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Leader (1850-1860), 28th May 1859, Edition 1 of 2, Page 662, Untitled Article

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      wasHtaken illj and great , alarm was caused by her attack ; she is , however , again convalescent . It is hardly necessary to add that she was visited by all the royal family as soon as they heard of her indisposition . The New PAKMAajEHT . rr- 'I'he following circular has been issued to the supporters of the present Government : —" Members are most particulary requested to make their arrangements so ass to admit of ; their being sworn at the table of the House of Commons not later than the 6 th of June . It is fully expected that an , amendment will be proposed upon the address in answer to the Queen ' s speech on Tuesday , June 7 , and it is of the ' utmost importance that every vote should be available on that day . — Treasury , May 23 . "

      3 > yckmans , of Antwerp , formerly belonging to Leopold Redpath , and sold with his effects and paintings at Christie ' s ; and bequeaths to the British Museum a vase by Benvenutb Cellini . Election Petitioks . — It appears that a petition is to be presented on the xneeting of Parliament against the return of iord Bury and Mr . Schneider for Norwich . The petition originates with the Conservatives . The friends of Mr . Calcutt , the defeated candidate for Clare County , are collecting subscriptions and making the other necessary preparations for a petition against the late return . Which of the sitting members is to be petitioned against is not stated . "Westminster Improvement Bonds . —At the meeting of the Bondholders , held on Wednesday , the bill introduced into Parliament by the committee , " for the purpose of giving the bondholders control over the powers and property of the Commission , " was approved of , and a sum of 2371 . was raised in order to defray the expenses incidental to its progress . All Saints Church , Margaret-street . —Mr . Beresford Hope writes to the Daily JYews , to deny that he is the donor of 30 , 000 ^ . to that work . He adds : — " I much regret that his modesty prevents my publishing his name . . The whole cost of the church , though very considerable , falls much short of 10 , 0000 / . "

      Condition of Orkeitwich .- —A meeting of the inhabitants was held on Tuesday to consider the " depressed " state of the borough , owing , it is said , to the abolition of the fair and the filthy state of the river . It was stated that the South-eastern Rail ^ way and the Commissioners of Greenwich Hospital had promised to provide military bands and other attractions for visitors . Alderman Salomons said that many plans might be adopted for the benefit of the district ; and although he could not condemn in toto the well-known game of " kiss-in-the-ring " in the . park , he would suggest that bands should not be engaged to play on Sundays , and he thought some first-rate regattas would . prove an attraction . A resolution was adopted strongly condemning any plan for having the outfall for sewage at Deptfordereek .

      The Yeomen of the Guard . —The annual dinner of this corps took place . at the Admiral Keppel Tavern , Fulhani-road , on Tuesday . The chair was . filled by Sergeant-Major forge , and around him were assembled some sixty members of the corps . After the usual routine of loyal health drinking , came the memory of Roger Mqnk ^ who some years agoleft to hi 3 brotherexons , by bequest , the sum of 20 Z ., to be expended annually , to perpetuate his name , and to keep his comrades together , and when they should meet-to dine at his expense . Due observance was paid to this toast .

      Mr . H . B . Sheridan . — -A ,. demonstration to celebrate the return of H . B : Sheridan , Esq ., as member for Dudley , took place on Tuesday , targe crowds of people assembled on a piece of waste ground , where a large ox was roasted and distributed to the poor of the parish ^ several sheep were also roasted in various parts of the town . About six dinners ¦ wero given at various inns , and a grand banquet took place at . the . Dudley Arms Hotel . The hon . member ' s health having been proposed , lie congratulated the borough on having asserted its independence . City Sewers . —The Commissioners met at the Guildhall on Tuesday . Deputy TTnwin called

      attention to . the great fire at Messrs . Hubbuck ' s , in Inrnestreet , on whose premises he had been told there were not less than 250 barrels of turpentine and other combustibles at the time . The neighbourhood had been greatly alarmed at the circumstance , and . he wished to know whether the court had power to deal with such a matter . Mr , Daw said the court could not do so ; but the neighbours might proceed by indictment , if they thought there was danger . Some conversation took place on the subject , and it was then dropped . A report from the general purposes committed was agreed te > , recommending the erection of a public drinking fountain in front of the Royal Exchange .

