1108 
chcster the other night, indicated him as the only statesman 
•• whose trumpet docs not give an uncertain sound and 
pronounced him to be the fittest lender of the Protestant 
^ Lord and Lndv Palmerston are in Paris, and have been 
to see the Emperor at St. Cloud ; though why they are 
there has not oozed out. The French made a great fuss 
about it, and attached great political significance to the 
visit ; forgetful that his Lordship is only Home Secretary, 
and cannot, therefore, intermeddle with foreign affairs. 
Most probably the visit has reference to arrangements for 
the impending visit of the Emperor to this country. 
The question at issue between the Committee of Al- 
moners, managing the royal foundation of Christ's Hos- 
pital, and the head master, Dr. Jacob, has attracted a great 
deal of public attention. It would seem that ever since Dr. 
Jacob’s appointment, more than a year ago, the system 
of discipline has been most unsatisfactory to him. 
Representations to the committee were made in vain, 
ond at last he resolved to avail himself of the opportunity 
offered by the ancient privilege of preaching before the 
governors of the school on St. Matthew's day, to say publicly, 
nnd in the most solemn manner, what he had so often said 
privately. In this sermon he pointed out the defects of 
the school— defects which no one acquainted with the sys- 
tem, nnd unprejudiced, will presume to deny. He declared 
that the intellectual nnd moral wants of Christ’s Hospital 
were not so fully and satisfactorily provided for ns the phy- 
sical ; that the hoys in general were very ignorant in impor- 
tant branches of English instruction, without having attained 
any accurate knowledge in their classical studies ; that a 
large mass of them would, in fact, be unable to compete 
with the scholars of a well-conducted National School ; 
that, in the selection of under masters, it had not been 
thought necessary to select men of ascertained experi- 
ence and practical skill in influencing boys for good ; 
and, finally, that the present system was chiefly to be 
distinguished by the absence of almost everything which 
might develop and strengthen the better feelings and 
tendencies of boyhood, that it helped to encourage the 
worst habits, and to throw the boys upon the gratifica- 
tion of their lower appetites, as their only source of 
pleasure. This free speaking on the part of Dr. Jacob was 
received with great indignation by the Committee of Al- 
moners, who have hitherto exercised an unquestioned des- 
potism over the school ; and a resolution was passed by 
them, to the effect that Dr. Jacob was “ unfit to hold the 
office of head master." On Monday last a general meet- 
ing of the governors was called for the purpose of consider- 
ing the circumstances of the case, and the result was a 
vote of thunks to Dr. Jacob for his sermon, carried by an 
overwhelming majority. This is, in effect, tantamount to 
n vote of want of confidence in the committee, who are ex- 
pected to retire. The whole uffuir is regarded with intense 
satisfaction by all who understand nnd are interested in the 
facts of the case ; for it is expected to have the effect of 
rescuing this really noble institution from the dominancy of 
a clique quite unfitted to govern it in accordance with the 
progressive spirit of the age. 
Cases in the law courts during the past week suggest 
some curious speculations as to the true nature of the mar- 
riage contract in England. The Lord Chancellor consigns 
Mr. George Augustus Hamilton Chichester to the durance 
vile of the Queen’s Bench for daring to pay his addresses 
to Miss Clara Thornhill — she being a ward of the court 
and the inheritress of a very large fortune, nnd he being 
over head and ears in debt. The Countess Ferrers (sister 
to the delinquent) narrowly escaped the same fute, for 
presuming to favour the suit of her brother, and professing 
her readiness to receive the young lady if she should elope 
from her guardians. In the eyes of the Lord Chancellor 
both the lover and the sister have been guilty of one of the 
most heinous offences nguinst the majesty of the law — 
namely, that of presuming to the hand of a ward of court, 
without a previous reference to the Master. Although the 
guardianship of the Chancellor is only a substitution for the 
parental function, to run away with a ward of court is an 
offence to be punished with imprisonment and the payment 
of costs ; whilst an elopement under ordinary circumstances 
can only be met with pursuit nnd a horsewhip. The only 
objection urged against Mr. Chichester is that lie is in debt ; 
as if men of rank had never heretofore patched up their 
failing fortunes by the aid of the dowered daughters of the 
moneyocracy — as if Lord Chancellors had not even done 
so. However, Mr. Chichester is now incarcerated, and 
Lady Ferrers is told that, inasmuch as she became 
the convenient medium for love letters, concealed 
in the lining of a basket, and written, "not on paper, 
which would have made a crackling noise and have at- 
tracted attention, but written on linen," (to think of 
the dragon-like surveillance which surrounds a ward 
of the court!) she has committed a most disgraceful act, 
such as “ must for ever lower her in the society of her 
equals." Another case ( Barron v. Barron) conies before 
the Lords Justices of Appeal, surrounded by a veil of 
mystery. There was " an uncomfortable part of the case” 
which did not appear upon the surface. The question arose 
upon the marriage settlements. A widow ludy of forty-four 
had married a young solicitor of twenty-eight ; the lady had 
property, and the gentleman an “ octave ofliviug children by 
a triad of co-existing mothers." We are not surprised to find 
them quarrelling, scarcely four years after marriage, about 
the dividends payable under the settlement; still less to 
find that there is “an uncomfortable part of the case.” 
