbury Plain and famous Stone- 
 henge. Exeter is the centre of one of the most beautiful 
 of English shires. Devon in spring time or the season of 
 early summer is not excelled by any other shire of our 
 land for beauty, unless, maybe, by the neighbouring county
 
 Summer Trips and Excursions. 
 
 531 
 
 of Cornwall. Cornwall is even by Englishmen accounted one 
 of the most attractive tourist resorts within the circumscribed 
 limits of the United Kingdom. I do not know any part of 
 it more charming than Cornwall's southern half, that part which 
 lies between the River Tamar and the Land's End, served by 
 the Great Western Railway from Plymouth ; or more romantic 
 than its northern side, from (let's say) Bude to Wadebridge 
 and Padstow, through which the London and South-Western 
 Railway runs. 
 
 For the behoof of such travellers by the American mail, 
 or the North German Lloyd's, or the Hamburg-American 
 steamers, I would suggest 
 reference to the official 
 " Tourist Arrangements," 
 issued about May ist in 
 each year, by ( i ) the London 
 and South-Western Railway 
 Company, to be had of the 
 Superintendent of the Line, 
 Waterloo Station, London, 
 S.E. ; and (2) by the Great 
 Western Railway Company, 
 to be had from the Traffic 
 Superintendent, Paddington 
 Station, London, W. ; or on 
 the spot, at Southampton or 
 Plymouth, on application at 
 
 the booking-offices of either Company. In the event of landing 
 at Southampton, I would make note of the Isle of Wight as 
 being near at hand ; and certainly of Winchester. Then I 
 might consider the prospects of seeing the New Forest, and 
 Christchurch, and Bournemouth, and Dorchester, and Swanage 
 (with Corfe Castle), and most certainly Salisbury. If I got 
 thus far, I would — being within two hours' reach of it— go 
 westward to Exeter, and stay a day or so there, and thence
 
 532 London of To-Day. 
 
 make an excursion by the South-Western line to North Devon 
 — to Ilfracombe, Lynton, Lynmouth, Bideford, Morthoe, etc. ; 
 and, possibly, also to Sidmouth, Exmouth, etc. Once you are 
 in these South-Western parts you will find some of the most 
 comfortable hotels in the kingdom, likely enough to invite you 
 to a longer stay. 
 
 As regards the Great Western line from Plymouth : journey- 
 ing through the south-west of Cornwall, I should try to see 
 Fowey, Truro, Falmouth, Helston, and Penzance : Fowey, 
 because it is one of the oldest and most picturesque little 
 seaports in England ; Truro, in order to see its cathedral and 
 make the trip by the Fal River to Falmouth ; Falmouth, because 
 it is the centre of a most delightful touring district ; Helston, 
 in order to drive through the Lizard country ; St. Ives, because 
 it is a picturesque quaint town, with lovely surroundings ; 
 Penzance, because it is the romantic region of the Land's 
 End. Finally, if travelling by Great Western line from 
 Plymouth to London, I would assuredly stay over at Totnes, 
 at Torquay, at Exeter, and at Bath : at Totnes, to see the 
 Dart ; at Torquay, to see Torquay and to journey thence to 
 Newton Abbot and " the Moors " ; at Exeter and at Bath, to 
 see those cities twain, the last-named of which is teeming wtih 
 interest to any traveller who will be at the trouble to dip into 
 the history of England (say Macaulay's), more particularly 
 into that portion of it describing the social life of England of 
 the eighteenth century. 
 
 The more direct and expeditious (the sea-trip across Channel 
 being so much shorter), if somewhat more expensive, way of 
 reaching Paris from London is by Joint South-Eastern and 
 Chatham and Dover Company's service via Calais, or vid 
 Boulogne, as you will. It is also the more fashionable. All 
 the "swells" — kings, princes, governors, envoys, ambassadors, 
 diplomats ; we ourselves have frequently stood upon the deck
 