      Public Health . —The health of the metropolis , we are happy to see by the Registrar General ' s returns , is still very good . The deaths last week amounted to 1 , 057 , being 88 less than the average . There was a slight decrease in the deaths from scarlatina , but no diminution in these from diphtheria . The total number of births was 1 , 669 . The Proposed Giusat ? Exhibition . —To the other results of . the war we haTO to add the abandonment of the proposed Great ; Exhibition of 1861 . The * promoters appear to bc ^ of opinion that the state of affairs on the Continent will not warrant the prosecution of the scheme , as the co-operation of other ' nations is indispensable to its ( success .

      Wills . —William James Chaplin , Esq ., of 2 , Hyde Park Gardens : The personalty sworn under 180 , 0002 . Ho has left his property to his widow , eight sons , mad » ix daughters . The testator had a fourth shar . p in the extensive businoss of the firm of Ohnplln and Horno , railway oarriors , the value of . > which constitutes part of tho residue , as also his ^ interest and share in the busines of a brewer at Stockwel ] , as partner with his aon Horaco , of the ( value of 12 , 500 / . —MlBB Jane Clarke , Court 'milliner , 4 oft » 70 , Regent-street : TJie offeots . were sworn under , ' < 46 } 0 Q 0 Z . The charitable bequests amount to l ; 7 Q 0 i . if Env greater part of tho , reoatiindor of her property JiftdteftftOMher sister , Jtiqr xtiQcep , and groat nephews tj « ttia nieces . ¦ BoquoathB ^ to tli e National Qallevy an . original oil . painting , " The Blind Beggar , " by

      Untitled Article

      OBSERVATION'S ON ILLEGITIMACY IN THE LONDON" PARISHES OF ST . MARIXEBOICE , ST . PASCRAS , AND ST . GEORGE ' S , SOUTHWAKK , DURING THE TEAR 1857 . DEDUCED FROM THE RETURNS OF THE REGISTRAR-GENERAL . by William acton , m . k . c . s . There are questions , and illegitimacy is one of them , Vrom the consideration of which—whatever of disagreeable or repulsive the task may involve—the advocates of social progress must no lt onger shrink : Social evils claim as urgently to be investigated and discussed as physical plague-spots . No social evil more constantly and obtrusively presents itself before us than illegitimacy ; yet , it has no literature . The lately published catalogue of the library of the Statistical and other , societies make no mention of the word . In the year 1 , 856 , according to the Registrar-General ' s statistics , 42 , 651 illegitimate children were born in England and Wales , exclusive of Scotland ; and in the latter country 2 , 761 illegitimate cliildren came into the world during the year 1858 .

      In speaking of the occupation of the mother , Mr . Acton showed that domestic servants figure most largely , for they amount in his tables to 194 . As regards the occupation of the fathers , it appears from the returns of the Marylebone workhouse , that no less than twenty persons coming under the denomination of labourers were the alleged" fathers of illegitimate children , which favours the position that the promiscuous herding of the lower classes contributes largely to corrupt the morals of the female poor . Male domestics next appear as the most numerous class of fathers . Bearing in mind what had been shown in a preceding table , that 194 mothei's were themselves domestics , it would appear as though the present system of keeping a large number of single men and women in households is productive of a large proportion of illegitimate children .

      The author next states that thirteen women could not name the father of the child . The author then entered upon the subject of difficulties of affiliating the child . His hparers might suppose that a relieving officer woxild be enabled to assist a large portion of these 170 women to recover from tho fathers of their offspring the usual is . 6 d . or 2 $ . 6 d . a week for the support of tho children , as well as some pecuniary compensation towards the expenses of the parish , on account of tho lying-in . Such an officer will , however ( turning to the Act of Parliament ) , inform the ratepayers that he is expressly forbidden to interfere in this matter . Debarred , then , from legal assistance from the parish during her lifetime , tho mother ' s usual course is to apply to a magistrate , who , on the payment of 2 s .,

      will grant her a summons to bo served on the putative father , if he can be found . This is , however , no easy task , particularly in cases where such father ( as often happens ) has changed his placo of abode , and has obtained employment in some distant part of tho country , with a view to conceal his whereabouts . Bo it moreover ^ understood that the female must deposit in the hands of the summoning officer a sum to cover the expense of making these distant inquiries But supposing the summons served and the putative father present , the magistrate—providing the mother ' s statements can be corroborated oy other testimony in some material particular—can only adjudge him ' to pay any sum not exceeding 2 a , Gil , a week towards i the maintenance of the child , until it attain its thirteenth year . Magistrates and relieving officers all

