The Worthington advance., 1884-05-01
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London Letter to San Francisco Argonant
The two great scandals of the hour
involving as they do the names and hon
or of two noblemen, and which ct pres
ent occupy almost exclusively the yves
end" and tho fashionable club" por
tions of the public mind VIZ, the breacl
of promise suit against Viscount Gar
moyle, eldest son of Earl Cairns, ant
the marital troubles of the Earl of Eus
ton, eldest son of the Duke of CRATIC,
call up into ones recollection severa
previous noble recreants, and make one
in contemplating the array of titlei
backsliders, nolens volens regard th'
saying Of noblesse oblige as farcica
axiom, as any to be found among th'
many senseless foreign aphorisms will
which the English language is becoming
more burdened.
: Noblesse oblige had a meening once
I dare say, but it dosen't seem to have
one any longer. The only thing which
nobility appears to oblige nowadays is
that its possessors be blackguards. Ger
tainly, in the estimation of all prope,
minded people who are not dazzled by
titles, such are both Viscount Germoyle
and the Earl of Euston. .Noblesse OBJ.
ige in its old acceptation dosen't apply
to them. One makes love to a poor
pretty, and virtuous actress, promises tc
marry her, compels her to leave the
stage, advertises himself as q man who
will marry the women he loves, what
ever her caste and no matter what his
family may say, and then suddenly
breaks off the engagement, refuses tc
marry the girl, and gives no apology,
explanation, or reparation, simply be-
cause-as he says the Duke of Rich.
mond told him his wife could never be
received at court! The other for years
has been married to and cohabiting
with notorious courtesan, whom, upon
his coming into title and the posses
sion of a fortune, he seeks to discard by
a trumped-up charge that she had been
previously married to another man.
As say, they are but two more to
add to the already long list of noble
black sheep, both male and female, who,
in the memory of the present generation,
have made for themselves regulations
for the possession of traits and ways
painfully incompatible with the "nobil-
ity". their titles are supposed to confer
upon them. A short resume af the most
noted ones would seem to be in point at
this stage of the proceedings. First
and foremost, there is the Duke of Marl-
borough. His career as seducer of
women-ranging in the social scale from
servant-maids to countesses-as an un-
blushing adulterer, unprincipled scoun-
drel, and cowardly wife -beater, is too
well huO"u Auu 1IcSu III UIlc luluuS OF
everybody to need recapitulation from
me.
Next we have the Marquis of Water
ford, Lord Charles Beresford's eldest
brother. He begun life as the Earl of
Tyrone by seducing the wife of Captain
Vivian, NJ. P. Adivorce followed, with
the earl as correspondent, and, on its
being obtained, he married the erring
woman. The Earl of Shrewsbury is an
other youthful ibertine When but
he seduced the wife of Mr..
Mundy, a woman exactly double his
age md quite old enough to be his
mother, but of strangely fascinating
powers for young men, it is said. AZ
ter the regulation divorce, during the
proceedings of which he openly con-
tinued the liaison, he, two, years ago,
married the partner of his sin, and
there have already been two children
one, son and heir to the oldest earl
dom in England-born in wedlock to the
ll-assorted couple.
The duke of Hamilton one seldom
hears of now, except as seller at auc-
ton of family heirlooms, priceless to a
"nobleman," to enable him to continue
an already long and disastrous career
on the turf. The duke is perhaps bet
ter known in Paris than in London. In
the former capital he has long been re-
garded as disgusting prohigate and
brute, whose sensual habits
are as oriental in their peculiarities as
they. are degrading in their bestiality.
He is married to daughter of the Duke
of Manchester, girl who sold herself
to become duchess. She is sister of
Viscount Vaudeville, and it is curious
fact, which may throw some light on the
that both she and the duke have
French mothers.
The Hon. Walter Harbord, Lord Suf-
fields brother-I note them just as I
recall them--we will consider next. A
major in the Seventh Hussars, one of
the swellest light cavalry corps in the
army, he few years ago was the friend
and pal of the Prince of Wales, a bright
and shining light in Belgravian society,
and an authority in the best clubs. He
was a great ecarte player, and on one
occasion had such marvellous run of
luck in the holding of winning cards
that suspicion was aroused, and he was
watched. Result, several kings, etc. :,
were found concealed under his chair
and in his sleeves. It is needless to say
he was cashiered from the army-losing
his commission money, some five thous-
and pounds-turned out of his clubs,
and dropped by everybody. He there
fore found it necessary to flee to more
sphere, and he did so, leaving
many unpaid debts, the partner of his
clandestine flight being no less per-
son than the sister of the Earl of Euston,
but who at the time was only Miss Fitz-
roy. He now resides at Homburg or
Monaco, or some such place as that.
The Earl of Stamford, the head of one
OF the most ancient houses in England's
peerage, while an undergraduate at
Cambridge, distinguished himself by
a common woman of-the-town
named Elizabeth Billige, and subse-
quently another courtesan named Ann
Cocks, by neither of whom he has had