The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-03-11 00:00:00

THE QUEEN'S LEVEE.

Her Majesty held a levde on Monday afternoon at
Buckingham Palace. The Queen accompanied by
Princess Beatrice, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke
of Cambridge, Prince Christian, Prince Edward of
Saxe Weimar, and the Duke of Teck, entered the
Throne-room shortly after three o'clock. The Queen
wore a black silk dress with a train trimmed with
grebe and crape, and a long white tulle veil sur-
mounted by a coronet of pearls and diamonds.
Her Majesty also wore four rows of large pearls, ear-
rings and brooch, of pearls and diamonds, the Riband
and Star of the Order of the Garter, the Orders of
Victoria and Albert, Louise of Prussia, St. Catherine
of Russia, the Portuguese and Spanish Orders, and the
Saxe Coburg and Gotha Family Order. The Princess
Beatrice wore a dress of cream-colour satin trimmed
with green velvet, and a green velvet train. Head-
dress—cream-colour tulle veil and feathers. Orna-
ments—pearls, the Order of St. Catherine of Russia,
the Victoria and Albert Order, and the Saxe Coburg,
and Gotha Family Order. The presentations were
about 170 in number. tiO
MR. TROLLOPE ON THE ART OF
READING.

At the second annual meeting of the Quebec Insti-
tution, held recently in London, Mr. Anthony Trollope
delivered an address on the Art of Reading. Referring
to the reading of novels, Mr. Trollope said "it was
much better that they should read no novel than that
they should devote themselves exclusively to them ;
but if they were readers, he was sure they would find
it advantageous so to mix light reading with serious
reading that the one should not engross nor the other
weary them. A workthad been written by a popular
authoress entitled My Life, and What shall Ido
with it ; ' and nothing, he thought, could be of more
importance to young people than such a question.
The work they would have to do was certain to
come; but work alone would not make them happy.
There were instructors of youth who would excite
them to devote their leisure hours to studies more
fatiguing than the ordinary duties of life; but he con-
sidered that the great majority of them would require
relaxation, and not additional labour, when the neces-
sary task of the day was done; for recreation was as
necessary as labour itself. He recommended them to
acquire the art of reading—a never-failing source ,of
enjoyment, but only to be obtained by practice, and
not, he impressed on his audience, when middle life
had come on them. Mr. Walter, in his admirable
address last September on Thoroughness in work,'
had recapitulated the various objects in which they
had the privilege of receiving instruction in the insti-
tution ; but a knowledge of these subjects would not
make them readers—practice alone could do so, and he
would advise them to practise when young. As to what
they should read, he would say, good books. Above all
things, he would advise them not to deceive them-
selves in their choice. If they could make poetry a
delight with them, it had a charm which could not be
found in any other literature; but if poetry were dis-
tasteful, there was b, world of prose. They must read
for amusement, but they need not on that account
eschew acquiring information. Instructive books,
indeed, were the books to get hold of. Magazine.
reading unfortunately left too little behind it; and
as to novels, there were, of course, novels and novels,
but he did not think that Scott, Thackeray, or
Dickens ever wrote anything impure."