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    No. 436, July 31,1858.]___ —

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    Pietv alfresco is on the increase, and t...

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    MISCELLANEA. " "l'is a mad world, my mas...

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    Novelettes Of Law Akd Their Moral, The M...

    ¦ SSHbLSlfit a ¦ taSU « o » tot * esteat . IS ^ S ^ ar ^ rx IS Inconsequence of these occurrences a sepa-^ p laced in a private lunatic as lam called " Acomb House / ' kept by a surgeon named Met-< » lfe . Here , according to her account , she was subjected to ill-treatment of the grossest kind . -She appears to have been violent , and he admitted that he had called her by the most opprobrious name "that can be applied to a woman . He never madeler strip naked before him , he said , but she bad " undressed before him . " He would not swear that he had not said to her , " Come , you have stripped before many men , you shall do it before me . " Mrs . Turner ' s whole treatment , indeed , was clearly barbarous . But justice was ready to be invoked to her aid . Thirteen out of twenty of the jury who tried her case have declared that she is ol ' sound mind , competent to take care of herself , and that the conduct of Metcalfe has been disgraceful . The attention of the Commissioners is drawn to his establishment , and the prospect is that he will not venture to enact such scenes with other unfortunates who may come under his charge . But looking at the case fh its broader bearings , it is tc must iook ior xeuuiiiuoiwu ¦

    society tnat we a «» . V- « - "v moral aberration of which poor Mrs . Turner was the victim : in a higher state of morals such jealousy as that which has possessed her will be barbarous if not impossible . Meanwhile the readiness . and efficacy of our law for the defence even of those Vho may appear beyond its pale are manifest . Take , as another example , the case of Shaw # . Bedpatli , tried at Durham on Tuesday last . Mrs . : Shaw is a widow , aged forty -two , wlio has a grownup daughter . Mr . Redpath is a widower , aged several uuuuieu ± j & ^

    torty-tour , ana lie nas . . p »» *" . court to Mrs . Sbaw , and won her consent to marry liim ; but his mother-in-law , witli whom he is living , and from whom he has " expectations , " objected to the match , and he broke it off . An . action for breach of promise of marriage was commenced , and 1 on the trial Mr . Hedpath ' s counsel said many smart things about the sharpness of widows ; but Baron Martin set the pure equity of the case before the jury . "What business , he said , lad a man of forty-* four years of age to engage himself to a woman , aud then say he could not marry her because of his mother-in-law ? The jury gave a verdict for the widow / with twenty-five pounds damages ; and ot law to lu

    - again the readiness ao jusuee evcu outraged feelings—and that in a case where , perhaps , no strong sympathy with the aggrieved party . could be looked for—is manifest . A man must not j knowingly incur and throw ofl * at his pleasure obligations which affect the interests , or even the feelings , of another . . The third case is in many respects more instructive than either of these ; it is almost like a fairy tale in the " happy ending" the " reward of virtue . " It exhibits , on the one hand , a family . . divided against itself , tut agreeing to some extent in the oppression of a woman ; and on the . other hand , that woman pursuing her own steady path

    against her persistent antagonists , ana triunipiung at last . Of the heroine we only know that her Christian name is Patience , her origin is so little remarkable that her family name has not been mentioned . Early in life her attractions and her merits engaged the affection of Henry Swinfen , of a family well known in Staffordshire , and notwithstanding the opposition of his family , he married her . It was the crowning proof ol liis wildncss , and his father , who had already frowned upon his excesses , discarded him . Patience , therefore , wedded that uiauurucu

    unprofitable cncumorancc— -a . sun-yi ^ - bably with the habits of higher lifo , but without the resources . Her affection and her clear sense , however , appear very soon to have effected one excellent reform . The wild y oung man "became steady . How often is this experience to be repeated ? " A virtuous wife is a crown to her husband , " will bo repeated by the same well-educated men who consider the virtuous wife valueless unless she have so many thousands a year , and will , indeed , pay much more attention to ascertain the thousands than the virtues . Henry ' s father , Samuel , however , was not a man familiar with domestic concord , perhaps ne inherited some eccentricities from his owa father ,

