The Observer.

Observer, Volume 5, Issue 120, 30 December 1882, Page 242

The Observer.

SatiTbdat, December 30ts 1882.

THE WILCOCKS-FOBDEB DIVORCE CASE. The circumstances of this case, in which legal proceedings have lately been instituted, bring into strong relief one of the causes of the de« olension of Good Templarism, and point to th» . reason why it has never made much progress amongst the higher classes of society. - Granting that Good Templary was originally designed by its founders principally to reach the humbler classes, upon whom the evil effects of intemper* ance fell with the most palpably disastrous force, it is certain that while ifc has not achieved anything like the success anticipated, it has yet accomplished much good, though at the same time, it has done no little harm. In their excessive zeal for the reclamation of the fallen votaries of drink, the leading spirits of the Order have nevef paused to think that their reformatory work involved very g> ave • and delicate considerations, and that unless extreme care were used thero was a very imminent danger that as much harm as good might be done;.

_* It was in the first place a necessity of the greatest urgency, where men, women, and youths of both sexes meet together in an assemblage in which the ordinary social restrictions are relaxed, and people meet with the free intercourse of brothers and sisters — members of a common family — that the admission of members should be regulated by a vigilant regard to the moral character of all applicants. How lamentably the Good Templars hare neglected these judicious safeguards must be apparent to anyone who>ha« frequented their open meetings, and the extent to which the Order has declined in general tone and popular esteem can be easily ascertained by anyone who knows its position now and can carry hif memory back to the time of its introduction. -»

The two fatal errors that were made a£ th« outset, as we hare already said, were the offering ' uudue facilities for admission, and a laxity of control and supervision. Where a number of people have deliberately brought themselves to believe [that drunkenness is the parent of all crime, and have determined to concentrate all their energies to the crushing out this giant evil* they are likely to lose eight of many othe? source* of evil not less fruitful. Their mental capacity gets lopsided ; their mental vizion monocular The- paramount question frith them ia the proa* peet of reclaiming the drunkard, and if that if accompliched, either temporarily or permanently, all other sins are overlooked or condoned. Th« Good Templar votary boa only to drink cold water in public, and he may wallow in th« stygian pools of rice ia private.

meetings, from their social nature, ■BLrerful attraction to the young of either fßjkfcrons n^ them a congenial field for w^tcbange of small talk and the safe disJMfr "f iim m 1 !^! I^^t fecandal tit-bit. j?he heads of lapf both sexes, who keep 'SIUM EIRr"TI!JF lIL platter, while within is rottenness and iSBL^on, persons of low, mental and moral Jrastion, with a morbid appetite for social fiStf, who seek scandal just as a trout rises to wM Without strict enquiry into the antecedents HLrals of t'.iose who seek admission to the Hfc women of easy virtue might get in under MRretences, and being brought into intimate j ■Bjntance with the " sisters," might, perhaps, ' Mb a few by their bearing and manner, but mm exercise a demoralising influence over «Ejinded women and young girls. They Mai sJ S o attract a number of the sterner sex Hyiy undesirable character, and thus the Hjjon of evil example would rapidly spread.

'•0 is an impression abroad — whether well foanded we do not undertake to say, though [flood Templars vouch for the fact— that in lon to much frivolous waste of time, many , men and women have come to regard the Templar lodges as eminentlyi^adapted for lion— to use a mild term — and for contractile affectionate ties which are, or ought to le precursors to ' matrimony. Young men apon them as favourable fieldsfor spooning, pang women know that%ere'Bhey are sure beau. In the privacy of the lodge, there be opportunities for contracting tender ses and for flirting superior to those offered it other assemblage. There is no doubt that jportunities for spooning and the pleasant after the close of the lodge, business have {lie principal recomendations of the Orcter j eyes of a certain class. In fact, youthful* ab who wished to getnpon terms of acquainship with the ladies, new arrivals, and BTfho desired to enjoy female society, have Billy resorted to the Good Templar Lodges^ tare, untrammelled by the ceremonial malities of social life, have wrought havoc gst the unsuspicious fair. __ , _ o .

! knowledge o£ these things, and the fact persons of immoral character were able to strance to the lodges, and that they could the privileges of brotherhood, have induced bodies o£ respectable people to sever their Ktion with the Order, and powerfully deJ others of like scruples from joining. And tare are a large number of excellent men and a connected with the Order, but they lie salt which preserves in it some wholesomeand without which it would turn llfeo abaoimpurity and disrepute". A ■ ■ .mm .

