The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-07-15 00:00:00

Jj ur )700DIT 6orrtspoithod.

live deem It right to state that we do not at all titles
Identify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.]

The intelligence from the present scene of European
hostilities reminds us of the names of places which were
constantly recurriug two-and-twenty years ago. It is
like opening a chapter in our lives which seemed to
have been closed for ever by the eabeeqtent march of
momentous events—bringing once more to the surface
the dust in memory's land which had lain undisturbed
through two entire decades. We are once more
reading all about the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus,
Gallipoli and Varna,. Kalafat and Widdin ; once more
is the British Press declaring that, without feeling
any sympathy for Turkey as an empire, it is impos-
sible to allow Russia to become posse.sed of Con-
stantinople, and to grow into an all-absorbing, all-
conquering Power in Europe. The splendid position
of the Turkish capital, as commanding both the
Mediterranean and the Black Seas, would be a most
dangerous weapon in the hands of an ambitious
Power; and if England herself wished to have it, there
would be a combination against her such as there was
against Russia in 1854. For their own protection
other countries could not permit the key of the whole
of Europe to pass into the hands of an existing great
Power. In the hands of the indolent, fatalistic
Moslem, who does nothing but smoke his chibouque
and drink coffee, Constantinople is harmless; but in
the possession of a nation with a formidable navy, it
would be a standing menace. to the whole of the
continent. Hence it is that the process of disintegration
going on in Turkey is watched with anxiety and
alarm on every side. England sends forth the most
powerful fleet which her arsenals ever equipped, and
Rations it at such a convenient distance from Con-
stantinople that it may be ready for all emergencies;
Russia—the great Colossus of the North—is uneasy
from end to end of her vast dominions at the faint
hope of clutching territories where eternal snow and
lengthened nights give place to genial skies and long
summer days; Austria is perturbed at the thought of
the Danube—her most important water-way—passing
into the hands of her ambitious neighbour; Germany,
with the chance of Russia being involved in war,
casts her eyes upon the Baltic provinces, which she
would so much like to annex; France, elated at the
thought of recovering Alsace and Lorraine, hopes to
see her hated Teuton foe drawn into the strik,
BO as to march her armies to the Rhine, and win
back Metz and Stragburg. See, then, how the peace
of Europe depends upon this Eastern question,
as it is called, remaining quiet. Why, it has been
asked very naturally, should Great Britain fight for
Turkey? The reply of our statesmen would be that
to permit the Turkish capital to pass over to any other
Power would be to abdicate our position in Europe,
and to bid farewell to the naval supremacy which has
come down to us as the heritage of centuries.
The celebration of the Centenary of American Inde-
pendence has recalled to mind the immense extent of
a country which a hundred years ago was a Briar's
colony, and we can well understand the reluctance of
King George 111. and his ministers to part with such
a territory as that represented by the present 'United
States. We have still vast colonial possessions left
to us, but none of them can make up for that which
we then lost. In Australia, for instance, you may
travel over 500 miles of desert at a stretch, without a
drop of water, and therefore wholly uninhabited by
man or beast. Again, you might journey from
Youldeb, in South Australia, to Perth in the west of
the colony, a distance of 2,500 miles, and throughout
the entire district scarcely an area would be found
suitable for. settlement. Meanwhile the veil is
shortly to be lifted from that land of mystery—New
Guinea. Recently a party of travellers have pene-
trated into the interior of the island, and having
reached a height of a thousand feet, beheld in every
direction mountains elothed with vegetation. All
around them was a fertile country, and an ornithologist
amongst the party made a most interesting collection.
The palm tree is often mentioned in the sacre
writings, and some of the most beautiful imagery of
the Bible is associated with it. To flourish as the
palm and as the cedars of Lebanon was laid down as
the highest type of human progress; and to this day a
grove of venerable cedars 40 feet in height, remains
ADM the Lebanon height.. The palm may now be
seen growing in the open air in the suburbs of London.
It was planted some years ago at Clapham, one of our
southern outskirts, and for many winters the trees
were covered, so as to protect them from the cold.
But of late they have been considered strong enough
to do without this nursing, have taken their chance,
flourished under this treatment, and brought forth
abundant blossom. Thus, in the language of Mrs.
Hemans, "the feathery palm trees rise" not under the
sunny skies which ripen the date, but in the im-
mediate neighbourhood of the murky atmosphere which
seems ever present to the mind in mentioning the name
of London.

One of the most interesting collections which has
been Erought together is that which the Prince of
Wales has lent to the Indian Museum at South
Kensington. It consists of the presents received by
his Royal Highness during his Eastern tour, and
nothing could better illustrate the peculiar inclination
for show and glitter which prevails in the Oriental
mind. The Queen and Royal Family have paid visits
to it, and must have been much amused at the sight
of some of the gifts which Indian chiefs thought meet
for the acceptance of the Heir Apparent to the British
Crown. The Prince's collection of wild animals at
the Zoological Gardens is also one of much interest,
and is at once sought out by visitors to that favourite
place of recreation. The Gardens, indeed, seem to
become more popular every year, and at times
are as full as they can conveniently be. Her
Majesty's Officers of Works have just offered to the
Council of the Zoological Society a slice of Regent's
Park, on condition that the public should be
admitted free on one day in the week. The
coaxial were compelled to decline it on the
ground that the gardens would not contain the
enormous crowd whfch would flock to them on a
free day. But for a fortunate shower of rain on Whit-
Monday, which arrested the stream of visitors, the
gates must have been elosed, and even then nearly
45,000 had paid for admittance. Those who wish to
see any of the "lions" of London in any degree of peace
and comfort, should never select a free day for doing
so. It is far better, for instance, to pay your shilling
at the Tower than to be compressed into such a crowd
as that which gathers at the gateways on these days
when the fees are remitted. The time which you lose
in writing at the entrails° is out of all proportion to
the shilling saved, and the experience of the throng
upon Tower Hill is of a chasacter such as those wlx)
have once gone through it do not care to repeat.

