The times., 1898-02-18
ECHOESFReM ABROAD.

0OAVGo i IAVm AOuVhO'
1t is difficult to describe the sensation
with which the fashionable crowd of men
and women. baonga,g to the foremost
rank of Englisiu usoc1ty assembled with
in the gloomy paecindts of the Old Bailey,
which is part and parcel of Newgate
prison, and heard Justice Sir John Law
renee infiict a sentence of five years penal
servitude uponf Lord William Neville.
For the past ten wears Lord Neville has
been one of the most conspicuous hgures
in the London great world. and the man
who set the fashions in everything con-
nected with masculine raiment III
England, and i'm natural consequence
thereof the continent, since all we'll
dressed men in Vienna, Paris, Berlin and
other European capitals take their cue IN
everything that regards attire from the
banks of the Thames
But Lord William Neville was some
thing more than mere king OF the
dandies, or dudes" as they are called in
America He can trace his ancestry In
unbroken male line though John OF
Gaunt brother of Edward. the Black
Prince. to King Edward III. and Is
member of that illustriouS and historic
house of Neville to which belonged the
great Earl Warwick, surnamed the
king Maker" and portrayed by Bul"er
Lytton as 1.-The Last of the Barous. lie
was the friend of his future King, VINO
attended his marriage. and his father was
so prominent in Tory councils that when
Lord Beaconsfeld and Lord Salisbury re-
turned here after the congress of Berlin,
bringing with them as they declared.
peace with honor it was in the car
riage of Lord Williams father. the Mar
quis of Abergavenny. affectionately mex
named ''Old Rhubarb'' by the Prince OF
Wales that they made their triumphal
entry into London.
OF Lord williams crime ii is unneces-
sary to speak. 1t was merely form OF
.'lSiting" which is practiced in London
by fashionable men and women on every
side. 1t being mere piece of good fortune
that they are not oftener caught
for they merely trust to good fortune
To be able to take up the fraudulent paper
before il becomes due. Lord William was
one of those who got caught ana mas
much as the only excuse that he had To
offer was that he never intended elther
Lieut. Clay or Sam Lewis to lose any
money by the transaction. as he expected
to be able to- take up and pay the bills
before they became due. he followed the
advice of his counsel and pleaded guiity
10 the lesser of<the two onenSes with
which he was charged, namely, that Oh
fraud, the state prosecutor consehuhs
under the circumstances TO abandon the
more serious charge OF forgery
No celebrated case has ever before
brought such a fashionable crowd to the
Old Bailey. Broushams blocked the ap-
proaches, and ladies in their smartest
frocks overaowed the jury box and bar
risters' seats, Lady Neville was present
The prisoner was evidently Ill at ease,
but he answered to the indictment in
clear tones. Afer the fiutter caused by
his pleading guilty OF fraud had subslded
the prisoner was allowed to take a seat
in the dock. as he fs recovering from
serious illness.
Prosecutor Matthews narrated the cir
c,imstances: of the fraud. already
known. and at the conclusion of his re-
marks he intimated that he would accept
the prisoners plea satisfying the de-
mands of justice. I
Mr. Lawson 'lyalt ton pointed out that
Lord Neville had voluntarily come for
ward to face the consequence of his de-
ception. and had fully confessed The
prisoner the counsel. added. was in great
financial difficulties and had not realized
that he was conSDifting Il breach of the
criminals law The prisoner Mr.. Walton
further said. n-ser inter1deds that Lieut.
Clay should suffer. He believed the Sc
curities would remain in the hands OF
Mr. Sam Lewis until he secured money
elsewhere Mr.. Walton's effort at extern
uation was applauded by the spectators.
Although Lord William is just at pres
ent the only nobleman of his particular
rank To wear the hideous arrow-marked
garb of a British convict yet it does not
by any means follow that he is the first
titled parsonage in England to have suf-
fered Imprisonment for offenSes against
the law and land while on the continent
OF Europe counts, marquises, princes, aud
even dukes abound in the various peni-
tentiaries constituting in more senses
than one an aristoCracy of crime.
At Wormwood Scrubbs. where Lord
William will serve the first part of his |
five years term of penal servitude. he |
will have among his fcllow-convicts no !
less a parsonage than cousin of the |
queen. namely, Count Emil of Leiningen, |
who is now doing time for the particular |
Iy disgraceful crime of having inveigled |
a number of young girls from the contt- |
nent in order to dispose of them to keep |
ers of disorderly houses. 1t may be re- |
membered that Queen Victoria's mother |
was married TO Prince Leiningen before |
she became lhe wife of the Duke of |
Kent and that the queen has, therefore |
had half-sisters. nephews and nieces and |
all bearing the name of Leinin- |
gen which is one of the non-reigning |
houses of Germany.
1t is for identically the same crime that
Sir Edward Verney, a nephew of Flor
ence Nightingale, was compelled to serve
a term of two years imprisonment, with |
hard labor forfeiting in consequence
thereto his seat in the House of Com
mons and his captaincy in the royal ma
Wy. Lord Nevilles brother. the Hon.
Patrick Nugent may likewise be classed
as an ex-convict, having spent two years
at penal servitude for insulting young
lady in railroad apartment: while the
brother Of Lord Brabourne, who was at
one time a commodore in the royal navy,
not only was condemned to a long term |
in penal servitude for forgery. but ulti
mately expiated his numerous crimes up |
Oh an Australian scaffold, having been
to the gallows for the pecul-
arly brutal murder of an old woman. |
whose finger he had actually cut off in |
order to secure possession of her wedding |
ring.
Lord St Leonards. the grandson of the
great lord high chancellor of that name,
has been openly, charged with destroying
his grandfatheris will. and has been be-
mind the bars in connection with the in
iignities to which he subjected servant
girl at Putney. while the Earl of Gallo
way brother-in-law of Lord Salisbury.