The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-17 00:00:00

ifiE SUN, LONDON-, _MONDAY EVENING, JULY 11, 1865.

from the place, unless it be the decidedly growing convic-
tion that its facilities for trade in different respects will
sooner or later-place it above Shanghae.
From Nanking we do not tear of much progress being
made in the way of preparing the place as a trading mart.
There is no intelligence of importance from Japan
by the present mail.

AUSTRALIA.
VICTORIA.

The fate of the tariff is not yet decided, but the
final struggle between the two houses of parliament
will probably have taken place before the departure of
the next mail. The government propose to finish their
measures for national defences, the supply of water
to the goldfields, and their Alining Bill before
bringing before parliament their measure tackingthe
Amended Customs Bill to the Appropriation Bill. A
select committee appointed by the legislative council
to inquire into precedents for the course of action pro-
posed by the Government came to the conclusion that
" tacking" was unconstitutional, and the house de-
cided without a division—" 1. That this house will
insist upon adhering to the practice and usage of
the Imperial Parliament in regard to the matter
which according to such practice and usage may be
comprised in one bill. 2. That it is contrary to
such usage and practice to introduce any clause or
clauses of appropriation or other foreign matter
into a bill of supply. 3. That it is contrary to such
usage or practice to introduce any clause or clauses
of supply, or other foreign matter, into a bill of ap-
propriation." The Government have, however, de-
cided upon carrying out their threat.
The most interesting debate during the past
month has arisen from an attempt of the Attorney-
General to confer upon the executive the power of
suspending the judges, instead of making the jus-
ticiary, as heretofore, irremovable save upon the
address of both Houses of Parliament. The clause
enacting the alteration was carried in a full House
by a majority of five, on "the understanding subse-
quently carried out that, it should be amended by
giving the executive the power of suspension when
Parliament was not sitting.
The drought under which the colonies suffered
since last November had terminated, and copious
showers had fallen, giving an impetus to mining
enterprises and agricultural pursuits. The weather
for some time had been very Cold and unsettled,
and in some places there had been severe storms.
At Adelaide the gales were very destructive to
life and to the shipping. There was a disastrous
flood at the Port, by which a considerable amount
of property was damaged. On the goldfields, the
want of water for many months paralysed the exer-
tions of the miners ; but since the weather had
changed there had been a noticeable improvement in
the yield of gold. In Gipps Land, however, but
little had been done, in consequence of the heavy
weather and the difficulty of access to most of the
districts.

The agricultural statistics for the year ending 31st
March, 1865, have been published. The extent of
and in occupation at that date was 6,064,936 acres,
being an increase of 510,405 as against 1864 ; the
enclosed land amounted to 4,884,536 acres, as
against 4,098,500 for the previous year; the extent
of land under tillage was 476,546, a decrease of
31,252, as compared with 1864. At the departure
of the mail the farmers were busy putting down
their seed, and notwithstanding the losses which
have been experienced within the last two years from
rust and the caterpillar, a larger amount of land
was being brought under tillage than was the case
last year.

The population of the colony on the 31st March
last was 610,250 persons, including 350,698 males
and 259,552 females. The increase during the first
quarter of the year was 5,192 persons.
The experiment for the introduction of salmon
into Victoria has been so far successful. The ova
which were retained out of the consignment for-
warded to Tasmania by Mr. Youl have progressed
so well that they have been turned from their
breeding ponds into the creek which runs into the
River Yarra.
The Melbourne Herald of May 25 says :—" The
'Border Customs difficulty has not been settled.
There is at present free trade across the Murray so
far as colonial products are concerned, but the Syd-
ney government maintain that such an arrange-
ment is illegal. The people of Riverina object to
paying our duties, which are just now in excess of
those charged by New South Wales, while those
landed in die latter colony by steamer from South
Australia object even more strongly to pay accord-
ing to the protective tariff of Victoria."
We read in the same paper :