One of the Select Committees of the House of Com-
mons has been inquiring into a subject which is of
great importance to Anglo-Indians. It is the depre-
ciation in the value of silver, which still continues to
fall, and the rupee becomes worth less and loss every
month. Europeans who have settled in India, and
have bmilies at home who require remittances, are
seriously crippled by this fall in the price of rhe silver
currency, and some of them talk of going into business,
and buying cargoes to send to England so as to save
the loss on exchange. Some gold has been discovered
in India, but not to any large extent, and the coat of
working by steam engines has proved too great in con-
sequence of the high price of fuel. An attempt is to
be made to use water power, but water ki many parts
of India is a very scarce commodity.
Who can have forgotten those days in July six years
ago, when France and Germany, unknown to them-
selves and to the whole of Europe, were on the eve of
one of the most tremendous convicts known in history.
It 'was only on the 6tl of the month that we first heard
of the candidature of the Prince of Hoherz Alern for
the throne of Spain, and on that day the Duke de
Gramont declared in the Corps Legislative in Paris
that if this be persisted in, "France would do her duty
without hesitation and without weakness." On the 12th
the King of Pruisis advised the Prince to decline the offer
of the Spanish Crown, and on the following day, when
the European Stock Exchanges were rejoicing in the
prospect of assured peace, and in the removal of the
only Possible pretext for war, occurred that memorable
interview of Couneksenedetti with the Prussian monarch
on the prom anade at Eme, when France demanded that
under no circumstances, and at no future time, should
the king consent to a Hohenzollern being placed on the
Spanish Throne. The King, seeing clearly enough
that, if he conceded this, he would be called upon to
grant some further impossible demand, declined further
negotiations, and then it was that both prepared for
the war which had become inevitable. France declared
that she had been insulted in the person of her
Ambassador ; Prussia held that she had been insulted
in the person of her Sovereign; and all attempts to
keep the peace between them proved fruitless. on
the 15th, Ar. Emile 011ivier, in the Corps Legislatif,
• announced that France had declared war against
Pinnies and that afternoon the commotion in the city
of London was a spectacle never to be forgotten.
Down went the value of securities upon the Stock
Exchange; on the 13th, with the prospect of peace, .
was difficult to boy; on the 15th, with the certainty of
war, it was impossible to sell. People would not have
many so-called securities in a gift, for the liability
attaching to them would immensely counter-
balance any prospective profit that might accrue.
That night the streets of Paris were paraded
by thoughtless crowds shouting " To Berlin !"
In Berlin there was less noise, but it was noticed that
one public building in the city was lighted up from
basement to roof, as if for an illumination. It was the
War Office, where hard practical work was going on
In giving the last finishing touches to those schemes of
military organisation which had been maturing foe

'

Years, and were destined to be worked out with such
marvellous results.

On any of those long summer evenings an hour spent
in one of the metropolitan parks furnishes an agreeable
change from the smoke and noise, and bustle of the
town. Perhaps of the whole, Hyde Park is the place
where the greatest cr.ntrasts in London life may be
presented. Rottou Row, the Ladies Mile, and the
trysting place for the Coaching and Four-in-Hand
Clubs, hard by the Magazine, illustrate the vi-3w of
existence which is taken by the higher classes of society.
These have the pack chiefly to themselves during the
greater part of the afternoon ; but after six o'clock the
equestzians and the occupants of the equipages go
home to dinner; and just then is the time when
those whose lot is not cast in so favoured a
mould pour into the Dark to breathe its
fresh air after the work of the day has been
done. The Serpentine presents a curious spectacle.
Gliding over its surface like so many Venetian gon-
dolas, are innumerable specimens cf naval architecture,
from the Indian canoe with its single occupant wield-
ing a pair of paddles, to the commodious boat with its
family party, and the trim little yacht with sails all
set to catch the fitful breeze. But what are those dots
scattered in irregular fashion over the broad sheet of
water, now visible and then disappearing below the
surface? Well, these are the heads of nume-
rous bathes's, who flock to the Serpentine
'of an evening in hundreds, and are there
allowed to enjoy themselves by permission of
Lord Henry Lennox, Her Majesty's First Commis-
sioner of Works. Very amusing it is to see the bathers
hasten to get out of the way of a boat, and to note the
skill with which a steersman avoids the head which he
beholds near at hand. From the distance comes the
sound of the traffic in Bayswater, mingled with the
chimes of church bells, and reminding you of the
pretty lines of Arundell :
"Would ye hear a tale of the olden time,
When monks were girt with Toledo blades—
To protect the altar at evening chime,
From Pagan riots or Moorish raids?
Would ye hear how the monk-knights won the day?
Lend a listening ear to the minstrel's lay."
But the chimes of the bells whose sounds are flung out
over Hyde-park fall upon a calmer air, and upon the
ears of a people whose steeples and pinnacled towers
tell of Christianity, and whose ships convey civilisa-
tion and the Gospel throughout the earth.