New-York tribune., 1883-03-18
LATE LOb DON GOSSIP.
AN ENGLIsIMAY'S NOTES or ENGLISH
TOPICS.

AN ENCLISHMAN'S NOTES or ENGLISH
TOPICS.
PROM An OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT oF the TmRrNg.
LOsUOS, March 3
Irish arrests and complications, the return of
Mr. John Morley Aewcaste and OF Mr. kin2-llarman
for the County Dublin the arrival of tho "Grand
Old Man himself. not excited society" dnring
the present week Ike the Of " The Queen against
Yates or IN other words the granting Of rule absolute
for The issue Of a criminal Information rs 10 Is cahcI
agaust { editor and proprietor OF The World news-
ia per at the instance of Lorg Lonsdae and Wetmore
land As will be seen, tho law Of libel in this
country operates Ycry curousy and be invoked by
aggrievcd pe IN Two very distinct ways person
conceying himself Injured in his character or business
may commence suit FOR damages. or ne may apply Tor
what is called criminal Information sacrificing IN taa
case his hope OF Camlges but innctng fine ana per
haps Imprisonment the pub isher of tho libel The
latter metbo resOrtei 10 in the case OF Mr Moru
NOR Of Tie London FiJarO ana that unucky scribe was
actually imprsO ird ior three months In Holloway JAN
because he hal been rash enough u publish in his ncws-
paper some letters written by that very trOubicsO
person. Mrs. Weldon, wloi' always getting herself ana
Others into scrapes mention this precedent FOR punish
ing the plbshcr not the inventor of the scandal be-
cause it is 0! very pertinent application n the Yates
case.
Readers Of THE TRIBUNE have already been made
aware Of "a paragraph in wnIch no names were men
toned but eycry body who Is anybody pretended to
reco xnize the Earl of Lonsdae and Lady Grace Fame
daughter Of the Earl OF westnoreand and II single
woman. 1t was intlmated at an eopement from the
hunting field had taken place. Why "eycrybody" "
should nave known who the persons meant IN the
innuendO Is clear For legal purposes, however,
the evidence OF recognizable Identity held sufficient
aud although Mr.. Ya.es made every kind OF apology
nothing accepted, and ne now stands In peril OF
heavy nne of imprisonment This posi- ion Is the
more curious that he has gwen up tho name
of he writ of
strange this has kept out OF the
paper reports in which the Is referred 10 as OF
high station equal in fact to that OF LORD LOosdae HIM
self The writer. like the publisher, has made abIect
apology but IL was declared By the judges that all
this as nmateris IL would thus appear that malev
oent person who writes for quite safe behind tho
editor proprietor Of Journal even the name be, ms
IL really gwen up to the prosecutor The person To be
punsed is not the cOncOctnr OF false and spitou
insnuatOn but the editor proprietor who has given IT,
inadvertently, publicity without going into the Gcrcey
argued question whether "socicy" papers should or
should not b; suffered exist t can hardly be denied
that the eopement OF peer If 1t Is matter OF
public news. All this been hoty debated during tho
last fOrtyeght hours at every dinner table end every
club in London. The most curious part OF the business
however IL the light thrown upon the method In which
socety papers get their paragraphs The great know
nothing public OF old England, the millions
who mot in it" but who read
every scrap OF about "their betters" "
with intense groediness who roll every mOrse of
da over their tongues and lick their lips with joy over
any anecdots royalty the peerage have long mar
yelled at the "spcy" paragraphs about persons whom
they yulgarly designate swclls" OF the two sorts OF
club and otherwise social suObs that is say the lick
sptte snob and the snecrng snob is difficult to dis
tnpush which is tho more keenly interested in snch
oueerlv wored paragraphs that which has got Mr.
Yates into trouble The bOres VINO mot in it."
all aPog when such things appear and one is compelled
10 shake them of little roughly at times. Since the
dsv before Yesterday have been asked at least hun
dred times what Il the name OF tho mysterious contrbu
tor 10 The World the person mOyng In the highest So
cety and go FORTH If the story had been invented IN
Fleet.st or thereabouts nobody would have cared n
fig about the author corOnet makes great differ
ence As matter OF fact socety paragraphs" are sent
TO ne yspapers by persons more less either for
hire or with malicious intent They are not extracted
from butlers lady maids family footmen Quite the
contrary.
The mysterious contributor Ia other than Lady
stradbroke very clever woman fond OF getting into
tyne" and writer for The World for several years past
So accurate has she generally been that her statements
have been accepted with Undertaking faith. without
any impertinent reflection on the lady's age
r. NAV be said that she Is :" an old hand
ON tho press These "old soldiers" who know
all the ins and outs OF Journalism do not, az MT
Yates Mr.. Labouchere and other "socety" newspaper
men aver often make mistakes; but when they do they
"make the fur y" Topsyput it, There are scores OF
sch ladies writing for various newspapers To DO thsm
ustce they do not altogether look at the money they
eet for their work. although they take 1t freely enough
They 90 Chaucer pointed out love power or tne sno" o