OUR ENGLISH LETTER

New Zealand Mail, Issue 776, 14 January 1887, Page 9

OUR ENGLISH LETTER

(FROM OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT.) SCANDAL. London, December 1. Scandal is the breath of life to a certain class of the community, and the revelations of the courts must have sufficiently satiated the mo3fc morbid appetites during the last few weeks. Such people have hnng eagerly on the reports, rumors, and legal proceedings that have hemmed in the unfortunate Coleridge family during the last few years. It is the misfortune of genius that it is almost always erratic, and when notorious its eccentricities form the small-talk of society. The family alluded to has enjoyed a goodly share of talent for many years, ever since the most eminent member charmed the world years ago with his pen, and amused it with his uncertainty and fickleness. Since then at divers times we have heard of one or another who has startled the world by his change of religion, for by one act or another the family has always been kept to the fore. Of course the most eminent member is at present the Lord Chief Justice and Beer, sufficiently well known if only by his connection with the Tiohborne trial and his celebrated cross-examination of the Claimant with its oft-repeated query, which passed at length into a by-word of the town, “Would you be surprised to hear,” &c. The doings, therefore, of the noble Lord and his family have always been matters of interest, and when it was known some time ago that his daughter, the then Miss Mildred Coleridge, aged 37, had suddenly left her father’s house and married against his will and under peculiar circumstances, the lover of scandal was eminently gratified and more than satisfied when the reputed husband of Miss Coleridge brought an action against hia father-in-law and brother-in-law for libellous assertions. Thi< action when first tried was abortive, under circumstances which gave rise to a theory that the Judge who presided, Mr Justice Manisty, had displayed too much tenderness for his learned brother, with whom, and under whom, he was wont to occupy the Bench. To make a long and tedious tale short, the facts were simple enough, and briefly these : A certain Mr Adams, a gentleman of 55, and a widower, of uncertain occupation, was secretary to an anti-vivisection society, of which Mis 3 Coleridge and other ladies were members. The acquaintance thus commenced innocently enough, became, for apparently trivial reasons, objectionable to Lord Coleridge, and, rightly or wrongly, he seems to have entertained the opinion that Mr Adams was endeavoring to compromise the position of his daughter, and attempting to drag her into a match wholly out of her social status.. In fact, he and his son, Mr Bernard Coleridge, regarded Adams as a mere adventurer, who, with no means of his own, was seeking to secure a comfortable income for himself at his Lordship’s expense. Female busybodies in the family entered eagerly into this congenial campaign, and reports most discreditable to Mr Adams were freely circulated, such as that he had run. away with his first wife under suspicious circumstances, that hia life generally had been irregular, and that he had endeavored to

compromise Miss /Coleridge’s character by remaining in a darkened room with her at the Society’s Office after having previously sent the keeper of the place away. This and other petty scandal Lord Coleridge unfortunately believed and acted upon, and in fact so worked upon his daughter’s mind that, as she and her husband allege, marriage which was never contemplated by either party was actually forced upon, them, as the only course open to save their selfrespect. However, as the result of several trials and arbitrations, Lord Coleridge and his sou have freely withdrawn all imputations oa Mr Adams’ character, aud admit they were entirely uncalled for and unjustifiable, though the fact remains that the connection of Mr Adams, a man of no means and no prospects, with their family is a sore mortification. The trial just ended was ostensiblv based on a technicality, viz., that certain letters had been improperly put before the arbitrator by Lord Coleridge’s solicitor, and of which Mr Adams had no notice ; but really the course was taken by Mr Adams to make the whole story public, and to put himselt and his wife right before the world. In this he did not succeed as he could have wished, for the jury exonerated the defendants from blame, and Mr Adams gained nothing whatever from the long and painful cross-examinationl to which he subjected his father-in-law. Lord Coleridge indeed has behaved well to his child, for he settled on her £6OO a year, and she has beside a reversionary interest in a sum of £17,000 under his will. In fact the whole story was a petty one, and would, in an ordinary case, attract but little interest were it not for the extraordinary spectacle of a Chief Justice. being arraigned before a Judge and jury in his own Court. . . By the bye, I may mention, though it has nothing to do with this particular matter, that his Lordship has been privately married a second time to a lady who was stewardess on board one of the Cunard boats, and with whom he became enamoured during a passage to the United States two or three years ago. Of course there is no harm in this, but, if true, he need hardly have been so much annoyed if his daughter married somewhat beneath her to an impecunious literary man. Of course where the shoe pinched lay in the prospect that he might have to support the elderly husband as well as his middle-aged daughter. I have alluded to the matter at some length because of the silly stories which for some years have been circulating both here and in the States, and it may now be truly said that all parties left the Court without a stain upon their characters. I hope the rumor is not true that Mrs Adams contemplates some further action against her father.

