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Leader (1850-1860), 14th April 1855, Edition 1 of 2, Page 351, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      rred liabilities that he cannot meet—tradesn and other hone 3 t folks are liable to that congency , although they do not wantonly drag on those liabilities by engaging in turf trans-; ioris—it is not only he has been a sporting iracter , but the liabilities thus wantonly in-: red he does not confront . He disappears , d there are dark insinuations as to the nature these liabilities . Yet there is no getting ; r the fact that , by the usage of society ounting to a law , he is , par excellence , "the nourable Francis Villieks ! " There may other persons of the name of Vili-iers , 1 even christened Francis ; but he is the

      lonourable" of those names , rhese cases of exposure in high life are bening so frequent and so various as to make ask whether " the exception proves the rule " hat is , whether these exceptions to the fulfilnt of the title " Honourable , " prove that lour is the rule . We really doubt it . In . ct logic , as John Stuart MitL tells us , an eption does not prove the rule , but proves t the statement of the rule is defective ; and lultiplicity of exceptions proves that the fact

      nconsistent with the statement of the rule . i have then to ask how many per cent , of our tocracy are , more or less , in the same boat h the Honourable Francis ? rhe peerage has always contributed a full re to the causes celebres of our criminal rts , and we have had crimes which the en halter and the axe have failed to expiate . b really the last twelve months or so have ome so fertile in _ noble and honourable misds , that we begin to ask whether the

      aristo-2 y-is not rather outshining other classes in same department . When Alice Leroy > ke from the revolting prison into which had been kidnapped from Belgium , she dissed a clientela . for the house of Madame Nis which must have been wealthy , and j probably aristocratic . The girl Reginbal jlosed similar facts respecting- the house of lRMAYSEE , in Newman-street . There was an nobleman at both places ; and the " old rauis , " who was not a marquis , has become

      te a familiar expression . Subsequently , the e of French versus Rolt let us into the inior of a house in Belgravia ; and here again rei was a '" h ^ Welman ^ invblved ;'" - ! rt " o / according conventional ideas of morality , though not in r serious manner . The case of Sefton or rbv versus Hopwood has been contributing "life" to the daily newspapers , like the feuille of the French journals . It shows that the wn-up children of a gentleman connected h the land can pester the last days of their \ ev by quarrelling about their interests as

      ecorously as the children of vulgar parentslier inore so , since the school of their operais is enlarged . The case of Hope versus UAr > o brought us in connexion with the & and aristocracy , and more family feuds , at of Handcock . vc ? 'sus Delacour again gged a nobleman into the field . Here the ersions were so serious , that the Marquis of ANuicarde lias thought it necessary to ded himself before the public with statements it have in no single instance been accepted satisfactory . Lord Clanricarde inter-L'S for the defenco of his conduct in this

      st extraordinary case , and leaves the whole ttor still a controversy ; some of the persons whom ho had referred adding themsolvcs to number of his accusers . Tho position of the iler of Nobles is getting serious . Tho nutn' of tho Peers is not so great as to coniuto it a very numerous body , and if these es ai'o excoptions , wo want to know how 50 a porccntago is to bo allowed for such : eptions ? Everybody is awaro that a comparatively all proportion of offenders aro brought to itice , oven in tho humblest class ; but a fortiori

      do offenders escape in those classes which have money , influence , and almost every means of purchasing immunity . The number of the Peers , therefore , who are brought into court on account of irregular transactions within the cognisance of the law , is probably smaller than the numbers of those persons of noble birth who are implicated in such transactions , but escape being brought to justice . How great a percentage must we allow out of the noble families who are in question ? We have already had

      before the public in . these transactions , more or less directly implicated , seven or eight noble families ; and there are some others connected with similar transactions in years not long gone by . But , excluding eccentricities like those of an Irish viscount who figured some years in the case of Alice Lowe , and comparatively harmless peccadilloes like that of the noblemen

      disclosed in the case of Rolt versus French , — excluding such cases , we have some ten noble families involved in the grossest irregularities . How many more , we say , have escaped being brought to account ? Is it another ten ? Have we twenty noble families involved , or thirty , or forty ? Taking the lowest account , it appears that the criminal percentage in that class must be rather high .

      The gentlemen of the Commissariat in the East are aggrieved with Lord Palmerston , because , when somebody had said in the House of Commons that the public departments which were manned by gentlemen had broken down , he pointed to the medical , commissariat , and transport departments , manned by men unconnected with the peerageand the land , and therefore not '' gentlemen / ' The officers-ofthe Commissariat call upon Lord Panmure to vindicate their honour , intelligence , and zeal in the endeavour to

      conduct duties which the system prevented them from accomplishing . Probably , if they were to confront the facts as we view them , the officers of the Commissariat might be disposed to reverse their request to Lord Panmcre . If the departments are manned by those who are not gentlemen in the parliamentary sense , the construction of their department , its administration from above , and the supreme responsibility , lie with the governing classeswith the families , noble or landed . The

      breakdown- of the Commissariat- is chargeable agamst those by whose decree the departments are established as they are , not against the individuals comprised . But we doubt very much whether , amongst the classes whence the medical , commissariat , and transport departments in the East are manned , there is anything like the criminal percentage which we have indicated for our aristocratic classes . Accepting Lord Palmerston ' s definition of a gentlcniaD , we aro inclined to doubt whether any member of

