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Leader (1850-1860), 2nd July 1853, Edition 1 of 1, Page 633, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      cealing themselves behind a convenient rock , proceeded to dress : then , folding up their bathing gowns , they rushed UDon . the garments of the gentleman and bore them off in triumph . The unfortunate man instantly comprehended his position . A succession of shouts and supplications followed " the ladies in their flight , growing fainter and fainter as the distance increased ; wpile the ' gentleman , ' with considerable modesty , remained in , the water , evincing great agitation ; and imploring restitution , at first" with stentorian lungs , and subsequently in animated and appropriate gestures ; but in vain , —the insulted maidens

      ¦ were inexorable . As the spot was very secluded , some hours elapsed before he could make his situation known . At length a grinning rustic made his appearance , and in ^ formed him that the ' twa leddies had left his ela'es wi' a wench at the green , a mile awa' , wha wadria gi ' e them back without he paid a pun'for taking , caro o' them , forby being a penalt y for affronting the leddies dooktnV The penalty was paid on the restitution of the garments , and the unlucky wight quietly left the village , where the joke ¦ wa s already known , and the conduct of the damsels publicly approved of . The offender is now suffering from a severe attack of rheumatism . " ¦

      Untitled Article

      POLICE ASPECTS OF ENGLISH LIFE . The brutality of assaults on women is still unchecked , last week there were several cases we did not record , the character of most of them being common . One deserves to be brought forward . Davison was imprisoned for two months for beating his wife . He was released some weeks ago , and returning home the other evening , he assaulted his sleeping wife , and beat her cruelly , saying he would never forgive her for getting him imprisoned . He has now been imprisoned again for six months , his poor wife meanwhile depending on the parish . This week there havo been added cases of domestic cruelty . Catherine Asher , a mere girl in appearance , was beaten most mercilessly hy her husband , Beniamin Asher , a Jew . He has been

      sentenced to two months and hard labour . Eliza Phillips , a young woman living as wjftrwith Thomas Jones , was sitting with them in their room , when a male lodger in the house came in and asked for the loan of some sugar . She gave it . This and some previous suspicions excited Jones ' sjealousy , and he immediately assaulted the young girl . He struck her in the face , a blow so hard that she immediately fell to the grouud . He then kicked her in several parts of the body . It is feared that her spine is injured . He has been imprisoned for two months . The use of knives and similar weapons seems to be acquiring an unpleasant popularity among the offensive portion of the population . This week a quarrelsome prisoner stabbed a constable , and then kicked him in the groin . This is but one instance of such cowardly assaults by

      recent offenders . . Outcasts are indigenous in our great towns . In Leeds the other day , John Nolan , a young lad , was convicted' of stealing a sack . He had come out of gaol ten days before : he said , — " Since I came out of gaol 1 have walked about the town and slept anywhere , I have no mother or father . I have neither friend or relation in Leeds except an aunt , and she wont allow me to come near her house . I can't earn a living for myself , and nobody will keep me . "" And yet Leeds possesses no reformatory means or reclamatory appliances for such outcasts . " The following is not the only recent instance of young persons keenly sensitive to the hardship of being poor . At one of the police-courts on Wednesday , Collins , a constable , told the following story : — " I was on duty at three o ' clock vfisterdav afternoon at Hackney-wick , when I saw a boy

      cross the Lea River-bridge , and , turning along by the i ( -asfc London W aterworks , enter some very high grass . Iho boy was alone , and , noticing something peculiar about him , I watched him for a distance of 150 yards , and then suddenly lost eight of him . From an impression I had I was induced to follow him , and when I reached within a few yards of him he rose up out of the grass and advanced towards me . I asked him why ho was ly in the wot grass , which was very dangerous , and ho Baid , ' I only want to go to sleep . ' I told him wet grass was not a fit place for that purpose , and asked him whore he lived and why ho did not go homoP Ho replied , 'I live at No . 2 , Margarot . streot , Well-street , Hackney , but I cannot go homo , I feel so wrotchod . ' I was asking , him what maclo him so , when ho n ,,, lri ™ lv drooped forward , threw hia arms round my neck 1 wiiac

