Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

7 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

A. GIRLING THOUSAND.

LAZARUS IN LONDON.

Advertising

BETWEEN MTDNIGHT AND DAWN.

.. .--------GHOSTS AND GHOST…

--'--'---'-THE BATOHEUIR STATUE

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

THE BATOHEUIR STATUE TO TFTE fDTTOR OF THE WFEKXY MA It, —I venture to think that the Corporation 01 Cardiff have too readily assented to provide a site for n statue of the late Mr. John Rstchelor. 1 am at a loss to understand what there was in the life, or character, or achievements of Mr. Batchelor tc mprit any such distitoction. If his friends and admirers, who, I admit, are numerous, choose to erect a monument to his memory, of either gold, or silver, or brass (probably the most suitable material), or of iron, or miery ciav," let them do so by all means, but let them pl'ioe it in the Liberal Club-that standing monument to the hypocrisy and inconsistency of the teetotalers and other saints of the Liberal party-or in one of the Board Schools, which attest his lavish and reckless expenditure of the funds of the ratepayers of Cardiff, to which he did not contribute one farthing! But what I object, to is „hat the effigy of such a man should ba permitted t ) deface one of f he public places in the town, tv the horror and aversion of 1\ large section of its inhabitants, who see nothing to commend, 'out,on the contrary, very much to condemn, in Mr. Batchelor's career; Who and what was this man to whose memory such grotesque and absurd honour is to be paid ? That he was possessed of more than ordinary ability I do not doubt, but that such ability was persistently misused and misapplied throughout the whole course of his turbulent life I venturs solemnly to assert, notwithstanding all that can be averred to the contrary by the fawn. hig syeophants and silly nincompoops who now affect to claim for him a spurious credit in which they seek themselves to sha.rp; Instead of applying diligently to business pursuits, anc achieving by me.».isof them that honourable posi- tion of success and commercial eminence, united to wealth, which his late brother at Newport attained, he neglected his own concerns and the just claims of his family, and preferred to play the part of a demagogue, and to pander to the pre- judices of the uninstructed and the passions of the multitude. Tn the year 1839, when this locality became the seat of disaffection, which developed into the highest crime known to law, and when a rabbis army attacked the peaceable inhabi- tants of the town of Newport, when the guilt of high treason was brought home to tho leaders of the insurrection, Mr. Batchelor was an active member of tho; seditious agencies then in existence, and he found it alike expedient and convenient to leave this neighbourhood for a while, and to take up his abode in the United States. True to his early proclivities, he continued throughout life a restless man, a discontented demagogna. one always inveighing against time- honoured institutions, the higher classes of society, and the Throne itself. No doubt he was an active and not unsuccessful organiser of party. This one merit he possessed, and this alone. I imagine, is the service which compels the posthumous re- gard of his followers, and asserts his claim to a niche in the revolutionary Pantheon. What services, let me ask, did he ever render tc Cardiff ? Was he not one of the most active pro- moters of the Canton Market?—a scheme fraught with grave disaster to the commercial intereatsand social well-being of the town, and one which, after the lapse of a dozen years or more, the corporation were compelled to purchase at the expense of the ratepayers. It oannot be denied that the sci>em». of the Penarth Docks was promulgated to injure alike the interests of the town and those of Lore Bute and that it was greatly aided by the per- sistent and unscrupulous support of Mr. John Batchelor. That an individual wboss energies were thus exclusively devoted to extraneous subjects should succeed in business could scarcoly be expected-— and it did not excir.e surprise that this idol of the popular party should suesumb to insolvency—a debtor to an amount approaching £50.000, and with an estate which represented lers than Is. in the £ ■ Many a family has to this day had to suffer for the losses they sustained through giving credit to Mr, Jolla If his acimirors and followers really wish to re- move the unpleasant associations connected with his memory, they could not do so more effectually than by paying his debts. This would evince real respect and be suggestive of an honourable self-denial. But to put up a statue in a public place in Cardiff to commemorate a man whose achievement was to leave unpaid nearly £50,000 is a wanton insult to the body of his creditors and an unmeaning, but preposterous, illustration of hero- worship.—I am, See., CENSOR.

Advertising