LONDON.

Globe, Volume I, Issue 77, 29 August 1874, Page 3

LONDON.

V: l&rvp a correspondent of “ Th# Press. ! ™ «* f ‘ & & :i A U ‘ ''July: fetfc. | I think it would- strike an observant Englishman returning to the country after about ten years’ absence, that* John Bull is fonder of play than he used to be, arid is in no immediate danger of becoming a dull boy for want of it. It may also strike him that we are giving Scylla, in the shape of np play at all, too wide a berth, and are sailing dangerously near Charybdis in the form of too much play. I think ’myself , that we are on the wrong side of the happy middle courge, i - An unwholesome craving for excitement and pleasure seems to have sprung up of late years amongst our countrymen in general, Londoners in particular. I re-' member one. of the treats of my childhood usedGia some of the principal thoroughfares of tlfe ,'io‘aae'{he shSp windows all ablade with light. A tradesman in those dajjs' neyer. idreppied ;of • putting up the shutters until half-past nine or ten o’clock, and imthese shining hours with consider* -awe-Advantage to himself. A youngster of tke .present flay. is. .grpwipg up in ignorance of^fose l delights which''* walk through the streets of London in the evening onde afforded his i 'Fojjhring'hut iqi ’dreary waste of shutters now meets his eye, where frlliUß6d,'to'|De! dazzling light; If he casts his eye higher,' through, to the private . wiodpwjß<pf the< establishment., he will see c e i norighlight;'arid prohibit hear the clash of . forks and plate?,, and .the pops qf champagne cork?,hr thfe tinkling tor a- piano, ‘Orrivep, perhaps, the strains of a quadrille band proceeding therefrom;- The proprietor is entertaining his acquaintances, and the shop (1 £iils J arid >i'hbpmedJ» (they a ate/. W ladies-’ 'and “gentlemen” now) are “ titivaj;-’ ipg”' fiqr, fhq *jthea£To { the] - , music] hall, or the promenade gardens, or are already enjoying- thepeelves at those placqa of amusement. work harder than they used to do while they are at it is unde- - -; niable. But here again there is too mu(jh high pressure. They take r their play add. their work in too-strong dosris. I was much 1 amused a few days ago at an announcement I saw in an entetprismg'tradesman's window —“ Thirteen miles of lace to be sold !” 1A few years ago, “ one-thousand yards ” woujd have been sufficiently startling. There is too v/riik^.rixoii^wririt!comß<(;??cd ( mtgt]]A^wcpt^four hours ; and, like jealousy, excitement jis a monster which frieds upon itself. Formerly a small tradesman, kftfeb the/day’s work was over, was content to enjoy a domestic evep-;, ing in the bosom of his family, or in the society of a few friends. But now bis irlpeioefrillhomriihaal into -'chaww.for hdifli 'Jlje decks himself and his wife out, and awiy they go jxrthe imusipjhall taqqip adulterated liquor, arid listen to songs of questionable morality. He will even take his children ; and the relish with which these babes digest the strong meat.set before augurs badjy for their'future.’ ’•” 1 J ‘ | I Lave f been, moved tp .this/fiatribe By the J- last ; friw'' -iri'ontbs.' /t The holiday-making seems to be perpetual at ibis seasbri of the' year; 'lt commenced, ap- T borit race ; • ?o thsuccession ftolltowrid the EaSter boliday,"the'Whitsu'n’ 'holidays,-' 'the Derfyy week, and the AsCot week. Then every Saturday to Monday, as regularly as it comps {tfrtiiiclpw oria outing ; and,/moreover, every day during the week there jis rr Bure'to. be ia festival,; a ifrite,; a grand Show, ,!■ oi'J Ja-.r.; horse braced -.within reach' of they .Metropolis.,-;; .Oftofiall iuthesei occasions the railway system in the vicinity of London becomes quite demoralised. The pleasure seekers are in an enormous majority, and everything; seems; .to' ■bfe' given up to them. The consequence is that the com- , few, .soberly .djsposed citizens,: re- ' turning by rail 1 to 'their suburban retreats after the day’s work; find themselves nearly t every evening, in a bewildering .region of topsy-turveydom. The “ upper ten ” are by no means behind hand, in the follies and frivolitiCs of the age. That fashionable insanity,, pigeon-shooting, continues to bp as popular as river, and at Surlinghame, while dandies slaughter and mangle these wretched little birds by hundreds, well dressed and well born,ladies stand by applauding their prowess and betting gloves, and even money, on the results. A match at Polo last week-, r between the -Lords and Commons, drew a large assembly of the fashionable world to Hurlinghame. In a former letter to you I described Polo to you roughly as hockey on horseback; it is a game which calls forth many manly and admirable it is a healthy exercise, moreover, and if a Peer or a member of the House of Commons sees fit , to indulge in this pastime, there is no reason why he should not, and every reason on the mem Sana in corpora sano principle, why he should. But to make it the subject of a representative match between the two Houses is a mistake. Individual members of either House can do with impunity whatever any other gentleman can : but whatever is done in their corporate character should be of a dignified nature. Should the result of the match have the least interest for your readers, I may add that the •^Cbinmorisi^though only numbering five to their adversaries six, beat the Lords “ into a

