Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-02-11
London Letter.
LONDON, Eng, Jan. Goth. 1880.

Titles seem 10 be delermlneu tuat tne
middle class shall have, as far rs possible,
n monopoly of London Just now. Nothing
like the exodus of the peerage from the
capital and from England, which has
taken place this winter, has ever been
witnessed. Dukes and duchesses are as
plentiful along the Riviera as they will be
in Hyde Park after Easter. Family man.
sions are closed in Piccadilly, in Mayfair,
in Belgravia. in the fashionable quarters
within a stones throw Of Regent street,
and their proprietors are summing them
selves at Cannes or Nice. at Mentone or
Monaco. To Pan and Barritz there rolls
the same migratory wave. Its influences
are even felt on the shores of Asia and OF
Africa. A trip to Constantinople is now
far less of an achievement than was a
pilgrimage to Paris thirty years ago; an
expedition to Algiers or Egypt is not
regarded as exceeding the limits of a
commonplace quest after warmth in win
ter. Wherever the rich and great go,
thither an immense multitude of those
who may be rich. but are not great, are
certain 10 repair. Middle class society
contrives to be as comfortable us could be
expected under the depressing circum'
stances. 1t dimes and dances, and walks
and rides, and generally enjoys itself,
much as it would do if it were basking in
the patrician sunshine, or even in the
smiles of royalty. Some of the great
tribe of toadies and parasites may be
disconsolatc; professional scandal mon
gers may mourn the absence OF persons
who, when in London, furnish them with
an extensive capital, or may feel stimu-
lated to give looser rein to malignant
fancy by the distance which separates
them from the subjects of their favorte
themes; the Tittlebat Titmice of the town
may lament that they cannot feast their
eyes on the august cquipages each partlc'
ular feature of which they know by heart.
But the gaiety of the capital is far from
being eclipsed, and the mighty and com
pick machinery of London life works with
the same precision rs usual.
Unfortunately, however, there is point
in view from which capital, hereft for
an extended period of its titled aristocracy,
is very serious maltcr. To the London
tradesman I'm absentee peerage is ns joke,
the passionate preference for foreign over
English pleasure haunts and Fairgrounds
which the BRUSH nobility now exhibits
means grave business loss. West End
op-keepers are credited with the
same power of grumbling which is the
traditional quality Of he farmer; and the
cry that business is bad is interpreted MS
one of sound and fury; sgnifyng nothing
AS matter of fact, the industrial and
commercial condition of London is just
now drporable. Some idea of the pros
tration which exists may be formed from
the meeting of The unemployed in Hyde
Park Oil Saturday last. OF course =
large proportion of those who then CANT
together are systematic oilers and loafers
but this does not greatly detract from the
significance of the occasion. 1t is no
only the building trade which is now
languishing in condition of abnormal
depression. Dealers in all those article
of luxury which have become necessilie!
to the well-to-do see, or imagine that they
see, ruin and bankruptcy staring them ii
the face. In former years, if the duke
and marquises and lords generally were
not in London, they were in England, ant
the stream Of commerce between the cap
ital and the country seats of the nobiit,
and gentry flowed steadily. Now the,
have crossed the sea, and the only chanr,
which the London trader has of securing
their patronage would be to found brancl
establishments on the shores OF the Med
tcrrnnean. The evil, so far us the trader
is concerned, is aggravated by the maligl
influence of corporation. If the super
stitious belief in the superior excellence O
the stores continues, and if the habit o
spending four or five months Of every yea
abroad becomes confirmed among th
aristocracy, the London tradesmen viii
sooner or later become as discontinued n
the Irish tenantry. They will not be with
out good reason for dissatisfaction whicl
may have some unforeseen results If the
choose to make their power felt at tn
polling booths when IL general election
comes, there is nothing 10 prevent thei
doing so, and if they choose to do so, on
can scarcely be surprised, With Il
appeal to the constituencies looming i
, the near future, the political wis lon o
/ this novel sort of hegira is at least qneS
tionable.
.