The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-05-20 00:00:00

Our yonbon Corrtspoithtnt.

rWe deem it right to state that we do not at all tlzi.C3
identify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.]

The presence of the Empress cf Germany in London
and the return of the Plince of Wales have cumbined
to make the capital very gay. Within ferts,-eig h t hours
the Queen held two Drawing-rooms at Buckingham
Palace, and the arrival of the Heir-apparent on the
day which separated those two events reminded many
of the dwellers in the metropolis of bygone times, when
the West-end was regularly alive with courtly bustle
and animation. The Prince had been away exactly eeven
months; he left on the 11th cf "chill October" as the
poets would have it, and came back with us again on
the 11th of " merrie May," a phrase equally poetical
and inexact. Indeed I doubt if May were not the
colder of the two months, and the keen north-east
winds which now periodically visit us have done much
to deprive it of its reputation for warpath and geniality.
As to the Empress of Germany, her presence reminded
many of the laconic but expressive telegrams aelciied

to her by her august husband during the war with
France nearly six years ago. One great event after
anothet was announced in the most terse and concise

manner. For instance there was the first great battle,
fought on the the 6th 'August, 1870, when the Crown
Prince, at the head of an army of 120,000 men, burst
upon Marshal MacMahon at Woerth, and dealt France
a blow from which she never recovered. The aged
monarch telegraphed to the present E mpress, then Queen
of Prussia, in these terms "Wonderful luck! Great
victory won by Fritz!" The crowning triumph of
Sedan was announced in equally concise terms—a
triumph which destroyed the Empire of France and
made the Empire of Germany. When Metz surren-
dered, the message ran: "Metz has capitulated. This
one of the most important events of the month."
Not of the month only, but really of centuries, for it
put an end to the dreams of a Rhenish frontier for
France, pushed her boundaries back to the Moselle,
lest her two splendid provinces, and gave her foes
possession of a fortress which so long as it is held by
Germany must place France absolutely at the mercy
of her conquerors. Metz is nearer to Paris than
Liverpool is to London, and if a foreign Power held
the great port upon the Mersey, and turned it into a
fortress of immense strength against us, not much
could be said for the independence of either the capital
or of the country.
The world of art has lately had quite enough to
talk about in the extraordinary price given for Gaits.
boroughs portrait of the Duchess of Devonshire,
which has been sold by Messrs. Christie and Manson
for the enormous sum of £10,500. We often hear the
works of the old Italian masters praised very highly
and compared with those of English artist, greatly
to the disadvantage of the latter; but rjit pay be
fairly questioned if even the masterpieces of such
men as Michael Angelo, Titian, Rubens, and
Tintoretto would fetch a much larger. sum. The
painting in question is undoubtedly one of very great
merit, exhibiting in a superlative degree the artist's
excellencies in richness of colour and harmony, per-
fection of position and delicacy of expression. Yet
the gentleman who bought it for £65 was enabled to
sell it for ten thousand one hundred guineas! This
was a far better investment than many of those which
have been heard of lately upon the Stock Exchange!

The reign of Queen Anne bas often been described
as the Augustan age of English literature, and it was
also a time of great military victories by the Dake of
Marlborough. The reign of Qaeen Victoria may
well go down to history as the age of geographical
exploration and discovery. Travall:rs, like poets, are
born—not made. They wander in unknown lands as
If by instinct, and having once experienced the attrac-
tions of romantic travel, they have seldom been able
to go without them, and settle down into the common-
place routine of life in civilized communities. Within
the last few yeaas we have had the adventures of
Livingstone, Captain Barton, Sir Bartle Frere,
Mr. Stanley, Captain Speke, and, latest of all,
Lieutenant Cameron. Never since the times of
Queen Elizabeth, when Raleigh, Drake, Frobisher, and
others made the name of England for ever illustrious
in the history of adventurous discovery and scientific
exploration has there been an age so fertile in
distinguished travellers as the present. This is a re-
markable fact to set against the repeated assertions of
those who mourn over the decay of chivalry, and
the loss of physical strength and endurance in Britain.
The national flag is found floating in the most remote
and inaccessible regions in the globe, and at this very
moment an attempt is being made to plant it by reso-
lute and daring men in the vicinity of the North Pole
itself.

