VICIOUS AND IGNORANT.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 787, 1 April 1887, Page 30

VICIOUS AND IGNORANT.

A cable message from Melbourne announces the important fact that “ Lord Deerhurst ha 3 resigned his appointment as aide-de-camp to Sir Henry Loch.” This distinguished nobleman, whose services are thus lost to the sister Colony, is the raw lad just out of hi 3 teens who figured in the recent disreputable row with a certain notorious bookmaker, the latter being sentenced to a fortnight’s imprisonment for his share in the affair. The report of the proceedings occupied five columns of the Argus, and is not very edifying reading. The facts ate simple. Lord Deerhurst bet with this bookmaker, Sutton, and lost £2Bl, which he could not pay. Sutton threatened to “post* him, and was told to “ post and be ” something or other, not specifically mentioned. Ultimately, Lord Deerhurst paid the money, but Suttou wanted an apology for the “ blank ” in that reply about the “posting ” ,threat. So, watching his opportunity, he followed Lord Deerhurst into a public house, and, failing to obtain the desired apology, slapped his face —“ drew his hand across ” —as he delicately put it. The cross examination of the witnesses on either side elicited some interesting information. Sutton had to admit that he had been divorced for adultery and cruelty, that he had been expelled from one club and warned off the premises of another, that he had (to quote the Argus) “ made an appearance in the public courts bsfore this to his infinite discredit,’’ and that, in short, he was about as undesirable an associate for an empty-headed lordling occupying a quasi-public position as could well be conceived. Lord Deerhurst’s educational attainments did not show out weil, seeing he must have been so fresh from school. He did not know what the word “ mentor ” meant, but thought it wasu’t “an English word he fancied, however, that there was some “ Roman ” called Mentor ; he had never read or heard anything about Talemachus ; he did not know what “ brutum fulmen ” was, and “did not understand that language.” Hiß friend, Mr Agnew, was equally nonplussed by common scriptural allusions, the Bible being evidently a work with which he was wholly unfamiliar. In pronouncing - the decision of the Bench (represented by no fewer than twenty magistrates on this trumpery occasion) the Chairman made the following observations :

We are of opinion that Sutton went with his companions to this house for the purpose of provoking a breach of the peace, and that he did his utmost to do so, and that the assault was committed on that occasion by Sutton. We are of opinion that a fine in a case of this sort would have little effect, as it could be easily paid. We have determined to show that we will not have any man taking such a course, no matter what the provocation may have been, or what transactions there' may have been between the parties. This sort of brawling by persons who think the case will never come into court will not be tolerated. It will meet its deserts in this case, and we order that Sutton be imprisoned for 14 days. The general verdict will assuredly be “served him right.” As to the other party to the dispute, the Argus, in a leading article commenting on the case, remarks : It was unfortunate that Lord Deerhurst should have had a difficulty about his payments. It was uufortunate that he should be on speaking terms with, and should bet with, a man of the Sutton stamp, and should ultimately use language which was not only insulting, but, what was worse, was familiar. There is some punishment in the exposure ; and if there is any wisdom in the composition of Lord Deerhurst, this punishment, however unpleasant, should do him good. Young men in the position of Lord Deerhurst are not at liberty to be so free as others. A scandal not only disgraces the individual, but it harms his order. And as an officer has to remember his cloth, so an A.D.C. has to be careful not to do aught to bring discredit upon his chief. He belongs to Government House. The anxiety at a Government House is always to avoid scandals, and hence the one person for whom sympathy may be legitimately expressed is his Excellency the Governor.

So moat people will think, and it is not at all surprising to learn that this very unfavourable specimen of the English aristocracy should have , retired from his official position at Government House. Some will even suspect that he may have received a friendly hint that his room would be preferable to liis company. The sooner he goes Home again the better ; he is evidently not fit to be trusted at large without a “ bear-leader.”