The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-10-11 00:00:00

Cur fonban 6orrtspodent,

IWe deem it right to stste that we do not at all times
Identify ourselves with our correspondent's opinions.]

The holidays of Ministers have been cut !bort
earlier than usual this year in consequence of the
meeting of Parliament on the 23rd; and hence the
Cabinet Council at so speedy a date after the proro-
gation as the 6th of October is thoroughly accounted
for._ Her Majesty's advisers have suspended their
vacation to come up and deliberate in the greyest and
gloomiest of cities during the long and dreary months
uf autumn and winter, but which, in the exceptionally
fine summer through which we have passed has re-
joiced in a flcod of sunshine some of which we should
have been glad to store up for the dark days of
'YoVeinber, December, and January. The early days
of October in London have been most enjoyable, for
the chill character of the month has been relieved by
tbys of calm and brightness which will stand out by
-contrast with the dismal time that winter is sure to
bring, with its many a night of storm and many a
day of tempest.

As to the business which has so 'soon brought the
Cabinet together, that may be pretty well surmised
by the merest tyro in political affairs. It seems gene-
rally to be assumed that the Lords will adhere to the
position which they took up in the summer, and that
the Frrnellise Bill will be again rejected, although
by a reduced majority. In that case what will be
done? Will the Government be inclined to bring in
the measure again in February in the hope that
the gradually-diminishing majority will then
have disappeared altogether? This is the
course advised by the moderato section of
the Liberal party. On the other hand the
advanced wing of the Ministerial host advo-
cate the pursuit of a drastic policy, iu case of the
second rejection of the bill, and would be impatient
at the agitation being protracted until the spring. A
creation of peers with a view of passing the Franchise
13:11 would, it is hold, be a mere temporary makeshift;
what is wanted is something which will prevent the
possibility of such a deadlock between the two
Houses as we have lately witnessed. That is what
is contended by the more fiery spirits of Mr. Glad-
stone's supporters, and we shall not have long ncw
to. wait before we see what effect this line of reason-
ing has upon the minds of her Majesty's advisers.

It is well known that the Queen herself is averse to
nny straining of the Constitution which came to her
i i unimpaired, and t s held by many authorities that
a wholesale creation of peers would be such a strain.
It is true that Bing William gave his assent to the
creation of such a number as would ensure the pass-
ing of the Reform Bill of 1832; but the country was
on the verge of revolution, and the bewildered
monarch had no alternative. It was better to strain
the constitution than to lose a kingdom. The crisis
is not now so grave; or rather the popular manifesta-
tions have all been conducted peaceably and in order.
Bristol is not in the hands of a riotous mob, nor is
Nottingham Castle in flames. The Queen would
rather that the dispute were settled by mutual con-
cession than by such an exercise of the Royal pre-
rogative as would for the time completely turn the
balance of parties in a co-ordinate branch of the
Legislature. Of course, such an alteration is often
effected in the composition of the House of Com_
mons, but this is done by the people at the polls, and
not by the Sovereign at the suggestion of this or that
particular Minister.

