The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-03-15 00:00:00

0,, lir onh/ Otorrorintnt.
[We deeth ft rtht to state thit Ire do not at all Crate
oureelvee with our correvondent's opiuioas.l

D.; it 'understood that her Majesty's visit to
t- any will be on the most unostentatious scale cone.
I -.title with the dignity of the Sovereign of England.
Princess Beatrice will accompany her Royal mother,
id their place or. sojourn will be a little palace be-
longing to the 4rand Duke of Hesse, quietly ore-
bosomed in the woods about three miles from
Darzr-
stadt. No one will grudge her Majesty the occasienal
change of at and scene which every two .or three
years is obtnined either in Italy, cc upon the-sheres Of
the Meditreranean, or somewhere ia the east Father-
land, whieh is so near to her by the ebsest of
family 'es. From thence have •come :her husband,
three s-,ns-in-law—the Crown Prince of Germany,
Prince Christian, and the Grand Duke Of Hesse; anti
two •Eaughters-in-law, the I3uchesses ConnauglU
and Ilbany. The devotion of the •Precess Beatrir,..)
to the Queen has be borne testineeny to by ten.
Majesty on more than one •occasien. Her ',Wye'
Highness will complete her twenty-seventh ye tsr on
'the 14th of next moech. Hereilterny be incidentally
remarked that her dateet sister, the Princess 'loyal,
vas married at seventem and tun months, Princess
Alice at nineteen red two 'months, Princess Helena
at twenty and two ,months, and Princess Louise at
twenty-three and three 'days. Princess Beatrice has
therefore remain3d..athonr3,muell longer than any of
hes sisters.
The colebratien,df the 'twenty4rtst. anniversary of
the wedding of the :Prince and Princess of Wales on
Monday, the 10th instent,. brings is face to face with
thecertain though imperceptible flight of time since
the day when her 'Majesty, dressed 'in the deepest
mourning, ieeked down' from her • little closet in St.
George's Chapel, Windsor, upon the wedding cere-
mony. Those 'who that night, attempted to snake
their way through the principal streets of London
have not yet forgotten the experience. Anything like
the crowas, whiCh several persons were crushed tc
death, has not -since been witmessed, not even
Thanksgieting :Doy, :1872.
If the inewspaper-reading public fail to receive
enlightmenett.on the affairs Of Egypt, it will not be
the fault•of•either.the•Lords or the Commons. •Ever
since Parliament assembled, on the sth February,
Egypt hasibeen the question ef the hour. Vast num-
bers wire lad never. heard of the Soudan, have now a
most intimate •acqnaintance.with its geography; and
the False Prophetewho had hitherto been one of the
historietdcharacters of -Scripture, is now: found to be
a substantial and exceedingly disagreeable reality.
Meanwhile, it will have been observed, that thus
far nothing has been, heard of the survivors,,who, it
was heped, might have escaped the fate which
befel the army of General:Hicks early in November.
More than'fouaemonths haveelapsed, and no graphic
narrative comes from the pen of Edmond O'Donovan,
no pictorial illustration from the pencil of Frank
Vizetelly. A man must value his own life but little
to accompany such an expedition on its perilous
_

march. is to. O'Donovan: whom I knew well, I

never met a man who cared less for death. He
seemed to court danger as a bride, and was perfectly
indifferent to any risk to life so long as he secured
success in his profession.

The new Speaker of the 'House of Commons is a
taller man than his predecessor in the chair; and so
far as physical stature is concerned, comes up to the
ideal of those who regard height and presence as
being essential attributes to be possessed by one who
has to preside over such an intermittently uproarious
assembly as the House of 'Commons. The Speaker
of modern times who best /answered to this descrip-
tion was Mr. Shaw-Lefevre, who held office from

1839 to 1857, and, as Viscount Eversley, is now in

his 91st year, and in the enjoyment of his well-
-earned pension. His commanding figure ad
readiness of resource when appealed to on
points of order made him the ideal Speaker of the
past half century. It might be pointed out that for
merly it was the practice to confer upon the retiring
Speaker a pension of £4OOO a year for twolives. In

modern times this has, however, been departed from.
Mr. Shaw-Lefevre's pension was granted for life; his
suc,cessor, Mr. Denison, declined to take any; and in
the bill which has now passed through Parliament
voting a retiring allowance to Viscount Hampden, the
phraseology is that of 1857—for life. Nothing is said
about the life of a successor. An unsound principle
has thus been got rid of.

