The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-05-11 00:00:00

(We deem it right to state that we do not at all times
idintiiy ourselves with our Correspowihnt's opinions.]

Westward the course of empire takes its way. His-
tory, both sacred and profane, has told us of the cities
of the olden time which flourished upon the plains of
the gorgeous east; and it has told us that for centuries
civilization gradually moved from the rising to the
setting sun, leaving desolate the bmks of the
Euphrates and the Tigris, and populating those of the
Thames and the Seine. The cormorant circles over
the ruins of Babylon; the bittern wails over the des-
truction of Nineveh; silence now reigns where once
was all bustle in Thebes and Memphis; but far to the
west of these, all is life, and energy, and activity in
London and Paris. And still looking westward, across
the Atlantic, there is a new world which is young and
vigorous enough to be in existence when the dome of
St. Paul's has crumbled into dust, and the cathedral
towers of -- ne have become a wreck. It is a
curious f e increase of the British capital
has been he direction of the declining sun.
It has be g west ever since the time of the
Plantaoger - , the City to the Strand, to
Canonbur astd 51erkenwe11; then under the
Stuart kings to he more northern parts of the
parish o t. C;ensent Danes and to Whitehall;
next, uneer Wiliam hr. and Anne, to Blo)msbury
and Soho; nudes. the early Georges to the Portland
and Portr. eets-trei ; then to the land of the House of
Grosvent r; au stly to South Kensington. The
centre o, the t-end is the region round about
Pall Ma l, tile rm.%• of which is derived from a game
still pop alas )me of the Italian cities. In
Trafalgs ses the Nelson Column, with the
four giF It its base, while all around are
the club... Lag as they do the most
a ,ual members of London society.
_ it of the West-ead still lingers
7.11 hood of Leicester-square, once
r, princes, painters, and scientific
then west of London possesses in its
Alkey - the most beautiful specimen of
_.rtecture in Christendom, the embodi-
ment of a shadowy past facing the Palace of the Legis-
lature, with its prosaic realities of the present. Then
there are the palaces of our Sovereign, Buckingham
and St. James's, and the Parks, so often described as
the lungs of a great city. In Rotten Row, which by
the way is a corruption of "Rue du Roi "—the Street
of the King—life and fashion may be seen during the
season in all their splendour.
Now is the time when the May meetings are at their
height. Persons interested in organizations religious,
benevolent, and philanthropic, now come up to London
and swell these gatherings, a large proportion of which
are held in Exeter Hall. Many is the country reader
who will remember with pleasure the associations con-
nected with this structure, which is not called after
the cathedral city of Devonshire, but because it is
built upon land which is the property of the Marquis
of Exeter. Pass along the Strand towards Exeter
Hall, and you cannot fail to be impressed with the fact
that it is as characteristic a thoroughfare as any in the
metropolis. Its palaces are gone, and not even a tablet
marks their site, or guards their reminiscences, and so
the only reminder of days gone by is to be found in the
names of the streets running southward towards
the Thames, or northward in the direction of Holborn.
These recall the vicissitudes in the lives of some of the
great nobles who exercised political power in past ages.
Essex-street is associated with the life of the Earl of
Essex; Surrey-street is a reminder of the Earl of
Slimy; Norfolk-street, of the Duke of Norfolk;
Burleigh-street, of Lord Burleigh ; Cecil-street, of more
than one member of that illustrious family; Salisbury-
street, of the Marquis of Salisbury; Northumberland-
street, of the Duke of Northumberland; Exeter-street,
of the Marquis of Exeter; Buckingham-street, of the
Duke of Buckingham; Villiers-street, of the Clarendon
family; Southampton-street, of the Earl of South-
ampton; Bedford-street, of the Duke of Bedford, and
so on. In the vicinity of Covent Garden was onee the
well-know Beefsteak Club, where the chief wits of
the capital were accustomed to meet every Saturday.
Adjoining the famous market of that name stood
the church where, after a life of ceaseless wandering,
many of them found their last resting-place. The
Beefsteak Club has passed away, and in the old
churchyard, where such a number of its members
repose, the white headstones seem, in the moonbeams.
like the ghosts of the departed, hovering round
the place of their rest. But the giant life of
the great city is as active as ever; and not devoted to
wealth alone, shows through the medium ef Exeter
Hall that it delights to send civilization and the
gospel to the uttermost parts of the world.
The visit of the Crown Princess of Germany to Her
Majesty is a subject which recalls some interesting re-
miniscences. It seems difficult to believe that more
than twenty years have elapsed since her Royal High-
ness was married to Prince Frederick William of
Prussia, and took her departure from London in
the midst of a heavy snowstorm. In those two
decades the changes which affect mankind by
the working of unalterable laws have been markedly
visible in the Royal family. On the 25th of
January, 1858, when the Princess Royal's wedding
took place, the Duchess of Kent and the Prince
Consort were there; yet to-day their remains have
been for more than half a generation at rest within
sight of the towers of Windsor Castle. The Princess
was the first of the Queen's children to be married;
and her example has been followed by two of her
brothers and three of her sisters. When she left
home, her Majesty's youngest child, Princess Beatrice,
who completed her twenty-first y ear three weeks ago,
was an infant only a few months old, so that the two
sisters who have just been enjoying the delightful
recreations of Windsor together, respectively the
eldest and youngest of the family, have seen
very little of each other. To the Princess
Beatrice, who was not five years old when her
father died, his illustrious memory must be little more
than a shadow of a name. The Princess Royal was
described by Lord Palmerston, Prime Minister at the
time of her marriage, as a lady both in heart and
head worthy of the splendid position which she was to
occupy amongst the reigning sovereigns of Europe ;
and at that ornate ceremony there was no more con-
spicuous figure than the venerable Premier, who stood
at the Queen's right hand, and wielded the Sword of
State with a most martial air. St James's Park, with
its mournful memories, was then in high favour,
for the Court was kept at Buckingham Palace,
and the wedding took place at the Chapel Royal, at
the top of the fine drive known as the Mall, which
was crowded by a vast multitude all eager to congra-
tulate the bride, who has now a daughter married to
the Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, and
a son filling a high and responsible position in the
German army.

