St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-12-25
TITLED LONDON RUFFIANS
Glue Blooded Blackguards Protected
by the English Courts.
remarkable Career of william Frederick
Windham, the Grandson of MARQUIS.

try-ln theory at least, but only in theory
ana that is where the trouble comes in. III,
LOT instance, so far forget myself as to roll
around London drunk and uproarious in
Tue small hours Of the morning, shall prob
aoly be arrested by the police and next day
nned; but il the Lord-knows-who chooses to
play similar games, he will be respectfully
helped home by an incorruptible constable.
ana the public Will never hear anything of
eseapade. In fact, the rules which apply to
plain Jones and Brown don't really apply at
all to Sir Nero This and Lord Heliogabalus
That nor to ''the sisters and the cousins
and the aunts" of those privileged beings.
You in America can not easily realize to what
an extent this rotten ness has eaten away into
English society. We 1atter ourselves that
judges pure and beyond the reach Of
prejudice, and that British justice is per
fectly impartial; but these things are not So
And here is an illustration of what 1 mean.
1t will show you, first, how utterly contempt
ible, both in mind and manners, some of
our sprigs of aristocracy are; second, how an
independent English jury can declare that
black is white in order TO please the powerful
possessors of old titles and large banking
balances; and, third how in England what
would be madness in ordinary men is merely
amiable eccentricity in people whose veins
are properly irrigated with blue blood.
THE FRANKS OF AN IDIOT.
Many years ago William Howe Windham.
OF Norfolk, married Lady Sophia Hervey, a
daughter of the Marquis of Br istoi of that
day. He had by her one son, William Fred
erick, who was born in 1910, and vino, con-
sequenty, obtained his majority in 1861
From infancy this youngster exhibited many
peculiarties of disposition, and when he be-
came of age and entered upon the possession
OF large estates and an income of nearly
$4,000 per annum, one OF his first acts was
to marry woman of loose character upon
whom he bestowed jeweiry worth IS. 900,
present annuity of 81, 600. anu a further an
nuity of 81, 500 contingent upon his coming
into some more property in 1869 He also
reckltssly and disadvantageousiy sold all the
timber on his lands, and in short. conducted
himself in such way that at the suit of one
OF his relatives commission dc lD1ldticO in
Quirertdo was issued To ascertain whether Will
lam Frederick Windham was or was not fit to
manage his own affairs. Tais commission
was opened on Dec. l6. 1861, and did not
close until Jan. 80 following. More than
.amined. and among the counsel engaged in
the case, part of which was heard in private,
were the present Lords Coleridge and Caiens
Windham was at the time rourd-faced.
bullet-headed fellow, with a snub nose and a
slight defOrmity of the upper lip over which
he wore scrubby black mustAche He
looked like Iunatic, and his behavior during
the whole OF the proceedings was that OF a
man who was lost to all sense of decency;
yet, after twenty-four days trial, during
which the most damning evidence was
adduced and never contradicted. the jury
found ''that Mr.. Wiudham is of sound mind
and capable of taking care of himself and
his affairs" By what process of reasoning
they arrived at that conclusion it is difficult
to guess, but L am quite certain that if the
subject Of the trial had been the grandson.
not of a Marquis, but of a poor country !
farmer. the verdict would have been against |
his sanity. You may be interested in learn
Ing to what lengths our aristocracy can go |
without being considered insane Here.
therefore, some
EXTRACTS FROM wINDHAM's RECORD.
And, mind you, l set down nothing but
what was sworn to by people who could have
had no motive for committing perjury. At
very early age he was fond of low COM
pany and pursuits, aid his tutor deposed
that when he was seventeen he did not ap-
pear to know the difference between truth
and falsehood. At Eton. where he was edu-
cated-so far, at least, as he was capable Of
being educated at all-he exhibited the
greatest possible delight in gorgiug himself
On one occasion he ate no less than seven
teen eggs at breakfast. He was also fond
Of screeching and hooting in a way that was
calculated to alarm all who heard him. His
habits were hpaStlV in no evtranna ua u-aot
into society improperly dressed; he gave way
TO violent fits of passion and, when severely |
corrected, he would not merely cry but |
would blubber like child. In 1857 ne was |
taken to Spa, where he flung money about as |
II 1t were of no value, and shortly afterwards |
ne assumed the uniform of railroad official |
and nearly caused serious accident by |
starting train at wrong minnie In 1860 |
he went for long tour with Mr. PeatfeId, |
who. judging by his evidence, must have |
had rather lively time of it. Windham |
was always boisterous and noisy. and |
wherever he stayed the neighbors complained |
OF his opening the windows and shouting
and yelling out to them. He would initiate |
roosters and cats and sing plantation melo-
dies in the middle of the night, dancing at
the same time with great vigor in the soil.
tude OF his bedroom. More than once he
jumped out of his bath and ran into the din |
ing room without any clothes on, shrieking |
and bowling, and when his landlady re- |
monstrated with him
HE USED FRIGHTFUL LANGUAGE
and threatened to stab her with a table knife. |
lie was also in the habit of ordering dinner |
Tor eight or ten people, and of then going |
out and not returning until midnight He |
once ordered a number of boots to be made |
hot
boots two boot-trees should be sent him. and |
the bootmaker dcposed that had the order |
been executed Mr.. Wiudham would have |
become the happy owner of forty pairs of boot
trees. Another of his manias was for giving |
strangers into custody. Yet this man was |
adjudged to be sane and competent to look |
after his own affairs What was thought of |
the merits of the case in quarters to which |
5ackstairs influence did not on that occasion |
penetrate, may be gathered from the words !
of Lord Chief Justice Knight Bruce, who, in |
refusing to relieve the alleged lunatic from |
the payment Of costs of the inquiry, said: |
'The jury has decided that Mr.. Windham is |
not an i'm beetle, and do not mean to i'm pugn |
tina decision, but am not prepared To go |
further" The costs amounted to 500, 900, |
and the secret expenses of the case to prob
ably as much more, but think that the YER
dict was cheap at that price, for was it not |
legal acknowledgment of the right of the |
aristocracy to be judged according to special |
code Of ethics? To parody Shakespeare:
mat in the rich mans but harmless freak,
Which In the poor man is fiat lunacy.
enc il is not only when society is in ques-
ton that the man with the blue blood comes /
on better than his neighbors The other day
that accomplished scoundreI, Lord st. Leo
nards, who has deserted his wife, and who
spends his life in a state of beastly intorica-