The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1865-07-13
5ureisu
Aristocratic Exclusivcness.

The philadelphia North A merican
furnishes an amusing illustration of aris-
tocratic cxclusivness in England, in the
case oi Colonel Dawkins. OF the guard.
Itpppears that this officer had somehow
or other become very unpopular with the
officers Of the regiment, his manners not
being quito up TO tho standard OF the
i"household lroops,' and So they dctcrmin-
ed 10 git rid of him. Now, Colonel Daw-
kins had served in the Crimen, where he
had proved himself brave aud jealous
officer, and there was no charge OF inca
paci,y against him. but he was not so.
ciable, in the Guards sense OF the word, I,
and that was crime. Accordingly he
wOs subjected to that species Of prosccu.
ton which Is certain, in the long run, to
force any officer to leave his reg muDt.-
On one occasion ho wus late for parade.
For this he was rcbuked in tho presence
ofmany officers, by the commanding
officer, who said that "othcrs should not
suffer because Lieutenant Colonel Daw-
son ran riot" and that he "would make
him parade so many times u duy." The
Colonel of the regiments also sent FOR
him, and rcGukcd him In the presence of
a JUROR On another occasion, whom the
I Queen gave a state ball, un Invitation
was sont to u certain number OF the
officers OF the regiment. The invitation
arrived between eleven and three in the
afternoon, when Colonel Duwkins, who
was one of the number, was absent. On
his return he Immediately sent to say
that he would ACCEPT it, but was told
hot k.. ,,,,1I not k.. E.nul IL hal hoo "a
given to another officer. Ilc thcreupon
complained to hcadquartnrs, but the com-
manding officer decided that hc Colonel
Dawkius) was in Tho wrong. But the
greatest oiltnce Of all was his refusing to
shake hands with this same commanding
officer, Lord Rokoby, at u luncheon re.
Gently given at Aldcrshoit. Instced oi
taking the proflIrcd hand he merely
bowed. For this he was placed under
arrest for eleven days. At The expiration
of that time court Of inquiry was held
the proceedings OF which were Kept
secret, but the result was that Col
Dawkins was offered the option Of sell
ing his commission or OF retiring upor
, half pay, within a fortnight. The Sub
Jet was brought before the House O
Commons on Monday, and elected som
severe Comments, but the goycrnmc n
refused to interfere. The Secretary o
War rejected poor Dawkins, appea
against the sontenc, of the Court of Ia
quiry, and 30 he will have to leave ih
army because he wa. not agreeble to hi
brother officers, Tie proper cours,
would have been to try himhy court mar
4 tial, but suppose he has not coInmittc
: any offence which would make hiI
> amenable to one, and SO tho secret ir
:, bunal was rcsorted TO. Tho affair need
. no comment but while | am on the sui
I, ject of manners may remark that whu
|, is considered good breeding here Is, in re
atty, the perfection OF insolence. Til
loud /" haw.haw" tonc Of. voice of tht
men, and the swagser OF tho women be
! tray their innte vulgarly. IL is diflicul
for foreigners to understand this, aud per
haps | am indebted to long residence
in the United States for tho clear com
prehcusion | now have Of nristoer til
; " elegance" as II is termed. The uDleel
ing brutality which has just turned Col
onel Dawkins out Of the army aud ruine,
bis prospects, because he was not quit
! the gentlemen, is typical Of the system
: which peryades every rank OF society i
> England. There js no class that woul
hesitate to expcl o member Of it VIII,
was obnox lous 10 il, no matter how lriv
ial the cause; nay, more--.it would crusl
, him en'iiely if il could. Let those VIII
!. are advocates of aristocracy as a sociu
, system, ponder over this lnct, for il is
fact, as innumerable instances prove.