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Leader (1850-1860), 7th August 1852, Edition Country of 2, Page 15

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      Whiggism In The Main Sewer. How Often Do...

      Bless its slow imbecility ! Had it not been for that gentle dulness , swimming without advance in the Fleet of old routine , we might have had London by this time mined with a magnificent modernization of Roman grandeur—just at the point of time when we have all but convinced ourselves that Roman grandeur of that subterranean kind is not at all the thing wanted , but a totally new plan . . « Dirt , " says Lord Palmerston , after an excellent propagandist of sound sewage views , "is but

      m atter in the wrong place . " Sewage is bread , past and prospective , in its transition state . If , indeed , you arrest its transition , and keep it stagnant , your bread will not be replaced , or must be replaced by some great effort with extraneous matter , just as we replace it with guano from Peru , while we pour millions sterling into the Thames in the shape of our own indigenous guano , sent to waste . Water used to be transmitted by the Romans in noble aqueducts , of great architectural pretensions : we find pipes more convenient , especially at the branches . Pipes to bring in the water fresh for

      human use ; pipes to carry away the refuse , the matter that has subserved human use—such would be the beau-ideal of drainage ; drainage being , in fact , but the half of the entire circulation . With that ever moving vehicle , our surface and house drainage might be constantly carrying back to the fields , by a cheap and inoffensive process , that which has been borrowed from the fields , in the shape of water and food . A great arterial and venous system of pipes , conveying reciprocally the matter that has to be restored to vegetable and animal organization , is the desideratum which has now obtained the

      recognition of all clear-sighted Sanitary reformers , has been illustrated by Mr . Mechi at Tiptree , and proclaimed by Lord Palmerston at Lewes . But Lord Palmerston is far ahead of the Metropolitan Sewer Commission , and it is only by its fortunate imbecility that it has been prevented from constructing under London a subterranean labyrinth of arched ways , highly convenient for armies of mudlarks and rats , but as wholly unsuited to be the channel for a rushing circulation of water as the Thames Tunnel would be to serve

      by way of hose for a fire-engine . It has amused the public ; it has illustrated one true position of Whiggism in draining reform—pretending to get on , building up exploded institutions , and blocking out real workmen ; but has happily carried Whig principles so far as to do nothing . We have as yet no _Chandos clause in favour of the rats . We are almost whero we were ; and if we keep so until we havo in power a Minister who understands the matter , we shall find the ground less embarrassingly preoccupied . So long live Sir John Burgoyne and the Metropolitan Commissioners of Sewers .

      Ar01505

      Our Eavoitr7lte Tyrant For Home Consumpt...

      OUR EAVOITR 7 LTE TYRANT FOR HOME CONSUMPTION . _Befoiir us is a copy of the will of John Paver , dated January 15 , 1721—a document by which hangs a curiems tale . There is , indeed , a tale incorporated in the will itself—how John Paver , of A easier Sefby , in the county of York , late of _Virginia , had lost writings relating to property in America and Bohemia , " which came to Milliania ,

      my kite wife , " whereof advantage had been taken tt ) his wrong ; tho will also reciting divers g enealogical facts , back to the reign of Queen Elizabeth , and connecting tho testator with divers _oMier families— -notably with the family of Woodroof , Woodroffe , or Woodrooffo , and also with the Percys of Northumberland . The small bequests made by John Paver , of " five pounds unto Ellen , daughter of my lato son , Woodrooffo Paver , " can be of little interest at the present day , but somo facts connected with this will aro worth attention .

      The will of Maximillian Woodrooffo was proveel at York on the 2 nd of J une , 1 ( 552 , anel lus position in the compound pedigree ; is clear eneuig h . It is remarkable , however , that in the will of John Paver no mention is made of the tcstutor ' s second wife , Lucy , tho daughter of Bernard Ellin , of York , nor of William . Paver , of York , their son , who compiled a pedigree : of the family in 1754 . On the face of it , therefore , the document is peculiar for its elaborate recital <> f certain genealogical facts , and its silence respecting another genealogical fact . In the liaro ma An glica , vol . i . p . : i ( 5 i > , published in 1844 , is

      Our Eavoitr7lte Tyrant For Home Consumpt...