cocked hat.” One of the crowning follies of the rich is the ceramic mania—the acquired, and in many cases simulated, tastes for, old. china. Whatever is beautiful in ; 'form, ‘design, and coloring will always afford pleasure to'a refined eye ; and that a work of art possessing all these qualities shpuld ;command a Ipgh price i if only natural. But when, as at a sale of old china the week before last, ten thousand guineas are given for three small .Sevres jars, the line between the justifiable gratification of a taste and reprehensible folly is overstepped. Thp Bishop of, Manchester, 1, recollect, in, a speech a monlhbr two ago/ fdir foul ,bf this folly; and remarked with virtuous indignation that a lady had lately given for a couple of old china jars one-tenth of what the whole nation had subscribed to the Indian famine fund.

, Ouf policy with rogard tq oqr.Wpst African Setflepibnts /has been,; decided \op\, \ shby mrc to be consolidated into'a crowd colony under one Supreme Governor, with a LieutenantGovernor at Lagos and the rest of the administration will consist of a secretary, treasurer, sub-treasurer, an auditor, chief Queen’s advocate, commandant .of military 'poJice, Colonial engineer,land'chief engi; neer. "arc to be no~English"or ever! West Indian troops. A force of 1000 or 1100 Houssas is to be organised and maintained under European officers ; the Governor is to have a salary of £3OOO and £SOO travelling expenses ; and a sac atari mtt"is to be eatiiblished in the hills to which the Government is to be transferred iu the unhealthy season. To carry out these arrangements a vote of £35,000 in aid of the Gold Coast revenue -has/ after some) discussion, been agreed to in Parliament. Some members advocated the immediate and total abandonment of the colony ; others maintained that our interests and honor were alike pledged in holding it. Eventually fhe vote t jvas carried by r q majorir rity of £2O out of a‘ House of 314; ‘'OurWest African policy of the past has always beeh half-hearted and. desultory; but now that the matter is undertaken thoroughly, there is no reason why there should not bo a bright future; in store for that .colony. - Asa, proof of'King peaceful intention, he desires to send his son to England to be educated.