The dynamite outrages in London seem to have
attracted considerable attention both upon the

Continent and in the United States. Wo are face to

face with Nihilism in the British capital, but it differs
from that of St. Petersburg or Moscow in one
essential particular. The Nihilism of Russia is a
plant of native growth, and flourishes by both soil
and climate in Russia. .In England there are no
grievances to be redressed demanding such desperate
measures as those recently resorted to in the metro-
polis. The miscreants who set those infernal machines
to kill and maim unoffendhag persons are foreigners
who remain in this country sufficiently long to carry
out their diabolical plans, and then leave the shores
upon which they have but just arrived. The Govern-
ment hesitates to initiate more drastic legislation so
soon after the passing of the Act of last year, which

went through both Houses of Parliament in a single
night; frequent legislation in a panic is not dignified
in a great nation, and it was therefore resolved at first
to try the effect of a large reward. It must be ad-
mitted that one of .£2OOO is of a substantial character.

The circumstances attending the introduction of
the Reform Bill carry the memories of many of us
back thirty years. Then, as now, foreign affairs ab-
sorbed the attention of Parliament and the country.
The Whig Ministry brought in a Reform Bill,
the provisions of which were explained by Lord
John Russell; but it was generally felt that a time
when the nation was engaged in a great European war
which demanded all our energies in that one direc-
tion, was inopportune for electoral changes,
and the Reform Bill was accordingly withdrawn.
We are not now involved in war in Europe; but our
troops are engaged on a serious expedition costing the
loss of valuable lives, on another continent; and the
Reform demonstrations, which were so familiar in
1866, are now unknown. So far as London is con-
cerned the new bill would have a very limited opera-
tion; it is in the agricultural districts where it will
chiefly act in adding large numbers of voters to the

register.
The Sportsman's Exhibition at the Agricultural
Hall is one of the most interesting which has been
brought together in a building with a history wherein
records of shows of all descriptions abound. This
vast structure in the High-street, Islington, is,
indeed, seldom without an exhibition of some kind.
We have the Horse Show in June, and the Cattle
Show in December, and any number of exhibitions
illustrative of the progress in various departments
of industry to fill in the intermediate times between
midsummer and midwinter. The Sportman's Exhi-
bition was one devoted specially to the pastimes more
artieularly of modern English life, and, remaining
open more than a week, was visited by large numbers
of persons who believe in the pursuit of recreation
and amusement as a genial and agreeable diversion
from the absorbing attention which some are com-
pelled to give to the world's affairs.
One of the points of interest in connection with the
heavy suit of the London Financial Association against
Messrs. -Kea and Lucas, the well-known contractors.
was the amazing age of the learned judge who tried
the Lase. Vice-Chancellor Sir James Bacon was born
two years before the close of the last century, and is
~.,onsequently 86 years of age. Notwithstanding this
weight of years, he listened for twenty-nine days to
the arguments of forty members of the bar, including
eighteen Queen's counsel. At the conclusion of the
hearing his lordship intimated that he should deliver
judgment some time before the Long Vacation. but
he has given his decision some months previously to
the arrival of that time, obviously having .no difficulty
in arriving at a conclusion. Until lately Sir James
Bacon held in addition to the office of Vice-Oilancellor
that of Chief Judge in Bankruptcy.

SUE SMELT 'Ex.—The latest anecdote about an
old lady who thinks that she "knows everything' ie
how she went to a. church sociable, and as she entereo
the room, the young ladies said: Good evenings
Auntie, we are glad you have come; we are going to
have tableaux this evening." "Yes, I know, I know,"
was the reply, "I smelt 'em."
WHAT HE Tuouorrr Um—A gentleman at an
eating-house asked the person next to him if he would
please to pass the mustard. "Sir," said the man,
"do you mistake me for a waiter?" "Oh, no
was the reply, "I mistook you for a geutlemail,"