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Leader (1850-1860), 17th January 1857, Edition 2 of 2, Page 14

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    • THE LEAPED

      THE LEAPED

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      Smintheus The Grea.T. Our Lively Neighbo...

      considerable estate in the neighbourTiood of ISoir In short , this amiable young inan ? aa conferred upon his friends and neighbours the iaestimable service of stepping , into some 25 , 000 ? . per annum . Now " this , m itself is rather a personal and domestic ¦ fact than one of general interest , and it is only through tiie pages of the local journals thai it falls into the domain of publicity . Many other Smyths or Smiths ( for the y is tut a feeble distinction ) might have come and gone without attracting the pen of that vatefsaoer of provincial celebrities the > Local Organ . It 'isJthe estate and . the 25 0002 a jil ^ w s ^ s w ^ gft observe how any young man who is good s ^ vsr- ^^ rS the attention of foreign pubhcists to this pleasant ; chapter of English rural life . As many as a hundred and seventy are present at the dinner . The Church , the Services , the House of Parliament , the . Law in short , all the respectable institutions which are our pride and glory , are represented at the table " But decidedly the most cheering to iovei " _

      < feature' of the entertainment xue of his kind , is the abundance of good counsels so liberally bestowed upon the interesting hero of the feast . The Prodigal of Athens was not better surrounded ( in the first act ) than the adolescent Smyth of our day . li TiMO ^ r had his crowd of senators , his poet , his painter , his tailor , and the rest , about hi £ - ante-chamber , the modern Smyth has Ins Tory M . P ., Ms ' manager , ' his ' family soli citors , ' his Bristol merchants , his agricul turista , and other purveyors of soap an < sawder , ' to crowd his festal banquet when h comes of age . Smyth , like Timon , has th world as his confectionary . ¦ minds

      « ' - You see how all conditions , how all , As -well of glib and slippery creatures , as Of grave and austere quality , tender down Their services " The burden of the song of the friends of Smyth , as of the friends of Timon , is , that " we are born to do benefits , and what better I or properer can we call our own than the riches of out friends ? " Mr . William Mii . es , for instance , is the distinguished parliamentary sponsor of the ingenuous youth , and promises and vows that he will take the " lead in rural matters ; " whicli being interpreted , signifies that the Smyth interest will ' '

      back the " Farmer ' Friend , " and support Mr Miees in his favourite impersonation . Mr Miies is one of that faithful band of Derbyites who at tlie last general election nailed the colours of Protection to the mast in support of a Ministry whose first act in office was to throw Protection to the winds ; the war and other causes have kept up prices , however , and the farmers have not yet * found out' Free Trade , or Mr . "William Miles . The High Sheriff of Bristol returned thanks for the municipality ; and in reply to some graceful allusions , from another speaker , to his peculiar functions , he proceeded to improve the occasion in the following style : —

      • ' The High Sheriff returned thanks , and assured Mr . Pitz Way that his-wish should ho attended to . If he had to execute upon him the last penalty of the law , it Bhould bo performed with aa delicate a consideration as possible to that gentleman ' s feelings . Even the courtesy of a silk rope might be conceded him when , llko the Spaniard , he came to take his last drop ( laughter' ) , and it should not bo his ( tho High Sheriff ' s ) fault if ho wonted for any civility that waa consistent with the proper discharge of that painful duty . ( Itenewed laughter and cheera . y * A very edifying after-dinuer contribution to the crime and punishment discussion , and likely to impress tho youthful Smyth with an . exalted conception of the duties of

      inagis-; 1 trates Next , we find Mr . William Mixes Sakt XnoV appears in a new character . He ^ as played wSh his accustomed ability Se " Farmer ' s Friend" in the earlier part of fhe evening , and has now dressed for the part o Bristol Merchant " Proposing the " Trade and commerce of Bristol , « He hoped to seethe commerce of Bristol not only ^^ s & kks ¦ £$ e ££$% < % Mr . Smyth We * ^ f ^ . * c ^ oLroU with the citizens , so far ox xn him lay m doimukatJie could to advance suchlike works , and all undfrtSgs for the benefit of Bristol . I trust Csaxd ful host prosperity and length of days , and that he may foe to see and participate in many s chemes which will Neatly conduce to the social improvement and commercial prosperity of the city of Bristol . I . * °£ <*« JJ £ may live to see the two counties , Gloucester and Somersetf united by a -nolle bridge at Chfton , that _ he ; will call iu the hand of the architect to join art to nature ' on that lovely site . I hope he may live to see a rail M road constructed from the present docks to new and i more commodious docks at the mouth of- our beautiful k river . "

      These are valuable hints for a young man who has just come of age . He is recommended to « co-operate" in sehemes which ; all the enterprise of Bristol merchants ^ has been hitherto unwilling to attempt ; and we . note the persuasive figure of speech by which the schemes are introduced : "I trust he may live to see . " - n The Suspension Bridge is an especially favourite topic with the many friends oi this young gentleman . It is certainl y , a very pretty cure for a plethora of cash , thi 3 said Suspension Bridge , which has been so long suspended . The Corporation of Bristol , we believe , spent all the money that was be-; queathed for the bridge by some misguided [ enthusiast , in a couple of brick piers , and ! i tried by its piers the Corporation oi * Bristol is most assuredly found wanting . Apparently they have waited for the commg oi age of a nice young man to complete their precious bridge . The bridge meets us at / i

