The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-10-20 00:00:00

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"ionbon Coutsponbtut.
[We deem it right to state th4t we do not at all Can
Identify ou.seives with our C.,rresponnent's opinions.]

The number of Knights of the Most Noble Order f
the Girter are gradually being completed. Exclusive
of fr.-in s vereigns and princes f the blood roj,
the K,iighta Cotni_anion4 in the ranks of the riobil ty
of this cointry are twenty five, and this is the limit.
For a long tine after the death of Lord Beaconsfield,
the Garter which was eiveri to him on his return from
the Berlin Congress remained unappropriated ; hut
early in the present sear it was assigned to the Duke of
Grafton. The Earl of Harr owby died last November,
and the Garter which had been his has now gone to the
Duke of Argyll, who was already Knightof the Thistle,
and therefore enjoys a double honour. The Garter
which belonged to the late Duke of Marlborough still
remains to be disposed of. It is the most coveted
distinction which a peer can receive, and so far as
modern usage is concerned, has been only twice can-
ferred upon noblemen below the rank of an earl. The
cases were those of Viscount Palmerston, the illus-
trious statesman, and Viscount Stratford de Red.
cliffs, the eminent diplomatist.
The autumn thus far sustains its reputation for the
number of its political gatherings. Sir Stafford
Northcote's visit to Ulster stands out, of course, as a
totally exceptional manifestation of public welcome ;
but so far as ordinary meetings are reckoned, their
number has already been very considerable. Thus far
on the Liberal sid-, the Reform Conference at Leeds is
the most important assembly since Parliament rcse ;
but next week Sir Stafford Northcote will be in Wales,
and on the 30th Lord Salisbury is to address a great
gathering at Reading. The plan of attack and defence
by platform has grown in popolarity in the past few
years. and since the cheapening of telegraphy has
enabled ev,n the cheapest of newspapers fully to
—report the speeches of our public men.
Should the Government concede the demand made
in so many quarters for a measure of Parliamentary
Reform next session, two results must inevitably ensue.
' There would he no Bill for the municipal government
of London, and there would be a dissolution of Parlia-
ment in the antumn of 1834. The Creation of a new
franchise would at once condemn the old one, and a
re-arrangement cf electoral power would
indi-
crate that the existing one was no longer
equal to the exigencies of the time. The Liberal
party is, however, far from united in this demand
for a Retorm Bill next year, and consquently the
premature closicg of the life of the present Parlia-
ment. They point out that it does not expire by
efflux of time until the spring of 1887, and that much
of its useful work has yet to be done. It is also
remembered that the existing franchise and allot-
ment of seats are not yet fifteen years ow, and that
therefore the questior an well afford to wait one or
two years longer. Besides, dissolutions of Parlia-
ment are peril ius experiments, as more than one
Prime Minister in our own times has discovered to his
cost.

When the late Emperor Napoleon was on the
throne of France, and his restless foreign policy kept
the Continent in a state of continual disquiet, it was
believed that French effervescence was due to dynastic
requirements, and that the Empire was responsible
for it all. But it is now seen that France is not much
more peaceful under a Republic, so far as f,ireign
politics are concerned. Tunis, Madagascar, China,
Tonquin, all within the past two years have indicated
that same spirit of sleepless ambition which in former
times has lid France to ruin and disaster. After the
close of the war with tierroany it was hoped that
France would settle down to peaceful pursuits, leaving
the affairs of her neighbours to themselves. This ex-
pectation has not been realised; and it seems that
whether a kingdom, an empire, or a republic, France
finds it impossible long t 4 remain tranquil.
In the dispute with Spain there is however little
doubt that the hidalgos demand too much. The inser-
tion of a national apology in the Journal Official *teat... so
of the hostile reception met with by King Alfonso in
the streets of Paris, is a little too much for the
Spaniards to ask, and a great nation would rather go
to war than comply with such a request. General
opinion seems to be that President Grgvy, when he
expressed his regret to the King for the unruly con-
duct of the Paris mob, did all that his Spanish
Majesty could expect; and as war between two
civilized countries is out of the question on such a
matter as this, it is hoped that the new Spanish
Minietry and the explanations of M. Jules Ferry will
clear the way for the settlement of a dispute which
never ought to have arisen, and with a people less
susceptible than the French never would have arisen.

The seventy-eighth anniversary of the battle of
Trafalgar, on the 21st instant, suggests a period when
the relations of France and Spain were by no means
so strained. It was on the morning of the 21st October,
1805, that the united fleets of France and Spain,
consisting of thirty-three sail of the line and seven
frigates, were drawn up off Cape Trafalgar awaiting
the attack of the British fleet under Lord Nelson,
and consisting of twenty-seven sail of the line and four
frigates. Toe contact of peventy-one r hips of war was
a fight upon the seas of enormous magnitude, and no
naval battle in which we have since been engaged
has been equal to it in the importance of its results.
Napoleon hael for a long time menaced this country
with invasion, but whenever he thought of sending
his vast armada across the Channel be always had a
wholesome fear of the British admiral. Of course
could Nelson destroy the French fleet, all danger of
an invasion would be at an end, and at Trafalgar ha
fell upon that navy with such skill and force that it
peristed utterly. Warburton has told us that his life
ended when his mission was accomplished; but the
monuments in Trafalgar•sqnare, the Guildhall of the
City of London, and St. Paul's testify to the national
appreciation of what in the metropolitan cathedral
are described as " unparalleled public services."
For a long time it was held that the proper study of
mankind is man; but over two millions of visitors
have declared since the 12th of May that the proper
study of mankind i. fishes. The Fisheries Exhibition
at South Sehsington has been an extraordinary
success, PO far as popularity goes, for not only
has London flocked to it, but it has stood first
c.n the list of country visitors who came to
town on a brief excursion. There are, of course,
certain public institutions in the capital which
the provincial tourist is bound to see, such as the
Tower, the British Museum, the National Gallery,
St. Paul's, the Houses of Parliament, and Westminster
Abbey. This year has been added the Fisheries
Exhibition; and as from the first the venture has bad
the strong support of the Queen and the rest of the
Royal Family, this and its own inherent excellence
have ensured the great success which it has deservedly
attained,