London is filling again now that Parliament is
about to meet again; the blinds in the western squares
are no longer drawn, for the mansions of our legis-
lators have to be swept and garnished. As the holi-
day season draws to a close winter sessions of literary
societies are opened, and the doors of exhibitions of
paintings peculiar to the season, once more throw open
their doors. Meanwhile the halls of the Royal
Acidemy are closed, and the artists who will have
pictures for next year's exhibition are busy with
brush and easel. They have half a year before
them to give the finishing touches to their pro-
ductions and before, on the first Monday in
May, the doors of that splendid home of art in
Burlington-gardens are again thrown open to all who
glory in the works of our British artists, albeit they
may not be so famous as the Italian old masters of
bygone centuries.
Both in country and town the season which is now
coining to an end has been one or the most remarkable
of recent years. All over the land the kindly fruits of
the earth have been gathered with such an abundance
as to redeem the character of the British climate. Not
for eight years has there been anything like such a
harvest; indeed the complaint is that the produce of
the soil has bsen so plentiful that much of it is not worth
selling at the prize offered for it. As to hotel-keepers,
all over the islands, it is long since they experienced
such a time. The saying that "it's all ill wind that
blows no good" has never been more thoroughly veri-
fied. Cholera has turned into a veritable harvest-
field of Death fair cities upon the tideless Mediter-
ranean such as Marseilles and Naples; so the British
tourist not only remains at home, but the foreigners,
scared by the terrible disease from their own homes,
come over here. Another cause was the exceptionally
fine weather. Such summers as that through which
we have passed are comparatively rare, and when they
come all are anxious to escape from the crowded town
to the seaside, there to inhale the reviving breath of
ocean. The hot sunshine which has filled the grana-
ries of our English agriculturists has filled many a
grave in the south of France and Italy; and, while
lamenting that such a scourge has fallen upon those
fair lands, .et us be exceedingly thankful that it has
not invaded our own.
The total eclipse of the moon was seen splendidly
in London on Saturday night. Such an October day
in the British capital is not of oft occurrence; it was
clear and springlike, and if the people themselves
could have arranged the hours of the phenomenm,
they could not have done it better. The first contact
with the earth's shadow was at a quarter after eight,wh en
the streets devoted to Bohemian markets are crowded
with people. The gradual darkening of the lesser
light which for so many thousands of years has ruled
the night was watched with the greatest interest
by the busy thousands in the thoroughfares, and it
took only an hour to blot out the lunar orb alto-
gether, and to convert what had been a magnificent_
moonlight evening into one of darkness, relieved only
by the faint glimmer of the stars and constellations.
There were Orion and the Pleiades, just as they were
in the records of the Book of Job ; the bright stars of
Ursa Major, familiar to eve:y school, also helped to
relieve the darkness of a night so suddenly plunged
• into Cimmerian gloom by a celestial phenomen
easily understandable to ourselves, but one which
might easily surprise and terrify benighted and
ignorant races. After remaining, as it were,
embedded in the shadow of our own world for more
than cm hour anas. half, the olightoot Ti.m of the left
disc became visible, and in another hour the dark
blanket which seemed to have been cast 'over the
moon had disappeared. She was again throwing her
effulgent light over the crowded town and the silent
:coniatri,'tqkm the.populated area and upon the quiet
- retreats of l'esral life, upon the thronged highway of
London's iiver, and upon the undisturbed surface of
• Arcadian , streams perpetually making their way
through picturesque landscapes towards the sea.
The beginning of the London theatrical season for
• the winter Will be almost coincident with the closing
of the Health Exhibition, at which the managers
of our temples of dramatic art will give expression
to a sigh of relief. People have poured towards
. South Kensington at the rate of 200,000 a week, and
during this the last month of its remaining open,
*special arrangements have been made by the railway
companies for bringing to London as many as pos-
sible of country visitors as care to come up and see
.• the show. This competition of the other places of
• entertainment in the metropolis with what is practi-
cally a Government department has given rise to much
angry comment. At the same time, such has been
, the extraordinary success of the Fisheries and the
Healtheries as to show that these have hit off the

popular taste to a nicety, appreciated by the public in
a degree which has drawn them to Kensington
literally by millions. These seem to have supplied a
want which the people recognised, and the chances
are that these )xhibitions will increase rather than
diminish in the favour of the masses.
The unfounded rumour of the recall of Lord
, . Wolseley which found credence in London last week,
r•, was, in all-probability, based upon the supposition that
General Gordon is doing so well at Khartoum and
~ Bfoerrebeeurnanseteoessreanryder
Theepirogresdsaotf an etxrapeddicit2ioon naryof
. this rumour, both in London and from Cairo, was
satisfactory to all who have any idea of the enormous

d7fliculties with which Gordon has had to t3ontend.
The diary of the siege of Khartoum, as published in
the Times, will make a bright page in the history of
this country; but Gordon once more safely back in
our midst, will undoubtedly remain with us, and will
not be permitted again to imperil his valuable life
amid the arid deserts of the Soudan.