The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-07-11 00:00:00

var Notibrin Ctorresponbtitt
(We slf ern it right to state tint we do not at all time
identify ourselves with our Corrozl)ondent's opinions.]

The Conservative Government, after a Parlia-
mentary interregnum of a month, has settled
down to its position in the House of Commons,
and as Mr. Disraeli once said: "Our benches
with their serried ranks, rival those of our proud
opponents." The session will not last long,
nothing but absolutely necessary work will be
undertaken. Besides it is always difficult to keep
the members of the House of Commons together
on the eye: of a dissolution of Parliament. Those
members who do not intend to seek re-election
have no further interest in the business, and do
not attend. Those who do intend to seek re-
election find it more important to look after the
constituencies than to obey the bebe,sts of the
whip in the House of Commons. Between the
two forces, therefore, the attendance is likely to
be just sufficient to transact that which is essen-
tial to be done, and there is no fear of another
crisis.

Saturday was again a busy day with the
.Prince and Princess of Wales. In the first place
their Royal Highnesses drove to Queen-square,
Bloomsbury, and declared open for the public
use and benefit the Albany National Memorial
Hospital, a spacious building for paralysed and
epileptic. The square and the thoroughfares
approaching it were elaborately decorated in
honour of the occasion, an immense crowd gave,
the Royal visitors a hearty greeting; an inte-
resting incident of the day was the presence of
some of the little inmates of the Alexandra
Hospital for children on the opposite side of the
square. After the ceremony in Bloomsbury, the
Prince and Princess drove to the new buildings
of the Birkbeck Institution in Bream's-buildings,
Chancery-lane, the foundation-stone of
.wliich
was laid by the Duke of Albany two years ago,
where there was a mere gorgeous cert-,Monial,
the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs being in attend-
ance, and seats being reserved for several Cabinet
Ministers.

There can be little doubt that the Grand Cross
of the Bath, which has been conferred upon Sir
Peter Lumsden, has given the public general
satisfaction. He is a gallant officer who has long
served his country, as he did most thoroughly
and completely as far back as the days of the
Indian Mutiny, nearly thirty years ago. His
recall, contrasting with the honours heaped upon
General Komaroff by the Czar, was regarded by
some of the warmest supporters of the late
Government as an unfortunate step, and it
formed one of the forces at work on the night of
the crucial division which caused the abstentions
leading to its overthrow. Lord Palmerston was
accustomed to support his subordinates right or
wrong, and on the same principle he expected
his followers to support him. A story is told of
that versatile Premier, in which a newly-elected
member, big with the importance of his mission,
assured the noble lord that he should always be
glad to vote for him when he believed him to be
right. " !"replied the Prime Minister, "that
won't do for me. I can get any number to do
that. What I want you to do is to vote for me
when you think lam wrong." The eyes of the
new member were opened to a vision of public
life to which he had been a stranger.
Independence Day in the United States was
celebrated on Saturday, and the anniversary of
such an important event was not forgotten in
London, where the leading Americans dined
together with such prominent English Statesman
as Mt. Bright, the Dake of Argyll, and Mr.
Forster. In the midst of all these rejoicings
throughout the Union there is one cloud. The
man who saved the Union in the great civil war
of twenty years ago, General Grant, is stricken
with mortal illness, without hope of recovery.
Most of the actors in that great four years
drama have passed to their rest, and the chief
actor therein daily expresses a desire for the
peace to which his companions in arms have_has-
t med.

Another University cricket match has been
fought and won, the Light Blues having easily
proved their superiority. Fifty-one have now
been played, Cambridge are credited with twenty-
six, Oxford with twenty-three, and two have been
drawn. The result of this year's contest was
rather a surprise. Both teams were considered
below the average of 'Varsity players, but of the
two Oxford were thought to have the better
chance. But this great fixture has once again
proved the uncertainty of cricket, and it is worthy
of note that for the last four years, the winners
have had the same margin, seven wickets. Mr.
Bambridge's score of 101 in the first innings of
the Light Blues, make the ninth score of three
figures since these contests were instituted. The
interest taken in this, the most fashionable event
of the cricket season, is as great as ever; and is
easily illustratea by the attendance, which on nu
three days amounted altogether to over 24,000.
Of this number the opening day was responsible
for nearly 15,000. It is a matter for congratula-
tion that the weather kept fine, thus making the
wicket in almost perfect condition. The first
struggle between the Gentlemen and Players at
the Oval has resulted in a draw. The latter
most likely would have won, as they had only 48
runs to get in order to win, with five wickets
to fall. But time would not admit of the game
being played out.
Blacksod Bay, one of the harbours on the
Irish coast in which the Evolutionary Squadron
has anchored, does not appear to have been a
very cheerful place according to the descriptions
of some of the special correspondents. It
appears that the question of holding a review at
Portsmouth of Admiral Hornby's vast Armada
has not yet come before the present Board of
Admiralty, which is scarcely in working order,
but there can be little doubt of the popularity
of such a step should it be taken. The contrast
between the ironclads of to-clay and the wooden
walls with which Nelson won his great naval
victories would at Portsmouth be made signally
apparent.
Wimbledon is again close upon the Volunteers
with its camp-life, its rough enjoyments, and its
exciting competitions. A quarter of a century
has now passed since the first gathering of the
National Rifle Association on the Surrey com-
mon, and not even the most sanguine anticipa-
tions could have prophetically sketched out the
extent to which the Volunteer movement has
grown now. There is a competition—a novel
one at this meeting, which the Duke of Cam-
bridge has rightly declared must be fenced round
with every reasonable precaution. That is the
competition with revolvers—the promiscuous
carrying of which has so often been condemned
by the magistrates at the metropolitan police..
courts. G. R.