Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-06-29
BRAssEY. THE BARoNET.
The Remarkable Rise and Distinction Of
British Navvy-FamOus Dinners at
Normanhurst COurt-Englfsh Noble
men Made Out of Common Hud--The

The Remarkable Rise and Distinction Of
British Navvy-FamOus Dinners at
Normanhurst Court-English Noble
men Made Out of Common Afud--The
Ancestry of Some Well known Men.
Gladstone is going to give the snobs an
other lift, says the London correspondent
Of the San Francisco ATqoRaat. At the
next periodical creation of new batch
of peers "Tom" Brassey will be made q
Viscount or a Baron. 1t seems almost a
farce to think of such a man being classed
as nobleman- and being able to take his
seat in the House of Lords by
the side Of the head of
the oldest families in England. Tom Bras
sey, as he is Familiarity called, is as thor
Ough and out-and-out a nobody as a man
well can be. He began life breaking
stones by the roadside, but as time went
on his father managed TO make fortune
in iron, and few years ago left his son a
stupendOus property in land and funded
investments and an annual income greater
than that possessed by many Duke.
Then Tom married fashionable wife her
maiden name is something obscure
with plenty of push and a consequent
superabundance Of ill-breeding and Yul-
garity.
He was plain Mr.. Brassey then and she
a simple "Mrs.,7 but she made up her
mind she wouldn't let things stay in that
way long. She was bound to have a title.
If she wasn't lady in reality and in ae-
cOrdance with the accepted rules which
govern the Englishsdeinition of one, she
would be made one by law. So she set to
work doing all sorts of things to get her
name into the papers and make people
talk Of her. Tom bought place down in
Sussex, as close 10 the edge of the grand
cid estate of the Earl of Ashburnham as
he could, and put up great, vulgar.
staring house on it, house that is the
laugbing-stock of the neighborhood and
an eye-sore to every one of taste who
passes within view of its snobbish exte-
rior. In Difference most likely to their
lack of any progeHitor who came over
with the COnqueror, they called the place
NOrmanhurst Court. But its name is the
only antiquity it had. The carpets were
new, the furniture was new, the frescoes
new, the carriages were new, the family
silver was new as the most recent dated
''Hall'' mark of the Silversmith's Compa-
ny could make it, and the crest which
decorated it was the latest invention of
the obliging gentlemen who conduct the
affairs of the Herald'S College.
But that didn't matter. The Brasseys
were new themselves. and that made itall
right. So down to NOrmanhurst Court
they went and installed themselves. The
county people about there didn't seem to
take to them at all, and, like the Sassoons,
when they began their social career at
Brighton in 1876, they had rather uphill
work at first. The Asburnham family,
whose magnificent park, Of centuries
growth, the aspiring windows of Norman
hurst overlooked, set their faces against
them at once and refused to recognize
them in any manner. People of less
"push" than Mrs. Brassey would have
been crushed by the succession of snubs to
which she was treated by the members of
this most ancient Of English families.
But Mrs. Brassey didn't care-or didn't
seem to. Regardless of refused invita-
tions and no return of inequalities, the
Brasseys kept on entertaining and giving
dinners to whoever would accept. Mrs.
Brassey, despite her vulgarity was a fine
looking woman, with plump and rounded
shoulders, which she had noshesitation in
showing as much as of as the most decol-
lete gowns in the kingdom would permit.
She knew how to attract men. If you get
the men of the house into your clutches
the rest of the family will soon follow.
And aside from this, dinners cooked by a
Gordon bleU and wine of the rarest VIM
taees flowing like water, won't stay long
unnoticed in these days of sensual graft
tication, where palates and stomachs rule
where heads and hearts used to. The
county magnates-eXcept the Ashburn-
hams, who have always held aloof-and
people Of Importance in the neighborhood,
began to thaw. Each week the Court
journal and Morning Post contained in
creasing lists of great people who had
dined at NOrmanhurst, and dined as they
seldom dined anywhere else. Invitations,
heretofore ignored, were now things to
seek; and people who dined once were
only too glad to come again-as long, at
any rate, as the GORDON bieu remained at
his post, and '55 Chateau-Margaux and
Perrier Jouet magnums were uncorked
without stint.
All the way from Marlborough House.
the Prince of Wales shifted the aroma Of
the NOrmanhurst cuisine, and the bouquet
Of the Chateau-Yquem, and he soon sig
Bified his willingness to name time for
q visit there. What mattered it to him if
the man at the top Of the table was an
eX-navvy, and his wife a loud,
OyeT-dTessed and vulgar woman,
if the sauce tartare tasted
as well, and there was none the less crust
on the port? And then, there was the
decollete gowns. Albert Edward never
cares as long as his animal propensities
are gratitied. Under such circumstances.
it is rather a shame to think that where
he stays or accepts entertainment has its
social status fixed and that other people of
more refined and proper tastes have in
Sense to accept hhiiss Judgment CT people as
one to follow. Yet this is not altogether so.
l dare say won't be believed when l say
there are people in England to-day who
wouldn't from choice have the Prince of
Wales enter their doors on any preteXt
whatever.
However, the Brasseys were not people
to choose. Since then they have gone on
daily becoming more notorious and talked
about. Mr.. Brassey went in for politics
and was returned a member of the House
of Commons from Hastings at the last
general election, and when Gladstone
formed his Cabinet he made Brassey the
Civil Lord Of the Admiralty, the lowest
member Of the Board, and the one whose
duties 90 only to victualling ships and
things like that. In 1882 Brassey was
made a Baronet. Mrs. Brassey's fondest
wish was consummated. She was a
s'Lady'' at last. Doubtless she took all the
credit of the honor to herself. She fan
cied her ''literary' ways, her famous
yacht Sunbeam and its absurdly written
'ECruise" from her own pen had more TODD
with the acquisition of the long-coYeted
title than anything else.
But the fact of the matter is simply
this: Brassey, like hundreds of lately
made peers who have preceded him in the
first step, gained the distinction because
Of his wealth. In these days let any man
who is uncommonly rich go into politics
and show an aptisudefor them that would
be considered but mediocre ability in q
poor man, and let his life be fairly moral,
decent, honest and upright, and he will
sooner or later be made peer. A Bar
onetcy is generally the first honor given.
Money is power and prime ministers, who
have the making of peers in their hands,
know how easy blatant leveler and
rampant republican is turned into
stanch adherent of monarchy and firm
supporter Of royalty by the simple con-
ferring of a peerage or Baronetcy. It is
curious how quickly title will change
man. At all events, Tom Brassey was
made 'SSir," and now he is to be made a
sIord." But whatever he was, or is, or
will be in name, in reality he is a man
who would never have been heard of if 1t
hadn't been for his money, and one who
is looked upon as the prince Of upstairs
in England to-day. When such men are
made noblemen, what must one expect!
Irish Love Songs.
Ecchaage.
Without an exception, they are per-
vaded by a spirit which, so far as we
know, we could not find in any English
- T..T