The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-04-01 00:00:00

oar feithon gorresgonbtnt.
Ms dcem It right to state that %vs do not at all times
identity ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.)

The Q ieen's visit to Germany is suggestive of a fact
whi.l is worthy of note. At the end of the stammer
in every year, or at all events at the close of the Parlia-
mentary session and the London season, British tourists
flock to the Continent in thousands. You may find
them enjoying the calm retreats which are found along
the coasts of Normandy and Brittany, plunging into
the gay life of Paris, exploring the battle-fields of the
last great war, climbing the precipitous heights of the
Alps, admiring the marble Cathedral of Milan,
criticizing the proportions of St. Beter's at Rome,
orumeying up the Rhine, passing down the swift current
of the Danube, and sunning themselves upon the shores
of that tideless sea—the Mediterranean. They would
no more think of spending their holiday in the United
Kingdom than of seeking recreation in far distant
Timbuctoo. They must "do " some part of the Con-
tinent. It is therefore fairly open to point out how
very seldom the highest personage in the land leaves
her own dominions, and seeks a change which is open
to an immense number of her subjects. Eleven years
have passed since her Majesty was in Germany, where
it will be remembered she has two children married—
the Princess Royal and Princess Alice. It is nearly

eight years ago that the Queen spent a month in
Switzerland, since' which time, I believe, she has not
been out of her own kingdom. At Baden-Baden her
Majesty will be visited by the Emperor of Germany, a
hale old man now in his eightieth year, and whose life has
included many a moving incident in the battle-field. The

Emperor of Germany is-to meet the Empress of India—
the ruier of the vast Fatherland and the sovereign of two
hundred millions of swarthy subjects in Hindoostan
will be face to face. Let us hope that those meteorolo-
gists who have been predicting another month of Arctic
temperature will be mistaken, and that the Queen will
be favoured with fine weather during the brief period
of Continental travel which she so seldom takes.

Parliament has now been sitting several weeks, and
the Easter recess is fully in sight. The Lords gene-
rally make this holiday one of thre.e weeks, for early
in the session the peers have but little to do, as there
has not been sufficient time for important Bills to come
up from the Commons. They can, therefore, very well
spare the three weeks which they take. The Com-
mons are satisfied with ten days, and will have another
ten days at Whitsuntide. Formerly the custom with
the Lower House was to have a fortnight at Easter
and a week at Whitsuntide; but the more reasonable
rule which I have mentioned now prevails; a shorter

time is taken at Easter, when members least want it,
and a longer one at Whitsun, when, in consequence of
their prolonged labours they require it more. Should
the usual practice be followed this year, the Lords
will adjourn for the Easter holidays on Friday, April

Z, and will re-assemble on Thrrrsday, the 27th. The
Commons will rise on Tuesday the 11th, and will meet
again for the despatch of business on Monday, the 24th
of the same month.

Wednesday and Saturday evenings are the times set
apart for those important institutions, Parliamentary
dinners. On Wednesday the Lords never sit, and the
Commons, by standing order, rise at six ; on Saturdays
there is no sitting of either. On both evenings there-
fore the coast is clear for dining out or foireceiving
company, then the crack of the party whip is not
heard, and the members of the House of Commons
can have their dinners in peace without fear of being sum-
moned away by the sound of the division bell. Twice

a week the Speaker gives a full-dress dinner, the invita-
tions including men of all parties in the assembly over
which he presides. The two evenings I have men-
tioned are also generally selected for those festivals in
connection with charitable societies which are so
numerous during the season, inasmuch as a peer or a

Commoner can take the chair without interfering with
his legislative duties. The "London" tavern in
13ishopsgate-street, the "Freemason's" tavern in
Great Qneen's-street, and Willis's Rooms in King.
street, St. James's, are the scenes of these festive
gatherings, and the better the banquet, the larger is

the subscription list. Some of the amounts announced
at these feasts are very substantial. There is, for
instance, a Hospital for Sick Children in Great-
Ormond-street, and at the anniversary dinner, over
which Prince Christian presided, the subscriptions were
£2,500. On the same evening the dinner of the
Society of Friends of Foreigners in distress was pro-
ductive of more than £3,300.
The annual report of the Royal National Lifeboat
Institution is always a suggestive 'document. In the
fifty-two years which have elapsed since it was formed,
23,790 lives have been saved through the efforts of its
agents. This of itself is sufficient testimony to its
value, and point out its strong claims on a great mari-
time people. Last year was a time qf storms, hurri-
canes, and disasters at sea, and'the number of ship-
wrecks all over the world was unprecedentedly large.
Amongst these were two splendid Transatlantic
steamers—the Schiller and the Deutschland, the former
of which was beaten to pieces on the rocks of Scilly on
the 7th May, when 331 persons were drowned, and the
latter on the 6th December, when 57 perished. In
both cases many more lives might have been saved had
there been any means of communication with the
nearest port or lifeboat station immediately after the
occurrence of the disaster. But where these did exist,
the services of the lifeboat men were most successful,
as is shown by the single fact that they save-4 922 lives
and; 0 ships. An organization like this, acting an the
principle that it is better to save life than to destroy
it, and doing such noble work is well worthy the sup-
port which it receives, for it is maintained solely by
voluntary contributions, and has no Government aid.
The exhibition of art needlework at South Ken.

sington, which is to be sent out to Philadelphia, is one
of the most interesting which has been brought together
for many a day. Much astonishment is expressed by
competent judges not only at the beauty of the needle-
work as such, but at the skill with which a
thoroughly artistic air had been communicated to the
slightest productions. There is little doubt that with-
in the past few years we have witnessed a rapid growth
of the taste for needlework; and this would appear to
indicate that this department of industry has a future
before it, and that it may ultimately supply employ-
ment not only to gentlewomen, but to women of all
classes and conditions. Art-needlework can never be
absolutely cheap, but there is no question that its
dearness has been over estimated. Excellent work of
elegant design is now produced at a moderate price,
but it was not deemed neoessary to consider this com-
mercial element too closely in preparing the specimens
which are to be forwarded to Philadelphia to form a
part of the world's great show during the ensuing
summer.