 Summer Trips and Excursions. 533 
 
 of the steamer crossing to Boulogne in company of very 
 august and distinguished personages, on one occasion an ex- 
 queen being of the number : all the " swells " of the world 
 journey by Calais or Boulogne routes in going to, or departing 
 from, London. One must be content to pay a pound or two 
 more for the privilege of travelling e?t prince^ that is to say, with 
 princes and men of degree. After all, ^4 15s. for a first-class 
 return railway ticket to Paris, with the chance of meeting en 
 route some of the most distinguished and most talked-about 
 people of the day, is no large sum to pay. The Northern of 
 France railway carriages seem to us to be always teeming with 
 interesting and illustrious personages of one kind or another : 
 if not royal, or diplomatic ; 
 operatic, musical, theatrical, 
 literary, artistic — or American. 
 * * * 
 
 The cheapest ways of reaching 
 the Continent from London are : 
 (i) via Newhaven and Dieppe 
 by London, Brighton and South ^^ . _, 
 
 Coast line (Victoria and London 
 Bridge), for Paris and places in 
 France, etc. ; and (2) by Great 
 Eastern line (Liverpool Street), 
 
 via Harwich and Hook of Holland, or Antwerp, for Holland, 
 Belgium, and Germany. Travellers by either route will find 
 no reason to criticise the arrangements made for their 
 comfort, notwithstanding the saving in rate of fares, as com- 
 pared with that in operation for the short-sea Dover and 
 Calais or Folkestone and Boulogne routes. The continental 
 trains of the Great Eastern Company and of the Brighton 
 and South Coast Company leave nothing to be desired in 
 the way of passenger accommodation or speed ; and certainly 
 the North Sea steamships (Hook of Holland) of the Great 
 Eastern Company are as well-found and commodious as any
 
 534 Loudon of To-Day. 
 
 crossing from England to the Continent ot which we have 
 had experience. 
 
 As probably nine out of ten Americans coming to England 
 avail themselves of the North-Western Company's trains from 
 Liverpool's Landing Stage to London, we need say little about 
 the convenience or the incidental opportunities that familiar 
 route affords. For one thing, the North-Western Company's 
 train service, and especially its special American Mail-boat 
 Service to and from Euston, is nowhere excelled in this 
 country in respect either of regularity, speed, or all-round 
 comfort of travelling. The Warwickshire " Show-places " — 
 Stratford - on - Avon, Warwick, Kenilworth, Coventry, and 
 perhaps we should add Leamington — are most conveniently 
 reached by this route, coming to London, or going from 
 London, arriving or departing. The journey to London from 
 Liverpool, or vice versa, is made in four hours. We have 
 nothing but praise to add of the general arrangements made 
 for the comfort of Transatlantic travellers ; albeit, there are 
 grumblers, in this degree or in that, on that account or on 
 this — and ever will be, so long as "this too, too solid flesh" 
 remains to humanity, as a propagating ground for grumbling. 
 
 \* Note. — If any further suggestions, or assistance, can be 
 rendered American or Colonial tourists in relation to the 
 subject-nuitter of this chapter, the Editor will be pleased 
 to answer any letter addressed to hint, care of the 
 Publishers. 
 
 Printed by Haaell, Watson (5= Vincy, Ld., London and Aylesbury.
 
 London of To-Day — Advertisements. 
 
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 (OPPOSITE BURLINGTON GARDENS). 
 
 Agents in NewYork : 
 
 J L. McEWEN & SON, 
 
 19, West Thirty=first Street. 
 
 Specialities : 
 
 New Design for Dress Coat . Reg. No. 357721 
 „ for Shooting & Golfing Coat „ 357576 
 Waterproof Cape & Overalls . „ 358490 
 
 Rug Cloak for Travelling, etc. 
 
 Best Quality and Worl<manship. Moderate Prices 
 
 iM U
 
 London of To-Day — Advertisements. 
 
 
 Cl)oma$ Bailep, 
 
 LATE 
 
 WOODMAN & BAILEY, 
 
 Merchant Tailor, 
 
 ^.> 
 '^.>. 
 %. 
 
 Two Doors from Moorgate Street, 
 and close to Bank of England. 
 
 43, London Wall, 
 
 EX. 
 
 Gentlemen visiting London and 
 desirous of procuring iiigh-class 
 clotliing at a moderate price, 
 sliould visit tliis establishment and 
 inspect tlie stock, whicli comprises 
 one of t lie largest and most select 
 collections of materials for gentle- 
 men's wear in London. 
 
 All garments are cut by, and 
 produced under the supervision 
 of, clever, painstaking foremen, 
 and every effort is given to secure 
 satisfaction and continued pat- 
 ronage. 
 
