Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-03-14

woman" In the fashionable world ther
are set" and Hsets." Some of thes
are brought together by POLITICAL other
by religious, others by family ties
There are, j need hardly say, good, ba,
and Indifferent people among them all
But there is fast set "a set of peo
pie who look upon amusement as tn
first duty of life and who care less 70
what others say of them than you d.
where the ink with which you write these
lines was manufactured Lady Nor
daunt soon became an acknowledged
member of this set. She drove tn,
handsomest ponies in London, dressed
faster " than any lady in or out oftown
laughed louder, cared more for pleasure
and was surrounded at all times with the
tastes" men of the tastes" set. The
one person who knew least of what she
did or where she went was her own hus
band. He had his occupations; she had
hers. When the season was over they
went together to their magnificent coun-
, try house. Walton Hall, near Warwick
but even there it was the old story over
again. The house was always full Of Wis
itors. Her fast A" lady friends and her
"fast" admirers of the other sex were
there by the score. Sir Charles only
looked to his own amusements. He was
absent two or three months in the year
for sporting in Scotland or for fishing in
Norway Lady Mordaunt got less and
less respected and more and more talked
about.
The proceedings Of the Mordaunt trial
are stayed until Wednesday next, the
23d instant, and now comes the question,
what does London society say of
these proceedings? In the highest cir
cles Of the land there are two very dis
tinct "sets (" or "cliques" of people.
The one / may call Hthe fast, the
other, for distinction sake, . the slow"
Now, to the fast set belong most of
those who are intimate with the Prince
of Wales, and what may be termed as
Hthe court of the present day. In this
q" fast set are to be found many persons
who ought to know better and whose age,
if nothing else, should keep them in
more respectable paths But that is their
business. AT the theaters, and also in
private houses, Sir Frederick Johnstone,
Lord Cole and Captain Farquehar are
received, even by ladies, as if nothing
had happened AS for the Prince of
Wales-who, if not proved guilty of
breaking the seventh commandment, has
certainly got the imputation hanging
ovor his head, and is, or ought to be, all
the more to blame, from the position he
holds, and from the fact of his being
married man-on Saturday last some of
the first men of England, Peers and
Commoners, dined at his table, their re-
spective wives being with them; and on
Wednesday next, the day upon which
the trial will reopen, there is to be grand
dinner party at Mr.. Gladstone s, TO which
some thirty people are invited to meet |
the Prince, and there will be an evening !
party after dinner, at which all the ladies |
of the highest rank in London will be
present. 1au h
make no comment upon this; mere
ly relate the facts. If anything could
prove that change has taken place in
the tone of English society" since the
days when we really had court land
when the Queen and the late Prince
Consort set the example to that "socfe-
" }, / think that what / have told you
will serve that end. Talk of Italian or
French morality In those countries,
t there is sin, it is at any rate decently
covered, not openly paraded. More
'ver, in those countries, as with you ,
americans, when a man discovers his
Tife to have committed adultery he gem I
rally does his best to shoot the adulterer.
Sut not so in this case-not so in Eng I
and, from all see. +;
But what say the working classes-the {
eople of England-of this trial2 From 4
MS journal, called Reynold's newspaper,
ne that is far more read and has far G
reater circulation than any other :
rinted among the artisans, the work d
lgmen and the more intelligent of the
,wer orders, | extract the following i "
Q not indorse all it says, but give it as "
specimen of what the people think of n
lat now going on in the Divorce Court. n
neither it is true that Sir Charles Nor n
aunt was offered peerage if he would n
Dt bring the Prince of Wales name into a
ourt, cannot say | can hardly be- /,
eve that Mr.. ladstone-through whom N
! offer of peerage must have come if n
Ich an offer was made-would have lent "
mself to anything so humiliating, But W
is / do know, that Sir Charles Nor IL
lunt was sent for by the Queen about So
70 months ago, and she made it per- e
nal favor that the Prince should not er
called upon to give evidence, and "a
day / heard that he will not be called h,
ION. Here are the remarks of Rey- Is
Ids newspaper, the hard-6sted work III
gmen Of London: m
rHE PRINCE OF WALES IN THE DIVORCE IN
.f.. COURT. th
" The great social scandal to which we
We frequently alluded has now become We
azoned to the world through the instru- tn
sntality Of the Divorce Court. Moth ca
: was left undone that might hush it tic
!, so that the Prince Of Wales name Of
ould not figure in so discreditable a OF
siness. Every effort was made 70
ence Sir Charles Mordaunt. A peer its
e was, we believe, offered him. Any afI
sce of emolument he asked for would su
We been given him All the honors I'M
d dignities the Crown and Government sp
We 1t in their power to bestow would I'M
,dilv have haau uroafitufed m snanre II