Incited by the example of the Victorians in the capture
of Morgan, the notorious bushranger, who was for a long
time the terror of the southern .portion of Now South
Wales, the constabulary of the latter colony appear to have
at last adopted strenuous measures to put down the bush-
ranging which has been the disgrace of the country. A
party of the police, under an officer named Davidson,
surprised Ben Hall, one of the gang, on the morning of
the 4th May, as ho was looking for his horses. Hall
attempted to escape, but ho was soon surrounded, and as
ho refused to surrender, several volleys were fired at him,
and he died literally riddled with bullets. Johnny Gilbert,
one of his companions, was discovered by another detach-
ment of the constabulary on the 13th inst. He and his
comrade Dunn attempted to resist, but after some skirmish-
ing Gilbert was shot dead, though Dunn managed to get
away. There is little doubt that the success which has
lately attended the authorities has been in a great measure
due to the enforcement of the stringent provisions of the Fe-
lons Apprehension Actra law recently passed by the colonial
legislature, and which punishes severely any persons sus-
pected of assisting the outlaws. The government offered a
reward of £lOOO for the capture of Hall, which has been dis-
tributed as follows :—£4so to Sub-InspoctorDavidson,£lso
to Sergeant Condell, £BO to each of the. four troopers of the
party, £6O to one black tracker, and £2O to another. Mr.
Davidson has also been appointed an inspector, and Ser-
geant Condell has been raised to the rank of sub-inspector.
The sum of £l,OOO offered for the apprehension of the
bushranger Morgan, whose death we recorded in our last
summary, has been divided thus :—To John We ndlan,
£3OO ; Alexandrine. Macdonald, £250 ; Jas. Frazer, £2OO ;
David Clarke, £l6O ; Alice Keenan, £5O ; volunteers and
Police, 12 in all, £8 6s. Bd. each, £lOO. Efforts are in ad-
dition being made by private individuals to supplement
the amount given to .Mr. Wendlan, who fired the shot
which proved fatal to-Mr. Morgan. The body of the dead
outlaw was dreadfully mutilated after death, and the Go-
vernment have suspended the local coroner (Dr. Dobbyn)
and Mr. Cobham (one of the inspectors of police), who did
not interfere to prevent the outrage. A board of inquiry
was appointed to investigate their conduct, but their re-
port has not yet been made public.

