The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-03-21 00:00:00

Dr (i:onboit Corrispoithtuf.

[we ,I,m It right to etr.ce that we tin not at all “tnell
identify ,Irt,eives with QV. Correrpondent's opinions.)

The statement -made by Mr. Gladstone in the
House of Commons that an agreement had been
arrived at with Russia on the gnostical of the
Afghai_i frontier, although qualified by the
addition that it would last as long as there was
any occasion for it, undoubtedly relieved the
public anxiety. When Mr. Canning was told
that there must be war sooner or later, he replied
that he preferred it to be later. The subsequent
A:dement by the Czar that he could not con-
reive hew any but the wildest dreamers could
imagine for an instant that he had the intention
of declaring war is also reassuring. On the other
hand the war party in Russia is said to be very
stroma just as it was thirty years ago, when it
urged the Emperor Nicholas to his fate. The
Imperial and Royal family complications
:.n connection with this threatened danger are
remarkable. The Empress of Russia is a sister of
the Princess of Wales, and the Duke of Eclinburgh
is a brother-in-law of the Czar; who is a great-
nephew of the Emperor of Germany, the father-
in-law of the Queen's eldest daughter. The time
has gone by, however, when family alliances could
control the destinies of Empires.
The Egyptian Hall of the Mansion House is
a magnificent apartment, as its description sug-
gests. When it is laid for a banquet the bril-
liant lights are reflected in the flashing mirrors,
arid the spectacle is one which is not soon for-
gotten. But owing to its architectural position
in the civic palace the Egyptian Hall has not
the advantages of natural light 7 so that on the
longest day, when the summer sunshine is
flooding the pavements in front of the Royal
Exchange, this famous room is lighted artificially.
The light and beat were welcome enough on.
Saturday afternoon, when the Lord Mayor pre-
sided over a distinguished gathering at the
Egyptian Hall in favour of the movement for
raising a national memorial to General Gordon.
The speakers included the Prince of Wales, the
Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke of Cambridge,
the Lord Chancellor, and Cardinal Manning.
Following the commemorative services of the
previous day, the assemblage at the Mansion
House was another illustration of the deep
impression which the services of General Gordon
have made upon the minds of all classes of his
countrymen.
For five hundred and fifty years the City of
London has returned four members to the House
of Commons, which has now decided that in
future Parliaments the City shall send two and no
more. The Seats Bill has gone mainly on the
principle of apportionment of members according
to population; but it seems that if this had been
strictly carried out, the City would have had
only one member instead of the two which it
retains. There can be little doubt that, so far
as the sleeping population is concerned, the con-
ditions within the civic boundaries have changed
since the days of Edward 111. The bankers and
merchants had then no suburban residences, as
they have now—west, south, and north of the
ever-spreading capital. The City was inhabited
at night by the men who made their money in
it by day; now it is in the hands of caretakers
after sunset until sunrise the next morning.
The City made a gallant fight for the retention
of its four members, but it was beaten.
Dry but cold weather favoured the first Draw-
ing-room of the season, presided over by the
Princess of Wales, and the second levee held on
the following Saturday by the Prince. The
Queen's intention to hold a Drawing-room has
riven great satisfaction, though it should be
temembered that the fatigue of standing and
receiving some hundreds of ladies would be
likely enough to tell upon a lady of mature
years, who has swayed the sceptre over the
British Empire nearly half a century. As many
:as four hundred presentations have been on the
list of the Lord Chamberlain when the Queen
Ives presided, a number which her Majesty has
leund it impossible to get through with, and has
dled to her aid the Princess of Wales. The
crowd which assembles in St. James's-park on
the occasion of a drawing-room seldom varies
either in numbea or appearance. It is invariably
respectable, drawn together by a curious desire
to witness the dresses of the ladies who are to be
presented. Its component parts do not appear
to have much to occupy themselves in a cora-
taunity which is generally so full of business.
The revelations at Bow-street over the dyna-
mite explosions show that at last the police have
succeeded in obtaining some valuable information
respectinff this conspiracy. The prisoners will
probably be committed for trial at the April
Session of the Central Criminal Court; but it is
doubtful whether it will be taken until May. It
will be pleaded on behalf of the prisoners that in
a charge of high treason, involving the penalty
of death, they require time to prepare their
defence, and the hearing will in all likelihood be
adjourned until the following session. In a case
of this kind, too, a special Commission of Judges
will be appointed. On the prosecution of Simon
Bernard for conspiracy to murder the Emperor
Napoleon there were four judges—Campbell,
:Pollock, Erie, and Crowde ; and in all probability
there will not be less than three now.
News for the vast numberwhich crowded "The
Jaealtheries " last year—a number equal to the
entire population of London—is that the
Inventions Exhibition will be opened on Monday
the 4th May by in all probability the Prince of
Wales. This is a week earlier than either the
Fisheries or its more prosperous successor of last
year. It will be interesting to see what slang
term is capable of being coined with respect to
the coming exhibition at all corresponding to
that of the Healtheries which took the popular
taste, although the etymology of the word was
of course untraceable. It is very clear that
" Inventories " will not do. An inventory is not
an invention nor anything like it. However,
those who enjoyed the Fish and the Health
Exhibitions will have too lively a recollection of
their varied attractions not to go to South
Kensington in the coming summer, whatever may
be the familiar name under which the new col-
lection of inventions may be known.
The arrest of Zebehr Pasha on a charge of
treachery, following so closely the treachery
which led to the capture of Khartoum and the
death of Gordon, together with the insult cast
by the Mudir of Dongola upon the Grand Cross
of St. Michael and St. George, must make many
a British taxpayer ask himself for what manner
of people English blood and treasure are being
poured out in the Soudan. Twelve months ago
Lord Ashley, at a meeting at the Mansion
Reuse, denounced the cowardice of those whom
he described as "those wretched Egyptians,"
and the More we see of them the less we are in-
clined to think of them. Lord Wolseley, in his
recent address to the army, spoke of an autumn
campaign; but by that time we shall know a
great deS,l about the cost of that which has gone
before, and in the not improbable contingency
id complications with Russia, we may then
safely bid farewell to further operations in the
ISoudan, with Gordon dead and the object of a
;costly expedition completely frustrated.
The debate on the navy estimates in the
Mouse of Commons this year has been followed
ywith greater interest than usual, owing to the
:discussions in the press during the past few
raorths on the condition of this arm of the
'rational service. When the question was raised
some months ago the attention given to it did
not correspond with the importance of the sub-
ject; but the clouds which have since passed
over the horizon of foreign politics have been
sufficiently numerous to cause anxiety. Prince
Bismarck assures ,as that all differences between
England and Germany are now at an end, but
that is only one of the troubles which enkaged
the attention of the Foreign, India, and Colonial
Offices; and in such circumstances the national
voice would undoubtedly be for the keeping of
the navy in the highest state of efficiency com-
patible with the dignity of a great Empire,