NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11619, 5 April 1901, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Evert Maundy Thursday . (that is, the Thursday before Good Friday) I the ancient and interesting ceremony of the distribution of the Royal Maundy takes place in Westminster Abbey, and, no doubt, yesterday was no exception to the rule. Maundy Thursday carries us back through the centuries to the days c! Edward HI. When the king was 50 years of age, in 1363, I he is said to have instituted the custom (as a perpetual royal custom) of giving alms, food, and clothing on the day before '' Good Friday to as' many poor persons as he was years old. This mediaeval relic has survived to this day. In his capacity of Lord High Almoner/ the Bishop of Ely officiated at the service last year, and the clergy included the Sub-Almoner, the Dean of Westminster, Canon Wilberforce, and others. The anthems were sung by an augmented choir. The most striking feature of the service was the procession, which had an unusual picturesqueness about it. First came the Beadle of the Abbey bearing the mace. There were four children of the Royal Almonry dressed in white and bearing i bouquets of white flowers, and the gentlemen of the choir., Clergymen in black gowns represented the recipients of the royal alms, and were followed by the minor canons, the canons' verger, and the canons. But the feature that spoke most strongly of medie.tradition was the presence of the Yeomen of the Guard, in all the glory of thendelightful costume and bearing their halberds. It was this picturesque body that brought up the procession. One of the yeomen bore the dish containing the alms, and the sergeant-major, his scarlet tunic marked with a golden crown, was' also a leading figure. Nowadays the Maundy is entirely in money, and not,' as formerly, partly in , kind. i,. The vessel containing the alms had ' been placed on a table covered with a white cloth' that stood at the foot of the steps leading to the sacrarium. One of the yeomen removed the dish, and; the Lord High Almoner, with the Sub-Almoner, the secretary to the Almonry and his assistant (these two wearing white scarves* emblematical of

charity) proceeded to make the distribution. The recipients, who were all of advanced age, were ranged in two lines, the men and women on either side, immediately under the lantern. ; Each man received £2 5s in lieu of clothing, and each woman £115s. The coins. were tied up in white bags to which were attached long white streamers. The bags :. were passed by the assistant to the secretary, by the ; secretary to the Sub-Al-moner, and by him to the Bishop. The anthem, "0 Love the Lord," was followed by the second distribution. This time the purses were of two denominations, the ones

with red streamers containing each £1 in gold, representing' part of the Maundy, and £1 10s, an allowance in lieu of provisions, and the others (white streamers) containing as many pence as the Queen was years of, age, "and given in silver pennies, twopenny, threepenny, and' fourpenny' pieces." 'The

■ " ' ' "111111 ij ..:/: srvice closed,' after the benediction by th» '-5 ean, by a reforming of the strange and old* :- orld procession. •. .■, ; l L-; . t' ' 'MB . ' .: - ■■•..■-'■':.■'■■.. The composition of ale and beer has sl- ' ays been - of interest. Dr. Andrews ;' oorde, who lived in the reign ox Henry, 111., gives a. full account of the cornposi- ■ ( on of most of the beverages which were : use in his own time. He considered that .iter was not " holsome sole by its lf e f ' i Englyssheman," because it was "coldiT' owe, andslacke of dygestyon."' Ale he •fid, for an Englishman was the natural ' •ink. It was in his time made of malt and kter fermented by yeast, ft had, in his - Union, to be fresh and.clear, hot ropy or joky. It appears to have been dnink very brtly after it was made, for he says that tought not to be drunk under five days'' a. and that new ale was "nwholesometfor • men. He observed also that & o ur &]« M good for no man, an observation which • hdbeen confirmed by subsequent .ttbenV - enl Contrary to the opinion of * mi .inoW brtwers, he considered that j^i; ' inalmade the best ale. He confessed; ht>tsv eve&hat in,spite"of '-good qualities i{% bevefae cngtidered gross humours, but ha' adde&hat it made a man strong. In.n| ; desertion of, composition of ale no re.. ferencKs made to hops, and it appears that they re not-used in the drink which hY called k for \t looked upon other ingredients t'bse which he mentioned as '.'■., being aWteratins. The composition of beer waddiffem. It was made of malt,' hops, and watered was, he observed, the natural drink for Dutchman. Of late day» it had, inieed, b>n used in England, but unfortunatdy.witldetriment to many Englishmen, anil it v« especially harmful to those who suffere from colic, " for th« drynke is a colde drnke," he observed. Yet he said it made amy fat—a point on which the observer coUld, a himself by examining the faces id other parts of the persons of Dutch mi. The. beverage had,, however, one good put, which was that if it were well served . good condition, and not new, it qualified he heat of the liver., Dr. Boorde was a traveller, and amongst other things ie especially noticed • the condition of the f»d and the drink hi all the places which licvisited.\ Of the ale of Cornwall he formed very low estimate jj' it looked white and thk', "as if the.pygges had wrastled" in it, a.i he gives some nti-i savoury particulars as the ill-effects' of drinking this beverage ho which, perhaps, it 1 is hardly necessary to fobw him. 11l Boovdo'tf time it does not appeai that Scotland Was. celebrated for good aleas a general rule.. Although fish and fles were to be had ,; there in plenty, the alehe says, was evil/ with the sole exception if that brewed at Leith. Dr. Boorde wai extremely sever* in the punishments whiclihe thought should be meted out to brewerstbf bad ale, and to those who gave short mesure. He gave it as his opinion that they ught to be placed in the Thames up to the? chins and three inches above, and suggestd that when they ; came out they would hire, to shake their ears, as a spaniel that veriy came out of the ■ water. * 1 " ' '..