IRELAND. At last the Government has been roused to action in Ireland, and we are within reach of a period of tumult aud excitement, of desperate attack and of dogged and stubborn resistance. The officials at Dublin Castle have issued attachments against Mr John Dillon, M.P., and Mr O’Brien, editor of United Ireland, for seditious speeches, tending to subvert the peace of Her Most Gracious Majestv. Several Nationalist meetings have been proclaimed, and all the machinery that the ordinary law possesses is put in motion to arrest disorder and compel tenants to pay their rents. Coercion, though it is strenuously denied by the Tory journals, is undoubtedly in the air, and in short the Government, weak enough already, has entered on . a foolish course that may possibly end in its subversion. The whole question just now is agrarian, and not Home Rule, .and it seems, so far as one can judge to lie in this, viz., that owing to the fall in the value of produce the rents fixed by the Land. Court in 1881 have become impossible. Prices, it is said, have fallen more than 25 per cent., and unless landlords make this abatement in the judicial rents they will get no money at all. Some have submitted and take what they can get with good grace, others are standing out for the entire pound of flesh, and it is their action which has been exercised to move the Government, which wouldat another time have been only too glad to let well alone. The Land League has organised a plan to deal with these gentlemen ; it is simple and astute. Tenants are to go in a body to the agent, and tender their rents, less 25 per cent. If they are accepted well and good ; if not, the money is taken back and poured into a common fund wherewith to fight the owner of the soil by every available means, legitimate or illegitimate. Now, the question for disinterested spectators trying to take a calm and judicial view of the whole question is just this —Cau the average tenant really pay, or can he not ? Is it an attempt at spoiling the Egyptian on the part of the tenant, or has he really and truly no shirt that can be ripped from his back ? To solve this question several of the leading English journals have sent commissioners to examine the problem in situ. Amongst those who have gone is the notorious Mr Stead of the Pall Mall Gazette, who has entered con amore into the dispute. Elaborate tables are published in his paper, and he arrives at the opinion that most certainly there has been a general depreciation in produce of not less than 20 percent since 1881, and that the present rents are impossible. He does not admit to a 25 per cent reduction. Others, however, hold different opinions, notably the correspondent of the Liverpool Daily Post, who draws a harrowing picture of the destitution and misery existing, on some holdings. Here is an example or two from County Kerry, on Lord Ormathwaite’s estate :—Tom Welsh holds a farm ; rent, £66 ; Poor Law valuation, £22 ss; extent, 32 Irish acres. He is 18 months in arrear, and has been evicted once, but is back again on sufferance. Another one is P. McGrath, whose Poor Law valuation is £26. In 1851 the rent was £24 ; then Lord Ormathwaite purchased the farm, and raised it to £46. When Peter’s father died, and the son succeeded, there was another rise of £lO, viz., £56. In process of time Peter married, and, by way of a joke, and to mark his sense of the occasion, the noble owner put on another £lO, viz., £66. Then came the Land Act, and the tenant went to Court, getting a reduction of £l6, viz., rent £SO; but times are so bad that even this amount is not now forthcoming, and under notice of eviction lies Peter, likely to be turned out at any time. A painful story is that of Martin Flairn. Originally paying £2B, he made some

