Famous Spendthrifts.

Western Star, Issue 1077, 30 October 1886, Page 1 (Supplement)

Famous Spendthrifts.

The mania for squandering lias been c onfiaed to no laud or age. : As long a s the wealth of the world continues to be unequally undistributed; so long, probably, shall we have spendthrifts. Old Adam Smith, in a philosophic hum our, tells that the necessaries of life include only those commodities that are indispensable to our healthful support, and those the lack of which, among creditable people of the lowest class, is rendered improper by the custom of the community : t all other things he declares to be luxuries. . j If such a definition as that were accepted, most of us could easily be convicted of needless extravagance. A glance at the careers of a few of the monumental prodigals of the world will be found interesting. A history 'of the $p ndthrili s of ancient Romo alone voild fill a good-sized volume and be of unique variety. Apicius, Crassus, Probus, Cladius, Nero, Vitellius, and Caligula all squandered vast sums an the most trifling objects. Apicius spent nearly a million pounds on his palate, and then casting up his accounts, discovered that he had scarcely a hundred thousand pounds left, and immediately hanged himself to avoid the privations of threatening poverty. Elagabalus regaled the attendants of his palace on the brains of pheasants, the tongues of thrushes, and the eggs of partridges. At his own meals the peas were sprinkled with grains of gold, pearls were scattered in dishes of rice, and the costliest amber was used to render palatable a dish of beans. Crassus made a great feast for the populace during his candidacy for the office of consul, at which ten thousand tables were heaped with luxuries,' Even this was surpassed by Caesar, who at the funeral feast on the occasion of his daughter’s death, spread seventytwo thousand tables, accommodating three guests at each. '' Tiberius, like Cleopatra, gulped down precious stones, crushed and mixed in wine, and he heaped the plates of favourite guests with gold and for them to carry away. It was iborius, too, who caused boats to be built of cedar, covered with gold and precious stones, and large enough to admit of their being turned into floating gardens, in which were planted flowers, vines and fruit ' trees. No Scene from the Arabian Nights Entertainment could have equalled this in splendour. t' i ' ) ' But it is to Nero that the prize for senseless prodigality must be awarded, la the simple recreation of fishing he used lines of purple silk, and books of gold. His tiara was estimated to be Worth five hundred thousand pounds, and he never wore the same costume twice. When on a progress through his dominions five * hundred asses followed in his trail to supply milk for, his daily bath. Had Elwes, the famous miser, who preformed his ablutions in a convenient brook, and dried him sell with sand t) save the expense.of soap! and towels, been a spectator of this reckless extravagance, he would in all probability, have gone clean out of his mind. r V/

Christianity gradually displaced the fashion of heathenism, and a deluge of barbarism over-fl)wed Roman civilization. Thenceforward, for a long time, the extravagant expenditure of great fortunes was confined to the Eastern Empire, whose capital was the site of Constantinople. , , , A review of English spendthrifts affords some remarkable stories. .

Sir William Norwich, of Brampton, was a fair type of the squanderer who drags a family down to the mire. He lived a live of utter selfishness, drinking the cup of pleasure to the dregs, neglecting his wife and family till they were dependent upon the charity of others, and regaling his friends upon the best his purse , could purchase. Some of his escapades rival those of the famous Marquis of Hastings. It is related that on one occasion he and a few others of exuberant spirits were sojourning at Chester, and in theheight of their dissipation conceived the idea of going round the city at night and forcing the watchmen to get drunk. Some of the young men held the guardians while the others forced the, liquor down their throats bythe tankard-full. So well did they do their work, that when morning dawned there was not one solitary watchman in the city capable of leaving his box.

A favourite amusement with Sir William Norwich, was to visit some country inn, tie mine hostess to a heavy piece of furniture, smash everything in the place worth smashing, knock the hoops oif the kegs and the necks off every wine bottle, until the place looked as if a tornado on a small scale had been let loose, then giving the man notes and coin to treble the mischief done, departs in: high glee. Like the Maiquis of Hastings he gloried in the fun of destruction, and the greater the value of property destroyed the greater the satisfaction to himself. The story goes that Sir William finally lost his estate playing cards with the Duchess of Marlborough. At hia death the title descended to a member of the family who had no fortune to support the dignity, and, tracing the family history down to the ye*r 1800, we find that various members have at different times been washerwonen, sawyer, and an inmate of a workhouse. Another melancholy story . is shat of Sir Charles Burton, on© of

the Leicestershire Burtons, who first figured as a fashionable guardsman, and then sank step by step into abject poverty and degradation, until at length be was transported for theft. Some lines written by this quondam wit are a fitting epitaph for the graves of spendthrift scions of nobility.

“ And I felt how the pure; intellectual fire In luxury loses its heavenly ray; How soon in the lavishing cup of dosiro. The pearl of the soul may be molted away.”

