The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1882-10-27
British, Entail and PromOgeniture.

Some nlisapprebension, doubtless,
exists in this country IS to the law of
primogenitufe, and the position Of
Younger sons id Great Britain. Some
people seem to. Imagine that they are
turiied out in the world Penniless,
which is a view of the matter very wide
indeed of the tIuIlt. Younger sons, in
the case of those familles=enmounting
il all in Great Britain and Ireland to
some 2,00a-~-in which the real estate
passes to the iiFstelorp, are usually
more scdulopsly provided fdf than the
bulk Of sons Of well-to-do families here.
The Younger son generally goes to the
same school as his eldest brother. On
leaving school, whether he goes to the
university OH not is decided by his own
tastes. No money is spared to further
his views" in the direction they take.
IF he incliues to the church or bar lie
proceeds to college with an allowance
permitting every comfort; if to the
army or navy he goes as Wellington
did, o the best tiltbfs to prepare him
for those professions, and whtn he en-
tiers them has an allowance OF IRON
81 900 to $4,000 year generally,
which, with his pay, enables him to
live Iii comfort. At the death of his
father he would receive any sum from
$50, 000-it would rarely iii England be
less than this, though it would among
the smaller class Of primogeniture land
holders in Ireland and Scotland-to
5000, which some wealthy peers have
left to their younger sons. There are
many younger sons of English gentle
men who have been started in New
York and elsewhere in this country
with larger sums. In one instance
+, 100000 was paid by Scotch squire to
put son-one of fOur--into stock
brokers' house. It is argued by the
supporters that. were primogeniture
abolished tomorrow the second gentle
man would be no better off, while the
family consequence, in which the cadets
have their share, would greatly decline.
The real objection to the system is that
so forcibly stated by Mr.. Bright. 1t
tends to keep landed property in few
hands, instead of dividing it up into a
greater number Of holdings. It is not
the Younger sons but the interests in
society that suffer. The law of primo
,geniture in England, if law it can be
called, limits entail precisely as it is
limited in Massachusetts,, viz, as to any
number of living persons and twenty
one years afterward. Many people
doubtless have the impression that an
Englishman must leave his land to his
frst-born. This is entirely delusion.
He may leave his land just as he pleas
es. If he be free to leave it to anybody,
that is, if his father had not settled the
estate. Many great estates are wholly
or in part nnentailed- notably those Of
the Duke Of Hamilton, who, conse-
quenfly has been racing literally,
through them. a. large number of the
peers derive from cadets of their re
spective families. IT believe sir, SAID
James J. to a Mr. Somerset, sYou arr
Of the Duke of Beaufort's family
Pardon me, sir, the Duke of Beaufort
is Of my family" was the reply.
THE veteran actor. Mr.. James E
Murdoch, recently gave a reading t.
the fishermen at GAINESVILLE, Mass. HI
erected hut and pavilion at his OWL
expense, and then invited about five
hundred sunbrowned old sailors from
Gloucester and GAINESVILLE to heal
sEnoch Arden" read. The occasion il
aid by those who were present to have
been a. most remarkable and interesting
one. the audience being the most atten
tive and sympathetic, probably, thai
ever heard Tennysons poem read.