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have swept the rest of the money away have devoured the benefit which the old lady should have had . When , pious Sir John Dean Patti . embezzled the orphans and widows' mites , people who are always glad to throw dirt upon religion , quoted with glee the text , " Those who devour the widow ' s substance and for a pretence make long prayers . " But here were a band of very worldly-minded directors— ' men about town , ' some of them ' fast men , ' and never accused of saying long prayers ; and yet ^ under their management our national vivandiere—a kindhearted , good old soul—is shamefully cheated out of her money . That the Gardens could have paid is certain . M . Jullien tested it by organizing a musical festival , the expenses of which were 1200 Z . and the receipts 3400 Z . This money , however , went like all the rest into the pocket of some grand myth , as yet unnamed , who seemed to staudat all the doors of the Gardens every night and run off with the money about the time that the final ' blaze of triumph ' took place on the fire-lit lake . And thus the united orchestra , the Guides' band , the eleven military bands , and the numerous and welltrained chorus combine to give us , as a grand finale , that shareholders' anthem—the ' Rogue ' s March . ' 3 r r I > s i ; ' ¦
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No . 388 , Attotsi 29 , 1857 . J THE EEAPEB . J ^_
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Keport of the Common Law ( Judicial Business ) Commissioners . —This report has been issued in the form of a blue-book with evidences and appendices . The commissioners come to the conclusion that to reduce the number of judges at present would cause an arrear even of ordinary business , and certainly render it impossible for the courts to despatch any unexpected influx of an extraordinary nature . They next consider whether any alteration could be made in the present mode of transacting the judicial business in London which would justify them in recommending a reduction in the number of judges . This question is resolved in the negative , as any . such arrangement would reduce the number of judges sitting in banco . The practice of one judge remaining , in town during the circuits to dispose of the chamber business must , it is thought , be retained as indispensable . The memorials from certain towns claiming separate assizes are next discussed , and a report is made in favour of the extension of this privilege to Manchester and Bristol , while the applications from Leeds , Hull , Birmingham , Kendal , and Wisbech for separate assizes are refused . As regards the question of assizes generally , the plan of spring and summer assizes , with a special commission in the winter , is reported as most convenient , on the whole . With respect to the remodelling of the circuits , it is proposed ( if Manchester be separated from Liverpool ) to add to the North and South Wales Circuits the adjacent counties of Salop and Hereford ( from the Oxford Circuit ) , and to add to the Oxford Circuit Warwick ( from the Midland Circuit ) , and to annex York to the Midland , diminished by Warwick and Northampton , the latter town to be annexed to the Norfolk Circuit . Two judges , it is suggested , should go to Cardiff and Swansea . The Home and Western Circuits would remain unchanged . The commissioners propose no alteration in the four legal terms , leaving the judges to dispense at their discretion with the term London sittings or not . They recommend that one judge , sitting for all the courts , should attend daily at chambers at a much earlier hour than at present , leaving the two other outsitting judges to sit at nisi prius in either of the courts , as occasion may require , without leaving for attendance at chambers . As regards pleadings in vacation , it is recommended that the 1 st of October be substituted for the 24 th of October as the period at which certain suits may be proceeded with , and that one or more judges be empowered to try causes arising in any of the three courts after the 1 st of October at such intervals between that time and the Michaelmas Term as may be deemed necessary . — Times . Rei * okt op thk Lunacy Commissioners . —A Bluebook of one hundred and thirty-five pages , just issued from the warehouse of the Parliamentary printers , contains the 11 th report of the Commissioners in Lunacy to the Lord High Chancellor of England . The commissioners have always strongly objected to asylums exceeding a certain size , as they forfeit the advantage , which nothing can replace , of individual and responsible supervision , and the consequence is an accumulation of chronic cases in the larger asylums . Thus the proposition for the enlargement of Colney-hatch and Hanwell Lunatic Asylums was objected to by the commissioners , but in vain ; the committees , after a conference with the commissioners , remained iirm , and the latter reluctantly gave way . They still insist , however , on the necessity of more carefully classifying patients , separating recent and acute from chronic cases , and placing the latter in a lesa exponsively-built asylum . Tlio irregular practice of sending lunatic paupers to workhouses in the first instunce instead of to regular asylums ia denounced by tlio commissioners as directly contravening the law applicable to insane paupers . An appeal has been made to tlio Poor Law Board against lunatic wards , and in one case it i « tlio intention of the commissioners to appeal to tlio Sec-rotary of State to require thu local authorities ( of Norwich ) to provide for tlioir lunntic poor according to tho requirements ) of the stutute . Tho grave structural defects of tho criminal wurda of Bethlehem Hospital are ouco more censured , but tlio resolution . of tho Govoriimont to provide a now State asylum , to accommodate uis . hundred criminal lunatics , will happily obviute tho evil consequent on tho noglcct of tliu authorities of Bothlohom . Tho want of proper asylums for lunatio soldiers ia pointed out , mid attention is ouco more specially directed to the subjoot . It ia sail to think that tho vilest abuses atill prevail , hero ami thoro , in the treatment of single patients , and still moro eo to bo assured ( by tho commissioner *) that tho provisions o the Jaw arc extensively ovadod . Tho . Proportion i lunatics and idiots to tho population liao rwou from I In 847 , in 1852 , to 1 in 701 , In 1867 . — Jmet .