SPIRIT OE THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

THE 44 SATURDAY REVIEW" ON ELECTIONEERING
AMENITIES.—The arrival of a general election is
always a gloomy time for the enthusiastic partisans
of universal suffrage. One can sympathise with a
schoolmaster whose favourite pupil is exceptionally
dull and stupid on the day of the Inspector's ex-
amination. Everybody can understand the kind of
feeling with which a fond parent who has sum-1
moned a model child to be admired by visitors dis-
covers that his young hopeful has torn his clothes
and begrimed himself with dirt, and is disposed to
be unusually fractious and impertinent expressly
for the occasion. And there can be no reason why
we should not respectfully drop a tear over the suf-
ferings and vexation of the benevolent politicians
who have fully convinced themselves of the superior
virtue and delicacy of all persons who live in houses
below a rent of ten pounds a year. It must cer-
tainly be very provoking to see the people whom
you are in. the habit of extolling above all the rest
of their kind for sterling good sense and self-re-
spect, bellowing and shouting in inarticulate and
quite meaningless uproar by the hour together.
There is something very curious in the change which
seems to come over even quiet and decent persons
when they get mixed up in a large mass of other
quiet and decent persons. The result is like some
chemical compound which differs utterly in appear-
ance and properties from the simple elements of
which it is composed. Men who in private life would
never think of interrupting even a speaker whom
they did not like, still less of vociferating senselessly
with no object and no meaning, as soon as they get
among a crowd of others, seem to go in for a tho-
rough revel of unreason and confusion. Even at
some of the Westminster meetings, which were com-
posed mostly of tolerably well-to-do people, the
utterly meaningless character of the interruptions
was perhaps the most notable thing about them.
The latent folly which is supposed to smoulder un-
der the placid exterior of the wisest of mankind
seems to burst out with irrepressible force under
the excitement of numbers, and a couple of thou-
sand men, who in an ordinary way go about clothed
and iv their right minds, when brought together
appear to be no more than a single idiotic giant.
Cynics might have laughed over the spectacle of a
great philosopher being roared and shouted at as if
he were the Inimitable Mackney or the Perfect Cure.
But, after all, even philosophers may console them-
selves by the ancient reflection that there is so much
human nature in the world, and it is undeniable
that to shout meaninglessly is part of the human
nature of all crowds. The interruptions, however,
have not been altogether meaningless in the proceed-
ings of the week. Mr. Cox, for instance, " your
, old and tried member," knew only too well what
was meant by the fatal cry, repeated at short inter-
vals, " How about Wat Tyler ?" The sensitiveness
o f the Finsbury electors to anything like historical
inaccuracy is well known, and history is unhappily
, not Mr. Cox's strong point. " Lusk and 'istory"
has been an admirable election cry. A far meaner
capacity than Mr. Cox's would have had no diffi-
culty in understanding the frequent exclamation,
" Oh, you little rascal," " Oh, you little rogue,"
which rang in front of the Finsbury hustings.
Though apparently a slightly offensive form of ad-
dress, this is in reality a Finsbury phrase of endear-
, went. Indeed the addition of the diminutive is a
mark of affection in all languages, and " rogue is of
course only a playful term. There is something
touching in this childish sportiveness on the part of
the electors towards their faithful Cox. One can-
not picture a fonder scene. Unluckily, as is too
often the case, the backers at the poll were consi-
derably less numerous than the backers at the hust-
ings. The little mistake about Wat Tyler had been
fatal. Perhaps, on the whole, Cambridge deserves
the palm for the most complicated and eventful kind
of uproar. The organisation of the rowdies was
perfect, all Conservative rowdies being massed on
ono side of the hustings, and all Liberal rowdies on
the other, and each party obeying the signals of its
chosen leader. What delicate distinction of politi-
cal opinion divided these two enthusiastic bodies it
would be highly interesting to know. Different
views of the beer supplied by the respective candi-
dates would no doubt have a powerful influence in
deciding the cause which these lively non-electors
were good enough to espouse. Questions of Par-
liamentary Reform, of the Ballot, of Church-rates,
of the representation of minorities, would all be
comprehended in the question of the best tap. But,
by whatever means it happened that one half of the
mob came to be Conservative and the other Liberal,
there can be no doubt of the single-minded consis-
tency and enthusiasm with which each party stuck
to its colours. The Liberals, with a steadfastness of
purpose that does them. honour, refused to let the
Conservatives on the hustings say what they had to
say in peace, and the Conservatives, with no less
laudable loyalty to the great principles of the
