The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1866-01-23 00:00:00

OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT.

Mr. Lard has found himself uneasily famous
these lea few days. He has bees the talk of the town.
At first it was rumoured that he had tendered hia re.
signatice as under Foreign Seerstary, but that it bad
been over-ruled; this, that be bad positively resigned,
and now it is pretty certain that he was to have re-
signed, but that ministers have oorzed him to stay.
Can it be that Mr. layard has been frightened by too
strong a Reform Sill. and been pomaded that be need
not be alarmed, for it will never peas?

If we may believe the Steederd, the Queen will go to
Parliament in h. r state carriage drawn by them eight
magnificent cream-coloured hones. "Already." says your
eeatemporary, "the royal madman may be men going
over the ground with hie royal eight down Prirliameet.
street, preliminary sod preparatory to his vend official
drive." It is difficult to prove a negative, and I riertaioly
nainot my that "lb. royal madman with hie royal
eight" have oot been rem in Parlianseekstreet ; but I
have neither seen them myself (one cannot always be in
Parliament-street, you know, nor seen any one who has
rep them. I can hardly savant for the statement of
the Steederd en the theory of • swops, nor ma I on
the other hand, my to the anther of the paragraph--

'Thos host no figures, nor no fantasia,
Which buoy oere draws in the minds of moo.*

Bu e be " the royal sesames wilds his royal eight"
aa doubtful as Cinderella's glees coach, or am reel ma one
of Pickford's van., I only hops that the apparition inay
take place on the 6th of February. It would hugely
delight her Ilaieety's lieges who would positively be by
that one sight hell reoooodied in advance to the Princess
Helena's dowry.

You most not mouse me of using penny-is-lime'
language, when I say, this the loss of the steamship
London has spread • gloom over the Metropolis. For
once that hackneyed ;Aram is truly daseriptini. During
the mat week, into whatever moiety one entered, the
subject tim been introduced with mingled pity and
admiration. It has been • mosolation to all, however,
that if ao many of our fellow-orsaturse and fellow-
.oeatrymen meat be earned of it one fell swoop, they
should be able to die no well and so leerily. In
all our romance of the seas there is no heroism
recorded to surpass that of the unfortunate vied= of
this ocean diameter. go treat is the admhstion felt foe
those who died so nobly, that people are apt to regard
the survivors in the one solitaryhost seambing like
resreents and deserters. This la najw,
feeling, springiag up instinctively, es... dad"o"
reason; for when we by to think of the isessee coolly,
If anybody PM think coolly over it, we are persicedwi,
drank by the small partmatage of the reed. th,,,,,stass
out of 270—how like • mammon it seems I If the mid
70 even bad some to Wel there would not have bee...
deep • feeling aroused ; but • eatimirophe like tete
excites everyeee's mournful gruipathy.

Te other day as had • osatleiaaa of goal bray
kdad sad coavioied it staslimg aa overeat from sa
ladsl. This is. cos it SW things 1 Gaud apstorsiaad.

It seems u if we must resort to the Idea of
klei tooted& to explain such an absentia. j but lopily
WO have seamed to acknowledge this plea. Perhaps we
have dose se rightly, although, as I have said, I am
Puzzled over this affair. In my London expo-lases I
have known of many Week sheep of good families who
lad no character to loam with those who knew them;
but some how such folks generally manage to keep out
of a criminal elan. They get up loan societies, employ.
meet agencies, or write begging lettelu in false names,
but it is very seldom indesd that they reader themselves
amenable to the criminal laws. Let your readers beware
of tempting looking swindlers, for there are men in
Landon, of good families forsooth, who will rob them of
more than an over-coat, and yet defy police courts.

That extraordinary narrative of the Pall Mall Gazette
"Casual," continues to excite interest, and it is to Is
hoped that it will excite something more—reform. Not
only has Mr. Parnell, the Poor Law Inspector, been on
the qui vine, hut the LAmbeth Guerdiens have met in
conclave, and there has also been an animated meeting
of the Lambeth Vestry. The Poor law and the work-
honor people feel that they are on their defence, but
they have not been able to contradict one statement of
any importance. Apropoo of this visit in disguise, a
very diver paper—a parody on the Pall Mall narrative
—has appeared in the Awning &or, purporting to give
a coatermonger's experiences of a night in Belgravia at
a dinner and evening party. He went disguised as a
gentleman on a "buyer" nearly to the door, and the
"barter" awaited him on his return. It reminds me
throughout of the narrative which hes attracted so
much aMention, and is altogether very smutty done.
It is the writer's at appearance in print, but it will
not be blatant,

A curious case has occupied the Court of Qoesn's
Bench. A clergyman, sating for defendant, who Is the
rector of Horton, Books, warn applied to by a man and
IMMO to be married. The fee was 13s. 44., to he paid
in advance, which the man refused, and declared
he would bring an action against the clergyman for re-
laxing to marry them, although the latter bad most
kindly offered to pay it for these. Without remarking
on the result of this trial, I would first ask whether it
would not be advisable for Marsh and Diment alike to
forego all fees in ease of really poor meow wishing to be
married. It will, of scares, be immediately replied,
that if they cannot afford to pay the fees they cannot
afford to be married. Bet, unhappily, this is looking
at the matter superficially, for it is well•known that
many eoupke live in conoubinage simply because they
will not or cannot pay theism for being married, and it
Is • remarkable foot, that whenever any gratuitous
marriages take pleas, and they frequently do in
London M Easter and Quietism, there an hundreds of
maples reedy to lake advantage of the offer. The
labourer is worthy of his hire, and the clergyman or
minister oerieinly deserves to be paid, even looking on
It merely al mtlemesd on his use; bat still, if illegit-
imate sounostions me be made legitimate marriage' by
foregoing the fees, would it not he highly conduit,' to
the laws of movelity for the Any and dinesntiag
minister, to do so

SPICTrATOR.