the Eighth. All his many wives
carried them, and doubtless wept behind them. A fan set in diamonds was
once given to Queen Elizabeth upon New-Year's Day.

The Mexican feather fans which Cortez had from Montezuma were marvels of
beauty; and in Spain a large black fan is the favorite. It is said that
the use of the fan is as carefully taught in that country as any other
branch of education, and that by a well-known code of signals a Spanish
lady can carry on a long conversation with any one, especially an
admirer.

The Japanese criminal of rank is politely executed by means of a fan. On
being sentenced to death he is presented with a fan, which he must
receive with a low bow, and as he bows, _presto_! the executioner draws
his sword, and cuts his head off. In fact, there is a fan for every
occasion in Japan.

THE BOYS' SCHOOLS OF ENGLAND.

BY AMELIA E. BARR.

I suppose there are few boys who have not heard of Westminster Abbey,
and who do not know that within its ancient and splendid walls the Kings
of England are crowned, and the great, the wise, and the brave of every
age are buried. But few, perhaps, are aware that the Abbey also contains
the oldest and one of the most famous boys' schools in the world. It is
true that the statutes of the school, as they now exist, are of a less
remote date than those of Eton and Winchester schools--being framed by
Henry the Eighth and Elizabeth--but they no more represent the origin of
Westminster School than the Reformation represents the origin of the
English Church.

Westminster Abbey was built by Edward the Confessor, and the Master of
the Novices sitting with his disciples in the western cloister was the
beginning of Westminster School. It was, without doubt, this school that
Ingulphus--the writer of a famous chronicle (A.D. 1043-1051)--attended;
for he tells us that Queen Edith often met him coming from school, and
questioned him about his grammar and logic, and always gave him three or
four pieces of money, and then sent him to the royal larder to refresh
himself--two forms of kindness that a school-boy never forgets.
Ingulphus afterward became the secretary of William the Conqueror. In
his day there was no glazing to this cloister, and the rain, wind, and
snow must have swept pitilessly over the novices turning and spelling
out their manuscripts. They had, indeed, a carpet of hay or rushes, and
mats were laid on the stone benches, but it must have been a bitterl