      and said , 'Oh dear , I have taken poison . ' inquired kind of poiflon , and ho answered , ' Laudanum ; oh , I wish L had loft mo alone , I was going off asleep so comfortably ' I told him ho must go with mo to a doctors directly , but ho refused , saying , 'No , do lot mo alone to die- if I don't dio now from it I shall some ' other tiroc-I am determined to do so . ' I hurried him on to the nearest octor ' s , and on tho road thoro ho told mo that ho had boug ht three empty bottles in Well-street , and thon p ot two t wononnywortha at different ohymisfcs , and another pennyworth , m tho third bottle ,, at another chymist s , making five pennyworth in all . I naked him his reason for attempting such a shocking act , and ho replied , 'Why , I boo no future prospect of my doing well in this world , and I am very miserable' " By mecWl aid tho boy was ™ ovorod and brought boforo tho magistrate . Singular to but woivo

      , Bay his name is Hamlet . Ho ia or uurwou Sra old , ie dolioato looking , and baa intelligent features . Sowi noatly dressed . Hia master tpBtified tliatlio Was a vo 7 y good , etoady boy . Ho has boon eont to gaol for a wflok that the chaplain may locturo b « n > ,.,,- „ Avounirman , respectably droasod , appparod in thoBow-« trVoF ^ K-offico on Tuesday . Ho stated that ho was hvo with inrn rJU B m tho marri had not Sa 7 o « uiS ^ V ^ ™* »**¦ *> tat °

      the Ecclesiastical Courts for the restitution of conjugal rights . Bigamy has become common , and eeema to go unpunished . Jane Noblen , a pretty-looking young woman , came before the magistrate , at Clerkenweli , and asked his aid . ; . She said that she was a native of Yorkshire , and well connected , but , six months since , had : been indueed to leave her home , and unite herself in wedlock-to a man who almost daily and hourly illtreated her . On the previous day , she , by mere chance , discovered ho had another wife and five children , and on calling him to account for the cruel

      deception , he struck her down . The Magistrate wished to know if she would charge the fellow with bigamy or the assault . She cried bitterly , and replied that she would be satisfied if she could obtain from her husband , as he called himself , what little remained of her property , and be free to return to her home . He was in waiting outside the court to force her to live with him . The . Magistrate . 'had him brought in , but finding he was not able to induce the poor applicant to press anycharge , he compelled the fellow to give up the girl's property , and then bound him over not to molest her again ...

      The Morning Post has the following : " About six months ago a young lady , possessing a fortune of above 16 , 000 / ., was entrapped into a marriage with a medical man in Islington . Her mind was weak , and he treated her with a species of severity beyond human conception . In pursuance of a magistrate ' s suggestion , a plan was formed for calling the husband away from home , and then obtaining an interview with the lady . The scheme succeeded , and the lady gladly escaped under the protection of her friends , and was at once removed from the neighbourhood . " An evidence of the improvement of people of the working-classes is the increased value accorded to their reputations . Some time ago a servant-girl obtained damages for theiniurv done to her prospects by the Unreasonable

      refusal of an employer to give her a character . This week Miss May Challe ' , a milliner , sued Mr . Brown , who keeps a similar establishment in Conduit-street , for taking her into cu f tody on a false charge , for stealing property . Miss Challener ' s sister had been formerly detected in stealing from Mr . Brown , and on this suspicion he seized Miss Challener , . and had her shop searched . For this offence he has been adjudged to pay 150 ? . and costs . Even to record the cruelty and bad habits of some of the lower orders of English people is a revolting task , and some of our readers may feel disgust at the daguerreotypes we present . But the existence of such evils is tho fact that should provoke aversion , and while they exist , exposure may do some good by urging people to intolerance of

      them .- This week our story is of a child . A policeman having received information , went to the house of John Leighton . He found in a wretched apartment a miserable child , covered with rotten and filthy rags , which , as well as hia person , were one moving mass of vermin . Tho poor little fellow was reduced to a mere skeleton , and seemed to have been suffering from many ailments , but the principal appeared to be his left ankle , round which was folded a filthy dirty rag . Tho policeman told tho little fellow to remove the rag , and ho did attempt it , but so dry was it , and such was the tenacity with which it stuck to the sore , that the wretched child could not do it . Perceiving that the poor boy was suffering the greatest agony , the policeman directed a woman in the house to apply some tepid

