In London

Led by their leader, Charles E. Hughes, some 400 U. S. men of law trooped into Westminster Abbey, London, found chairs reserved for them In Poet's Corner. Though not yet offi- cially the guests of the English Bench and Bar, the visitors' presence was recognized by a sermon on Fundamentalism vs. Modernism, their native religious issue.

Next morning, the 400, their ranks swelled near to 1,500, entered cavernous Westminster Hall, ancient home of Anglo-Saxon Jurisprudence. Big Ben itolled; an impressive silence fell; the assemblage rose; the English Judges, richly dight, proceeded majestically behind the Golden Mace of the House of Lords and the Lord High Chancellor's purse-bearer. Motioned to their seats by the purse-bearer's Master, Lord Haldane, the U. S. barristers were formally welcomed, instructed in the legend and tradition of their surroundings. Here William Rufus had builded; here Coke and Bacon handed down the Law.

The American Bar Association replied through the mouth of Mr. Hughes. Its delegates had no political fish to fry. They were come to honor a common heritage in Law.

Thereafter, still silk-hatted, the Americans were escorted down the Strand to the Inner Temple, where guarded doors swung open upon Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn and all that is sedate and venerable in the Law. Cases were in progress. Little knots of men grouped about the English hosts, listening to elucidations of unfamiliar procedure. Bewigged, begowned, Lord Chief Justice (the Rt. Hon. Sir Gordon Hewart) and Justice Darling ruled their benches in the Courts of Appeal, Justice Horridge his divorce court. In one ;room, there arose an intricate question involving U. S. law. Experts among the visitors were pressed into willing service.

Hail and rain drove guests indoors at Ambassador and Mrs. Kelloggs' re- ception that day at Crewe House. The Archbishop of Canterbury entertained at tea at Lambeth Palace. Mr. Hughes returned to the Middle Temple for dinner.

Wednesday, in the central hall of the Law Courts, an usher shouted "Si- lence !" Out stepped George W. Wickersham, onetime U. S. Attorney General, to elaborate upon the profound effect U. S. thought had undergone from the writings of Sir William Blackstone, 18th Century commentator. As Mr. Wickersham concluded, the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack were slipped from their moorings about a plaster figure of Sir William, gift of the American Bar to

England. A permanent figure, in bronze or marble, will be executed by Paul Bartlett, U. S. sculptor, in Paris, after it is decided whether Sir William is to stand (in full robes, wig, carrying his Commentaries) in Westminster Hall, where he sat so long, or in the Brick Court, where he had his chambers.

A royal host and hostess were affable, interested, loquacious in Buck- ingham Palace Gardens that afternoon. The New York Times, with seeming bad taste, headlined: "AMERICANS TAKE TEA IN KING'S BACK

YARD--WALES WINS YOUNGER SET." More dinners in the Inns that eve- ning--more mellow vintages and rare good fellowship. At the Guildhall, the Lord Mayor toasted Coolidge. Friday there were receptions at Sul- grave Manor, seat of George Washington's family; an Astor garden party; a reception in Westminster Hall by Lord Haldane and four onetime Lord Chancellors--Birkenhead, Cave, Finlay, Buckmaster. Saturday, Oxford and Cambridge Universities competed with the Naval Review at Spithead for entertainment honors. Brasenose College, Oxford, received payment of a 17-shilling debt entered in its books against Lawrence, father of George Washington. Mr. Hughes issued a formal statement of appreciation: "An abiding memory of venerable institutions . . . inexhaustible kindness . . . new appreciation. . . ." He then, with others, entrained for France. At Paris, Messieurs Poincare, Millerand, Doumergue shook the U. S. hands. From the Belgian Capital came an invitation to dine with the Sovereigns.