London at the End of the Century:A Book of Gossip

a Beckett, Arthur William

1900

THE HONESTY OF THE OLD CONSTITUTIONAL FORCE.

 

As a matter of fact, this slur upon the conscientiousness of the regiment, and, I may say the force, was

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entirely undeserved. Our fellows were exceedingly good fellows, and as honest as the day. It was only when their devotion to their officers was tested that their fidelity to their superiors outweighed their appreciation of the exact value of the words and . For instance, on one occasion, after a weary march of over twenty miles, we were ordered to pitch our tents for the night. We had on either side of us line regiments. As a zealous officer I saw that the tents of my company were pitched before I looked after my own. When the time came for the erection of my modest marquee I found that we had exhausted our tent pegs-there was not one to be found.

said one of my men;

And it was. When I returned after mess to my tent I found it held down with an absolute plethora of pegs. How they got there I do not know, but as I heard shrieks in the course of the night from the lines of the two service battalions (where the tents were falling like displaced ninepins) I suspect that after I left them that my men must have gone foraging. But, as I asked no questions subsequently, I had no opportunity of hearing any statement, true or otherwise.

And I am reminded by this experience that things are not so comfortable nowadays as in the past. A man was allowed to dig a trench round his tent a

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quarter of a century ago. This permission is now withdrawn, a bad regulation in rainy weather.

 
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 Title Page
 Dedication
 PREFACE
CHAPTER I: LONDON AT THE END OF THE CENTURY
CHAPTER II: STRANGERS IN LONDON
CHAPTER III: RELIGION IN LONDON
CHAPTER IV: A PEEP INTO STAGELAND
CHAPTER V: PARLIAMENT UP TO DATE
CHAPTER VI: A NIGHT IN THE HOUSE
CHAPTER VII: THE PREMIER CLUB OF ENGLAND
CHAPTER VIII: LONDONERS HOLDING HOLIDAY
CHAPTER IX: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CLUB
CHAPTER X: IN RATHER MIXED CLUBLAND
CHAPTER XI: IN AUXILIARY CLUBLAND
CHAPTER XII: A PANTOMIME AT DRURY LANE
CHAPTER XIII: LONDON EXHIBITIONS
CHAPTER XIV: COACHING THE UNIVERSITY CREW
CHAPTER XV: THE SEQUEL TO THE DERBY
CHAPTER XVI: THE LONDON GONDOLA
CHAPTER XVII: LONDON ON STRIKE
CHAPTER XVIII: LONDON FIRES
CHAPTER XIX: PALL MALL AND PRIVATE THOMAS ATKINS
CHAPTER XX: CONCERNING THE LONDON VOLUNTEERS
CHAPTER XXI: SERVING WITH THE LONDON MILITIA
CHAPTER XXII: LONDON GUNNERS AT SHOEBURYNESS
CHAPTER XXIII: BECOMING A SOCIETY LION
CHAPTER XXIV: ENTERTAINING THE WORKING MAN
CHAPTER XXV: CHOOSING A FANCY DRESS
CHAPTER XXVI: PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKING
CHAPTER XXVII: ART IN LONDON
CHAPTER XXVIII: SPENDING BANK HOLIDAY IN LONDON
CHAPTER XXIX: A BANK HOLIDAY WITHOUT 'ARRY
CHAPTER XXX: LONDON OUT OF TOWN
CHAPTER XXXI: LONDONERS AND THEIR SUMMER HOLIDAYS
CHAPTER XXXII: LONDONERS AND THE CHANNEL
CHAPTER XXXIII: LONDON UNDER DOCTOR'S ORDERS
CHAPTER XXXIV: TWO CITIES IN FORTY-EIGHT HOURS
CHAPTER XXXV: THE LONDONER'S SEARCH FOR HEALTH
CHAPTER XXXVI: THE PARISIAN PART OF THE LONDON DISTRICT
CHAPTER XXXVII: A NOVELTY IN LONDON RECREATIONS
CHAPTER XXXVIII: LONDON SCHOOLBOYS AT THE END OF THE CENTURY