To give variety to the picture, we next turn to the case of a 
bankrupt, Bullock , — made so mainly by the extravagance 
of his wife. Mr. Bullock was a chemist, in Conduit street, 
and Mrs. Bullock had run up a bill for .£’350 at a mercer's 
shop, within ten months. In one day ulone jL 52 had been 
spent. Can we be surprised, after this, at finding the 
husband in the Bankruptcy Court ? 
The genius of our modern contractors for gigantic un- 
dertakings has developed a new feature in speculation. The 
Victoria London Dock Company have agreed to lease their 
undertaking to Messrs. Peto, Betts, and Brasscy for twenty- 
one years ; the lessees securing the payment of five per 
cent, upon the share capital, and an equal division of profits 
TIIE FIELD. 
beyond five per cent, between themselves and the share- 
holders. There can be little doubt that, under this system, 
the working of this or any other company will be much more 
efficiently and economically conducted than heretofore, and 
we shall not be surprised to hear of railway companies 
adopting the hint. It is said that some prospective foreign 
railways have already fallen into the hands of the same 
contractors, upon similar terms. Somebody suggested that 
these gentlemen should contract to take Sebastopol, and we 
have little doubt that it would be feasible. 
The advices from South Australia announce a pro- 
posal to the home Government for the construction of a 
railway 1000 miles long, to connect South Australia, Vic- 
toria, and Sydney. The estimated capital is £T 0,000,000, 
to be raised by loan, the interest to be provided by the 
three colonies, and guaranteed by the imperial Government, 
and the land for ten miles on each side the line to be 
placed under the administration of commissioners, to be 
gradually realised, one half for the payment of the loan, 
and the other half for the introduction of labour. The 
work is to proceed at the rate of 200 miles per annum, and 
be completed in five years. As ancillary to this, another 
scheme has been forwarded for enormous docks at Sydney, 
Melbourne, and Adelaide, capable of containing the largest 
ocean steamers, and for which a capital of .£21,000,000 is 
needed. All this seems grand, but we doubt whether the 
colony had not better depend upon its own resources for 
the support of undertakings which can only be prudently 
entered into if the colony absolutely requires them — that 
is to say, can pay for them. It is safe to predict that the 
home Government will refuse the guarantee. 
Continental news is meagre. Our country friends will 
be sorry to hear from Mr. Franke, of Cette, so poor a report 
of the wine crop in France. ‘ This year’s vintage (writes 
he) has proved lamentably bad and deficient, even more 
than was expected ; in fact, the produce of the whole 
of the south of France scarcely reaches the sixth part 
of the usual average.” Alas, for the light Bordeaux, the 
luscious wines of the Rhone, and the imperial vintage of 
Burgundy ! The ingenious faiseurs de vin on the other 
side of the Channel, undismayed by the prohibition against 
converting grain into alcohol, are said to be purchasing 
large quantities of Irish whiskey for conversion into French 
brandy. This will re-act upon the price of whiskey here, 
and we shall have to pay, indirectly, for economising the 
French grain. 
Spain is once more in a state of transition. Espartero 
has resigned the position of President of the Council of 
Ministers, and, it is thought, with a view of assuming a 
post giving him a more constitutional influence over the 
Queen. The gossip of Paris is, that the Queen of Spain 
contemplates abdication in favour of the Count de Monte- 
molin ; that she dreads the effects of revolution, and 
wishes to escape the perils attendant upon the uncertain 
tenure of the crown. 
