madman away with an angry exclamation of on high, and with a fierce cry of 'Aldisgust; whereupon the soldier, nowise lah! Allah! went on like a abashed, promptly ran his bayonet down the blazing street." through the head again, brandished it How Russia Amuses Itself. If I were asked to state what a Russian schoolboy does with his spare time after working hours are over, I should be much puzzled what to say. Unfortunately young Russia has not the faintest glimmering of knowledge of the practice or even of the existence of such things as football, cricket, fives, rackets, golf, athletic sports, hockey, or any other of the numerous pastimes which play so important a part in the life of every schoolboy in this merry land of England. Therefore there is no question, for him, of staying behind at the school premises after working hours, in order to take part in any game. He goes home; that much is certain; most of his time is loafed awaythat, too, is beyond question. He may skate a little perhaps, in the winter, if he happens to live near a skating ground, but he will not go far for it; and in the summer, which is holiday time for him from June till September, he walks up and down the village street, clothed in white calico garments, or plays cup and ball in the garden; fishes a little, perhaps, in the river or pond if there happen to be one, and lazies his time away without exertion. Of late years "lorteneece," as lawntennis is called in the czar's country, has been slightly attempted; but it is not really liked; too many balls are lost, and the rules of the game have never yet been thoroughly grasped. A quartet of men will occasionally rig up their net which they raise to about the height of a foot and a half, and play a species of battledore and shuttle-cock over it until the balls disappear; but it is scarcely tennis. As a matter of fact. a Russian generally rushes at the ball and misses it; on the rare occasions when he strikes the object, he does so with so much energy that the ball, unless stopped by the adversary's eye, or his partner's, disappears forever into "the blue." Croquet is a mild favorite, WENTWORTH HUYSHE. too; but it is played very languidly and unscientifically. Well do I remember a scene at the custom-house some years—a good many years, I fear-ago! I was a schoolboy at the time, and had arrived from England in order to spend the summer holidays in Russia. Among my impedimenta was a box of croquet paraphernalia which I had been commissioned to bring out for an English resident. At that time the game was as yet unknown to the country, and the custom-house authorities on opening the box retreated in horror and alarm when they beheld its awe-inspiring contents. Instruments of assault, bombs, mysterious weapons of every kind were contained in that awful box not one of them would go near it! Amid exclamations of warning and horror I drew forth one of the bombs and placed it upon the ground; then a second; to the accompaniment of cries of terror and consternation I took from the case a terrible weapon (known to croquet players as a mallet), and to the inexpressible alarm of all present I commenced a little exhibition game of croquet upon the floor of the customhouse in order to demonstrate the uses of the various implements. As the hoops could not well be utilized on the wooden boards these innocent articles were gravely suspected. I believe the officials took them to be boomerangs of a novel and peculiar description, and the whole box was consequently detained for further and fuller investigation. I believe they sunk it in deep water and sent down a scientifically disposed diver to inspect it in safety. My friends got their croquet set eventually, but the balls bore marks of careful testing; those officials had felt sure they were bombs, and had done their very best to convict them of containing dynamite.-F. Wishaw in Chambers's Journal. PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY BY THE LIVING AGE COMPANY, BOSTON. FOR SIX DOLLARS remitted directly to the Publishers, THE LIVING AGE will be punctually forwarded for a year, free of postage. Remittances should be made by bank draft or check, or by post-office money order, if possible. If neither of these can be procured, the money should be sent in a registered letter. All postmasters are obliged to register letters when requested to do so. Drafts, checks, and money-orders should be made payable to the order of THE LIVING AGE Co. Single copies of THE LIVING AGE, 15 cents. Some Changes in Social Life During the Queen's Reign. 499 From The Nineteenth Century. SOME CHANGES IN SOCIAL LIFE DURING THE QUEEN'S REIGN. I do not contemplate touching on the scientific progress, the literary achievements, or other higher matters of the Victorian epoch, but the recollections of one who saw the Coronation procession from Lord Carrington's house in Whitehall, which exists no more, and who, when six years old, ran a race with the great Duke of Wellington from Walmer Church to the castle, may afford amusement to those of a younger generation, who may be interested in noting the changes that have crept almost imperceptibly into our social life. On one occasion, when present with a contemporary at a pretty little play at the Princess's Theatre, called "Sweethearts," I remarked to my friend on the out-of-date costume of the hero, and wondered why he was SO dressed. "Cast your mind back," he said, "only to 1850, or thereabouts, and you will find that was the way you and I used to dress at that time." And it was true. A pair of dove-colored trousers with two fluted stripes down the sides, and buttoned under the foot with broad straps of the same material; the boots, of course, were wellingtons, which were sine quâ non with a man of fashion in those days; a coat so high in the collar that the back of the hat rested on it. Indeed, every hat had a crescent of cloth on the back of the brim to prevent the rubbing of the beaver, or imitation beaver, of which the hat was made, for silk hats were not then invented. The scarf, never folded less than twice round the neck, like a waterfall, bulged out from a double-breasted