      water to tho exterior of the rag-, and after its application for some time tho rag came off . On its removal , however , the stench emitted from tho wound was horrible . A clean piece of cloth was obtained and app lied to the sore , and , on questioning tho little fellow , ho said that the sore had been of long existence , and for some time its caro was left solely to himself . The child lived with John Leighton and his wifo . Tho landlady of tho house in which they lodge , and other women who had an opportunity of witnessing their character , described both as inveterate drunkards , and declared that they had frequently seen both , but more particularly the woman , come homo in a stato . of intoxication and illfreat the poor child in tho most unprovoked , wantonand acandaloua manner , not unfrequently , when

      , in bed , taking him by the hair of his head and flinging him on tho floor . The witnesses also spoko to tho child not having sufficient food , and , on their giving tho poor little follow any food , his devouring it with tho most voracious appetite . The femalo prisoner commenced a tirado of abuse against tho witnesses , and declared nho had dono her duty to the utmost of hor means towards tho child . Sho said tho child was tho illegitimate offspring of hor husband ' s sister , and had boon placed under hor caro since ho wna fifteen months old . Sho bad bcon promised half-a-crown for his support , but tho ongagemont was soon broken ; and tho child , through a discasod anklo , had bcon in Guy ' a Hospital for incurable Tho unfortu

      eonio time , and was discharged - nato child was horo produced , and wna borno to tho prosonco of the magistrate on tho shoulder ^ , of one of tho paupers of Lambeth workhouso . Ho prosontod as melancholy a spectacle as could well bo conceived . There woro deep holofl in his head , caused by tho ravages of tho vermin ¦ his body was in a most attonuated state , and it was quito clear , from bin genoral appearance , that tho poor llttlo croaturo had boon grossly treated ana fearfully neglected . Tho woman has boon sentenced to two months ' imprisonment , with hard labour , and tho husband to imprisonment for onp month .

      Untitled Article

      , MISCELLANEOUS . Nineteen Irish members ( tho Ministerialist portion of " tho Brigade" ) dined with Sir John Young at Groonwich on Saturday . Tho Duke of Nowcastlo , Lord Mulgravo , tho Lord Advocato of Scotland , and Mr . Koogh , woro also present . Tho annual sp ^ oohos woro delivered at Harrow on Thursday . Lord Lansdowno was among tho guests at a lunchoon given by Dr . Vauphan , and made como pleasing romarks on tho occasion . This ovening , tho umuverHnry dinner of tlio persona educated at Hanow takes placo at tho Thatohod Houjjo , St , Jftmes '« -fltroefc , Lord Palmeriston is to preeidcr

      Irishmen are like actors ; when they agree , "their unanimity is wonderful . " Two thousand have signed a public paper preliminary to the institution of a testimonial to William Dargan . It bears the signatures of nearly the whole of the Irish Peerage , of six Protestant and fifteen Roman Catholic prelates , and of nearly all tho judges and members of Parliament connected , with Ireland . - ; The " ward ' of Billingsgate' ' lias asked Baron BothSi child to resign his seat for the city . The Baron said that he was in the hands of the Liberals of the whole city , and

      could not comply with the request . The people of Finsburj ' , impatient at the delays of officials regarding their long-desired park , have now resolved to address the Queen on the subject . The Lord Mayor is doing tho state some service by judicious hospitality . On Thursday evening ., he assembled at a conversazione a great number of teachers of public schools , and invited to meet them several persons eminent in'art and science . The evening passed pleasantly in instructive conversation .

      Tho yearly prizes to the Haileybury students were distributed on Monday . The chairman and the Bishop of London made appropriate addresses . Eighteen Tory and twelve Liberal members have been unseated for improper practices at elections . The eighteen Tories were all unseated for bribery , ten of the Liberals for the same , while two Liberals have been unseated for rioting and intimidation . There have been twenty-one unsuccessful petitions against Liberals , and four unsuccessful petitions against Tories . Captain Leicester Vernon seems to have been a lucky man through life . His name was originally Smith . He inherited the estate of Upton Hall , Northumberland , on

      condition of changing his name to Samwel ' . V . He next inherited the large fortune and estates of Mr . Vernon , ' . the donor of the Vernon Gallery , on condition of taking the name of Vernon . And he has now been returned for Chatham , after a close contest , and , for a wonder in a dock * yard borough , against a Ministerialist candidate . Mr . Phinn , M . P ., stigmatized the Sisterhood of Mercy at Devonport aa an institution tending towards Romanism under the pretence of Protestantism . Mr .-Chambers , Recorder of Salisbury , brother to one of the "Sisters , " characterises this as an imputation of "deceit" and after an angry correspondence tells Mr . Phinn that his accusations are false . "