    John , who had married two wives , and whose two families were disunited , Samuel himself living in a state of chronic quarrel with his half-brothers and sisters . Eventually , however , he permitted his discarded son to return home , then consented to receive his -wife . And now the moral power of Patience began to be exercised upon the way ward Samuel . By degrees he succumbed to it , aud it appears always to have been exerted for good . It made the son steady , it made the father humane ; and if it did wot succeed in bringing back to the family mansion , Swinfen . Hall , the repudiated second family , it did persuade the master of the house to receive some of the members of that section . Henry died before his father ; but Mrs Henry had by this time become so essentially a part of the family that Samuel looked up to her , and , besides appointing her as executrix , he leit to her the family estates . The devise was not unattended by troubles . It aroused tie hostility of the family whom Samuel had repudiated , aud whom Patience had benefited . The heir-at-law , [ Frederic Hay Swinfen , claimed the estates , of which , however , Mrs . Swinfen still retained possession . The modes of attack became far more formidable than is customary in such cases . Captain Swinfen found men able to , assist him , and not always very scrupulous . In ; this respect he had every advantage over Mrs , ¦ Swinfen . ' His attorney , Mr . Bartle Frere , was clever and not very fastidious ; various plans oi > annoyance were resorted to . Captain Swinfen gav < . LpnniA r . ATTm " ssioTi to shoot over the estates , anc

    when Mrs . Swinfen ' s keepers turned them off and took away their guns , Mr . Frere wrote her a note , threatening that her deviation from rectitude would expose her to a cessation of courtesy arid forbearance , that his client would claim rent for the mansion and damages for trespassing in pursuit of game ; and that he would indemnify himself for his expenses out of her own money , her jointure . Her own counsel practically assisted the other side ; when _ the trial came before the court of law he consented to « r . TY » rMT »™ i < 5 f > thpi oasft . aereeiher to surrender the

    estates on condition that , in addition to Mrs . bwinfen ' s jointure of 300 ? . a year , she should be allowed | an annuity of 700 / . a year : a thousand a jear—a thing not worth a quarter of estates yielding 170 W . per annum nnd held in fee simple . When Mrs . Swinfen protested and disclaimed the act of her counsel , he insisted upon his right of exercising his own discretion ; but although the man that did tins was Sir [ Frederick Thesiger , now Lord Chancellor Chelmsford , tlie Court of Common Pleas refused the authority for specific performance of the contract , and so did the Court of Chancery . Patience persevered ; her sound common I „„„„„ n ,, A Koflf-itiirio ^ nnhlfifl hp . v to T ) erceive

    her rights more distinctly than some of the lawyers had done ; she procured the aid of men willing , per-I haps , to besto-w more labour and pains in scrutinising every detail of the case ; she succeeded in procuring a second trial . Mr . Justice Byles and . a Staffordshire jury heard all that could be said on both sides , examined every witness , listened to . the stories of Samuel Swinfen ' s imbecility at the time that he was making his will , scrutinised every word that foil from doctors , lawyers , and nurses on both sides , discarded servants , and servants not discarded , and listened to Patience-herself while she told her own unvarnished tale . The Judge re-! i . _ . 1 ^ i-J Ji ^ n ,, !» l ( M- « rtn * tri + l » n cr » nit \ ll 1 ftllft T * ri" * fMSlOtt _ \ UJi i * vj * «•¦«¦¦«• -

    Ui . lwl . Lll llt-l'UU . L 1 HJ j V lUt-. H ' - 'V ^ * r * « - »« . »| . » i' ^ and impartiality ; and the result was , that after a brief consideration , the jury came to the conclusion that Samuel Swinfen perfectly knew what he was about when he made Patience the executrix ot his will , and at the same time made her a gift of his estates ; nnd they therefore proclaimed her to be the owner of the properly . The cheers in court showed how completely this appeal to the precision and equity of English , law found a response in public sympathy .

    No. 436, July 31,1858.]___ —

    No . 436 , July 31 , 1858 . ]___

    —THE IiEA ' -DER .

    743

    Pietv Alfresco Is On The Increase, And T...

    Pietv alfresco is on the increase , and the influence of the rush-bottomed chair at the Blackfriars-road obelisk has extended to the steps of tlie Royal Exchange . Sermons have been preached on Sunday evenings " by the permission , of the incumbettt , the sanction of the bishop , and with the approval of the Lord Mayor of London . " Whether the text has been appropriate to the place , the - " report" does not inform us , but there is a splendid opportunity afforded in these eccentric clerical outbursts for throwing : off the oH common-places that have been hallowed by the usage of a century , and into inai ub uiuomoku /

    bursting fortn sermons snau uwo background of the preaching-place , as an entertainment is illustrated bv the moving panorama that glides slowly < onward at the " back of the entertainer . There is no rule to guide the converters as to the peculiar tastes of the persons to be converted . A man who may be deaf to a call that comes to him from the familiar pulpit inside a corner of St . Paul ' s Cathedral , may be much more readily influenced by the same words shouted to him through a speaking-trumpet from the outside of the portico gallery . There are men scattered about uncared for in the wilderness of London infidelity , who would be moved by a discourse coming from a preacher standing upon his head , and , more especially , if his head -was upon , a pole in the midst of a shower of fireworks . "Where is iuwoiciomii K ^ f ^