But undoubtedly the most amazing example of hair-brained extravagance and dissipation is to be found in the career of that individual who has earned the distinction of being termed “ the Spendthrift Squire of Halston.” John —or, as he was familiarly called by his neighbours, in spite of his worthlessness, Jack—Mytton, during the last fifteen years of his life spent .over half a millibn sterling, and sold timber—“ the old 'oaks of Halston” —to the amount of eighty thousand pounds, j , When but a mere child John Mytton was allowed by his parents to have a pack of harriers, and at the age of ten is said to have been a “ confirmed scapegrace.” He gave an indication of his, uncurbed will early in life by being expelled from two public schools Westminster and Harrow then entered the 7th Hussars and joined, his regiment in Erance, where be carried things with .a high hand. Both at gaming and racing he was: a heavy loser, and set at naught the counsels of all advisers. .

. Returning to England, he gave him self up to yet wilder extravagance, spending a rent-roll of ten thousand a year in less than three months. When heavy, liabilities had been already incurred, but previous to the disposal of largo properties to meet pressing demands, Myiton’s agent him that if be would content himself for the next six years on six thousand a year, his flue old .Shrewsbury estate—the earliest patrimony of his ancestors be saved. Besought to accede, to these reasonable demands, Mytton replied: “No, no; I would not give a straw for life if it was to bo' passed |on six thousand a year.” I The result confirmed the agent’s apprehensions. The first acre alienated led to the dismemberment of the whole estate. Such was the prodigality of this unfortunate man that it was said that if he had an income of two hundred thousand pounds he would bo in debt iia five years.” i Mytton ended his career within the walls of the King’s Bath Prison, attended to the last by a devoted mother. -

George Moorland, the celebrated painter, was another .spendthrift, but of an exceedingly low order. Ilia famous picture “ The Cabin ” taproom, with its coarse occupants and picturesque furniture, was sketched during a carousal. In his sober moments ■ —and they were few —ho regretted the companionships he made, but only to revel with them later. Then he could not do enough for them; he made them presents of horses and hounds, pictures and money. On one occasion while riding with several gentlemen on the turnpike road near. Whetstone, two persons were observed in a jockey cart disputing with the gate-keeper. As Moorland’s horses passed the vehicle in single file, one of the occupants shouted, “ Vat, Mr Moorland, won’t you speak to a body ? ” Moorland appeared not to hear the salutation, but the “ body ” was not to be abashed, and continued shouting to him until at last he was compelled to notice his pot house crony. The.“ body ” shook hands with.him. But the humiliation did not end here: He speedily introduced Moorland to his elegant companion, a sweep, saying, “Yy, Dick, don’t you know this ’ere gemman? It's my friend, Mr Moorland," and he has to shake hands with the chimney sweep' also. The sweep suggested that they should all repair to the nearest tavern, where he would do the honours. At this period Moorland affected great neatness, and it was amusing to see his chagrin ou surveythe sooty marks of the friendly squeeze on his new glove. “Sweeps, your honour,” was a standing joke against him for a long time.

Later in life so accustomed was Moorland to pecuniary necessity that he became a victim of the apprehension he would end . his life in gaol, and actually visited the prison of the King’s Bsnch incognito for the purpose of judging such confinement. We find taau his fears were not without just grounds, for he died in the Marshaleea prison, in the midst of delirium on the 29th Occ. ISO!*, in the fortieth year of his age. But the list,of famous spendthrifts becomes, too lengthy to dwell upon each individual separately; notably we may mention the two Sheridans, Thompson, Benjamin Goldsraid, Henry Fauntleroy, Joseph Daniels, Polly Peachum, George Selwyn, Henry IY., the Elder Dumas, and the mad Czar. Mr Forbes has given a curious picture of the extravagance affected by Asuf al Dowlah, who succeeded his father to the throne of Oude. This nabob was fond of lavishing his tre is ares on gardens, palaces, horses, elephants, European guns, lustres, and mirrors. Pie expended annually two hundred thousand pounds on English manufactures. He bad more than one hundred gardens, twenty palaces, one thousand elephants, three thousand fine saddle horses, one thousand five hundred double-barrel

guns, seventeen hundred superb" lustres, and seven hundred largo mirrors, girandoles, and clocks. Some of the latter were very curious, richly set with jewels, having figures m continual movement,' and playing tunes every hour ; two of these clocks only cost him £30,000. Without taste or , judgement, ho was, extremely solicitipua to possess all that was elegant and rare : he had instruments and machines of every art and science, but he knew none; and his museum was so ridiculously arranged that a wooden cuckoo-clock was placed beside a superb time-piece which cost toe price of a diadem, and a valuable landscape of Claude Lorraine sus pended near a board painted with ducks and drakes. Ho sometimes gave a • dinner to twelve persons, sitting at their ease in a carriage drawn by elephants. His jewels were worth about eight millions sterling. Amid his precious treasure, he might be seen several hours every day handling them as a child does his toys. ■ • The greatest spendthrift of modern times was the king ot Bavaria; his debts at his death amounted to £1,500, 000. The nowbistoric private theatrical performances at Munich have been suspended, all building operations at the now castles have been stopped, and the royal stud has been largely diminished. The great mountain cast'e of Korren-Cliiomsoe, which had been building for ten years, and has cost' £1,500,000, is not half finished, and probably will never be. It is an exact copy of the Versailles, only more splendid, and the internal decorations are ofiudescribablo magnificence. A single chandelier of porcelain which hangs in the Salle das Graces , cost £4 800.