British Constitution, discharged the same friendly
office for their opponents. The leader of the
Liberal rowdies is said to have done his duty with
unfailing good humour, and indeed "throughout
the morning considerably enlivened the proceedings
with his powers of badinage." But the Mayor of
Cambridge apparently dislikes badinage, for, with
a nice tact and discretion not uncommon in such
exalted people, he ordered the Liberal leader into
custody. As might have been expected by any less
wise person than a mayor, the police, who endea-
voured to carry out the order, found they had got a
wolf by the ears. They could neither bring their
prisoner away nor get away themselves. They " be-
came imbedded in the crowd, which then moved
sideways in a firm and compact body,yelling, cheer-
ing, and occasionally fighting." That they only
fought occasionally is a remarkable testimony to
the singular consideration and forbearance for which i
the sovereign people s so deservedly eulogised.
Some of the crowd, however, seemed to have found
this vague and loose mode of combat rather slow,
and so they retired to a quiet street in the neigh-
bourhood, and there refreshed themselves by wit-
nessing what the reporter styles an " affray" be-
tween
two men of different views. These two ardent
politicians, wearied no doubt with the sophisms of
interested partisans, and despairing of finding the
truth by any less indisputable process, resolved to
settle the question of Conservatism or Liberalism on
first principles, and resorted to the ordeal of battle.
On which side the truth declared. itself history does
not record. Meanwhile, the humorous crowd who
had not adjourned to the quiet street continued
their elegant badinage. A heated Liberal, for in-
pontedplece of sarcasm which
in-
stance, exclaimed to 11r. Powell, " You're very like
admiration among one section
and was
i
warmest
made the pretext for a slight
meo
xf yet
ight
e• ad ne
trdioimew odwt, a
ha
re
regalement in the way of a little more occasional
fighting by the other. But the Conservatives had
their turn. IVnile Mr. Christie, the late Brazilian
Minister, was using a good deal of strong language,
and while the crowd .could
uld just hear such phrases
from " venal scoundrels,"
as mixture of imbecility
every his diplomatic ticlie lips "
a
and ignorance," one of the Conservatives, perceiving
the influence which this elegant declamationwas
having on the sympathies of the audience, saw that
something must be done or the day would be lost.
So, with singular felioity of imagination, he de-
manded of Mr. Christie whether it was true that he
was " a member of the Christy Minstrels." The
merriment which this brilliant jest excited was inex-
tinguishable, and it was a considerable time before
the candidate could go on with his remarks.
At Windsor the proceedings of the crowdr Th
were much simpler and more effective. e
business was practically conducted in dumb-
show. Nothing more articulate could be heard than
uninterrupted yellings, hootings, and whistlings,
which were kept up with exquisite impartiality
alike for proposers, seconders, and candidates on
both sides. The candidate at Chatham, who had
to make his speech in a heavy thunderstorm, was
scarcely more unhappily situated than the panto-
mimists at Windsor. With the exception of a
imysterious and frequently renewed cry
About
" Blankets," nothing was audible more than half a
yard away from the speaker. More varied was the
excitement at Stroud. The uproar with which Mr.
Horsman was received prevented" him from begin-
ning his speech for the space of twenty-five minutes
after he first stood up. Perhaps he would never
have been able to get a hearing at all, but for the
introduction of two effigies which tittled the crowd
into a better humour. One of these witty devices
Was a head supposed to represent Mr. Horsman,
one half of it painted blue, the other half yell ow ;
the second device was a weathercock, also painted
with the Whig and Tory colours, and labelled on
one side " Mr. Horsman in '53,"
and on the other
" Mr. Horsman in '65." Mr. Horsman was equal
to the occasion. The head, lie at once remarked,
is a block of wood with no brains and a shut mouth,
and ho interpreted that to be the head of Mr. Pon-
sonby, his opponent. Again, he continued, the
bird with the side of '65 represented a gamecock,
and that of '53 was uncommonly like a goose.
Naturally this did not conciliate the enemy, and the
uproar was resumed forthwith. When at last he
got a hearing, the obnoxious candidate renewed his
assault upon his rival, whom he delicately compared
to a prize pig running for the Derby. The party
which brought forward Mr. Ponsonby would vote
even for old Nick himself, and he believed that
person would be their most appropriate leader."
The name of Ponsonby appeared in all the lists of
persons pensioned by the Government, " and even
one Sarah Ponsonby—Aunt Sally—had been pro-
vided for out of the public purse." Humour of this
sort was so exactly after the manner of the mob
hat we are surprised to find that the greatest con-
fusion followed on this charming piece of perso-
nality.. One would have thought it was just suited
for the palate of such a crowd. Greater applause ,