    \ LTC . opurgCOn * AVIj . , . » - » w *•» «** . »~»~ w - If I was an . army contractor , t should be sadly afraid of those warlike preparations at Cherbourg . ' If I was a general contractor , I should be in the same lamentable state of mind . If I was a Government shipbuilder , I should think this Cherbourg business a very serious affair . If I was a shareholder in the Leviathan , I should have my suspicions about this great activity at Cherbourg . Yes , my masters , if I was in any way connected with that great masterpiece of Mr . Brunei ' s skill as a practical engineer , working with a view to a reliable commercial profit , I should willingly give up , for the benefit of my country , all those great Schemes for uniting continent with continent , for cementing the itr . n < i « nf union between End and and her worthy

    descendant America , for the abolition of sea-sickness , for the cultivation of village emigration , for a hundred projects as to the advancement of peace and plenty , ind see , without a pang , my great , unfinished hulk of progress towed off by the proper authorities to bo turned into an engine of destruction for restoring the balance of wail ike power through tho whole warlike world . For every French vessel collected at Cherbourg , every piece of masonry added to its fortifications , every piece of artillery added to tlio stock of tho French army , and the expenses of the French nation , I would put into tbe hold of tho

    Leviathan ^—onco my Leviathan , but now tho country s L , oviathnn—half a ton of stink-poto nnd half a ton of broken glass , sharp iron cuttings , powder , and -whatever is proper to form an effective , troublesome , nnd deadly compound , and sent ! forth tho noble vessel , « luly advertised as to lier destructive capabilities , a sight to make all nations tremble—perhaps tho one that made-her amongst tho number . How plousmi . t it would be to soc her plunging uliout in the oewm—a force in luiropcan politics never dreamed ofbeforol— to sc « her very apturbulent state

    proach townnla ' tho sonboiml of a productive of liifltnnL tranquillity , instant reasonableness , Inutnnt brotherly love ! How ploasant to Hud that I what Boomed , at lirst sight , an engine most culculatod

    Miscellanea. " "L'Is A Mad World, My Mas...

    MISCELLANEA . " "l'is a mad world , my masters . " Consequent vpon a deeronso of crime—at least of detected crime—in the metropolis , tho police aro begging to find their time bang lioavily upon their hands , and they are going in to earn tho character of social reformers . They hn \ o long exorcised an undisputed authority ot street

    in tho regulation of the number and position fruit-stalls , and by their judgment nnd knowledges of tho fruit-consumptive powers of tho public , have raised tho price of God ' s gifts in tlio mnrliot about fifty per

    eent . Turning their attention from , trade to occupations , they have discovered the exact number of shoe-blacks necessary to keep the boots of the public clean , the exact shade of theological opinion required to make a competent shoe-black , and the exact price at which a pair of boots can be properly polished . The result is that you must go either to a scarlet-youth of sound low church principles , or a blue-youtk of Koman Catholic parents , and pay one penny for tbe execution of a task , that cannot of course be done by the hungry , ragged boy , -who stands looking on , willing , it may be , to try his hand at something like half the price . And so , my masters , the hungry , ragged boy , not wearing a scarlet uniform , or a blue uniform , not being sound upon baptismal regeneration , or the infallibility of the Pope , turns into the populous thoroughfare , and tries his hand at pocket-picking . Elated by their success in the regulation of that class whose function it is to make the muddy boot a spotless boot , they liave turned their spare time and attention to the regulation of another class , whose function it is to keep the spotless boot a spotless boot . I mean the cro 3 sing-sweepers . This extension of police authority has not at presemt spread very far ; it is only the thin end of the wedge of interference we are watching ; but any lounger in the neighbourhood of ' ¦ Regent-street may , if he-will take a little trouble before i he leaves town , see a young man standing upright by . the side of a broom , supported by a painted board dei daring him to be the only regular authorised crossingf sweeper , by virtue of this diploma from Scotland-yard , » the grace of God , and Sir Richard Mayne . " What uext [ —and next ?"

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), July 31, 1858, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_31071858/page/15/