      tho class that mans those subordinate departments , and that carries on our great works in tho professions , in trade , and in practical science , will not learn to exclaim with pride , " No , thank God , I am no gentleman 1 " We have some right , indeed , to charge tho disgrace of tho individual upon the class , since tho most outrageous charges may be current , bo undenied , be reiterated , and then bo met by denials that break down from their own incompleteness ; and yet tho class itself will make no difference whatever in its demeanour

      to tho individual . Let a man bo convicted of breaking certain conventional laws which others break universally , " under tho rose , "or . lot him bo guilty of some still greater enormity , such as picking his teeth with a silver fork , —and ho may become an outcast from society . But to bo accused of implication in any of tho transactions to which wo have referred , leaves him still free to pass without challongo amongst tho Peers of the realm assomblod in state , or to bo presented to his Sovereign in Court .

      Untitled Article

      THANET UNION INDUSTKIAL JFARM . We have received the usual report on the state of the Thanet industrial farm , for the year 1854 , in the form of an abstract of the accounts , which we subjoin : — ISLE OF THANET tTNTON " . Abstract of Garden Account ( the Produce of Twelve Acres ) , for the Year ending 28 th of November , 1854 .

      Untitled Article

      THE TORIES AND THE PEELITES . Tub Morning Herald has been delivered of a grand scandal about an alliance between tho Manchester men and tho Pec-litcs . Wo only wish tho ecaudol may prove true , though the Herald seems not tohavo tho Blightest ground for its assertion . An alliance of that kind would not bo a political millennium , but it would bo a step out of oligarchy and iutriguetowards honesty and manly endeavour , and wo should look to it with Jiopo for tho people Appearances , however , rtro rather the other way as regards tho principal 1 ' eclito , between whom and some of tho others wo believe tho political union , to bo loss inti * niato than is commonly supposed . It will bo in-

      Untitled Article

      Aprel-I ^ 1855 . ] THE LEADER , / S 51

      Untitled Article

      Debtor . £ s . d , Creditoe . £ s . d . To Stock , brought By Pigs , sold 227 4 2 forward 160 11 0 „ Potatoes 25 5 4 J „ Balance of Tools' 7 12 0 „ Green Peas 0 16 O „ Pigs bought I 62 4 3 „ Turnips 0 6 3 „ Food for ditto ... 123 3 1 i „ Parsnips 0 6 0 „ Rent , Tithes , „ Cabbages 0 5 6 i Rates 34 15 1 „ Plants ... ! 0 15 „ Tradesmen's „• Onions 0 10 Bills 7 19 6 „ Seed Potatoes ... 6 11 0 Total sold ... 254 5 9 „ Sundry Seeds ... 3 2 1 „ Manure bought 3 2 4 ByCabbages . consd . 21 15 O „ Plants I 1 10 0 „ Potatoes 57 4 0 „ Sundries ,.. i 6 6 S „ Parsnips 17 10 0 „ Ten per Cent , on „ Onions 5 8 0 Piggeries 7 0 0 ,, Turnips ¦ . 550 „ Grains 8 4 0 ,, Broad Beans ... 400 „ House Manure 5 0 0 ,, Potatoes used „ Coal 2 0 0 for Seed 16 0 0 ,, Straw 8 0 0 ¦ ' ' Total consumed 127 2 0 442 1 lj Valuation by Mssrs . Manser & Dadds 190 12 0 Balance of Implements 10 0 0 200 12 0 Summary : — Articles sold 254 5 9 Ditto consumed ... 127 2 0 Balance 139 18 74 Ditto in store 200 12 0 581 19 9 581 19 9

      Untitled Article

      We , having carefully valued the crops and stock in hand , and examined the foregoing account , certify that it is correct . ' William Manser . _ John Dadds . N . B . — The balance shown , by this account is to be partly attributed to the labour of the inmates not being charged , as they would be idle if not so employed . All the beneficial effects , of courseydo not appear on the face of these figures ; and , we need scarcely say , that the trading profit is a matter of minor importance ^ compared with other considerations . The minds of the inmates are employed . Many of the unfortunate have , therefore , the less occasion to brood over their reverses in life , and a healthier tone is introduced throughout . Besides the ordinary school instruction , the boys are taught lessons of practical industry , —very valuable to them after leaving the union . In this respect , therefore , the-rate-receivers ^ enjoy _ a ^ superior ; education to the children of the rate-payersas the union school so Jar exceeds the national school . But indirectly the rate-payers have their full return in the tendency which such instruction has to prevent the backsliding of young paupers upon the union . In most parish business , as well as national business , too much attention is paid to routine , and family interest is all-powerful . The influence of the clergyman and squire must bo propitiated , even before good can be done . The Thanefc Union , fortunately , has men of capac i ty in its resident managers , and the state of the farm is a sufficient proof , both of the capacity and of tho genuine interest which tho local officers take in it . The motive for zeal will probably be increased by the newly introduced principle of promotion among the subordinate officers .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), April 14, 1855, page 351, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2086/page/15/