followed Mr. Horsman's 'sonorous vituperation of
his adversaries as " ignorant; illiberal, and intole-
rant ; numerically few, politically insignficant, and
morally contemptible." It must be confessed that
here, at all events, the candidate was a match f
the masses. At Brighton,• Mr. Moor—though not
subjected to the persistent uproar which assailed
Mr. Horsman—was sadly put out by a huge placard
which rose above the heads of the crowd, with the
words inscribed upon it in huge letters—" Moor in
his last agonies 1" It is not every one who can face
a roaring mob with equanimity, and retort upon
them in kind. Neither is it every one who values
the honour of a seat in Parliament sufficiently to
undergo the mental torments and senseless indig-
nities to which, in certain English boroughs, he is
invariably exposed.

A CORRESPONDENT OF "THE CORRESPONDENT" ON
PRIMOGENITURE AND ENTAILS.--To render the fol-
lowing remarks intelligible to the non-professional
reader, it is necessary to premise that theoretically
all the lauded property of this kingdom is held ulti-
mately of the Crown, that is to say, that however
absolute the ownership of any man be, his tenure is
not " allodial," but endures only, in the absence of
alienation, so long as his " heirs" exist, failing
whom the land reverts either to some mesne lord or
to the Crown ; or in other words, the owner of a
fee simple, although he possesses the jus disponendi
to the full, and thereby is able to place his alienee
in the same position as himself, must still contem-
plate the possibility of his land falling some day or
other into the possession of the Crown, should both
he and the mesne lord (if any) under whom he holds,
die without heirs. It is difficult to explain this posi-
tion in popular language, but speaking in semi-legal
language, the proposition simply is that the " fee
simple," which, be it recollected, is the highest de-
gree of estate known to English law, " escheats" for
want of heirs of the owner to the lord of the manor
of which the land can be proved to be parcel, or if
it cannot be proved to be parcel of any manor, then
to the Crown. Now—to exclude from present con-
sideration the peculiar tenure of copyhold—to enter
into any consideration of which would only em-
barrass the subject in hand—l must observe that
land held in fee simple, or by the donation of the
fee simple owner, for any interest greater than an
estate at will or for years, is a freehold, and the
owner for the time being a freeholder ; whereas a
person, who by the donation of a freeholder has
only a right to his land for a term of years, is
called a leaseholder, and his property a leasehold.
To this I must add, that it is competent for a
freeholder who is entitled to the fee simple to do-
nate or demise it to any other person for a term
of years of any duration, be it one or a million
of years, and thereby, to the extent of the dura-
tion of such term, to deprive the mesne lord or the
Crown, as the case may be, of his or its chance
or right of reverter by reason of a failure of heirs.
Having regard to the preceding explanatory obser-
vations, I trust I shall be readily followed by your
non-professional readers, when I observe that
leaseholds for years are regarded by our law as
personal property, that is to say, goods and chat-
tels, and that, as a consequence, they do not, on
the death of the owner, pass to the person whom
the law designates as his heir-at-law, but just
like his household furniture, or his money, or
stock in the funds, are transmitted on his death pri-
marily to his executors or administrators for pay-
ment of his debts, and after their satisfaction belong
to all his next of kin, the eldest son having no pre-
ference over his younger brothers and sisters. Free-
holds, on the contrary, although devisable by the
will of the fee simple owner of them, descend, on
his death intestate, to his heir-at-law, that is to say,
his eldest male relative, who, of course, in the ma-
jority of cases, is his eldest son; and here it is that
the injustice of the law of primogeniture is felt.
Now, sir, troubling you only with one further ob-
servation, which is, that personal property, and
therefore leasehold estates, cannot be entailed, an
operation which is peculiar to freeholds, and con-
sists of the donation or settlement by a fee simple
owner of his lands in such manner as that they shall
pass from generation to generation to lineal to the
exclusion of collateral heirs, I proceed at once briefly
to enunciate the kind and fashion of reform which
I propose for the abolition of primogeniture and en-
tails, adding only that the suggestion I now make
is entirely novel, and has never, to the best of my
belief, been even hinted at by any of the numerous
opponents of these obnoxious laws. My proposal is
by a short Act of Parliament to enact (Ist) that
after a given date all the land (or rather, speaking
legally, all the hereditaments) in England and Ire-
land, held immediately of the Crown, or of which
the seignory is in the Crown, shall cease to be of
freehold tenure, and in lieu thereof shall be held of
the Crown for a term of 1,000,000'0f years, renew-