small improvements, lor whioh he had an allowance, bat his rent was put up to £43. Still he struggled on, and was rewarded by a rise to £6O ; then he went to the Court and got reduced to £43. But the bad times set in ; he could not pay, and was of course evicted; the windows and doors of the cabin were removed, and the wretched husband, wife and family squatted in the bog. But the woman was near her confinement, and unable to bear the exposure she crawled to the miserable cottage and was there delivered ; but misery, cold and hunger had done their worst for her, and three weeks ago her poor children followed her to the grave, envying her the rest which she had at last obtained. What wonder is there if moonlighting and other acts of desperation become rife. It is tolerably clear that General Buller appreciates the situation, for he has declined to allow the police to act in cases of eviction unless under a fortnight’s notice. By this course he has not, it is understood, obtained the goodwill of his superiors, and the landlords are much embittered against him. Nevertheless, his. firmness has markedly reduced the moonlighting outrages, which were at his first coming so terribly rampant. SIR ROBERT HAMILTON. Tasmania is to have the Bervice3 of Sir Robert Hamilton, late Under-Secretary of Ireland, who succeeded Mr Burke after the terrible murders in the Phoenix Park, in 1882. For that appointment he gave up a lucrative and agreeable position iu the Admiralty, and committed himself to a terrible responsibility. But he never swerved from his duty, and has had the satisfaction — unusual for a Scotchman—of being universally beloved by the Irish people. It i 3 pretty well understood that the experience he gained in his official position has made him at heart a Home Ruler, and-, he was largelyinstrumental inassisting Mr Gladstone with the materials for framing the Bill of whioh we have lately heard so much. But in no degree whatever has he obtruded his opinions on the public at large. Nevertheless his crime was too enormous in the eyes of a Tory Government, so at the first opportunity he has been made away with to the distant colony of Tasmania; but even this manoeuvre has not been accomplished without great gnashings of teeth by the members of the Colonial Service, who had been looking for this little plum, and when it dropped ripe and ruddy into so unexpected a quarter the hangers-on of Downing, street consumed away in rage and mortification. Sir R. Hamilton comes of good stock ; his father was the Rev Zachary Macaulay Hamilton, a man of most noble character, who spent the most of his long life in the Shetlands. Sir Robert has hardly reached middle age, and Tasmania is much to be congratulated on securing a man of preeminent talents ani most unblemished character. He is a gentleman in every sense of that generally most misapplied description. ALTERATION OF MAILS. The alteration of mail arrangements with the United States, and by consequence in a degree with New Zealand and Australia, has caused the liveliest dissatisfaction throughout the whole of the North of England. Hitherto three mails a week have left Liverpool for New York, via Queenstown, by the White Star and Cunard lines. These Company’s have, it is needless to say, the finest fleet in the world, and till now have had a monopoly of the mail contract. However, the new Conservative PostmasterGeneral, anxious to signalise his entrance into office by a small economy, has thrown over these Companies in order to save a small matter of £25,000 a year, and for the three mails from Liverpool has substituted two by the Guionand Inman lines from Liverpool, and one on Thursday from Southampton by the North German Lloyd’s boats. The result, as far as the North of England goes, is that the letters for New Zealand and A ustralia, via San Francisco, whioh go monthly by the Thursday’s boat, must be posted half a day earlier to reach Southampton in good time. This is a great annoyanoe, as the same delay applies to the American mails going from the North on that day. Ireland, too, is much agitated, as Queenstown will suffer with only two mail boats a week call-, ing, the Cunard and Star lines intending to discontinue stopping, now that their places have been taken by the opposition Companies. The offence of employing a German line is also unpardonable, and a bitter pill for the Conservative party to have to swallow at the hands of a Government of their own color. But the news of this new departure was hardly cold when it was announced that the subsidy of £I2OO a year hitherto paid to Elder, Dempster and Co., of Liverpool, for the conveyance of mails to the Gambia settlement, on the West Coast of Africa, would be discontinued. The direct service is to be abandoned for an in. direct one, passing through the hands of a line of French steamers. The saving i 3 a paltry one, about £3OO a year, and as may be supposed, a howl of indignation has gone up from all sides, as it is feared the small but increasing trade between England and Gambia will be seriously crippled. Altogether the Conservative party are in a very indignant frame of mind, and the matter, though trivial, is likely to have an injurious influence on the voting of the business classes at the next election. BUSINESS. I regret to say that business is languid, or rather it is not in that advanced condition which the spurt of a few weeks ago led us to expect. Nevertheless, things are looking better, and the larger markets are well employed. It is a pity trades unions are so short-sighted as to interfere with the equilibrium between and profits. More than one industry has already seriously suffered, and Mr John Bright has just addressed a much-needed remonstrance on the subject im answer to a question from a Nottingham correspondent, on the decline of the lace trade in that town. The local Union enforces a rate of pay which is causing factories to be closed and transferred to looalities where cheap labor is available. Mr Bright pertinently observes that Protection applied to wages is just as economically foolish as when employed in harassing trade; the results must ultimately be the same. One branch of business seems always to flourish, and of late years has grown to enormous dimensions. I allude to the fruit

trade, a matter of interest to the colonists, now that Australia is competing with the States. Liverpool has the largest market in England, perhaps the world, and it is quite a sight to witness the auctions which take place three days a week. A succession of auctioneers occupy the rostrum, and the rapidity with which sales are conducted may be inferred from the fact that as many as 6000 packages are got through in 40 minutes. At-the present time apples are being sold at to the tune of 30,000 barrels a week, grapes 40,000. oranges 30,000 ; nuts, melons, pomegranates, onions, &c., in proportion. As much as 240,000 barrels of choice apples have been sold during the last three months, and there are perhaps 400 or 500 apples in a barrel, weighing from 1301 b to 1601 b each ; prices range from 11b to 20s for inferior sorts, and the choicer kinds go up to 30s, and even 455. The sampling is quite an amusing scene, a cask is broached and a portion of the contents are pitched promiscuously amongst the audience; lifts in the floor of the sale room are constantly going up and down all day with fresh lots, from which to choose. ’These immense importations arebad for our people, though many think that the flavor of these foreign fruits is not equal to that of our old English sorts. A genuine ribstone pippin of the old breed is almost as rare as the Dodo. The stock trees seem to have died out from climatic reasons, but if enterprising farmers in the colonies would try to reproduce it on kindlier soils it has a future still.