Grosvenor House, in Upper Grosvenor-street, Park
lane, is internally one of the most splendid of the pala-
tial mansions of the nobility. It is the town residence of
the Duke of Westminster, the proprietor of the soil
upon which stands the richest part of London—
Belgravia and Tyburnia. The income of his Grace is
estimated at a million sterling per annum, and he has
always in his employment a numerous army of work-
men who are engaged in laying out of new streets and
the reconstruction of houses upon the valuable
Grosvenor Estate. The residence of the Duke is often
thrown open for the arivancement of a good cause, and
on the day of the arrival of the Prince of Wales in
town, a fashionable and distinguished company as-
sembled at Grosvenor House to listen to a concert by
the pupils of the Royal Normal College for the
Education of the Blind. Those who received invita-
tions had the privilege of going over the mansion—
s treat to lovers of art of which they did not'
fail to avail themselves. Last year the Earl
of Dudley threw open his house in Park-lane for a
similar laudable object. I may add that the term
"Lane," as applied to many a thoroughfare in London,
is often likely to be misunderstood. Park-lane, for
instance, is one of the most aristocratic streets in the
metropolis, and none lint those with very large incomes
can afford to live there.

Few sayings have been more often quoted than that
of tl'e Duke of Wellington, which described the Battle
of Na.varino, fought in 1.527, as an "untoward event."
To that tight Russia joined with England to destroy
the Turkish fleet, and the Mike's political sagacity
told him that the strengtlaenieg of Russia at the ex.
pen9e of Turkey was a niece ot unwiadom which sooner
or later would be .regretted. The chastisement of
Turkey was then carried out in the cause of the inde-
pendence of Greece; for the rule of the Turk was
synonymous with cruelty, oppression, and fanaticism,
and it was hoped that a revived Greece might reflect
the glories of her ancient namesake. These expecta-
tions have not been realised, but on the other hand the
Turk has done nothing to redeem his character in the
public opinion of Europe. The recent outbreak of re-
ligions intolerance at Salonica may, if not avenged by
tte Ottoman Government itself, prove almost as
untoward an event for the Mussulman as Navarino.
The assassination of the French and German
Consuls by a rabidly fanatical mob has natu-
rally provoked much indignation in both countries;
and unless punishment is awarded by the Sublime
Porte to the perpetrators of this outrage, the two
nations uh:ch have been insulted by the slaying
of their representatives will, if they are unable to agree
in anything elee, unite in exacting reparation for a
cowardly and fatal attack upon two defenceless men,
whoce offence was that they differed in religious belief
from the faith of the Moslem.

During the session of Parliament, announcements
frequently appear in the papers to the effect that Her
Majesty held a Council at Windsor or at Osborne on
this or that particular day. To this, of course, only
Privy Councillors are admitted, .and such as have
special business to transact with the Sovereign. All
Privy Councillors have the distinction of Right
Honourable, and they are bound by oath to reveal none
of the secrets which may be entrusted to their keeping
while they enjoy the confidence of the Crown. The
Council is, indeed, almost as old an institution as the
Monarehy itself. It was first formed by King Alfred
in 895, and the shadows of nearly a thousand years thus
look down upon it. The number of members was
originally twelve, but it is now unlimited, and, with the
Irish Council, consists at present of about 250
lords and gentlemen. When Her Majesty presides
at a Council, those attending it appear in Court
dress—a custom which formerly applied to meet-
ings of the Cabinet In these later times, however,
the Cabinet Ministers dispense with such ceremony,
and assemble at the ofiLlial residence of the Prime
Minister at Whitehall in the ordinary attire of English
gentlemen. Yet court dress at Cabinet Councils was
worn within the recollection of many living, although
in the excitement of the passing of the first Reform
Bill, the Ministers had sometimes to be summoned so
hastily that there was no time for changing, and from
this circumstance the practice gradually died out.
Court dress he however, still necessary to all who attend
the Parliamentary banquets of the Speaker, which are
given on Wednesday evenings to the members of the
House of Commons without distinction of party,
"The gathering of the eaglea" is an expression
which is often used in reference to the partition of
Poland by Russia, Prussia, and Austria in 1772, when
a great kingdom was suddenly pounced upon by three
more powerful neighbours, and divided between them.
It has also been frequently heard of late in alluding to
the proposals of the same powers for the treatment of
Turkey. Each of them adopts the eagle as its
national standard, and history shows that in all ages
this statcly bird has been a favourite emblem
wi:h warlike nations. Four hundred years before
the Christian era the standard of the eagle
was borae by the Persians at the Battle of Cunafa,
and when the Romans were masters of the known
world, they carried gold and silver eagles. as ensigns,
sometimes representing them with a thunderbolt in
their talons on the point of a spear. "Where the
carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together,"