Among the many documents and procU* mations made necessary 'by the death of th« '' Queen and the accession of her successor;, hone, perhaps, brings so sharply to mind the lapse of time- since ■ their, previous use and the immense strides of the Victorian Era as the Royal proclamation requiring all persons in office to remain ai their posts at the pleasure of the new Sovereign; * The ■ proclamation recites the Act made in the sixth year of the reign or- Queen Anno (1708), and provides that no'-office,," civil ' or military, within the Kingdtms of Greal Britain or Ireland, Dominion <y, ' Wales,? town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, Isle? of -Jersey, Guernsey, Aldemey, and Sark or any, of Her Majesty's plantations,'-' slinild he* come void by reason of the demisi 'of; the ' Crown, but that all should continue 'n their respective places for the space of six ltonthsv '"' unless sooner discharged by the, nek sue--cessor. This Act was necessary hi; those days of slow communications. It tookmany weeks to.send news to the various pats of the British Isles and the Act was pissed in order to remedy the confusion into WiicU publio business was thrown by offices iudet< • the Crown being made vacant by the deity of the Sovereign. Some idea may be had ■■:■, of those times when it is remembered tint one year before this Act was passed tie Parliamentary Union with Scotland hai . been effected. The great Duke of Marl--

borough 'was then in tie Netherlands figbfr ing the French ; Gibraltar had been fa-ken four years before, and has been held by lis ever since. "Queen Anne's war" Was going on in America at that time betweetf the French of Canada and the inhabitants ti. ;: the Western Colonies, : who numbered ■ the* some 300,000 souls, including slaves and feu vants. The proclamation further recite!' the Act of William IV. (1830), which added to that of Queen Anne a provision not necessary in her day regarding His Majesty's foreign possessions, requiring all holders oi office in these possessions to prosecute their duties for 18 months after the death of the - $

Sovereign. Australia was beginning : to' ; ■ loom large i then, and India Was fast being ; : ; prepared for Imperial government under the regime of the East India Company. It took months to reach these far-off possessions;; with news, and hence the provision of 18 months' retention of office. All this was before the days of steam ; and, although the precaution is not needed now, yet; the oldActs are proclaimed, and it is noticeable that

King Edward VII. has; added to his pret decessors's recital sof possessions "the colon* ies and our Empire of India."

The British have captured a Boer laager in Cape Colony, and a large number of horses, etc. Lord Kitchener has consented to the reopening of a limited number of Rand

mines on condition that the miners em'' ployed shall receive the same pay and ration* as the, irregular troops, the balance of their wages going towards a fund .for the support of the families of ■ miners who were killed, during the war. A party of Victorian Bu>>in men got surrounded by an • overwhelming force of the enemy, but succeeded in hold* ing their ground until the arrival of rein* forcements, when the Boers were driven'; off , with the loss of four killed.' Li Hung Chang has been giving his views respecting the Manchurian. Convention to Dr. Morrison, the Pekin correspondent of. the London Times. 1 The old viceroy d*|j clared that he was convinced that the Con< , i vention would ultimately be signed,, not*; withstanding the opposition of the Southern Provinces, which he treated with indifference. It is stated on the authority of a New York paper that Japan has promised to support China in opposing Russian demands in Manchuria. There appears to be a strong and warlike feeling in Japan on! the subject. The earthquake shocks -which;';<: have been experienced in .South-eastern. Europe have destroyed the lighthouse aty Cape Kaliakra; also a number of houses itf Hungary,