      Observations Gist Illegitimacy

      agree on the hardship of this course yet in « , present state of the bastardy law , there is no alw native , and it is only by the preceding cumbersome machinery that a seducer can be reached And then , after all , the regular payment of the weetlv allowance is by no means secured to the woman bv thisplan , as no security is taken for it The man if so disposed , can walk away , adopt a new mdW ' place , and set . the unfortunate at defiance Tho mother may , it is true , again appeal to the inaeis trate ; and he , after swearing her . that she is not married , that the father has not paid the sum or dered , and that the child is still alive , may on the payment of an additional sum to cover new expenses issue his warrant fo r the apprehension of the ' recusant . But , asks the author , can the majority of mothers be expected to undergo the expenses of this ordeal ?

      The practical working of the present bastardy law is to force the mother upon the parish for relief Mr . Tubb says : There arc now eighty-five persons receiving the weekly pittance of Is . each from the parish of St . Marylebone , because they have not taken the necessary steps , or , having taken them have failed to recover from the father of their bastards . Moreover , on the 1 st of January , 1858 , no less than 14 , 427 children were charged under similar circumstances the

      upon parochial rates / in 629 unions and single parishes ha England ' a ndL . Wales , out of the existing large population of 16 , 628 , 399 souls . Shamefully small as is the pittance referred to , now doled out to the bastard mothers of the metropolis can anything be more oppressive than that the expense of it should fall at all upon the ratepayers ? Can anything be more iniquitous towards the unfortunate women than this system ? Should not the Act , which alike debars the relieving officer

      froni-assist-¦ mg the mother , arid from procuring the reimbursement of the charges the parish lias been put to , be at once repealed ? The author suggests that parishes should have the same power given them of recovering the sums : they have expended from the fathers of illegitimate cluldren as they now have from the fathers of legitimate ones ! Such an enactment would have a healthy tendency in checking seduction and relieving the rates , while at the same time it would remove one of the most crying evils of the present poor-law . . From the judicial statistics for England , in 1857 , it appears that 5 , 816 men were taken into custody for disobeying bastardy orders in the year 1 S 57 . The . author stated that he could not leave this part of the subject without recommending the re-enactment of a very beneficial section of the old poor-law , as it stood before its revision in 1834 . It was in those days possible , if a pregnant girl came before the parochial authorities declaring the father of her child , for the parish to take steps that her accouchement and the rearing of the child did not fall upon the parish , the latter having power to recover from the father . Mr . Acton successively gave the ages of the mothers , as well as the causes of infant bastard mortality , forming a sad death-list indeed . He told the society how mnny deaths took place in

      workhouses , as well as the number of inquests which are held on the bodies of illegitimate children , lie then entered at considerable length into the question of verdicts that had been brought in , and showed that judges , juries , and secretaries of suit u show an equal disinclination to carry out the law of infanticide , in consequence of the extenuating circumstances the evidence closes—viz ., the groat temptations placed in the path of woman—the destitution shy has been exposed to from the neglect of the real or supposed fathei '—the fear , of degradation that follows the public exposure of her shame—and the almost impossibility of supporting herself and infant , in alluding to the recent cases of women convicted on tho nlenrost evidence of . chilil-murdcr , ho showed , Dy

      tho returns of tho criminal statistics , that eucn murdercssos wore confinod only as criminal hmntics , Tho author sought his remedies , not nltotfotnei ro tho hotter education of the more exposed class oi women , or in higher wages j these Mill nut prevoxH seduction . To put olF the supply o * Imrlotry , tlxo domand , ho argued , must be checked by { ftlun | greater precautions than we now do to nioKo xm seducer suttbr either in person or in purse . He proposed tho establishment of a Government botud . or other competent authority , whose duty it shou cl po to take ohurgo of the prognant woman thrown pro her work and sist

      of a situation j then to ailbrd as once until confinement ] thon to see to her O'" ^ - " ' and then to take steps to recover damages « « JJ name of injured and outraged V ^ nfVSSSS from the father of tho child . In doing this It vronw be obviously necessary , as at present , to gw ™ against affiliating the child on the w rong person , and to see that the mother did not prol J by t £ « money so obtained ? for this wore no tottoi tnan opening a regular and profitable marko or fonft o honour . The board suggested should Invest «* J funds so accruing for tho keep and education w illegitimate children .

      Untitled Article

      663 HHOS LEADER . C ^ ewsanb

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 28, 1859, page 662, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2296/page/6/