      this note respecting the pedigree of Paver , of York : — " Mr . Paver , it is to be observed , is the eldest co-heir of the baronies of 'Percy' and ' Poyninge , ' and holds one entire moiety of the same . " Thus there may probably be some surviving interest in this will , so remarkable for its genealogical discrimination , although the bequests ave lost their interest . The custody of wills is a function of the Ecclesiastical Courts , and it is one which they have exercised with more tenacity than fidelity to the trust . Registrars have been so tenacious , that they

      would induce poor people to come in and prove their wills under threats , though the property was worth little to the legatee ; but then the fees were worth something to the _registrars . They have been so tenacious of the status quo , that the inquirer seeking information , even for historical purposes , met with repellant . insolence . Sir Harris _Nicolas , who emphatically describes this kind of treatment in the preface to his Testamenta Vetusta ( page 13 ) , is not the only person who complains : and he says the tone was still more insolent than the terms . With all this

      tenacity , however , the fidelity is not great . One facetious registrar , at Kilkenny , kept the wills in open hampers , and his servants used to burn them for domestic purposes . The registers of the sees of Ferns and Leighlin do not go back further than the latter end of the seventeenth century . Indeed , it is notorious that in many hands old wills are rubbish to be thrown about at pleasure—kicked about as the vent for passion , or treated as a joke , as those in charge of the

      facetious registrar at Durham , who habitually lighted his pipe with a fresh will , and exclaimed every time , with outspoken relish of the fun , " Here goes the testator ! " Sometimes , however , the treatment of the wills is promoted from culpable negligence to an attention of a still more culpable kind . An example is ready to our hand in a story told in a new , beautifully printed , and erudite publication , called Postulates and Data , by a writer who tells the story of that very will to which we alluded at the commencement of

      this paper : — " The disgraceful state of the wills in the diocese of York appears on several occasions to have called forth public indignation ; and the honourable member for Halifax , in his examination before Patfliament in 1832 , states— ' I inspected the registry at York , and found it perfectly accord with the description I had received from various literary and antiquarian gentlemen . The place where the records are kept is not secure , exposed to the effects of the damp , and accumulation of dirt—wills much torn tied with common string / On 19 th February , 1850 , two gentlemen had occasion to visit the Will Office at York , for the purpose of making some searches among the early records . In searching the Index No . 76 , for the years 1721 and 1722 , they discovered written in a moelern hand the name of John

      Paver . It appeared that a clerk in the office , of that name , claimed to bo tbe representative of tho house of Percy , and heir to all the ancient baronies of that illustrious family ; this modern insertion caused a doubt in their minds , anil the doubt was considerably strengthened by the production of tho pretended will itself , elatcel 15 January , 1721 . It _acttiully recited that the testator , John Paver , had married M ' iltian , only daughter anel heiress of Maximillian Woodroofle , son and heir of Maximillian _Wooelroeifle , who was eldest son and heir of Richard Woodrooflb , by Laely Elizabeth Percy , elaughter of tho Earl of Northumberland , anel that the

      saiel John Paver , eldest son anel heir , was then dead , and that William Paver , his grandson , was his e : lelest sem unel heir , anel that his ( Wm . P . ' s ) eldest chilel John was then living . Tho Earl of Northumberland was beheaded in 1572 , anel the last-mentioned John Paver elieel in 17 ( 50 , so that this will cxtondod e _> ve : r ne _> lt ; ss than 188 years antl proveel eight generations . It is fortunate feir those persons having _cfftutcs or titles elepeneling em tht ; records at York , that about this period the wills wore all copied into volumes , which Mr . Protheroo describes a . s ' of _prenligiems bulk , and requiring a man of herculean strength to _meivo them ; ' feir , on a

      most careful _seare-h maele ; by both gentlemen , from 171 S ) te ) 1 . 731 , no such will could be elise : e > ve ; re _: el in those ; books , which clearly proved that tin ; will hael been placed in the oflie : e ; long _sinen _; that periotl . Shortly after , several articles appeared in Mr . Charles Dickens ' s Household Words , em the subject . These luiel the ; effect eif the removal or destruction of tho protended will , anel the ; erasure from the parchment Index Hook , Ne > . 7 ( 5 , of tins name of John Paver ; for , . on a visit to this oflie : o by tho same gentleman , on l <) th and 24 th duly , 1851 , feir tho purpewo of showing the document to a gentleman of high standing in the legal profession