Mr Plimsoll’s Merchant Shipping Survey Bill has been rejected in the House of Commons. MrFlimsoll, you -will fecollect, has for some time been prominently before the public as the Merchant Seamen’s champion i; and it wristhfoUP year that the attention of Parliament was directed tp • the,question of unseawortby ships,. 9 r p is braking- tout ‘ • his ■ casri, l with - a? terrible completeness that aroused the indignat tion of the country,, a Royal Commission was appointed to investigate the matter, and pending the inquiry an Act was passed to meet th'e 'dvflZ -The Bill Much Mri IPlimsojl sought to bring in proposes that every ship should be surveyed by the Board of Trade before leaving port.' The House has decided that further legislation in the matter is not advisable ; at all events qotil/the,final,report of the Royal Commission which is about tto be issued. The statistics laid before the House during the'debatq prqye that the Apt now in force has’ done much towards lessening the evil. In the first half of last year, before the Act name into operation, 128 shins were reported missing, and 1782 seamen lost in them, against 36 ships missing and 58b .seahafeu! ‘lost iii khfe' sefcond half when the Act was in force. | We have arrived at the beginning of tlje end of the celebrated Morda'int divorce case. The House of Lords has at last, after foqr tjcearal ;; Investfgatiton,!! judgment that Bir Charles Mordaunt has a right to ~proceed jyjth his (U-yprce, sffit. f This . settles the'VeXrid : qii'estiori whether an alleged guilty wife’s insanity is a bar to proceedings being taken? jnya jsqit for'dissolution of marriage. Five'years ago, wlieu the'ease first came before the Court for divorce and matrimonial causes, Lord Penzance held that it was, and, on proof of Lady Mordaunt’s insanity, ordered all proceedings fp, be stopped. From this judgment SirCharlds'Mord-aunt appealed to the Full Court, which, however, were 6f fhe same opinion; • Sir Charles then appealed ‘ to the 1 libUsG’or Lords and With the above result. . At . the conclusion of, the Ascot week the yearlings of the National Stud Company were sold by auction. On the death, a couple of years ago, of Mr Blenkiron, the most successful horse-breeder of all ages, his stud, Qpmprising r some of. the best aniqrals in the world, was brought to the hammer.' Emissaries from Germany, Austria, Prance, and America, backed by their Governments, were soon in the field,,-> Our Government was supine in seemed to have _ fallen on no individual . shod)der^though his son Mr William Blenkiron now promises to be almost as successfril a breeder as his father).; and it appeared as if all the valuable fruits of this wonderful combination of individual enterprise arid ..ability Wrire to be lost to’the country.; To avert this a few public spirited noblemen and gentlemen hurriedly formed themselves into the National Stud Company with | a capital of £50,000, and saved for themselves and. the country some,, of the best horses in the’ wdrld, secuVing,’ amongst ofhers, the “ crack ” of the stable, Blair Athol, for which they gave the enormous sum of 12,500 guineas. The stud is located at Cobham, a pleasant little village in Surrey, where, I am happy to slay, it flourishes as it. deserves to do. A few days before the sale I paid a visit to the stud, and was shown over the whole establishment by the courteous manager, who was a walking stud book, and had only to catch sight of the tip of a yearling’s tail to rattle out the whole of his or her pedigree with astonishing volubility. It was a treat to see such magnificent horses as Blair Athol, Marsyas, Maccaroni, &c, and the silken tailed ladies of their harem. These latter were out in the paddocks with their this year foals, and very pretty and ' interesting it was to watch these little creatures, on whom fortunes will be won and lost in a few short years, frisking about in innocence of their future exciting careers, and trotting up to their mamas, who have rather lost their figures, and, as*they browze lazily along the shadow of the hedge, don’t look exactly like winning the Oaks, as many of them have done in their day. One of these foals only three months old, was privately sold a few days before my visit for one thousand guineas. At the public sale thirty-three yearlings were disposed of at an average of 294 guineas, which, though below last year’s, was considered very satisfactory. The highest price obtained was 1200 guineas for a colt by Blair Athol. The company is achieving that success it richly deserves for its patriotic inauguration, and is paying the shareholders fifteen percent Hitherto, breeding valuable racers and hunters has rather been looked upon as a

rich man’s crotchet, for the indulgence of which he was willing to pay heavily ; but the National tStud Company have proved that this is a fallacy, and that properly conducted, it maybe made a most profitable business.

There has not yet been, and as far as one can foresee, there will not be, an amicable settlement of the dispute between the laborers and farmers of the Eastern Counties. The exceptional season has been against the former in the struggle. The hay crops have been so light that half the usual number of hands have been sufficient for cutting, ami iu very many cases farmers have “fed off” their grass without mowing. The correa-. pond cuts from the lock-out districts write; that great privations are endured by the laborers and their families, and their existence is nothing better than partial starvation. Great exertions are being made by the agents of the National Union to induce the men to emigrate, free passages to Canada being offered, and next week there will be a great exodus. Mr Arch has threatened that, with the power he holds from Canada, he will drain the Eastern Counties of laborers by next spring if the farmers don’t accede to their demands. The following items from a recent and novel Parliamentary return may be of interest.,; It shows the amount of dividends payable out of the public revenue of the colonies charged with income-tax in the United Kingdom in the financial year 187273. The amount of dividend on colonial stocks.charged with the tax was £2,839,776 ; New/.South Wales, £444,777 ; New Zealand; £436,389 r; Queensland, £186,244 ; South Australia, £102,914; Tasmania, £48,761 ; Victoria, £582,247, &c. The Oxford and Cambridge Cricket match was played out to-day at Lord’s, The “ dark blues” won by one innings and 92 runs to spare. - I believe each has now won nineteen of these matches.