 " All Goods marked in 
 I'LAIN Figures," from which a 
 discount of lo PER CENT. FOR 
 Cash is .illowed. This guarantees 
 fair dealing, and WHEN A TRADES- 
 .MAN DOES NOT HESITATE TO 
 MARK HIS STOCK IN PLAIN 
 I-IGURES, IT IS AN ASSUR.^NCE 
 THAT PRICES ARE REASON- 
 ABLE. 
 
 Frock Coat and Vest 
 FROM S:i 18 
 
 Light Overcoat 
 
 FROM £3 10 
 
 Commercial, Official, and Private Liveries. 
 
 Materials kept in Stock suitable for Weak 
 in all Parts of the World 
 
 " Nanndoow," London.
 
 London of To- Day — Advertisements. 
 
 VISITORS TO LONDON. 
 
 TRANTER'S HOTEL 
 
 6, 7, 8, 9, Bridgewater Square, Barbican, LONDON. 
 
 CIR«T ri a«« TPHPFRANPE VISITORS TO LONDON will find many 
 
 HKS I -LLAaa I LmrtKAni/E,. advantages by staying at this quiet, home- 
 
 like and comfortable Hotel. Most Central 
 for Business or Pleasure : near S. Paul's 
 Cathedral, G. P. O., and all Places of 
 Interest ; two minutes' walk from Alders- 
 ^ate St.. and five from Moorgate St. 
 IVIetropolitan Railway Stations, Termini of 
 the G.W., G.N.. G.E., Midland, and m 
 connection with ALL Railways. Trains, 
 Cars. 'Buses every three minutes to all 
 parts of London and Suburbs. Highly 
 rec.iinnirnd.-d. Established 1859. Re- 
 cently Enlarged. Perfect Sanitary 
 Arrangements. Night Porter. 
 
 Electric Light in Public Rooms, 
 Bedrooms, &-c. 
 
 ,1 ■ "il l Christian Herald says :— "We can re- 
 
 yBRIOGEWATER SRUARE. BARBICAN. L0NDON.\C conmiend Tranter s Temperence Hotel as 
 
 a most comfortable and inexpensive place." 
 7"«-m; J.— Single Bedroom, 2'- to 26; Double. 3/- to 4/6, with use of Sitting, Smoking and 
 ■Coffee Rooms. Breakfast or Tea from 1,- to 19. NO CHARGE FOR .ATTENDANCE. 
 
 Special Inclusive Terms to Colonists, Americans and others, 6s. per day. 
 
 Includes Good Bedroom, Meat Breakfast and Meat Tea or Snfper, Lights 
 
 Write for " How to Spend a Week (or longer) in London " with Tariff and 
 Testimonials and Sketch Map, post free, to G. T. S. TRANTER, Proprietor. 
 Telegraph ic A dres s - " H E A LT H I EST , LO N DO N . " 
 
 Jimerican CanUks ^ CDocolates 
 
 GENUINE ICE CREAM SODAS. 
 
 LONDON : 206 regent street, w, 
 
 358 STRAND, W.C. 
 
 190A SLOANE STREET, S.W. 
 
 31 HIGH STREET, KENSINGTON 
 
 BRANCHES : 
 
 LOfWON 
 
 113 VICTORIA STREET, S.W. 
 131 QUEEN'S ROAD, BAYSWATER. 
 28 ST. SWITHIN'S LANE, E.G 
 2 MOORGATE STREET STATION, E.G. 
 
 AND AGENCIES THROUGHOUT THE KINGDOM.
 
 London of To-Day — Advertisements. 
 
 T 
 
 HE MOST ORIGINAL, TASTEFUL, AND 
 ARTISTIC ILLUSTRATED BROCHURES, 
 TRADE CATALOGUES, PAMPHLETS, 
 BOOKLETS., Etc., Etc., Etc., .... 
 
 T^ 
 
 
 r\ t^^^ <' Oxford 
 Oxford 5 c:./cu5 
 
 Oxford STrt^r. 
 