The representative of Italy at the Court of St.
James's has been raised to the rank of an Ambassador,
a correeponding dignity being accorded to the represen-
tation of this country at Rome. This, coming at the
same time with the discussions concerning the appoint-
ment of a new American Minister, lend some interest
to one or two facts connected with this subject. The
right to ten embassy is only claimed by a first-class
Power, and previously to this being granted to Italy
Great Britain had only five ambassadors, viz., at the
Courts of Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Constantinople, and
St. Petersburg. No distinction in the diplomatic
service is equal to that of an ambassador, who
has the right of personal audience with the Sovereign
to whose court he is accredited. Few will have for-
gotten a L incident which preceded the outbreak of war
between t lance and Germany in July 1870, when
Count detti, the ambassador of France, seeing the
King of rrueeia walking upon the promenade at Ems,
demanded from him additional guarantees that the
Prince of Hohenzollern should not become King of
Spain- The Prussian monarch, thinking he had gone
far enough, instructed big aide-de-camp to tell Count
Benedetti that he had nothing further to say to him.
War was declared by France the very next day, the
French people asserting that they had been insulted in
the person of their ambasaador, and the Prussians as
stoutly asserting that Count Benedetti had been insolent
to their Sovereign. Now, an Envoy Extraordinary or
a Minister Plenipotentiary, or any other functionary of
a less rank than an ambassador, would have had no
right to appreach.the King except through a respon-
sible Minister. It is somewhat remarkable that the
United States have no ernbapsies, merely legations.
The representative of the Transatlantic Republic should
always be spoken of as the American " Minister," but
he is often erroneously described as the American
"Ambassador." You will always see official docu-
ments dated from the "Legation of the United States,"
and by an order of Congress the Ministers are not per-
mitted to wear court costume at State ceremoniala.
This is the reason why you often see in the reports of
diplomatic receptions at Buckingham Palace by her
Majesty that "his Excellency the American Minister
was unavoidably prevented from being present."
The announcement that the Chancellor of the
Exchequer will make his annual financial statement
on Monday, the 3rd of April, sets at rest the ques-
tion whether he would explain his Budget before or
after the Easter Recess. Clearly before, so that the
ountry will have an opportunity of considering the
proposals of the Government while Parliament is up
for its brief holiday. For several weeks before the
Minister of Finance tells the House of Commons how
, he intends to raise the revenue during the ensuing
twelve months, the Treasury is besieged by deputations
praying for the repeal or the reduction of this or that

particular impost. The opponents of the Income-tax
seldom fail to lay their case before the Chancellor,
who is also asked to sweep away the excise duty on
malt, the tax on brewers' licenses, the house duty, the
railway passenger duty, and many others. Thli quietest
years for a Chancellor of the Ex,:hequer are those in
Which he has no exuplue -- nothing to give sway—no

taxes to take off. Under any circumstances, however,
he listens patiently to all that is said, and monrteously
replies that the representations which have been
made shall receive his best attention. Reading a
Budget speech, one cannot fail to be struck with the

great amount of labour which the calculations must
have cost. Yet that which is unfolded to the public
really bears but a small proportion to the actual work
expended upon it. A Budget must be something like
a newspaper—for in each case there is undoubtedly a
great deal of rejected matter in the waste paper basket
that never comes to light at all.
On a fine spring-like afternoon—which all would be
glad to see a little more numerous than has been the
case of late—the trains converging on places near the
river side between Putney and Mortlake are crowded
with persons anxious to witness the practice of the
Univerqty crews. So popular is the outing that trips
of this kind are specially advertised by the railway
companies. Formerly the race itself was only deemed
worthy of notice by excursionists; now the daily prac-
tice upon the Thames is witnessed by thousands,
for whose accommodation extra trains are put
on. More especially upon a Saturday afternoon
you would find the surface of the stream dotted
with craft of all descriptions, for aquatics are
, very popular, and certainly warehousemen, clerks,
shopmen, and indeed all who are compelled to
lead a sedentary life, could not have a more whole-
some and healthy recreation. Within an hour of their
leaving Cheapside and Cannon-street, they are lightly
attired in flannels, guernseys, and light caps, breath-
ing the country air, expanding their chests, developing
the muscles of their arms, shaking off the musty soot
of city life, and enjoying themselves with all the
greater energy because they are a long way from the
city now. There it is, in the distance, truly,
canopied with smoke, or overhung by a haze
which is the result of the immense traffie
in the street that parcel out into divisions the homes
of millions of human beings. At times a north-east
wind, sweeping up the river, bears upon its wings the
unmistakeable sound which betokens the presence of a
vast population. To those who are comparatively
near, the roar at midday resembles the breaking of the
Atlantic surges upon the shores of Connaught; but at
eventide, and in the early morning, the sound is not so
much that of the deep diapason of the sea as of the
hum of light summer waves as they break upon a sandy
beach. At any season, and at any hour of the day, it
seems to tell the listener that transitory things may
come and go, but London lives for ever !