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Leader (1850-1860), 29th August 1857, Edition 2 of 2, Page 17, iw—^——————¦i life, wore an aspect of uni...

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      Swdet ' Music For The Million.' " I'M Ne...

      have swept the rest of the money away have devoured the benefit which the old lady should have had . When pious Sir John Dean Paui . embezzled the orphans and widows' mites , people who are always glad to throw dirt upon religion , quoted with glee the text , " Those who devour the widow ' s substance and for a pretence make long prayers . " But here were a band of very worldly-minded directors— ' men about town , ' some of them ' fast men , ' and never accused of saying long prayers ; and yet under their management our national vivandiere—a kindhearted , good old soul—is shamefully cheated out of her money . That the Gardens could have paid is certain . M . JtJLLiEN tested it by organizing a musical festival , ' the expenses of which were 1200 Z . and the receipts 3400 Z . This money , however , went like all the rest into the pocket of some grand myth , as yet unnamed , who seemed to stand at all the doors of the Gardens every night and run off with the money about the time that the final ' blaze of triumph ' took place on the fire-lit lake . And thus the united orchestra , the Guides' band , the eleven military bands , and the numerous and welltrained chorus combine to give us , as a grand finale , that shareholders' anthem—the * Bogue's March . '

      ¦ Vo «Sk Atoust 29, 1857] T He Leader. "...

      ¦ vo « sk Atoust 29 , 1857 ] T HE LEADER . " 833

      Iw—^——————¦I Life, Wore An Aspect Of Uni...

      iw—^——————¦ i life , wore an aspect of unimpeachable dignity ; but on Tuesday he might have been taken for the King of the May-day Sweeps , disporting broad cloth upon the strength of a * find' or legacy , or for a miracle-player of the dark ages enacting a mystery . Then followed youths and men of all ages , fluttering with ribbons , scarves , little packages of white wool , quivers of arrows , small comical satin aprons , cabalistically embroidered , and an infinitude of Robin Hood and IiiniiE John varieties which might have been tolerable when gay costumes were in fashion , but which , in appalling contrast to drab alpacas , chocolate cut-aways , dust-coloured Raglans , and other modern uglinesses , gave the exhibition a resemblance to an aggregate meeting of Ethiopian serenaders , who had forgotten their lamp-black . The foolery would be harmless were it inexpensive ; but we have reason to believe that not a little money evaporates to satisfy the cravings of full-grown men to put on once a year the trumpery of holiday children . These observations we offer in a spirit of perfect friendliness to the Foresters . They form an important order with a noble purpose , and it is grievous to find them liable to ridicule on account of their persistance in obsolete shows , which have even less significance than the mummery of Lord Mayor's

      A WORD TO FORESTERS . We might apply to the Foresters' Festival , last Tuesday , an adaptation of a famous passage in the oratory of Gtjjattan . The vault of the Crystal Palace could scarcely contain the flight of its pinion ; the decorated youth of the country , like a thousand streams , made a rejoicing clamour upon the Sydenham hills , and filled the gardens with the congregated fraternity . It was a pleasant and a profitable sight ; but we fear that the Friendly Societies Institute would scarcely countenance some of the features—to use a cant expressionof that day ' s entertainment . ¥ e allude to the aprons , scarves , banners , girdles , horns , and other gaudy tag-rag with which the gentlemen of the party were invested . Now , there is no merit in a Quaker's abhorrence of brilliant colours . Ornament is beautiful .

      Day . "We might have added a word on the customary conviviality of jLodge Meetings ; but that we defer .- Meanwhile , we wish our good friends would reflect that they are not Robin Hoods , that they do not live in forests , and that it is painful to anyone decently attired , to see the father of a family marching in front of his own shop with a little white satin apron , a green scarf , a pretty sash , and a toy horn , and other braveries which look more like Red Indian wampum than the holiday suit of a sober Great Briton .

      "We would not have our pretty ones make merry without garlands , gauzy robes , and satin shoes ; we would not take the pearls from the delicate dancer ' s hair , or the emerald from her neck , or the bracelet from her white arm . Though not concurring with Sydney Smitii ' s ideal Conservative , who said that to propose judges without bombazine l'obes and horsehair wigs was downright Atheism , we do take pleasure in seeing a Chief Justice or a Speaker characteristically attired . Let our grenadiers wear scarlet , and our riflemen green ; but if we belong to Friendly Societies , established for mutual benevolence and assistance in cases of bereavement and sickness , is it necessary on particular clays to sally forth like Tyrolese peasants ( with an undercoating of cookneyism ) , decked out as though for an extravaganza ? The absurdity has two evil consequences ;—it is a waste of funds which might be better employed , and it dotei's niany persons from taking part in the seasonal festivities of tlio Order . The remark , bo it observed , applies to the Freemasons and Odd Follows , no loss than to the Foresters ; but the Forester processions at Sydenham were particularly extravagant . There wore thirtyfour thousand persons in the Crystal Palace and its grounds on that day , and wo should like to know how much money was expended upon unmanly garnishments , ' which forced a derisive smile upon many- a countenance by no lrieans puritanical . First strutted a gentleman , who , doubtless , every other day of his

      The Great Northern Audit. Wje Recommend ...