The obituary of the week includes, we are sorry to say, 
two very worthy gentlemen, known in the world of politics 
and letters — Lord Dudley Stuart (and Mr. Frederick 
Knight Hunt. The former died at Stockholm, on the 17th 
instant, after a few days’ illness, and in the course of a tour 
through the north-western countries of Europe. In him 
the Poles have lost a sincere and untiring friend, and 
Marylebone a pains-taking Member. His Lordship was 
fifty-one years of age, and had represented Marylebone for 
seven years. Sir Hamilton Seymour is spoken of as his suc- 
cessor. Mr. Knight Hunt was well known among journal- 
ists, and was the chief editor of the Daily News. Originally 
a surgeon, he abandoned that profession for journalism, and 
joined the staff’ of the Duily News about eight years ago. 
In 1851 he became editor, and continued, up to within a 
fortnight of his death, to execute the duties of that office 
with ability and kindliness of spirit. He died at Forest Hill 
on the 18th instant, in the forty-first year of his age. Mr. 
Hunt was nlso known as the author of a valuable historical 
account of the London press, entitled “The Fourth Estate." 
FIELD SPORTS AND THE WAR. 
There is a direct connection between the Field Sports and 
country occupations andamusements, to which this journal 
is devoted, and the war we are waging on the other side 
of Europe. 
The whole world has read, with admiration and amaze- 
ment, the daring, dashing deeds of heroism done by our 
troops in the Crimea — the unfaltering front displayed to 
overwhelming forces — the uncomplaining endurance of 
fatigues and privations — which have proved of what manly 
stuff an Englishman is made. And not the privates only, 
who may be supposed to have been inured to hardship 
from childhood, but the officers, gently nurtured, tenderly 
trained, accustomed to luxury, and, as it might be thought, 
ignorant of toil and privation, have proved themselves to 
be as strong to endure, as brave to dare, and as able to 
perform the services of the campaign, as the men with whom 
they share the perils, the pains, and the horrors of the 
field. 
We believe that this unexpected and most gratifying 
spectacle is mainly due to the field sports and manly 
country occupations, which are so marked a characteristic of 
the life of the English gentleman. He is taught to ride as 
soon as lie can walk ; he spends the greatest portion of his 
days in the open air, in healthy and manly occupations ; he 
is accustomed to imperil his life in the hunt; he faces 
danger nnd difficulty on the seas, in his yacht ; he exer- 
cises his limbs in long days of shooting ; he invokes his in- 
genuity with the fly-rod ; he strengthens his muscles with 
the oar; he cultivates his eye and hand with the 
cricket-ball and the bow. These were the trainings 
of our gentlemen, who have proved, on the heights of the 
Crimen, the value of the lessons they had learned in the 
field at home. 
With such evidence of their national importance, we 
trust that all these manly exercises and field sports will be 
encouraged more and more. They have no necessary 
connection with the rascalities that have been imported into 
some of them. The English gentleman may indulge his 
taste for sports, without sharing the iniquities of the turf, 
the ring, or the betting-house. These are excrescences which 
have grown out of their abuse, or, rather, which have 
fustened themselves upon the legitimate field sports, tl»r. 
proper recreations of the gentleman. It will be the 
endeavour of The Field to sever them — to show that th ere 
is no necessary connexion between the manly English 
sports which are bringing forth their glorious fruits befo r ,. 
Sebastopol, and the unmanly, un-English, unwholeson K . 
fungi that have fastened upon them, and almost made the 
name of sport distasteful to the true gentleman, and caused 
it to be looked upon with suspicion by religion and moral? 
If the true English Gentlemen will assist us in the g 0o d 
work, wetrusttoshow, by the contents of this their Joun,,; 
that the sports and pastimes of The Field, and the occijl 
pations of the country house may be enjoyed and p r() . 
moted, so that no man shall be ashamed to acknowledge 
indulgence in their wholesome exercises, nor be afraid i 0 
place The Field in his drawing-room, for the inatructiou 
and entertainment of his family. 
TOWN AND COUNTRY. 
