The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1878-11-20
A Queer Old Peer.

duke of Portland, he was averse to
being seen. He had lodgings in Nor
folk street; no one was ever admitted
into his room, and all correspondence
was carried on by means of small
slit cut III the door through which
messages and their answers were
passed. As he was rich and penuri-
Gus, he managed to accumulate an
enormous sum of money, large por-
ton of which he had invested in the
debentures of the London and South
western Railway company. The title
OF the earl of Dysart was originally
granted to one William Murray, who
was the whipping boy of Charles I.
The lad rose to be gentleman of the
bed-chamber, when committee of
the house of commons memoralized
the king to remove that vile person
from his councils" William Murray
left one daughter, who received a
patent as countess of Dysart from
Charles II, and married Sir Lionel
Tollemache, and, on his death, the
duke OF Lauderdale. The lady used
to boast to her second husband. that
she had saved his life, when taken
prisoner Dy the parliamentary forces,
by submitting 20 the tamiliarities of
Oliver Cromwell" Before I had
heard of this, confess that I had
never thought of the great protector
in the light Of fiirt. Tie father of
the earl just deceased was engaged
before he inherited the peerage, In
some curious electioneering practices.
tie bought number of small houses
at Leicester, which then returned two
members. In 1902, most Of these
tenants were bribed to vote against
him, so he pulled down 240 houses and
erected work house, in which their
late occupants were lodged. But in
1918 majority of the remaining cleo
tors voted against his candidates, on
which he turned 100 of the inhabi
tants out of his work-house in mid
winter into the streets, pour enco,r-
dger les aettres. AT the next election
there was still majority against his
candidates, when he gave up the strug,
gle. His will is to be contested on
the ground, that the late Lord Hunt
ingtower made will during Lord
Dysart's lifetime. bequeathing all he
could to his illegitimate family. The
law of wills is somewhat complicated
and it would require dozen columns
of this journal to explain why Lord
Dysart's will should be attacked be-
cause of the testamentary dispositions
of Lord Huntingtower. Every day
Lord Dysart had sent to him at Nor
folk street the. number of eabbages
cut, of peaches onithe trees, Of eggs
laid and chickens atehed on his es-
tates. ! He made bis investigation
through an oldssdomestic,i.seryant.
One day an old lady walked into. the
Southwestern Railroad Company's
office and asked whether there was
not an issue of some sort of. guaran-
teed stock. Theclerk said that there.
was. asQnite safeaps said she. "Oh,
yes old lady; you need notibe afraid
Of your money. Do you want to put
your quarters wages in it ,sp Well"
she answered, Eff you please, be good
enough to give me 100000 worth Of
it, and here's the money; and with
that she united big pocket from un-
der her dress containing notes to that
amount, and presented the pocket to
the clerk. A year or two ago, his
lordship thought that he would go
out, thing he had not done tor many
long day, { Bring me my boots"
he said to the aged domestic She
brought him the onlya pair he had.
They were Hessians. Now call
Lol.ooy coach he continued. When