OUR ENGLISH LETTER

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVIII, Issue 8006, 10 February 1887, Page 3

OUR ENGLISH LETTER

(FROM OTJR. OWN CORRESPONDENT.) THE HOUSE OF ARGYLL, . The Campbells have come and gone with a vengeance, and it mast have been a sair Xmas in the house of MacCallum More when the head thereof sat down to reckon up the bawbees spent in defence and offence on behalf of hia hopeful son. Not for the first time has the canny Soot discovered that London, and especially the law courts of that city, are awfu places for getting rid of the siller. “Heck, sirs, 1 had na been there twa hours before bang went saxpence,” was the mournful confession of Old Reekie’s son. Well, it is a.good thing for the public, not less than the parties to the suit, that the notorious and disgusting case of Campbell v. Campbell, Bird, Shaw, Marlborough, and Butler is at an end, and the jury seem to have taken the only course open to them of finding everyone innocent of the charges laid against them. Only this must be admitted as a necessary sequence, that such an amount of hard swearing, . and in one or two cases absolute perjury has seldom been committed in a Court of Justice, and ought not to be passed over without investigation and punishment. Not to weary or disgust your readers, the salient facts of the case may be just briefly touched on, A few years ago Lord (by courtesy) Colin Campbell met a certain Miss Blood in the neighborhood of Inverary Castle, which, as most people know, is the celebrated house of the Argylls. Being a ,young .lady of great personal attractions, both physical and mental, she was not long in captivating the Hake’s son, and after': only a three days’ acquaintance, a proposal was made and accepted. Before marriage, however, took place the young lord admitted to Mrs Blood, as it is alleged, that he had some years before, when a mere boy from school, been entrapped by a woman of the town, and in consequence bad suffered, and was suffering In such a way that the consummation of the marriage was impracticable, and would be so for some months after the public cere* mony. It was affirmed on the strength of a surgeon’s opinion that if this time were per* xnitfced to elapse, no possible injury to Lady Colin could result ; ,and it appears (though in the opinion of many the fact is not creditable to the. . Bloods) that the marriage took place, and that the parties occupied for a long period separate rooms, and in the meantime the husband was nursed by his wife through one or two operations and illnesses that super* vened. Ultimately consummation took place and in the result the wife suffered to such an extent that great bitterness of feeling resulted. The husband seems to have been constantly ill or to have nob oared to go oat with his wife, who in a short time appears to have more or less taken her own course in life ; gone to public meetings, parties, Ac., without her lawful protector, and in this 'way to have created great jealousy on his part.' On her side anger at what she considered to have been the brntal imprudence of her husband in insisting on hia rights at too early a stage culminated finally in an. appeal to the Court for a judicial [separation and alimony. In this suit she was successful some months ago, there being in fact no defence, for in the eye of the law the conduct of Lord Colin was technical cruelty. From this time the most violent anger against his wife seems to have stirred the heart of Lord Colin, andin thisitwouldappearhe was backed up by his father and hia brothers. Detectives were freely employed to follow Lady Colin about, the servants who lived with the unhappy pair during their outward married life were hunted up, and by one means and another sufficient evidence was collected to induce the Campbell family to believe that Lady Colin was, and had been from the first, an adulteress of more than ordinary audacity. To complicate the matter a certain Lady Miles, a cousin of Miss Blood’s, and a great friend of Lord Colin’s, seems to have played the part of busybody and mutual friend. First she was neutral, then took Lord Colin’s side, and finally went over heart and soul to the wife, and as soon as she heard that Lord Colin was about to lodge a petition sho went to him, and, in the presence of his , solicitor, charged him openly with adultery with a servant girl who had been in Lady

