The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-03-22 00:00:00

Our fonboTt Corrtspedtnt.

[We deem it right to state that we de not at all timlss
idtmtify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.]

The fact that the two first Drawing Rooms fpf the
season have been held by the Princess of Wales on
behalf of her Majesty reminds us that the local in-
convenience caused by the accident of twelve months
ago, has not yet disappeared. For many years past
the Levees have been presided over by the Prince of
Wales; but whenever the Queen's health has per
mitted, her Majesty has held the Drawing Rooms in
person. In either case the presentation to the Prince
or Princess of Wales is regarded as equivalent to
presentations to the Sovereign; indeed, this is always
expressly stipulated in the official notices which
appear in the London Gazette. A Drawing Room, at
which ladies alone are received, is held by the Queen
or the Princess of Wales, invariably at Buckingham
Palace, her Majesty's former residence in London;
the Heir Apparent holds the Levees at the Palace of
St. James's, not far off. What is known as a Court is
presided over only by the Sovereign herself, for the
reception of both ladies and gentlemen, and it is
the rule for this to take place at Buckingham
Palace.

A very good idea of the great variety of life in
London is furnished on a fine spring afternoon, when
a Drawing Room or a Levee is being held.
For instance, the afternoon of Friday, the 14th inst.,
when the Princess of Wales held a Drawing Room at
Buckingham Palace, was perfect in its way. No damp
ground, a pleasant breeze, and bright sunshine—such
were the conditions of an agreeable hour in the Royal
park of St. James's, where the trees and shrubs were
ready to burst forth in early and premature vegeta-
tion. A great crowd assembled in the hope of seeing
the Princess as her Royal Highness was driven from
Marlborough House to the palace, and then, of
course, there was the long line of ladies in their
open carriages who had come to pay their respects
to the Queen's representative. And it was a
respectable orderly multitude, the component parts of
which could obviously spend an afternoon thus with-
out feeling that they were making a sacrifice of time,
which, to a large proportion of Londoners, means
money. All this time there was no diminution of
traffic in the great arteries of the capital, no lessening
'of the crowds ever pouring across the '—'dges, travel-
ling in the underground railways, or king their
way in steamboats up and down the rapid tide of the
Thames.

The absence of the Prime Minister from his place
in the House of Commons for a week through ill-
ness so early in the session has, as was inevitable,
given rise to much political speculation in con-
templating eventualities. One night last week there
were the wildest rumours in the lobby. Not only was
Mr. Gladstone unable to be present; but the questions
addressed to two other Cabinet Ministers—Mr.
Chamberlain and Sir Charles Dilke—had to be
answered by the Parliamentary secretaries of their
departments, because of the absence of the chiefs.
It was known that Sir Charles Dilke had had an
interview with Mr. Gladstone the same afternoon, ill
as the Premier was. Therefore the lobby gossips
put this and that together. Three Cabinet
Ministers away from their posts; the Premier
not at a council held two days previously
in his own house; Mr. Chamberlain had
suddenly left London for Birmingham—what could
it all mean but a break-up? It does not take much
to magnify a trifling lobby rumour into a monstrous
canard; and such was the case on the present occa-
sion. At the same time, there is little doubt that
Mr. Gladstone, who has now lived in the world
three-quarters of a century, is weary of official life,
and longs for rest. No one would be surprised at his
retirement from a harassing and thankless post,
which is held under conditions widely different from
those of fifty or even twenty years ago.

The descriptions of the latest engagements
which Generals Sir Gerald Graham and Sir Redvers
Buller have had with the Arabs amply testify to the
bravery and skill of these gallant foes. As a race of
men they seem immensely superior to the Egyptians,
from whose rule they have revolted, and of whose
behaviour at Tel-el-Kebir we have had graphic
descriptions from Lord Wolseley. It appears in-
evitable that Great Britain, with her vast-spreading
empire, and her complicated interests all over the
globe, shall be constantly inflicting chastisement on
some barbarian antagonist. Within five years we
have been at war with the Zulus, the Ahans, the
Boers, the rebel Egyptians, and the Soudanese Arabs.
Th-at gives an average of a little war once in every
twelve months.

