IMPRESSIONS OF AN OLD GREYMOUTHIAN IN LONDON DURING NOVEMBER.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1082, 16 January 1872, Page 2

IMPRESSIONS OF AN OLD GREYMOUTHIAN IN LONDON DURING NOVEMBER.

»' • [from a correspondent. J London, Nov. 16,1871. November conveys, I think, to most British minds an idea of fDgs, colds, frost enough to stop much work, and yet not severe enough to be invigorating and enjoyable ; a time neither pleasant in town nor in the country. Altogether this eleventh month is a disagreeable, unwelcome one ; the trees have shed their foliage or appear scantily clothed in red and yellow, flowers are unheard of ; stillwater freezes three-quarters of an inch thick, this year early in the season. The Guards, who used to drill in Hyde Park every morning, now go through evolutions, at the Horse Guards, and when they "stand at ease" clap their hands and stamp their feet vigorously. to keep lip the circulation. The miserable population of London, who are happy in their rags and dirt in the warm weather, now shiver and slobber along, with no extra ragsj but an extra layer or two of dirt, for in this weather they neither perspire or wash. In the summer you might often see a band of urchins bathing in the Thames at the foot of some of the bridge stairs, and onsome wag calling out — "there's a bobby coming !" you would see a swarm of naked rascals running off in all directions with bundles of clothes under their arms, and in five minutes more they, would be in the river again at some other spot ; having nothing but a rag of a shirt and ari apology for a. pair of trowsers to doff or don, they half lived in the ivater during the hot weather. The number of miserable objects you meet in the London streets is striking, and the cold marks them still more, for they go shivering and snuffling along, with red noses and blear eyes, such filthy, loathsome objects, that one is glad to give them a wide berth, not an easy matter in the crowded streets. What these wretches are would be a curie ut research to find out ; there are thousands of them, tliey don't work, some don't oven beg, they, are not thieves,' not oveu

cripples, but there they slip and glide about, in every direction, loathsome, barely covered with rags, filthy and dis-\ gusting ; -where they hang outj -what'they do to get food, is to me a mystery. The London crowd, such as I saw at the Lord Mayor's show on the 9th, for instance, is always largely- composed of -»roguesj^ofr which there seem to, be swarms everywhere ; they are" thieves 1 , and a low class of working men, costermongers, street hawkersj- -and nondescripts of all sorts";' they keep up a constant; yelling, bustling; and horse-play, and shoving about hi eirery crowd, delight in getting up dargerous crushes. ; they rush in gangs of a .dozen or so right into a crowd, robbing, as they go ; then the. cat calls, whistling; yells for " Jimmy ! Bob ! Charley !" and so on, and the horrible, vile language used, make it a pandemonium A London crowd now-a-days is, : almost, ai. terror, it gathers by tens of thousands in a few minutes, and. is so unruly and composed of such dangerous element that the general impression here is that one of these days there will be some awful tumult in London. There is a growing feeling all over Europe of contagonism, class against class ; those who have no capital, nothing to lose, seem to be inspired with an intense desire to pull down to the ; r level the capitalists, those , who have,/ something, some stake to lose. i Observe in France, the , " ouvrier" does not care for; a republic, or /for any particular form of Government, he was best off under the empire, 'but' he hates what he calls an " aristo," what bur great unwashed call a "swell," and the Frenchman would have his blood as well as his goods. Inßerlin the working .classes have begun a sort of agitation and banding together, and: would go further, but for fear of prompt repressive measures. : - Strikes are now- so common that they have ceased to be noticed ; they are fostered by the same spirit, a sort of gnawing, feverish feeling of impatience and hatred on the part of" the manual worker, towards all above the level of the horny-handed. This year there have been strikes all over Europe, but none So determined or so disastrous to all "concerned, as the long strike at Newcastle, which lasted all through the summer and and has only jnst. terminated. The "International" is doing much mischief, and has spread wonderfully. The " peuple" in Paris are very uneasy, and many persons expect to see. another outbreak there before long. The Tichborne , trial is on again, and causes as much excitement as ever ; I see no reason to change the opinion I have held all along, that the claimant is the real Baronet ; there may be important evidence forthcoming for the defendant's casewhich would change ~my view, arid I can get bets of ; s toil that the claimant is an impostor; I don't bet, or I should certainly invest.. Of course there i&ra strong feeling of disgust among the better classes, at the idea of such a low, bullock of a fellow, married also to a low-bred woman, being able to prove his claim to L4o^ooo a-year, and descent from one of the oldest families in England. > lam no "blue-blood" worshipper,- but I value the existence of a class whose mariners are refined, whose tastes range above bread and butter, who can appreciate art, music, and talent ; who can afford not to flatter Mr Hornyhand, or to toady "my-lord," rarely do petty, mean things, who use pooket-handker-ohiofo, -respect—grammar, have in fact " breeding," and do not offend your sensibilities at every turn by unmanly habits and failings. I like to be sure of the existence of a class 1 can hope to dwell among, of whom it could not be Baid : "Manners they have none, and their customs are braatly." ; It is -as well there should be ari upper class, independent of trade ; dependence on customers, or? on anybody, blunts many feelings, and does not leave 'enough time -for* refining- the taste and improving the manners of the animal ; and the' fact is gratifying, that whatever the failings and faults of the upper classes, they'do not often personally annoy or offend one's senses. Every man as he gets richer tries ' td~rTse~in~the social scale, and to accomplish that at all effectually, he must keep on improving his manners and tastes, and' this fact alone is sufficient to suggest that there r is room for improvement up to a standard fixed by an upper class. Our' friend Fustian sneers .at " all that there stuff" because he can't appreciate it, and he is generally brute enough not to cafe how offensive he may >be : to anyone of finer feeling than himself/Nothing but social intercourse from early youth' with wellbred persons can produce a real gentler riian, that, is, a man who is riever ; offensive in : any way whatever, to his neighbor. "Nature's gentleman," we hear of ; but try and live in his company and then decide j it explodes like "the noble sevage." . •; '■■ ■ , ■ An Irish jury has declared killing to be no murder, by judging Robert Kelly a cowardly assassin not' guiltyj though a murder "was amply arid directly pfovicf against him in a long trial, where great favor was shown to his counsel, the " Home Rule " member for Limerick, f There is really no topic of great public interest at this moment; the papers are full of letters on every imaginable subject, and generally one letter under the other, each being totally opposed in opinion to the other, showing how many. sides there, must be, to every question. Perhaps the > loss of the Megaera is exciting as muoY attention as anything Just now, and possibly there is but one opinion on that case. ■■;■.:■■- , : 1 .? < Enghnd has subscribed most liberally to the Chicago Relief Fund ; indeed, England's charity to the rest of the world is astonishing': the Lord Mayor alone dispensed L 200,000 of English charitable contributions during the past year of his office. There have been" fewer paupers in the metropolis the last twelve months than for many years past. I think the Austrian Empire somewhat* shaky. Count Beust, who has done so much for Austria during the last five yeais, has ' his dismissal, owing to the heavy pressure brought to bear ori the Emperor Francis Joseph by the priest party, the Czechs, and the Cis-Leithan and Trans-Leithan aspiring Slavic races ; Beust is a German, Saxon, arid Protestant ; the ex-Chancellor, however, has the whole sympathy of all GermariAtiatvians, and the moral support of the North German Empire ; arid I expect to 'see him again at, the Austrian helm, or employed by the other Empire. I wish you could send us a consignment c.f Greyinbiith November weather, to take the pliice of this miserable, chilly, foggy surrounding. '