The turn of “ the Country ” has come at last. The Town 
has had its turn of low prices and prosperity ; high prices 
and prosperity are now the lot of the Country. Although 
the war is the cause of this change, by which Country i? 
so largely benefiting at the expense of Town, Country may 
fairly congratulate itself that it has not been the selfish pro- 
moter of its own interests. The war that has produced the 
present state of things was notoriously instigated by the 
towns. It was in the townsthat the most clamorous advocates 
for war were found ; the country people were apathetic, 
and perhaps even rather adverse than otherwise. Country 
has a right, therefore, to enjoy its prosperous season ; nor 
can any distress suffered by Town be attributed, ai 
formerly it was, to the selfishness of Country, whether 
shown in the form of laws for its own benefit, or in war? 
maintained for its own profit. 
THE SINEWS OF WAR. 
We have already spent «£l 0,000,000 on the war, and next 
year we are to spend j£20,000,000. The experience of 
all former wars shows that the tendency is to a steady in- 
crease of expenditure, and we may look forwai'd to a de- 
mand for ^£50,000,000 annually. The practical question 
is, how it shall be raised. 
Mr. Gladstone says, by taxes, making the war support 
itself, without adding to the debt. Another party in the 
Cabinet is reported to favour the revival of the system of 
loans, which is, in fact, a contrivance for throwing the 
payment of our debts upon posterity. 
In ordinary cases, Mr. Gladstone’s principle of ready- 
money payments is the honest and the wisest one. But it 
is not difficult to show that the present case is exceptional, 
Almost every other war in which we have been engaged 
has been for some present advantage, real or supposed, io 
the generation by which it was undertaken. But this is 
not the case with the existing war. It has been com- 
menced entirely for the advantage of posterity, and for no 
single benefit to ourselves. There was no immediate 
danger from the growth of Russian power. Ourselves, our 
children, even our children’s children, had nothing to fear 
directly from any possible development of Cossack strength. 
We have deliberately entered the field to check its 
progress, now, from a long-sighted dread of the danger that 
would certainly proceed from two centuries more of 
Russian expansion and ambition. It is a magnanimous 
sacrifice of ourselves for the benefit of a remote posterity, for 
which we are entitled to respect and honour. But are we 
called upon to bear the whole cost ? Is it not strictly just 
to send in to posterity the bill of n war undertaken merely 
for the advantage of posterity ? Have we not done enough 
by giving to it our blood and sinews, the loss of our best 
and bravest men, wide-spread misery, destroyed commerce, 
individual distress, insolvency and ruin, which must come 
sooner or later? The price we must pay will be heavy 
enough ; posterity, which will reap all the advantages, can 
very well afford to pay the money cost. Therefore, we 
prefer loans as being both just and expedient. But, never- 
theless, there must be increased taxes. How should they 
be levied? 
Some people, who don't pay if, exclaim, “Double the 
income-tax." This would be very well if the income-tax 
were equally levied upon the whole population, as it 
ought to be — every man in the community contributing an 
equal proportion of his income to the Exchequer. But that 
is not the case. The income-tax is paid by only one- 
fifteenth part of the population having incomes. Where- 
fore should the cost of the war be imposed upon them 
alone? The war is wholly national. It is not undertaken 
for the protection of property, but for national glory. A 
man's share in the national glory is not proportioned to his 
property, as is his interest in the home government. There 
is no reason why all should not share the evil of war, in 
which all are equal participators in equal proportions. 
But, then, it is said to be impossible to levy an inconie- 
tax on all incomes. It is so ; and what is the conclusion j 
That all incomes which cannot be reached directly should 
be reached indirectly, by a war-tax upon some of the neces- 
saries of life. Thus would each man be made to contribute 
to the war, and a large revenue be raised, by distributing 
the burden over many, instead of concentrating it up on a 
few. 
His Royal Highness Prince Albert, attended by Maj° 
General the Hon. Charles Grey and Captain Du Plat, W 
Windsor at ten minutes past two o'clock on Wednesday, J 
a special train of the South- Western Railway, for Lon W » 
nnd presided at a meeting of the governors of the Welling* ■ 
College, hold at the Palace of Westminster. The o 
governors present were the Marquis of Lansdowne, tb® 
quis of Salisbury, the Earl of Derby, the Earl of E 
borough, the Earl of Ellesmere, Viscount Harding 0 - 
Bishop of London, the Right Hon. Sidney Herbert, 
Graham, tho Right Hon. Spencer Walpole, Sir U° w 
Dougins, Sir James Weir Hogg, the Rey. G. R- Gleig, 
Colonel tho Hon. W. P. Talbot (honorary secretary). 