, Endless are the applied results of charity and bene-
volence in a giant community like that of London.
An hour spent at the annual meeting of the Tempo-
rary Home for Lost and Starving Dogs, which was
held in Jermyn-street one day last week, would have
amply illustrated this. The report stated that
last year 14,687 dogs were received into the institution,
of which 1985 had been restored to their owners, whila
2188 were placed in new homes. A question was asked
as to What became of the remainder, an undisposed-of
balance of more than ten thousand vagrants. It was
explained that these, being mongrels for the greater
part, inch as no one would receive into a house, had
to be destroyed. The death was instantaneous and
painless. Should this rate of destruction be continued
many years, the ranks of the prowling dogs of London
will in course of time become perceptibly thinned. An
fastitution similar to the Dogs' Home would be much
appreciated in Constantinople. Thousands of
these wretches scour the streets of that capital at
night, making the most hideous noises whilst in
seerch of food.

Baroness Burdett-Coutts had been announced to
preside at this meeting, but a letter was read from
her ladyship, in which she explained that by the
advice of Sir William Jenner she kept to her house, a
severe cold having prevented her from fulfilling this as
well as other engagements. We have been ,so accustomed
year after year to hear and read of the munificence
of this wealthy lady and of the interest which she
takes in all good works, that Time has imper-
ceptibly crept upon her, and many will be sur-
prised to hear that in another month she will
have completed her seventieth year. The vast
amount of good which she has endeavoured to
effect in the cause of a long and useful life it
would be impossible to estimate in anything like a
cursory glance at her benefactions. But all who
know anything of the benevolence of the Baroness
Burdett-Coutts will sincerely hope that her indisposi-
tion is but temporary, and that she may be spared
many days for the prosecution of those deeds of
charity in which she has so long delighted.
The genial spring weather has been grateful
enough to those octogenarians who were so tried
by the bitter winds of this time twelve months. It
makes all the difference when they are enabled to
move about in the soft south wind, and in the
brilliant sunshine which has been tenderly compared
to the meeting of heaven and earth. Lord Shaftes-
bury has been as active as ever, and no one, tc
listen to the metallic ring in his voice, would take
the veteran philanthropist to be 82 years of age.
That was a happy thought of Lord Mayor Fowler tc
give a dinner in the noble earl's honour at the Man-
sion House. For half a century has Lord Shaftesbury
been pleading the cause of the classes who cannot
plead for themselves, and while many have criticised
his mode of procedure, there are none to deny the
earnestness and enthusiasm which have always been
thrown into the work.

The scene at the Royal Victoria Coffee Palace in
the Waterloo-road on Saturday evening, when
Weston the pedestrian completed his mammoth
walk of 1)000 miles was one of much enthusiasm, and
will not soon be forgotten by those who witnessed
it. When the task was finished, a public meeting wa:
held, over which Dr. Norman Kerr presided.
Speeches were delivered by Dr. B. W. Richardson,
Canon Duckworth, and others who have taken an
interest in this wonderful test of the values of an
application of temperance principles to a walk which
could it have been straight across the Atlantic, would
have taken Weston far beyond the ranges of the
Rocky Mountains.

GOLDSN SILENCE.—A pert young barrister once
boasted to a member of the bar that he had received
twenty guineas for speaking in a certain law suit; the
other replied," I received double that sum for keeping
silent in that very case."
TIIE CHEAPEST OF LAWYEES.—Keeping one's owr
counsel.

VERY SINTABLE.—Young Housekeeper: "Of course
I want some one who is experienced." Mis 2
O'Flannigan (triumphal tly) : "Shure, . ma'am, thir
it's meself that'll suit yez, for haven't I been witt
twinty families in the last two months ?"—,Funns
Foals.