waistcoat, cut very low, and was ornamented with two pins joined with a gold chain. In the evening we wore a blue coat with tight sleeves and brass buttons, and a waistcoat of flowered or brocaded silk. Black trousers, fastened by straps under patent leather pumps, had just then achieved a final victory over light colored kerseymeres or nankin pantaloons. As lately as 1862 Lord Derby insisted upon his sons dining with him in pantaloons and black silk stockings. A folding chapeau bras, for opera hats had not been invented, was always carried under the arm, for nobody but an apothecary or a solicitor would have dreamt of leaving his hat in the hall of the house where he was calling or dining. White gloves were always worn by men at a party, but those who dined of course took them off, and Dicky Doyle used to say that it endowed them wita a conscious superiority, which prevented the desired amalgamation between those who had dined and those who had come in in the evening to form a tail to a dinner. Men wore their hair much longer in those days than now, falling over their collars, and their whiskers drooped, or were bostrakized, according to the fancy of the wearer. But no man, unless an officer in H.M. cavalry, ever ventured in pre-Crimean days to wear a beard or moustache. The Duke of Newcastle was the first man of any note who wore a beard; and Lady Morley used to say the advantage of it was that you could tell all the courses he had eaten at dinner in consequence. I will not attempt to deal with the ever-changing fashions of female attire, which in the queen's reign have varied from the poke bonnet and the spoon bonnet, the white cotton stockings and the sandalled shoes, through the cage period to the pretty fashions. of the present day. A vision arises before me of what we considered the seductive beauty of ringlets, the side combs and plaits, then the hair parted in the middle and plastered tightly over the forehead and ears, then the hateful chignons, then the hair torn rudely from the forehead, then the fringes "by hot irons falsely curled or plaited very tight at night." In the early days of her Majesty's reign peers drove down to the House of Lords in full dress, with their orders and ribbons, and bishops wore episcopal wigs: Bishop Blomfield, who died in 1857, being the last to do so. Lord Strafford recollected seeing his uncle, tue famous George Byng, M.P. for white pipe-clayed cross-belts, large Middlesex, going down to the House white woollen epaulettes, and in sumof Commons dressed in tights and black mer white duck trousers. A black boy silk stockings; and Disraeli tells us how in scarlet pantaloons with a gold kickLord George Bentinck on one occasion ing strap, playing the cymbals, accomattended in boots and breeches, his red panied the Guards' bands. They were coat partially hidden under what was of course armed with the old musket called a surtout. Hessian boots were called "Brown Bess," and were cleanly common; the last man to wear them shaved. Then the tunic was adopted was Mr. Stephenson, a commissioner of as the Infantry uniform. The MetroExcise, well known in London society, politan police, with their tall hats and who wore them to the day of his death swallow-tail coats, had been organized in 1858. It was not till 1867 that mem- before the queen's accession, but it was bers came down, to the horror of Mr. for many years after the old watchmen, Speaker Denison, in pot hats and shoot- with their rattles and drab great-coats, ing coats. And now, in 1897, Cabinet existed in provincial towns, and made ministers ride to their parliamentary night hideous by screaming out the duties on bicycles in anything but full hour and the state of the weather. dress. In a charming sporting book Parish beadles, as depicted in "Oliver published in 1837 I find all the sports- Twist," still flourished in their large men dressed in blue or brown frock cocked hats, their gold embroidered coats and high hats. coats, and plush breeches. As all the pictures of the coronation show, the Life Guards wore bearskins on their heads, till these were superseded by the Roman helmet with red horsehair tails over their necks. At a dinner party once an argument arose as to whether the Blues did or did not wear pigtails at the Battle of Waterloo. One elderly gentleman said they did, and quoted himself as a good authority, because as an Eton boy he had seen that famous regiment reviewed at Windsor by the king on their departure for Dover. Another of the guests said he ought to know, because he was a midshipman on board the transport which conveyed them across the Channel, and he was positive that they did not wear them. The argument grew so warm that the host wisely turned the conversation; but, being interested in the question, he went the following day to an old friend of his who had served in the Blues at Waterloo, and told him of the dispute that had arisen the previous evening at his table. "Both your friends were right," he said. "We were reviewed at Windsor by the king on our departure with our pigtails on, and at Dover we had them cut off before our embarkation." The Foot Guards wore swallow Orders, decorations, and medals were very few. The Peninsular medal was issued in the year 1849, and then only to officers, thirty-five years after the campaign had closed. When medals were first issued to private soldiers, it was denounced in the House of Lords as a prostitution of public honors. Queen Victoria has in her reign enlarged or instituted no less than fourteen orders. Of course the old orders of the Garter, the Thistle, and the St. Patrick have existed from early times. The former was beloved by Lord Melbourne, because, he said, "there was no damned merit connected with it." The Order of the Bath has been changed from one grade to three, and the Statutes were extended, and Volunteers are now eligible for the honor. The Order of St. Michael and St. George, originally a Maltese Order, has been enlarged during the present reign. 1. The Victoria Cross, 6. The Nurses' Medal, 7. The Distinguished Service Order, tailed red coats with white facings, are all the creations of this reign. |