LORD PERICLES AND " SALLY BUGGINS." (From Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper.)
Our old acquaintance Jeames has lately been mora. Using in the 'Morning Post 1 , on the scampish exhibitions of our young arbitres eleganliarwn.uni their frail companions in our public walks and rides. Jennies is but slightljrsho,cked at the immorality of this exhibition ; but, his^eensitive nerves cannot endure the idea of the frightful mesalliances that may aiise ftom such connexions. He has no kind word or thought for poor Jane Grubb or Sally Buggings, beset by temptation in the mi.lst of daily slavery. All his compassion, all his anxiety is for the young lordlings who ore being led away by their wilesfascinated by their " coarse " charms. Let young Lord Deerville keep his liaisons out of sight of the •' Ladies' Mile," and Jcames is satisfied— let not Sally Buggins come between the wmd and his nobility, and not a word will Jeames have to'say about it. Howe\er, Jeames tells us exultingly that he haa achieved a great success, and we trust that the class for whom he writes will present him with an entire new suit of plush. Wo quote the article in question :— " We have been gratified to perceive that whilst the truth of our remarks h*s been universally admitted, some deference to their suggestions has alto been partially achieved. We learn that some change in the deportment of certain of our young arbitres «?«- gantriamm has become unquestionably perceptible ; and whether owing to ft latent sense of their own disgrace, or the remonstrances of those to whom respect from them is unavoidable, we will not stoop too curiously to inquire. But the result is evident. Suspicious broughams linger by the south side of the '"Ltdies' Mile" without the astounding aspect of a row of coat tails and pantaloons, apparently pendant from the windows. Frank Lightly contrives to find something 'very awkward about this bridle' just as 'Baby Gipsy' canters past him and his sisters in the 'row.' Young Deerville has remained studiously at the back of the box throughout the performance of the Prophete, and when his brougham 'stops the way,' at the conclusion, his lordship enter* it alone. Rosaline de Vere, nte S»lly Buggins, no long r ventures to ask for her 'fly,' by calling the Lady Tenborough's 'carriage' in the very presence of the earl's amazed relatives ; and, in short, a beginning *t least has been effected towards cleansing the Augean stable of a very great deal of ostentatious filth*. All this is as it should be. Let our young leaders of fashion once steer fashion in a respectable dhection, and the imilatotes scrvum pecus, the unconscious flatterers, and the interested toadies will be suie to follow. Dash Boillion, Esquire, will become a very saint as soon as he finds the duke considers it 'the thing to be decent ;' and even little Tom Henchman will no longer risk encountering the shocked gaze of his mother whilst handing Aspasia to her brougham, actuated thereto solely by the hope of being invited to shoot the grouse or the pheasants of the most noble the Marquis of Pericles. " Whilst addressing our lemarks, for the present, mainly to those whose position confers upon their example, whether for good or for evil, a decided inJuence, and calling upon them to admit that it is it the \ery least, incumbent upon them to restrict the evil of that example within the most hidden bounds, and so diminish the chances of imitation by others, we cannot but express our astonishment that, in the class to which we refer, a life of such selfdegradation should be of so frequent occurrence. Making e\ery allowance for the frailty of human nature, we confess we are amazed at the frequency of such liaisons becoming permanent. The young Earl of Fitzorman is brought up ns becomes his rank and lineage ; he goes to Eton or Harrow, thence to Oxford or Cambridge ; does the 'grand tour'— considerably phis gi and now than when it acquired the name — and returns home with his mind supposed to be replete w iih the study of all that is intellectual and refined in history and ait. He thinks of signalising himself somehow, by writing his travels or a novel, forming a stud, or perhaps 'going in for politics.' In the meantime, happening for want of something better to do, to find himself at the Casino orCremorne, he theie lights upon Jane Grubb, the costermenger's daughter, of Brick-lane, Walworth. How she got there, or who rechristened her 'Ada Papillon, 1 we will not stop to inquire j but the young lord perceiving her to be more lovely and a better dancer than her compeers, waltzes with her himself, finds her a 'jolly girl,' with 'no nomense about her,' seeks her society again and again, and ends by appropriating her entirely to himself, allowing her, ptohpudor ! to take his name, and placing her at iho head of an establishment which he is fired with the paltry ambition of rendering the most elegant and extravugant of the day. Henceforth his whole time is devoted to her, his whole wealth employed in showering inoppreciated luxuries upon her. Can one conceive anything more incongruous than iuch an association ? Can one imagine the diamonds and satins of Wilton-place contrasting with the cotton print of Bnck-lane, than the cultivated intellect of the enamoured youth clashing painfully with the ignorant coaiseness of the misplaced beauty ; and yet there he passes hour after hour, to the abandon* ment of the society of his equals in station and acquirements. Can one conceive anything more jarring to a refined mind than the peipetual diseropenciei of thought, word, and manner which must every moment occur in such an ill-assorted menage j and yet are they not of everyday occurrence? Is it not difficult to realise the fact that a mere 'bugle eyeball and a cheek of cream' should thus set at defiance, as it does in hundreds of cases, all instincts of breeding, nil reminiscences of social refinement, all respect and admiration for what could be respected and admired in the opposite sex ; and yet do we not recognise it daily under the tolerance accorded to these liaisons f 111 starred and degrading as they are in themselves, happy is it if they entail no direr consequences — •happy if some artfully prepared for jealousy hurries not the rash fool into the irrevocable misery of marriage."
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Bibliographic details
Daily Southern Cross, Volume XVII, Issue 1350, 16 November 1860, Page 4
Word Count
1,066LORD PERICLES AND "SALLY BUGGINS." (From Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper.) Daily Southern Cross, Volume XVII, Issue 1350, 16 November 1860, Page 4
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