Orillh's service,' This pharge' ff “f 8 , 1 " the strength Of certain acts which she tieelated she witnessed thforitfl ?« °P®" d °°L : and in the witness box she Went dsslarsd that the fact of the girl being Colin's irilsti'OMliad been moi-9 or less openly riclf noWiedged by MaU As to the other ■ thß 00-rOspOndenfS Were .Mr Air(l (a,"e‘>kriown pbysielanb Captain Shaw (Chief of the Metropolitan I'ire Brigade (tad one ol the besb'-kriown rijen in London), the vn»e of Marlbdroagh (already Well-kaoWn for bis f reqdeut ap'ppai’atiriPri iri the Divorce porirts), and Sir Wnl. Butler (GerieM in Her Majesty’s Artriy aqd eminent literary rilari/ htfsband of the well-known Miss Btiz Thotrifteriri; the artist). “ unnecessary to’ go' incri particulars. Acts or adultery were openly sworn tO by Servants whose beliefs were based on conjecture ana iriferenqri in every Case but one,’ In whion a man servant.of somewhat ter, swore to witnessing the act, though a keyhole, but as the looris Was the diningroom of the bouse, and the. time (luring .day* light, the details were so . repulsive that the jury refused to believe them. The co-respon-dents, with the exception of the Deke ot Marlborough, were each of unimpeachable honor,'apd a sensation was provided in the case when the Duke, with a magnanimity which did him credit, wept into the box and admitted that a woman, who it WW alleged had slept with him two nights at a hotel at Pnrfleet, was not, as represented, Lady Colin, but a member of the demi mondefrom Pimlico. , , . As to General Sir William Butler, his conduct was incomprehensible. He refused to appear in Court at all, but spent the time Of the trial in Prance with his wife, and in consequence a severe condemnation of the meanness of his conduct Was passed by the Judge and reiterated in a special rider to their verdiot by the jury: indeed, his absence Caused such uncertainty in their minds that it was gome hours before they could agree. As to Lord Colin s alleged. adultery) tjje ,gir(l was, proved by the medical evidence to be vjrg'o .Intacta 1 ; so'.t.MVWttlot ultimately given cleared r.ii parties. Inere is little doubt that the revelations of the past year in this and other notorious cases Will bring about some change in the law of publication. It is felt that too much publicity m the press is likely to produce evil consequences, and efforts will be made to compel the Judge to bear evidence in camera. The effect on the Duke of Marlborough will probably be to close his public career. He is an able man, and might have had a future, but this and previous scandals have effectually effaced him. As to General Butler, his refusal to appear seems to have been due to pride and furious indignation, for the evidence against him was absolutely nil. When the citation wai served on him he was with the army in Egypt, and he flung it in the Nile to be eaten by. crocodiles. Lord Colin’s conduct cannot be sufficiently condemned. He had the incredible meanness to try and induce the French authorities to arrest his wife in Paris and throw her into the hospital of St Lazare, the refuge of all the worst proatitutes in France ; and had he through hia detectives proved the adultery in Paris, there is no doubt the vile act would have been done. .It is difficult to express the disgust which has generally been evinced at the whole of tluse proceedings.

THE SOUTHPORT DISASTER, Pleasanter it is to tarn from .this hoi-rid case to the general response of the public in aid of the families -of the lifeboat men Who' perished on that wild night at Soutbp’ort hi December last. The exact amount of the; fund is notr known, but it is certainly over L 22,000 mote’ than enough to do what la necessary and to leave a handsome surplus to the National Lifeboat Institution, wherewith to increase the fleet and to correct what it must be feared are the inherent defects of more than one of the boats now in use. Since the acoident nearly all the crafts round the coast have been tried, and in several oases have failed to right themselves when upset. Tanks with water ballast, to give greater stability, are now to be fitted to all the boats ; many, indeed, already possess them, and the alterations will be made quickly as possible. It is sad to believe that the members, or some of them, of one of the ill-fated crews (St Anne’s) were not in a good state* of health ; indeed,-it is said that the coxswain Was in a rapid decline, and that another had scarcely tasted food during the day; but, unfortunately, it is largely conjecture, for in this particular case not one survivor remained to tell the tale, and in the excited state of local feeling too much reliance may be placed on mere hearsay. It is almost incredible that any man in a half-starved state would have had the courage to face such a terrible sea.