 Warchou^ 
 
 Box.'3 
 
 InttrnaCioo.^ 
 Fur 5rorc5 
 
 Arc those Designed, Printed, and Produced under the general 
 
 name of 
 "THE LONDON OF TO=DAY ILLUSTRATED PUBLICATIONS," 
 
 copies of "which, in great variety, v/ill 
 be submitted on apphcation to 
 
 CHARLES CORBETT PASCOE, 
 
 C/oHAZELL, WATSON. & VINEY. Ld„ 7, Creed Lane. Ludgate Hill. London.
 
 1902. \ r
 
 Hart Street, Bloomsbury Square, LONDON. 
 
 Opposite the British IVIuseum. 
 
 THACKERAY HOTEL 
 
 Great Russell Street, LONDON. 
 
 These large and well-appointed Temperance Hotels have 
 
 Passenger Lifts, Electric Light throughout, Heated throughout. 
 
 Bathrooms on every Floor, 
 Spacious Dining, Drawing, Writing, Reading & Smoking Rooms. 
 
 Fireproof Floors. Perfect Sanitation. Telephone. Night Porter. 
 
 The Kingsley Hotel has a. good Billiard Room. 
 
 Bedrooms from 2s. Gd. to Ss. Gd. 
 
 Full Tariff and Testimonials on Application. 
 
 Inclusive charge for Bedroom, Attendance, Table d'Hote Breakfast 
 and Dinner, from 8s. to lOs. 6d. ($2.00 to $2.50) per day. 
 
 Also under the Same Managennent 
 
 ESMOND HOTEL 
 
 1, Montague Street, Russell Square, LONDON. 
 
 This Temperance Hotel adjoins the British Museum, and is exceptionally 
 quiet and economical. 
 
 Bedrooms from 2s. to 3s. Gd. per nit/htm 
 
 Full Tariff and Testimonials on application. 
 
 Telegraphic Addresses: — 
 
 Kingsley Hotel, I Thackeray Hotel, I Esmond Hotel, 
 
 " Bookcraft, London." | "Thackeray, London."] "Truslove, London."
 
 UC SqUTHERM REGIOMAL LIBRARY 
 
 FACILITY 
 
 By 
 
 " BELFAST 
 
 Establishea J^^^^T^^ 136 Xeat-s. 
 
 TO HIS MAJESTY THE KING. 
 
 IRISH HOUSE LINEN 
 
 OF EVERY DESCRIPTION 
 
 At Manufacturers" P rices m 
 
 Being actual manufacturers, we are able at all times to supply our 
 retail customers with the best Irish Linen Goods UNDER trade 
 prices, no provision having to be made for intermediate profits. To 
 test value, ladies are asked to write for Illustrated Price Lists and 
 Patterns, which are sent free to any address for comparison. Car- 
 riage paid to all parts of the United Kingdom on orders of £i 
 and upwards. 
 
 IRISH TABLE DAMASK 
 
 At Manufiacturers' Prices. 
 
 IRISH CAMBRIC HANDKERCHIEFS 
 
 At Manufacturers' Prices. 
 
 LADIES' OUTFITTING— 
 
 IRISH HAND-MADE UNDERCLOTHING, 
 SPECIAL CORSETS, Etc. 
 
 WALPOLE BROS-, Ltd, 
 
 ROYAL IRISH LINEN AND DAMASK MANUFACTURERS, 
 
 89, New Bond Street C^^torTsl'iT), W. ^ 
 102, Kensington High Street, W. ' I nNT^flM 
 
 6, Onslow Place, South Kensington,S.W., and |LUlll/Uil. 
 182, Sloane Street, S.W. 
 
 DUBLU\I, BL
 
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 Wmim llSBIMSiKT IHBOSTEffiS. 
 
 rlsh \ 
 
 ■ 
 
 117, Rej^jyjt Siree? 
 
 Hj-JtJ-j 1' «5rif-"< ' v'i't froKKt cms cwn .Workc-rs, OfSgi:;ial 
 
 > I K^M t^cSV*-.' ■iu'tis 519 every Dftscriptios, 
 
 Srli:!<t1 rOpjSU . and BrocAdeil, 
 
 ii'kli) ! U'"« ■- ■■ :'aTnaskT4).bkC.1otti5!:Siad>}H;i:-;!ai:, 
 
 8v--j>-i-i MnexxJL'?*; iMe;??-. ' ciisd, EflibrOidt;s*d aaid Trh; -^r-;!. 
 
 New Col: 
 
 
 I 
 
 TIlH IRISH :: WAREliOUSE,