      The last overland mail brings no definite news from Rangoon , but it was expected that either the treaty with the King of Ava would bo signed at " once , or that our troops would move onTto Ava . The Governor-General is anxious to bring the war to a " close . There was no mail from Shanghae " , and no intelligence about the insurrection in China . In Australia things are proceeding prosperously . From 1 st January to 6 th April , 50 t-, 000 ounces of gold had boon shipped ; price of gold 31 . 17 s . 6 d . per ounce . The receipts in 1851 of the City of London Corporation were 219 . 000 ? ., and the expenditure 216 , 000 ? .

      Untitled Article

      Mrs . Cumming , of whose " lunacy case tho lawyers made so much , died lately at St . John ' s Wood . There was a heavy gale at Plymouth on Monday . Lieutenant Lambert and Surgeon Muirhead were drowned ; also two watermen in the same boat . On the same day whilst the men were striking lower yards on board her Majesty ' s ship AmpJiion , a hook fell down , and struck Captain Pntey , fracturing his skull . Two men were similarly wounded . Tho three havo suffered , and still suffer very severely , but aro now going on favourably . Tho people of New Orleans have been excited by apprehensions of a rising of the black population . A slave had revealed tho existence of a conspiracy . Several arrests had been made .

      Our readera will remember the misfortunes of tho Melbourne , Royal Mail steamer , how it loakod and tacked about , put back , and all but went down . Ono of tho passengers , who was detained at Lisbon , and who gavo up tho journey as a bad job , has now obtained , through law , 80 Z . compensation from tho Company . Tho people living near tho Hampstead-road have been fearfully plagued with fever , tho young children in families suffering most severely . St . James ' s Chapel churchyard is close to tho placo . Thoro' aro ( 50 , 000 corpsos there , some but slightly covered with earth .

      A tnun employed on tho South Wewtern Railway got drunk , lay down on tho line , and tho train passed over him , cutting his , head in two . Two drunken companions narrowly escaped tho same fato . Mr . Edward Brooke , proprietor of a colliery near Huddorafiold , having conscientious notions about tho Sabbath , ordered that tho vontilatinyr furnace of ono of his pita should not bo worked on lust Sunday . On Monday morning when tho men doHCondcd tho pit , a fearful oxplooion took placo , and two boyn woro killed . Tho cessation of tho furnaco caused imporfocfc ventilation , it boing necessary to work tho furnaco day and night without intermission .

      Wo hopo shortly to havo a record of redress for railway accidents as oxtonmvo an our journal of Much ovents . One instance wo gladly note . Tho Great Northern Railway Comp any has boon adjudged to pay 800 ? . to Mm Robinson , for lriiurioH Hustainoa on tho railway in October Just . Another injured pnHsonger obtained without law 15 / ., and a now hat , cloak , and traveling cap ; ho asked , in addition , for a butt of ahorry , but tho Company xofuscd to liquidate tho claim in this way . [ In tho trial 6 f tho former caso Baron Martin mentioned that ho was a shareholder in tho Groat Northern , and that tho plaintiff might liko to havo tho matter tried boforo another iudgo . But counsel consented to his lordship ' s adjudication . ] A cab was callod to Baron Aldcrson ' s house , but boforo it oamo anothor cab waa employed . Tho servants refused to pay tho unrOquiml cabman ; ho retired grumbling , and vontod hia discontent amonff hia followe on tlio rank . Ono of thorn took advantage of hia babbling , and went to Baron Aldereon ' fl , whero ho was paid tho disputed oightponce . Another went and was refused . The first cabman sum-

      Untitled Article

      July 2 , 1853 . ] ^ ^ My ^ : A ^^ 1 i . r , \\ 6 B *

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 2, 1853, page 633, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1993/page/9/