      THE GREAT NORTHERN AUDIT . Wje recommend to the notice of Major-General Pox the auditors of the Great Northern Kailway Company . They would exactly suit his views of official responsibility . ' A Pigeon left without a feather to fly with , ' writes to the Times on Thursday , statin e—

      So long back as 1854 the auditors were cautioned by the accountant that the dividends just paid exceeded in amount the sum due on the various stocks of the company ; notwithstanding which they issued the half-yearly certificates under their hands of the correctnessi ofthe accounts ; and , this being the case , I question whether these gentlemen could not be made legally liable for the immense increase of loss which has since accrued in consequence of their laches . I am also informed upon undoubted authority that this discrepancy was also brought under the notice of the directors by Mr . Slaughter , tho secretary of tho Stock Exchange , whose communication was , however , unnoticed ; nor whore any stops taken t * chock tho registers with the books of tho company . The-shareholders lost a quarter of a million of money , while ' unbounded confidence' waa the gentleniauly order of tho clay . But are tliG auditors " to blame ? Mr . Sotuehon Bstcourt , ViBcount GrODEiuoir , Lord Ha . buy Vanio , Mr . Bramston , and Mr . Hans Hamilton have publicly and formally sanctioned a theory of an auditor ' s duty , under which the Great Northern auditors would stand excused . The Duchy of liancatifcer auditor imagined it his business so to check tho accounts as to render fraud impossible . That principle is objected to in our Government departments . We have no guarantee whatever against oflicinl lledpathiam . Jiedpathism had its wny in tho finance office of tho Great Northern because tho departmental principle was at work there . Halfyearly certificates were issued , covering fraud . Mr . Beiito : e « acci was required to sign certificates whioh might have covered

      fraud . In the one case the auditor is threatened b y exasperated shareholders ; in the other he is told not to be fussy . "We make no imputations ; we have never made a charge of corruption against the exalted guardians of the Crown estates ; but this we do say , that the public funds are open to unlimited robbery if the rule laid down , by the late Judicial Committee be the rule of the service .

      Repobt Of The Common Law (Judicial Busin...

      Repobt of the Common Law ( Judicial Business ] Commissioners . —This report has been issued in the form of a blue-book with evidences and appendices . The commissioners come to the conclusion that to reduce the number of judges at present would cause an arrear even of ordinary business , and certainly render it impossible for the courts to despatch any unexpected influx of an extraordinary nature . They next consider whether any alteration could be made in the present mode of transacting the judicial business in London which would justify them in recommending a reduction in the number of judges . This question is resolved in the negative , as any such arrangement would reduce the- number of judges sitting in banco . The practice of one judge remaining in town during the circuits to dispose of the chamber business must , it is thought , be retained as indispensable . The memorials from certain towns claiming separate assizes are next discussed , and a report is made in favour of the extension of this privilege to Manchester and Bristol , while the applications from Leeds , Hull , Birmingham , Kendal , and Wisbech for separate assizes are refused . As regards the question of assizes generally , the plan of spring and summer assizes , with a special commission in the winter , is reported as most convenient , on the whole . With respect to the remodelit is it mancnester

      ling of the circuits , proposed ( . oe separated from Liverpool ) to add to the North and South Wales Circuits the adjacent counties of Salop and Hereford ( from the Oxford Circuit ) , and to add to the Oxford Circuit Warwick ( from the Midland Circuit ) , and to annex York to the Midland , diminished by Warwick and Northampton , the latter town to be annexed to the Norfolk Circuit . Two judges , it is suggested , should go to Cardiff and Swansea . The Home and Western Circuits would remain unchanged . The commissioners propose no alteration in the four legal terms , leaving the judges to dispense at their discretion with the term London sittings or not . They recommend that one judge , sitting for all the courts , should attend daily at chambers at a much earlier hour than at present , leaving the two other outsitting judge * to sit at nisi prius in either of the courts , as occasion may require , without leaving for attendance at chambers . As regards pleadings in vacation , it is recommended that the 1 st of October be substituted for the 24 th of October as the period at which certain suits may be proceeded with , and that one or more judges be empowered to try causes arising in any of the three courts after the 1 st of October at such intervals between that time and the Michaelmas Term as may be deemed necessary . — Times .

      liKPORT OF THIS LUNACY COMMISSIONERS . A Bluebook of one hundred and thirty-live pages , just issued from the warehouse of the Parliamentary printers , contains the 11 th report of the Cominisuionera in Lunacy to the Lord High Chancellor of England . The commissioners have always strongly objected to asylums exceeding a certain size , as they forfeit the advantage , which nothing can replace , of individual and responsible supervision , and the consequence is an accumulation of chronic cases in the larger asylums . Thus the proposition for the enlargement of Colncy-hatoh and Hanwell Lunatic Asylums was objected to by the commissioners , but in vain ; the committees , after a conference with tho commissioners , remained firm , and the latter reluctantly gave way . They still insist , however , on the necessity of more carefully classifying patients , separating recent and acuto from chronic cases , and placing the latter in a less expensively-built asylum . Tho irregular practice of sending lunatic paupers to workhouses in the first instance instead of to regular asylums is denounced by the commissioners as directly contravening tho law applicable to insane paupers . An appeal has been made to the 1 ' oor Law Bonrd against lunatic wards , and in one case it ia the intention of tho coinmiusioners to appeal to tho Secretary of State to require tho local authorities ( of Norwich ) to provide for their lunatic poor according to the rcquiremontH of tho statute . Tho grave structural defects of tho criminal wards of liothluhem Houpitnl are once more censured , but the resolution of tho Government to provide a now State asylum , to nccominouuto six hundred criminal lunatics , will hnpnily obviate tho evil consequent on the neglect of tho authorities of Bethlehem . The want of proper twylwna for lunatic soldiers ia pointed out , and attention Is onco more specially directed to the subject . It Is saa to think that the vilest abuses still prevail , hero anil there , In the treatment of aingle patients , and f H more * q to lunatics ami idiJts to IheVpuIotlou h ? risen from 1 In 817 , in 1852 , to 1 in 701 , « n 1867 . —Jtmea .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 29, 1857, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_29081857/page/17/