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REAL ESrATES CHABGES BILL . This "bill , though Its title proclaims clearly that our laws are not yet jtirified of the old muddy Mediaeval jargon , is a just and effective measure 5 and as it has passed a second reading in both Lords and Commons , and has not emanated from Government , there is considerable chance of its becoming law . Mr . Locke King , at the commencement of the session , introduced another Mil , which proposed , ant the death of an owner of landed property , without having made any disposition of his estate hy will or settlement , to allow his children or next of kin to succeed equally ;
in other words , fan case of intestacy , to make the devolution of real estate similar to that of personal . This seemed a moderate and Innocuous proposition enough . All present and future owners of land were still to be allowed the ineffable luxury of carving out estates intail male general , and special , \ rith . limitations over cid infiniium , of cumbering their muniment rooms with she « ps ' -skin contrivances to hold the land in bondage from generation to generation—rthe manufacture of -which parchiiaent lumber iiiight still be productive of much emolument to Mr . Quirk , the attorney , Ulr . JV ^ oipJUiy Mortmain , th& conveyancer , and ^ Tr . 'Calf , the , law stationery and whose intricate provisionsmight occasion . aid interminable ( juantity Of occupation to the chancery courts and the
gentlemen of the horse-hair , confederacy . The sacred principle of primogeniture and the right of uncontrolled disposition were left tmtouched , except in cases of intestacyi Thenceforth , as fcefore , any Iargely 4 acred gentleman might place his eldest son in sole possession of his landed property to the exclusion of the claims of hisi other children , and the first born might reign / over the paternal acres Swollen with an isolated and undue importance , reminding us of the : show : gooseberry , which arrives at a monstrous and succulent rotandity by the extinction of the rest of the crop . "Wemightstill iiavehad . pur Dukes de Grandgousier ( inter Opes tnopes ) io . a state of imbecile poverty on three hundred thousand ayear . Who does not iemember the late scene ia court , when a noble leviathan confessed
to the possession of princely mansions which he could not afford to inhabit ' , of estates « b unwieldy and various that he couldneitherknowtheirextent : nor look to their management , of establishments so gigantic that "they were and are the very barathra macefli , the very maelstroms of industry and comestibles , and complained tliat he himself was the easy and helpless spoil of armies 6 f serving-men in and out of plash . There was nothing in this £ rst bill to prevent a section of society from being fitly represented by the indefinite multiplication of sueli pyramids of acrobats as are , or used to be , seen at
Astley ' e . The base or foundation are the labouring multitudes , jammed , heaped , pent , together pell-mell , prostrate , stunned , and crushed beneath the intolerable weight of the superincumbent strata of society . Half-way up come the middle-classes , both giving and receiving pressure , but still in an endurable position . On the top of this lofty , disorderly , and writhing anass—whose fault is its height and its disorder—some Marquis of Steyne , who may bo a child , a fool , or a blackleg , has piled his town and country possessions , his broad acres , and his ponderous architecture , s ^ ats himself gaily on the apex
and endeavours to keep hia balance , AH this excellent social structure and order was still to have continued . The younger sons of the marquis might still , have been , provided fpr by tho , public . The English people have a sneaking kindness for nohle young bloods , and for having their public offices filled with them ; it tickles them to see the Hon . Mr . VeroUes fill an embassy oh the Continent , or the Hon . Mr . Deuce Ace with a good berth in the treasury , who will gallantly got rid of their appoint , ements in ruffled shirts , kid gloves , patent leather
boots , and opera boxes , and other less mentionablo ¦ waye . How could John Bull , that generous fellow , endure to see sober Mr . Beauclerc , who fagged hard for his degree , or young Lively , -who is a writer and a linguist , ia such places , neither of whom ever threw a main or kept iv IPrenoh jnistress in their lives , and have even had a hard matter to live , and vrlioee Advancement would bo shored in by their respective mothers , brothers , and sisters , who all saw the block aide of the world when Messrs . Beauclero ana Lively , Mjniora , went out of it unexpectedly uomo years ago ? r ^ puWic moixe y migll t BtiU imyQ j , ^
safe from being dissipated in any such stupid and ignoble manner . Mr . Locke King was too wise a man to think of openly assaulting such respectable and inveterate institutions ; lie merely proposed , that in case an owner of land in . the course of his life should not have settled or devised his estate , then the eldest born son should not have the whole by law . And as landed gentlemen are tolerably vivacious , and usually take out the whole of the Psalmist ' s allowance of years , the absence of any disposition in favour of the first son would show they had no anxiety to exalt him at the expense of the rest of then : children . Mr .