i descend from the abstract- to the concrete, ire a few words to say with respect to the M case which has suggested our reflections Eiis subject. The' whole facts came under ognisance more than a year ago, and at the irere " worked-up " into a sensational article; tthe last moment we were dissuaded from publit by a piteous appeal oft the part of the undent. Now, however, that the affair mad its way into the Supreme Court, there further need or hope of concealment. Mr UrsWilcock arrived in about the Seof 1881 from Lancashire, where they had* some five years of their matrimonial life, sd buried the three infants that had come eing only to fade away again. Both hu3tod wife were musical, and fond of com»nd, as (3-ood Templar entertainments were popular at the time, they joined the Sir fHavelock lodge, and reinforced the active fe of temperance vocalists. They had a tfock of duets, such as "Very Suspicious," ai a little farm we keep," "Hunting Tower," The Singing Lesson," and their rendering SB found such- favour with the uncritical feen and sistern " that their services soon to be in constant requisition.

licontinual "gadding about" had a pernicious on both of them, but, of course, upon the iparticularly. She was naturally "fast," Sf inclinations had full sway at the (3-ood b " free and easys " ; while her circle of intances extensively widened. The advent 31-born infant made a slight break in' the ?f musical performances, but it was reIwith greater zest than ever.

t& the same time the co-respondent ap-| upon the scene. He was then a clerk an fings Bank, affected a weakness for singing," •ng of self -possessed bearing and insinuating^ \ soon placed himself on terms of friendship! Its Wilcock, whose personal charms atJ Upressed him. Forder is a forward young 'say the least of him, and any feminine Bess that may be exhibited towards him i& overlooked. In fact, at this period, he bacij, f the repute of a Don Juan, and was re[with suspicion by the careful mothers of •ionable maictans. With the utmost celerity vitiated himself into the affections of Mrs ?i, and, in course of time, she began to find fae to have to await the convenience of her i the lodge meetings, and accordingly ac•as a matter of course, the escort of the I Forder. ■i : ■% .

ffjpbck had become a lodge officer, and having gjnin for the closing of the lodge, his wife Hfifally escorted home under the convoy pf gßjWiere serpente The gossips of the lodgS int jfflf c began to discuss the situation, and made ca^e against the matron and her &■»< c husband's eyes were opened to t^ |Mk things air last, and dissensions and jealouspppded the , domestic hearth. Suddenly Wttk- left her home, and Forder, by a SHpcoinoidence, having token a neatly f urBH|m^Qaljay^Me hpuae in Cook-street, she

sought refuge there, and sent an expressman to bring away her belongings from 'her husband's domicile. The pair have lived together ever since without molestation from Wilcock, but the lodgeofficials found it incumbent xipon them to mark leir displeasure of their sistei''s conduct. Acrdingly, they wrote, inquiring if the alleged cts were true ; and the lady promptly replied at they were, and that she eared more for >rder's little finger than for JVilcock's whole idy. She was forthwith expelled, . and hap bsequently lived in retirement.

*&- Rumour says that her cohabitation with, the amorous clerk has been marked . with frequent irruptions of temper on both sides, and that at oiie period she asked -td be reinstated in her husband's home and heart ; but, be that as it may, she still lives with the gay Lothario, and,' according |p a daily contemporary, intends to! present him with a pledge of her affection at no distant date.

In conclusion, we repeat,, tlfat the story bears : a moral which he who runs may read. Let the G-ood Templars take it up and apply it. Let their enthusiasm in reclaiming the drunkard be tempered. by«*a prudent ..conservatism, lest, in protecting their constituents from one vice,' they expose them to another by bringing them in|(O contact with other persons of a far worse character. A person should not be admitted to the lodge simply because he or she is a drunkard, and .wishes to reform ; the applicants may have worse -KBtt^iMßMi^a«Myiiaßfla»ULdTtnk to answer for.

Two nymphs (I will not cell Tneirmrc^^T^i Whose thirst consumed then like a flame* Had on man'&*generous aid a claim. Which he was swift to rendef . His tender heart was melted, and He rushed off to the ice-oream. stand, And now, with glass in either hand, * He makes a " legal tender." Oh, nymphs, itHs, too naughty, quite 5^- : To burn with heat a Summer's night , And 'neath an, Archway take your flight ~^Eo hide-beneath its shadow ; . While manf vain man, — the silly 'coon' , Must march beneath the'brilliant moon, < In either band a glass and spocmj-j/ ■ d me its too bad 3 0i»

.; Time["%unday Jt*sace> *the corner at I i4he '.Greyhound* Dram^fe Jrasonee, an aged i female in a draggled dreis^n^WVcrushed liafc, having her boots Cleaned •lqpa-'stoufc Irishman, ! with Bandy whiskers, who pauses at frequent j intervals to wipe#ff the exuded whiskey with his dirty sleeve,- and to blaspheme in volcanic

language, and in. a voice that is audible half-way down the street. Two greasy loafers sitting 'on the door step exchanging observations in highly seasoned jfrish. Enter a young lady of modest aspect, whereat the crowd burst out simultaneously into pyrotechnics of oaths, enough to appal a Tasmanian oullock driver, and to cause the unfortunate female aforesaid to shrink as if struck by a blow.