able for ever ; and secondly, that after the same date
all hereditaments in England and Ireland, held
mediately of the Crown, or of which the seignory is
in a private person, shall likewise cease to be of
freehold tenure, and in lieu thereof shall be held of
the mesne lord for a term of 1,000,000 of years less
one day renewable for ever.

THE " ATHENAEUM" ON VISIBLE SPEECIL—Mr.
Alexander Mellville Bell, who has for many years
attended to the removal of defects in pronunciation,
produces a method of writing sounds : this method
is submitted to the severest tests with perfect suc-
cess. It consists in picturing by totally new sym-
bols the actions of the several organs of speech,
tongue, lips, teeth, &c. The number of fundamental
symbols is 39. Each one of them is a direction to
do something ; so that if the user of it had forgotten
the sound it represents, he would be taught it again
by merely following directions. The symbols, of
course, represent the most elementary actions of the
organs put together, they produce compounds. A
full sneeze, for example, is a complex operation : it
comes among what are called inarticulate sounds ;
but Mr. Bell writes it down, and, for aught we
know, could undertake to furnish every member of
the House of Commons with a symbol representative
of his own particular sneeze, as distinguished from
those of all his colleagues; We, and many others,
have seen this method 'tested in the following way.
Mr. Bell sends his two sons out of the room, and
then invites the company to make words in any
language, pronounced rightly or wrongly, and
sounds of any kind, no matter how absurd or origi-
nal : for it is the success of this' method that, what-
ever the organs of speech can do; the new alphabet
can record. Mr. Bell tries each sound himself,
until the proposer admits that .he has got it : he
then writes it down.. After a score of such at-
tempts have been recorded, the young gentlemen
are recalled, and they' forthwith read what is pre-
sented to them, reproducing to a nicety, amidst
general laughter and astonishment, all the queer
Babelisms which a grave party of philologists have
strained their muscles to invent. The original
symbols, when read sound after sound, would make
a Christian fancy himself in the Zoological Gar-
dens. The utility of such a method is obvious : it
is clearly one of those steps of which people ad-
as they can deny the prac-
mit the utility so long
ticability ; and then, when obliged to admit the
practicability, they deny the utility. Mr. Bell has
formed a wide opinion of the range of application
of his invention. He may, or may not, be fully jus-
tified ; but every one can see a great deal of what
he sees. To communicate through the telegraph by
pure sounds, independently of meaning, so that
Arabic or Chinese may travel from a clerk who
knows not a word to another just as unlearned as
himself ; to teach the dumb how to speak by in-
structing them in the actual use of their organs ; to
take down the sounds of foreign languages, espe-
cially those of sa rages, and to transmit them home :
to learn how to pronounce a foreign language by
interlinear use of the alphabet of sounds—will be a
very pretty instalment. And while this is being
gained, the rest may be discussed. Mr. Bell comes
forward with a petition to Government. He asks
just this—that the nation will be at the expense of
casting his types and circulating his method ; also
that he may be enabled to give to a sufficient num-
ber the requisite oral instruction. He submits that
if he should be obliged to do all this for himself, his
system will be freely given to all the rest of the
world, but restricted, within the British empire, by
the action of the law of copyright. We sincerely
hope that it will be taken up, either by the Govern-
ment or by part of the public concerned. To us it
seems that the Missionary Societies alone would
find it worth their while to bear the whole expense.
But we should best like to see the Crown forward
in putting before the world—after still further and
sharper testing, of course—a discovery which, if it
be what we cannot doubt it is, must be called the
final victory over a difficulty as old as written lan-
guage, and an obstacle which has seemed to inhere
in the nature of writing itself. This system was
perfectly completed in April, 1864. As long ago
as 1849 Mr. Bell published a work in which he said
" It would really be a matter of but little difficulty
to re-construct our alphabet, and furnish it with in-
variable marks for every appreciable variety of vocal
and articulate sound." But when he came to the
attempt he found some lions in the path which, as
is the nature of that sort of lion, did not show
until the huntsman came close to their dens. The
monsters were successfully attacked ; but they took
a long time to conquer. That they are conquered
has been seen. All that has hitherto been tried is the
attempt to put the letters of a language or languages
into symbols. We remember a work of the last
century which professed to symbolize accent, rhythm,
and cadence. A great many efforts have been made
to spell words but the system before us spells