Locke King ' s equitable proposition was rejected with much indignation by the representatives who are the spontaneous choice , barring bribery , of a justiceloving people ; for as Lord Campbell astutely observed in . the Lords , after saying he received the measure with alarm , if the law / were to declare for justice in any case , the people might practice it in all cases ; and the aristocracy , -who , to give them their due * generally accept the morality of the crowd , would follow their example ; and whatwould then become of a nobility ,, without whom arts and commerce , laws and learningj are of such infi nitesimally smalt value ? .
After such a repulse ^ Mr . Locke Kingv lite a true liberal , returned . again to the assault with the present bill , whose object is to abolish some of the evils of the present laws of descent and administration , if these laws themselves : must remain unchanged . The most flagrant injustice of the present system is in respect of mortgaged estates . Such is the affection with which the heir of landed property is regarded by the law , that all the mortgage debts contracted by a deceased owner on the credit of his lands are paid out Of the personal estate , to the impoverishment and destitution of all the family
but the heir . Eor example : if John Styles mortgaged Blackacre , as grim old Coke would say , for 30 , 000 ? ., in order to improve the estate by subsoiling , opening of mines , or buitdihgj although the estate might be raised tenfold in value , yet . the 30 , 000 / . wasj , in slippery legal phrase , said to "be borrowed in aid of his personal estate , which on his death would be bound to repay the whole sum to the heir . Nor did the evil stay there , but it . might so happen that the whole of the personal estate of a purchaser of mortgaged property might be applied to the . payment of a debt not his own , his heir might come into exclusive possession , of a large estate , while his mother , brothers , and sisters , might have
• no resource but his charity or that of the parish . Other instances equally hard might be mentioned j and when to these evils are added those of the subtle legal definings and distinctions growing thereout ( such as the complication of judicial decisions as to what amounted to the adoption of the debt on a purchase of mortgaged property , or as to what was a sufficient expression by the testator that an estate should go cum onere—that is , boar its own burden ) , wo think we can congratulate tho country on having one blade patch the less on its reputation for justice , and one nest of legal snares the less in its legal Reports . All land will , after the passing of the bill , descend to the heir or devisee , subject to the incumbranccs existing upon it .
We cannot , however , regard the improvement as a step towards the abolition of tho absurd rule of primogeniture . The tighter the pinch tho more chance there was of a thorough restoration of the old Saxon principles of equality of inheritance as manifested in Gavellrind—the rejil common law of old England j but now , sinco this ovil has been remedied without touching the main body of the system , there is one blot the loss to call attention to . Nevertheless , notwithstanding that M'Crowdy , and sleek and respectable opulency hoist tho nose ns though they
man heights but that some patriotism and well-doing —an occasional bene nieruit de patria—may be produced , though every Englishman should not be stimulated by the hope of becoming the founder of a family—the mega thauma of a perpetuity of flunkeys . As matters stand now , perhaps here and there a-coldblooded lawyer , or a mammon-loving speculator , may have a little public spirit infused into them by such an incitement , and Englishmen in general admire the motives of action and the action . The fault lies
in the morality of the nation . Let the people love justice a little more , they- will admire such vulgar aims less , and vrill desire equitable rules of inheritance . The House of Commons—the articulating head of the people—will obey the national will , and move ; and the Lords will naturally follow , unless such an unfortunate dissolution of continuity should on this occasion happen to the country as an old scholiast tells us occurred to Theseus , who by reason of a too long sitting in the same position , and a consequent adherence of the region of the os sacrum , lost a consideratoe part of Ms person on a too speedy removal by the roughrfisted Hercules . S-