The Registrar-General tells us that the marriage-
rate of a country is a certain indication of its
commercial condition. If the population is pros-
porous the marriage-rate rises ; if trade is in a
state of decadence it falls. The rate for 1877
did not exceed 15 per 1,000, and was lower than
in any year since 1847, when it was equally low
During the commercial depression which followed the
crisis of 1866, the rate in England and Wales declined
until 1869; then four years in succession it rose until
1873; since then it has again as steadily fallen.
Nothing could well be more conclusive than these
facts. At the same time emigration is showing an in-
crease. Compared with the first three months of 1877,
emigration during the last quarter augmented by 18
per cent, in England, 12 in Scotland, and 28 in Ire-
land. Of the 15,576 British emigrants, 42 per cent.
left for the United States, 31 for the Australian
Colonies, 7 for British North America, and 20 per
cent, for all other places.
In connection with the address presented to Earl
Russell on the fiftieth anniversary of the repeal of the
Test and Corporation Acts, some interesting facts
may be gathered showing the enormous difference
between now and then. The noble earl, who was then
Lord John Russell, himself brought in the Bill, and
carried it through all its stages. It was in the
Session nf 1828, when George IV. was king, and the
Duke of Wellington was Prime Miniseer. The
chronicler of the annals of that time estimated the
progress of the country from the number of turn-
pike roads in it, for there were no railways. George
Stepheneon was then engaged in the construction of a
line between Liverpool and Manchester, and modestly
estimated that the trains would be enabled to travel at
the rate of thirty miles an hour, although he had no
doubt that improvements would be effected which would
ensure a higher rate of speed. The Flying Du'
of the Great Western, and the Flying Scotchman of the
Great Northern, now testify to the prescience of that
extraordinary man. But perhaps the most wonderful
point of contrast between the present and the past is
found in an Act of that same evesion of 1828, levy-
ing an import duty of El. 4s. Bd. per quarterosn
ioreign.grown corn when British wheat was 6 a •
and under 635. per quarter, making the import
duty £1
.se. 4d. when home-grown wheat fell
below 624. jc:io that the price of wheat was then
between 851.. arid 86a. per quarter. Let us new
see what was the average price of corn in the first
three months of 1878. Fifty ehillings and tenpencr
. This was alurther dctline of is. 6d from the average
priccarn the hat two quarters of 1377. Animal food
• is dl Course dearer now, but 11m not risen in proper
tion as the price of bieacrliailitcoratitheaper,
to the repeal of the Corn Laws.
Leaving the winter behind us, and with the long
summer days now full in view, we can look back with
cm:decency upon the months of gloom thathave passed
away. It has often been said that the old fashioned

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