A FEW LAST WORDS ABOUT LORD WESTBURY.—
FROM THE 64 LAW TIMES."—Lord Westbury-, in
bowing to the decision of the Commons, has pro-
mised, with regard to the future, that it will be his
zealous anxiety, in the character of a private mem-

ber of the House of Lords, to promote and to assist
in accomplishing all those reforms and improve-
ments in the administration of justice which he
thinks are required by the country. His moral
position in this course, so advantageous to the pub-
lic, will be strengthened if his persevering endeav-
ours to disconnect himself from the son who was the
causa teterrima of his resignation be made clear.
We need only extract a few passages from his let-
ters to Mr. Miller and Mr. Skirrow, the ill-judging
and badly kind friends who frustrated those endeav-
ours, and from whom Lord Westbury has had in-
disputable reason to cry " save me." Had not Mr.
Skirrow taken upon himself to withhold a letter
which Lord Westbury bade him deliver to Mr.
Bethell as an ultimatum, what has happened never
would have happened. " I may," said Mr. Skirrow
to the committee, " take this opportunity of saying
that I am very sorry now that I did not deliver that
letter." On Saturday, the 14th May, 1864, Lord
Westbury wrote to Mr. Miller, mentioning Mr.
Bethell's " flagrant misconduct," and said, " I feel
it my duty instantly to remove him from his office.
I beg you to prepare an order without a moment's
delay, stating it has been proved to my satisfac-
tion that Mr. Richard Augustus Bethell has ne-
glected the duties of his office, and is unfit to be
continued therein,' and that I therefore remove him
from the office of one of the registrars of the court
as from this day. It would be idle to speak to you
of the state of mind I am in ; but I am determined
that he shall be instantly removed, and that in the
manner which justice requires." Mr. Miller, in-
stead of preparing the order, of which Lord West-
bury had thus framed the very language, wrote
back on the same day entreating his " lordship to
do nothing rashly.", Mr. Miller would see "Mr. B."
He believed the information about neglect of duty to
be incorrect. "I pray of your lordship to suffer this
matter to rest in my hands for forty-eight hours,"
&c. Lord Westbury replied, "I am much obliged
to you for your kind, feeling letter. You knew I
could not show my face in court if I did not in this
case strict impartial justice. It has nearly broken
my heart. I will wait until Monday." On the 16th
Mr. Miller wrote again a long, plausible letter, try-
ing to work on the feelings of Lord Westbury as a
father, and to deaden his feelings as Lord Chancel-
lor ; but all this made no impression, except that he
says he succeeded in persuading Lord Westbury
that the charge of neglect of duty was false. On
the 18th Lord Westbury answered, "I am much
obliged by your kind and feeling letter respecting
my son. But it is due to the public that he should
resign, and therefore I shall accept and act upon
his resignation as from to-morrow. I had no
suspicion of his misconduct until the day on which
I wrote to you my first letter, last Saturday. It has
been to me an overwhelming affliction." But the
crowning mischief of officiousness was on Mr. Skir-
row's part. In the same week as the correspondence
took place with Mr. Miller, Lord Westbury wrote to
Mr. Skirrow, " After a sleepless night I can think of
nothing better than the conclusion I mentioned yes-
terday. It is useless to make any arrangement
founded on his retaining his office. It would be
discreditable to me his being allowed to remain. He
must leave the country. immediately. . . I shall
not listen to any proposal for some years. . . He
and Flo' might go first by themselves to find a place
of residence, and I would take care of the children
here at Hackwood." After this Mr. Bethel and his
family went abroad. Mr.,Skirrow saw him in Paris
in October, devised plans for re-establishing him
here, and induced the family to return in December.
At Christmas Mr. Skirrow went down to Lord West-
bury at Hackwood. " I tried," he says, "to get the
Lord Chancellor into conversation about it, but the
Lord Chancellor took a very decided view that there
was nothing to be done but for his son and family
to go abroad, and that was his determination." Mr.
Skirrow returned to town, and Lord Westbury
wrote to him, "As to Richard, it is hopeless ; let
him understand that I neither can nor will ask for
any place for him. . . I will increase his allow-
ance to £l,OOO per annum if he will go and live in
Dresden, or some proper place, and educate his
children, there, where they can be well brought up."
Mr. Skirrow went down to Hackwood again in the
beginning of January. " The Lord Chancellor,"
he says, " had been personally kind to me ; but
whenever I referred to his son, he always assumed
an entirely different tone, and as I was leaving on
the morning of the 4th of January he put into my
hand an envelope addressed to his son, containing a
letter, which he told me to read as soon as I had left
the house, and I was then to hand it to his son, and
I was to look upon that letter as his ultituatunz, and
that he would not see me if ever I spoke to him on
the subject again." Mr. Skirrow did read that let-
ter ; he thought it excessively strong in its tone, and
he did not think it could do any good, and he kept
the letter and he never delivered it, but he con-
veyed to Mr. Bethell what was in the letter. The
letter was as follows :—" Richard, nothing will in-
duce me to give you the place of clerk at the table
if it should become vacant ; you have been a disgrace
and a source of infinite sorrow and reproach to me
during the last ten years. I have given you every
opportunity of amendment, but there is no hope of
you, nor have I the least confidence in your ever
having better principles ; I will not see you again.
Your best course will be to go to the continent, and
try, by attention to your wife and children, to make
some amends to them for the grievous injury you
have inflicted on them." Not only was this letter
suppressed, but the domestic plot against Lord
Westbury went on, bringing With it the disreputable
negotiations of February, which have since reflected
fatally on his official career. It is not extravagant,
then, in Lord Westbury, beset thus as he has been
throughout, to " hope that after an interval of time
calmer thoughts will prevail" in the House of Com-
mons, and that " feelings more favourable to himself
will be entertained."