WINTER. Winter happily is late in setting in ; we have enjoyed a season of wonderful mildness and beauty, but already gales are becoming prevalent, and snow is reported in the extreme north. Some terrible storms have prevailed in the Atlantic, and one brave life at least was sacrificed in the exercise of duty. Captain Grace, whose name deserves more than honorable mention, was buried the other day amid universal sorrow. As captain of one of the Atlantic liners, and commodore of the National line, he recently remained at a dangerous time for no less than forty-eight hours on the bridge, though almost frozen to death and drenched to the skin. When the weather moderated he went below and took to his bed, from which he never rose again. Inflammation of the lungs set in, and he died iu a few hour'. The bravest exploits on the field of battle are scarcely a match for such heroism as this. Talking of this question of heroism, I see that the heroes of the prize-ring are making a desperate effort to revive interest in this, in some respects, most objectionable sport. Matches have been taking place all over the country, and the police apparently are unable to cope with the outbreak. One contest, however, so far as is known at present, has not yet come off, but is anxiously awaited by more persons than would like to admit it; to wit, the fight for the championship of England, which distinction is now held by one Jem Smith, of Nottingham. A tight that proved abortive, owing to an irruption into the ring by the partisans of the man who was getting the worst of it, did com 6 off on French soil, and it is no secret that about Christmas an endeavor is to be made once more to bring matters to an issue; the authorities, however, are very much on the alert. Boxing is, no doubt, an excellent accomplishment, and if, as some fear, the use of the knife in quarrels is becoming too frequent, it would be better to bring back the ring with all its brutality ; but surely matters are scarcely so far gone as that. At any rate we have improved bn the time referred to recently in an authentic story by a North. Country parson, describing how, I believe as lately as 1849 or 1850, when he took charge of his parish, it was the custom for women to strip half naked on Saturday evenings and in the yard behind the village alehouse to form a ring, and engage in a stand up fight, their hair being cut short to avoid the pulling which is generally a feature of those contests in which the fair sex indulge on occasion. At these brutal pastimes, the bottle and sponge, etc., were all in order, and the respective brothers or husbands of the combatants supplied the knee at the conclusion of each round. The Vicar, as he tells the tale, was then a young man fresh from the University, and versed in the science of the noble art, which he admitted he had acquired from the conqueror of Mendoza the Jew, a noted bruiser of the day. With a courage, therefore, which did him credit, he on one occasion stepped into the ring at the alehouse and forbade the match, with the result that he was speedily put to it to defend himself, which he accomplished in such style that his opponent was speedily “knocked into a cocked hat;” but the interference accomplished the purpose, and the disgusting exhibitions soon became things of the past. To those who know at all what the lower classes in the bonnie North Country can b® like at times the Vicar’s pluck will appear no light matter ; there is no doubt he carried his life in his hand on that memorable occasion. THE COURT. The Court, I suppose, is rejoicing over the arrival of another “little stranger,” or, as a paper cruelly remarks, the Battenburghers have produced a little burgher who is likely to batten at some future period on the British public. This, 1 believe, is positively the Queen’s thirty-sixth grandohild; but I should not like to be too precise, for it is really difficult to keep right-side up in this evergrowing calculation. The new cradle (I should have thought there were secondhand ones on hire) is said to be a miracle of design, with its Scotch embroidery and. Valenciennes lace, ivory hair-brushes, spongebags of finest rubber, and so forth. The young man has tumbled into very comfortable quarters, and may repeat some day, with more truth than many of his brethren, “ I thank the goodness and the grace which on my birth hast. smiled, and made me, not a German, but & happy English child.” His uncle Connaught has just dropped into the Bombay command, which means a rise of £7OOO a year; and. Edinburgh is promoted to command of tho£ Mediterranean fleet, with an extra £4OOOI annually to mitigate the arduous labors ©£J the post. It need hardly be said that appointments have meant the shelving other and perhaps better—certainly oLierf —men. Corses, not load, but deep, are tkaf consequence. The spectacle of the brother-*' in-law of Princess Louiaa;and hia wife im that

Divorce Court, under circumstances of unparalleled disgrace, must be terribly galling ♦o the Court. The case being still sub judice I defer comment till next mail.