aniffed Communism in the wind when tho matter is mentioned , we cannot but feel that the day is coming when this posthumous rello of feudalism will bo abolished . In those strong and iron ages the custom hftd meaning and vnluc , but it is time now ifc had gone to join primer seizins , escheat , wardship , and the other feudal incidents ; and although one doea not hoar an argument for or against it of which God's men and column" are not weary , yot tho subject ! must necessarily be agitated until net nt reet for ever . It is to l > o hoped that human nature haa not descended so terribly from tho Spartan and Ho-
Untitled Article
L'INSTRUCTION PUBLIQTJETEN BUSSIE . [ We have received the following interesting communication froin Ivan Soloviii . It liSs reached us too late for translation , ]; 7 ; .. ¦ : •' . . ¦ .. : " ' " ' . : . . ' ¦ ' ¦ ¦ .. ¦; . . L'EMPEjaExtR Kigolas en ruontant au trone , a difc dans sonnaauifeste : " Parents , tournez votre attention sur Teducation mora . le de vos enfaris , . . V Mais par morale , il n ' entertdait pas ce qu'oii entend generalemeht ; il venait d « triotnpher dune insurrection jnilitairej et pour &x prevenhr de nottVelles il recommendait aux parents d'inculquer a leurs enfaitts le fetechisme du Tizar ! Lorsque Ouvarof succeda au Prince Lieven au Ministere de l'lnstruction Publique , il prit pour devise ces mots : * ' Orthodoxie , A-iitocratie et Nation alisme , " II suivit ces mots d ' Ordre a la lettre , et cependant son
successeur , le Prince Schikhmatof a su renchorir sur lui . I > ans son rapport a . I'Empereur pour Tannee , 1851 , nousi lisons :- ^ - ¦ " En memc temps gue les verites salvtaires par Tenstignement dela lot divine out et&repandu . es il d .- ' ete - mis une Jin aux misonneries seductrices de la philosophie , etl ' enseignetnftil du droit public des puissances JZuropeennes a tie supprime comme ne presentant dans les bases ebronle ' es de leurs institutions politiques rien . de solide et de positif" **
" La nomination parle Gouvernement des ructeurs des Universites ( ils etnient electifs auparavant ) , et lagarantie d ' une surveillance vigilante de renscignement , suivant les instructions confirmees par votre Majeste , ont mis un term * a . 1 'accos des opinions et commentaircs qui , venant des pays e " trangers , se mfelaient parfois au deVeloppoment des sciences . " La barbaric russe jfite souvent la pierro a la civilisation Europcenne , 1 ' accnsant de pervertir la morale . Mais en quoi consiste done cefcte morale Itusse ? L ' assassinat , lc poison , la tUJbauclie regnent U la cour , le vol et brigandage mnrquent la t ) olitique et l '
ndministration Kusse . Pour ne pas laisser aux otticiers lo -temps do penser , ou les accable d'exercices , on propage l'ivrognerio ct la paillardise , efc les vices qui regnent iui Corps do Pages et aux instituts des demoiselles nobles sont' < lo telle nature quo notro public " immoral" nous de'fend d ' en faire mention . L ' amour de la patrio n ' est que l'amour du Tzar , ofc nous declarona quo l'obdis&ance aveugle est co qvi'il y a do plus immoral , ear ello fait de l'liomnie uno brute . PrGohez par vos actions , gojuvernoz )) : ir la justice et avec la Ttbcrti ? , Gt les partisans quo tous acquerireK alers le seront de cocur ot non pas des amis nchete ' s .
Le Muii « tore de lliiBtruction I ' uWique en llussio publie uno tqvmo menauelle . Nons trouvons duns uu < le ses nunie " ros l'analyso d'un pane " gyriquo do la llussie ; linnfiishe Zustilndc von A , Zando , Hamburg . II est curieux de IaisBer pivrler le roccnaeur offioiol ; * ' Depuis qii ' a rOccideiit de l'Europe , sous l'iixllu-011 cc des passions polUiques la parolo humnine eet devonue un anstrument do mensongc dans los livres dee demagogues , qui so parent des titrcs d'historiens ,
do profesBeura , do romnnoiers et do poiites ou de tourlates , nous ayons toujours rencontre ' s duns les prod 11 its dos HtU ? ratur « s dtrangeros des sorties ivbsurdes coutro la liusaie . " Voila un debut < jui ^ romet , et lea louangoa no Boat pas opargndea d M . Znndo qui n ' on a pas tfoorgnd « la ituasio . " En KuBslodit lo voyageur stlleniand , tout lo moude vit tranquille , souib l' 6 gido de la R'gulitG ; auuuno tendanuo infAinu revolutionnairo no monaco en liussio la proi > rio't (? du eujot palsible . "
Il y a dos gens qui vomlront prouver qii'll iii ' y a on itxiflBio nl servage ni ospionnago ni prdvaricntioiis . M . Zando i \ 6 t < 5 un niauvais prephote eu dleant
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806 THE LEADER , [ Saturday ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 26, 1854, page 806, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2053/page/14/
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