THE " OBSERVER" ON MARGATE DECENCIES.--
For several years past the Observer has steadfastly
censured the indecency which characterises the con-
duct of but too many of the visitors at watering
places at this period of the, year. It was to have
been hoped that the numerous complaints made
through the medium of the press would have taught
quasi ladies and gentlemen better manners. In some
localities the authorities have endeavoured to keep
the visitors -within the limits of propriety, but, as a
rule, a deaf ear has been turned to all remonstrances,
and the scenes now daily witnessed are as bad as
ever. This is very extraordinary. It was the boast
of Englishmen that we were a more moral people
than any other. The Court of Divorce has, how-
ever, unfortunately drawn aside the veil, and exposed
a sad number of exceptions. Still, under ordinary
circumstances, English ladies and gentlemen appa-
rently keep within the limits of propriety. Not so,
however, at watering places. In these places no
sooner do they arrive than they seem to give up their
decorum with their railway or boat ticket, and to
adopt practices which at home they would almost
shudde even td.' read of. We do not wish to be
considered ungallant, but the truth compels us to
confess that at bathing places the ladies are worse
than the gentlemen ; they set the example, and it
is, therefore, not surprising if gentlemen follow it.
Why it should be so we cannot imagine. Parents,
as a rule, are especially careful as to the character of
the schools to which they send their daughters and
of the acquaintances they make. Married ladies at
home are models of propriety, and set their children
excellent examples. At the seaside, in some cases,
their very natures seem to change, and they appear
to vie with their daughters as to who shall most ex-
ceed the bounds of propriety. Take, for instance, the
case of Margate. This favourite place of Cockney
resort is rapidly filling with visitors, and soon
scarcely a lodging will be vacant. There, unblush-
ingly, ladies and gentlemen bathe almost indiscrimi-
nately, for the distance which separates the gentle-
men's bathing machines and the ladies' is more in
imagination than reality. The men gambol in the
the water nearly in nature's garb, and the ladies,
although they wear bathing dresses, conduct them-
selves as if they felt these dresses to be an incum-
brance. Ladies, at all events outwardly so, do not
seem to consider that they outrage decorum by
viewing from the pier and the beach, through opera
glasses, the antics of nude gentlemen. We are not
prudists, and do not profess to be more moral than
other people, but we must confess that we cannot
help blushing at the barefaced conduct of a certain
portion of our countrywomen. Would any lady
have the hardihood to go into Hyde Park, either in
the morning or evening, when men and boys are
bathing in the Serpentine, and watch them through
race and opera-glasses ? We do not believe that
any lady, with any pretensions to character, would
dream of so misconducting herself. How is it then,
a lady, modest and retiring in London, becomes
brazen and bold at Margate ? It is an enigma which
we confess we cannot solve, but the facts are patent
to all who will not wilfully close their eyes to the
scenes that are going on around them. But there
arises this question, also, are the ladies and gentle-
men only in fault? We think not. The local
authorities have much to answer for in this respect.
Families visit 18 atering-places during the hot season
for the purpose of Lathing, and they must either
adopt the facilities afforded for bathing, or forego
the luxury altogether. The local authorities, we are
ready to admit, cannot make ladies or gentlemen
moral or modest, but they can and ought so to ar-
range the bathing so that a really modest woman
should not be compelled to have her sense of pro-
priety shocked. Surely at Margate there is plenty
of space at certain times of the tide where all parties
might enjoy the luxury of a sea-bath, and at such a
distance from one another as to allow the rules of
decency to be upheld, Again, why should not the
local authorities insist that men should wear whilst
in the water some kind of slight clothing ? It Is
invariably the rule in France, and au the Continent
generally why not, thou, adopt it hero The low

authorities may perhaps say that they have not the.
power to lay down such regulations, or, what is
more to the purpose, could not enforce them, We
very much doubt the alleged fact that they have
not the power. z We believe that the present laws
are sufficient for the purpose, and that the local
authorities, if they had the inclination, could soon
bring about a reform in these matters. And even
if their local acts are insufficient, let them
go to Parliament and. get them amended. The
House of Commons would only be too glad to have
an opportunity of lending their aid to put down
practices which would not be tolerated in any petty
town on the continent. But we are very much afraid
that the authorities are blind to their interests. We
are satisfied that if it was at once known that strict
rules as to decency as regards bathing were enforced
rigorously at Margate, the place would become much
more popular than it is even at present. It might
not be fuller, because, even under present circum-
stances, at this season o the year it is always full,
but the class of visitors would be of a more select
character than has hitherto been the case. But
whilst on the subject there is another point to which
it is necessary to draw attention. All the inhabi-
tants of the metropolis know to their cost that from
four to five millions have been expended to get rid
of the sewage, and to prevent the pollution of
the Thames, and that quite two millions more will
in the next four years have to be spent to take the
London sewage away from London altogether.
Visitors to Margate have no right to expect that at
this watering place they will suffer more inconve-
nience from the sewage than they would be exposed
to in London ; and yet such is the case. All visi-
tom to Margate know that the principal place for
bathing is in the harbour ; but they are, perhaps,
not aware that nearly the whole sewage of the ex-
tensive town of Margate is discharged into this har-
bour ; and, therefore, instead of visitors bathing in
pure sea water, they literally wash themselves in
diluted sewage. The bare idea is disgusting in the
extreme, but at times the reality is worse. Why
the authorities of Margate should have adopted such
a system is extraordinary..._Eifty years ago, when
sanitary science --was little known or appreciated;
some excuse might have.been found for-their igno-
rance, but now they ought to know better. Corn-
mon sense, it might have been imagined, would
have taught these gentlemen that, as the prosperity
of the town mainly depended upon its character for
healthiness, they ought to do everything in their
power to make the town-as attractive and salubrious
as possible. This combined with the shameless ra-
pacity and incivility of the lodging-house keepers
deters most persons of consequence from visiting
Margate.