      . . every turn in the report of the dinner , a . Mr . Shaw , who , of all the speakers , seems to have the finest capacity for ' producing a lather , ' conducts the youthful Smyth through " the freshness and beauty of creation , the sylvan scenery and soft vales of Somersetshire , " only to bring him , by a circuitous approach , to the Suspension Bridge ! tThe toast of " Speed the Plough" brought up Mr . Mixes ( who is always ready to proceed to the most square-toed extremities ot Bucolicism ) once more ; and at this period ot ' the entertainment the excellent larmers ' A -P r-iPTid nows scientific , talks familiarly oi

      | steam-ploughs , and calls upon a Mr . J ohn Shattock to return , thanks . Mr . John Shattock makes the very sensible , it not strictly novel , remark , that there are three essentials to good farming , " well-selected manures , good clean seed , and plenty ot labour , " and sits down . Thereupon the domestic toasts . The ' family solicitors are , handsome enough to express unbounded con- i

      fidence in their employer , and to compliment a Mr . "Wat , who it appears has been « mana- I ger' of the estate , on his satisfactory adminis-I tration ; in other words , impressing upon the mind of Smyth that his WayB were Ways of pleasantness , and all their paths were peaco . What an admirable institu tion , we pause to exclaim , is" tho " Family Solicitor ! " At onco a Conservative and a liadical institution . Is it not to the Family Solicitor that wo owe that landed property in this country is even as much divided as it is , and does not perpetuate itself in families ? Tho irumily Solicitor your true skeleton at the least ; an amiablo smiling skeleton , no doubt . The City of Bristol is capitally reprcsontec . ¦ j * ¦

      - Parliament by its present Liberal mem- f $ bers but a feeler has already been put out |?| in favour of the young Mr . Smyth , whose > 4 qualifications are a large fortune , and a mmd - ^ not preoccupied by < views' on public ques- m tions . He may be tempted to invest some ^ of bis loose capital , after co-operating in the : j Bocks and other ' schemes' , and completing % the Suspension Bridge , in the fcee and mde- | | pendent electors of the city of Bristol . Under | the auspices of so many influential and dism- 1 terested advisers , we see no reason why he ; | should not succeed in achieving a seat m . the ; . l Legislature of his country . Let this be his si ambition . His convivial speeches , as re- J ported in the Bristol Times , display a sea- > I ionable modesty and a tolerable syntax . His j feelings do not appear to have got the better | of his grammar more than might be expected of 1 a young man who , after all , has a right to be | independent of Lindley Muekay . With a | WniiiAMi Miles for his political , a Skaw for ' his commercial , and the « Family Solicitors for his home department , a Smyth is well recommended to the public service . At all j P ^ P . nts . we invite our foreign contemporaries to 1

      . a view of this picture of English society . A : j voung man has only to step into & n estate to find himself encumbered with friends , ready to assist in the distribution of his patrimony . One man suggests a pack of hounds , another . co-operation in docks and other / schemes , another and another the Suspension Bridge while the " Family Solicitor" caps it all with an expression of < unbounded confidence . ' Here are all the conservative elements of our institutions . Ah well ! ^ one ^ totter and aristocracies decay , but tn « dynasty of Smith—we beg his pardon—Smyth—is not extinct , nor is the _ worslup of wealth among the religions which have passed away . « O ! what a precious comfortit < is to have so many like brothers command . ing one another ' s fortunes . "— " No doubt my ( rood friends , but the gods themselves have provided that I shall have help from you . How had you been my friends else c >

      | BOTOETS , MANTLES , DRESSES , AND BOOTS . The Bast becomes less Eastern daily , and the West more Oriental . The Grand lurk forsakes the magnificence of Summan ; the Shah is dingy ; the Mogul is a pale pensioner . The silver battle-axes have disarmeared from the pageants of Tartary ; tlie

      Graces of Persia are abandoning their haubinding nets of gold ; the « ivory-Avristed girls of Circassia no longer attire themselvesi in ' celestial rosy red ! ' But , as the East fades the West brightens . The Colounsts are among us once more . Our ceilings are frescoed ; on our walls are the ornaments of Pompeii ; if the Hindus wear the sunrise , we wear the sunset ; our gold is doably-gilded ; our Hies are painted so richly that all the epithets ot all the poets would not describe them , we , womanly speaking , are a saffron-mantlea , violet-embroidered , rose - crowned , golden . zoned , impearled , pmk-and-azure people . Our language fails to express how gorgeous we are . We walk in gold-bordered shawls ; w « have basaues or bretelles on our dresses ;

      - is i we dine in dove-coloured taffeta , with uve rows of flounces , Raxhajbii boddices , ixxeev . r sleeves ; our young Eupiibosynes emerge L from ball-rooms and theatres in mantles oi i blue or ruby velvet , embroidered in w | nw 1 silk , lined with white plush , and oriental ^ x with a gold medallion fringe . The ombtoiq dory , our chronicle of beauty affirms , i' ° a sembles rivers of pearls or the rich shade 3 ot

      ; , ruby , purple , sapphire , or emerald green . Euphjiosyne wears , in the mornin g 1 ; bonnet of cherry colour or Louise l > Uifi .

      The Leaped

      THE LEAPED

      62 ____ ==

      [ # 0 ^ , Sattjbpay , I

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 17, 1857, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_17011857/page/14/