      Our Eavoitr7lte Tyrant For Home Consumpt...

      no traces could be discovered save the erasure from the Index under the letter P -. ' " We enter into no other iniquities of the Ecclesiastical courts . We say nothing of their tyrannies exemplified , as in the case of David _eJones , the Unitarian weaver , of Llanon , in Carmarthenshire , who was imprisoned for contumacy as churchwarden , because he had no funds out of

      which to procure bread and wine for the sacrament . _Exemplified also in the case of the respectable farmer James , who , opposing a Tory candidate , was cited by the Tory Vicar of Llanelly for " absenting himself from church ; " was tried before the rural dean , who was judge of the Ecclesiastical Court , and editor of the Tory Carmarthen journal , and condemned to prison and costs . We say nothing of the nonsensical penances and other obsolete offences which these courts still

      have the privilege of committing . The mistreatment of the Wills should alone suffice to ensure the abolition of public incorporations which so grossly misbehave themselves . . Nobody , however , can agree upon the particular plan by which the courts shall be abolished ; and thus while honourable Members , in the intervals of business , occasionally jangle over a " Bill" to do something or other in reference to those courts , the'R egistrars and other people with vested interests continue to enjoy then * fun and profit amongst the Wills . " Here goes the testator "—

      and a pedigree , cries one humorous functionary at Durham . Here goes the testator—and the legatees , might the Kilkenny Registrar cry , chucking thw _^ n into the common hamper . Here goes the testator—and the Baronies , might some gentleman at York exclaim , inserting the will on the record . Here goes the testator—and the Baronies , might some one else ejaculate , while abolishing the record with the stroke of his pen . To the d y ing man the Will is the one great last act of life , involving affection , duty , and all that remains of this world . To the survivors the

      Will may be independence or penury . To the Registrar , whether the Will be in hamper or rat ' snest—whether he folds it up carefully amongst the records , or puis it in his pipe and smokes it - -the Will is but the means to an end , and that is the great end of official life—Pees .

      Army Purchase.—Corrupt Practices. Ai.Tho...

      ARMY PURCHASE . —CORRUPT PRACTICES . Ai . _THOTJGn commissions are procured by purchase , the applications for them are so numerous that the issue is always in arrear , and the Commander-in-chief has to keep a list of persons who have applied . The United Service Gazette states that this list generally contains about 1800 names . Of course the military secretary cannot keep

      these names continually in his mind , and hence ho relies on the recommendation of officers with whom he comes personally in contact . Of course , also , such a plan gives rise to many abuses . There is favouritism ; and many who have every right to take their turn in duo order remain on the list for years , with slight hope of a commission . Our contemporary avers , however , that tho abuse is still greater : —

      "Though theexcellent and honourable Military Secretary may know tei what extent this _geies em , we unhesitatingly state , that there are persons of all classes , in town and elsewhere , putting themselves in communication witb the gentlemen who prepare young men for the army , offering , for certain sums , to get their names brought forward some months earlier than they could otherwise hope feir . _Nei less than four persons _teitally unknown to each other , assured a friend of ours the week before last that they possessed this mysterious power . Of course they were ; very close as to the : manner in whie-h the thing was done ; but , one of them having _elemaiided 1100 / . or 400 / . tt ) effect a certain

      object , he was roundly asked inte ) whose pockets nue : h a sum wemlel ge > ? He ; answered , in great confidence , that lu : was obligotl tei bribe certain necessitous general oflicei ' s , who wemlel wait upem Lord _I'ii / . _reiy Somerset , ami , tin the strength of their rank and services , solicit the favour of his speedily nominating the : youth who was to pay the ; amount . The others asketl much lews feir what they proposed to effect , anel declined to state how they accomplished the e ; nd ; hut that they hael tho means tliey wero prepared to prove : by reference te > certain _successful e : ase : s—that is te > say , certain preferential nominations obtained through their means , ut no distant date . "

      According to this statement , a very serious corruption is making its way into the _^ army ; and military men well know , that " free" as officers usually are ; in many matters , moral corruption ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 7, 1852, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_07081852/page/15/