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THE GREAT NORTHERN AUDIT . We recommend to the notice of Major-General Fox the auditors of the Great Northern Railway Company . They would exactly suit his views of official responsibility . ' A Pigeon left without a feather to fly with , ' writes to the Times ou Thursday , stating—So long hack as 1854 the auditors were cautioned by the accountant that the dividends jtist jmid exceeded in amount the sum due on the various stocks of the company , ' notwithstanding which they issued the half-yearly certificates under their hands of ( he correctness of the accounts , ' and , this being the case , I question w / iether these gentlemen could not be made let / ally liable for the immense increase of loss which has since accrued in consequence of ( heir laches . I am also informed upon undoubted authority that this discrepancy was also brought under the notice of the directors by Mr . Slaughter , tho secretary of the Stock Exchange , whoso communication was , however , unnoticed ; nor whore any steps taken t * check tho registers with tho books of the company . The shareholders lost a quarter of a million of money , while ' unbounded confidence' was the gentlemanly order of the day . Bub are the auditors " to blame ? Mr , Sotheron Estcouut , Vittcount GrODEitioir , Lord Harry Van is , Mr . Bramston , and Mr . Hans Hamilton have publicly and formally sanctioned a theory of an auditor ' s duty , under which , the Great Northern auditors would stand excused . The Duchy of Lancaster auditor imagined it his business so to check tho accounts as to render fraud impossible . That principle is objected to in our Government departments . We havo no guarantee whatever against official Redpathism . Redpathism had its way in the finance office of the Great Northern because tho departmental principle was at work thoro . Halfyearly certificates wore issued , covering fraud . Mr . Bewtolaooi was required to sign certificates w 7 tiph viight havo covered
; Jraud . In the one case the auditor is : threatened hy exasperated shareholders ; in t tht ; other he is told not to be fussy . We r make no imputations ; we have never made a : charge of corruption against the exalted L guardians , of the Crown estates but this we i do say , that the public funds are open to , unlimited robbery if the rule laid down by , the late Judicial Committee be the rule of the : service .
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A WORD TO FORESTERS . We might apply to the Foresters' Festival , last Tuesday , an adaptation of a famous passage in the oratory of Grattan . The vault of the Crystal Palace could scarcely contain the flight of its pinion ; the decorated youth of the country , like a thousand streams , made a rejoicing clamour upon the Sydenham hills , and filled the gardens with the congregated fraternity . It was a pleasant and a profitable sight ; but we fear that the Friendly Societies Institute would scarcely countenance some of the features—to use a cant expressionof that day ' s entertainment . We allude to the aprons , scarves , banners , girdles , horns , and other gaudy tag-rag with which the gentlemen of the party were invested . Now , there is no merit in a Quaker ' s abhorrence of brilliant colours . Ornament is beautiful . We would not have our pretty ones make merry without garlands , gauzy robes , and satin shoes ; we would not take the pearls from the delicate dancer ' s hair , or the emerald from her neck , or the bracelet from her white arm . Though not concurring with Sydney Smith ' s ideal Conservative , who said that to propose judges without bombazine robes and horsehair wigs was downright Atheism , we do take pleasure in seeing a Chief Justice or a Speaker characteristically attired . Let our grenadiers wear scarlet , and our riflemen green ; but if we belong to Friendly Societies , established for mutual benevoleuco and assistance in cases of bereavement and sickness , is ib necessary on particular days to sally forth like Tyroleso peasants ( with an undercoating of cbeknoyism ) , deoked out as though for an extravaganza ? The absurdity has two evil consequences;—it is a waste- of funds which might be better employed , and it deters many persons from taking part in the seasonal festivities of the Order . Tho remark , bo it observed , applies to tho Freemasons and Odd Follows , no less than to the Foresters ; but the Forester processions at Sydenham were particularl y extravagant . There wore thirtyfour thousand persons iu the Crystal Palace and its grounds on that day , and we should like to know how much money was expended upon unmanly garnishments , which forced a derisive smile upon many a countenance by no meanB puritanical . First strutted a gentleman who , doubtless , every other day of his
life , wore an aspect of unimpeachable dignity but on Tuesday he might have been taken foi the King of the May-day Sweeps , disporting broad cloth upon the strength of a ' find' oi legacy , or for a miracle-player of the darl ? ages enacting a mystery . Then followed youths and men of all ages , fluttering with ribbons , scarves , little packages of white wool ; quivers of arrows , small comical satin aprons , cabalistically embroidered , and an infinitude of Robin Hood and Little John varieties which might have been tolerable whep . gay costumes were in fashion , bufc which , in appalling contrast to drab alpacas , chocolate cut-aways , dust-coloured Raglans , and other modern uglinesses , gave the exhibition a resemblance to an aggregate meeting of Ethiopian serenaders , who had forgotten their lamp-black . The foolery would be harmless were it inexpensive ; but we have reason to believe that not a little money evaporates to satisfy the cravings of full-grown men to put on once a year the trumpery of holiday children . These observations we offer in a spirit of perfect friendliness to the Foresters . They form an important order with a noble purpose , and it is grievous to . find them liable to ridicule on account of their persistance in obsolete shows , which have even less significance than the mummery of Lord Mayor ' s Day . We might have added a word on the customary conviviality of Lodge Meetings ; but that we defer . Meanwhile , we wish our good friends would reflect that they are not Robin Hoods , that they do not live in forests , and that it is painful to any one decently attired , to see the father of a family marching in front of his own shop with a little white satin apron , a green scarf , a pretty sash , and a toy horn , and other braveries which look more like Red Indian wampum than the holiday suit of a sober Great Briton .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 29, 1857, page 833, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2207/page/17/
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