LORD R, CHURCHILL’S RESIGNATION. The resignation of Lord Randolph Churchill fell upon the country , like a bolt out of a clear sky. None of the astute gentlemen ot the Press «;who think they- know a thing or two intimated beforehand a word on the subject. Differences in the Cabinet it was known existed, but this had been the case from the beginning. The “old gang,” slow-going old Tories who owed the young Chancellor of the Exchequer many a grudge, were at deadly feud with him and be with them, but there was no reason to suppose that an open rupture waa imminent, and it waa generally surmised that Lord Salisbury would make any sacrifice to conciliate his clever bu k tyrannical young follower. The course taken by the ex-Ohanoellor waa characteristic. Even before the resignation had been sent to the Premier or {sanctioned by the Queen, it is said the noble lord took a cab and dro vo to the Times office, and communicated his intention to Mr Buckle, the editor. The conse. queues was that when the, announcement appeared in the leading journal next morning, and in no other paper, it was believed the editor bad been once again made the victim of a hoax. • The ostensible cause of this unlooked for divorce is alleged to be a determination on Lord Randolph’s part to cut down the expenditure in the spending departments to such an extent that he might bring in a startling Budget with a reduction of at least Llojooo,ooo in the estimates, and corresponding popular reductions in taxation. To this the War Office and Navy declined to accede ; the more so that, the horizon of Europe being so overeast, it is deemed by the heads of those departments and by the Prime Minister himself, necessary to actually increase rather than diminish the annual charges. Lord Randolph refuses to believe in the croaking of the prophets, and, having long ago deeply pledged himself to financial reform, he , declined to budge from hU position. Moreover, there is good reason to think that a Coercion Bill for Ireland is in process of hatching; and to this also the tyrant of Woodstock refused his consent, believing the existing law to be amply sufficient. Bat, whatever the true story of his resignation may be matters comparatively little now, except as interesting history. He, the ablest of Lord Salisbury’s crew, is gene, and what prospect is there that the Tory Cabinet can resist the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune? The Whig section of the Liberal Unionists forms the only body from which - effectual, help can come, and to Lord Hartington accordingly Lord Salisbury turns. He is ready to offer him anything if- only he will help to cover the retreat from the assaults of a Gladstone andja Churchill, and possibly even a Chamberlain. . Long ere this reaches you the issue will have been made, but there is little doubt that if Lord Hartington consents to become Prime Minister with Lord Salisbury as Foreign j Secretary, even under the name of Coalition Government,' that his connection with the great Liberal connection that for years has been the boast of the house of Cavendish —will be finally and completely severed. Such steps, it is also fully foreseen, may bring about another, viz., the transference of Lord Randolph to the Radicals; no two men are said to be more bitterly opposed to each other than the haughty heir to the Dukedom of Devonshire and the passionate and vindictive young man who has inherited the genius j but nob the estates of the Marlboroughs. L.

THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE. The Imperial Institute seems likely, after all, to have some definite result, though it must bo confessed a good deal of cold water has been thrown on the proposal, obiefiy by men of the type of Labouchere, who are nothing, if not critical. But what mainly gives point to their objections is the undoubted fact that no statement of account respecting the returns and expenses of the difierenk shows held at South Kensington has ever - been rendered, and the absence of such information justly gives rise to the fear that a clique exists who have too good a thing in hand to make it desirable to take the general public into their confidence. If such jobbery really exists, of coarse it is absolutely essential that the inauguration and control of the proposed Institute must be taken, not merely out of the hands of what is called the South “ Kensington gang/’ but oat of all suspicion of connection iu any way with it. ‘

A NEW MAGAZINE. ' A now magazine has been started by the great publishing firm of John Murray, and in the first number will bo found a' thoughtful article by Captain Colamb on the connection between the scattered menbers of the British Empire, the causes that have led up to the cry for Imperial federation, and the best way of attaining it, Th? question is undoubtedly

attracting attention more and more every dap . Regarding the new magazine, it opens ■ Witfr some unpublished lines by Byron, belonging rightly to ** Lara, and also an interming letter Mot#, tmn .never before published. Vfe promised father contributions from the saizis fhvtfoe. oandidiy admit, however, that “Moray's” does not start very well for a first number;