The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-06-07 00:00:00

ur YOOOII Orarresponknt.
n,Ve deem it right to state that we do not at all times
identify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.]

Sinoe the appointment of Sir Colin Campbell, after-
wards Lord Clyde, to the command of the army in
India in 1857, no such incident has occurred in
English history as that attending the selection of Sir
Garnet Virolseley for supreme, civil, and military
authority at the Cape. This distinguished general—
who was announced to have arrived in London from
Cyprus on leave of absence—was immediately called
into consultation with the Cabinet upon the situation
of affairs in South Africa, appointed to the command
there, his staff was selected, and within three days of
the Ministerial statements in both Houses of Parlia-
ment, he had started for the new scene of his labours.
He is now sailing over the seas towards that distant
dependency which has caused us so much trouble
and anxiety during the past few months. If
there is a general in the British army in whom the
public have every confidence, it is Sir Garnet
Wolseley. The way in which he carried through the
Ashantee expedition six years ago showed the prompti-
tude and the skill which he eould bring to bear in
dealing with a merciless foe and In getting through a
difficult country. The work had to be done, and it
was done at a small coat unprecedented in the annals
of our national warfare. On his return he and his
soldiers received the thanks of both HOUSES of the
Lel...islature, Parliament made him a grant of £25,000,
the Queen conferred upon him the Grand Cross of the
Bath, and the City of London presented him with a
sword of the value of 2,000 guineas.
Connected with this subject there is a point well
worthy of a passing notice, The two generals in
the Briti.h army who since the clue of the war
with Russ'a have had opportunities of showing
their capacity, are Lord Napier of Magdala, and
Sir Garnet Wolseley. Both have made their
reputations in fields of savage warfare, the one
in Abyssinia, and the other in Ashantee. Lord
Napier's rescue of the captives from their fortress.
prison at Magdala stands side by side with Sir Garnet
Wolseley's march to Coomassie for boldness of con-
ception and rapidity of execution. In each case the
how had come, and with it the man. It would have
occurred to many that although not yet a quarter of
a century has elapsed since the campaign in the
Crimea, we have had none of the generals of that
struggle to fall back upon. Lord Raglan died in the
midst of his labours during the siege of Sebastopol;
and General Sir James Simpson, his successor, never
saw active service again. Contrast this experience with
that of our opponents of that time. General Todleben,
the young engineer officer, who, by his extraordinary
skill in the construction of earthworks, kept the allied
forces at bay for eleven months, is still In high com-
mand in the Russian army. It is well to note that
as on the last. occasion Sir Garnet Welseley was re-
quired to act against an African tribe, so it is now.
Instead of in Ashantee, it is in Zululand—from the
first letter of the alphabet to the last—that is all the
difference. There were few who knew of the extent
of British territory in South Africa until they read in
the statements of the Prime Minister and the Chan-
cellor of tho Exchequeil that Cape Town, where Sir
Bartle Frere will continue to discharge his duties as
High Commissioner, is a thousand miles from the seat
of war. The public would have heard with relief the
declaration of the Colonial Secretary that we are not
going in for any more annexations of territory in that
part of the world. The taking over of the Transvaal
territory two years ago was the primary cause of all
our subsequent troubles there.
When France was defeated by the Germans nine
years ago, and had to submit to peace upon any terms,
there were those who did not hesitate to predict that
she would sink to the position of a second-class power.
Instead of this, the marvellous courage in the face of
adversity, and the wonderful resources in the power
of recovery manifested by the people, have been the
astonishment and admiration of the world. The war
indemnity demanded by the Germans was one of
colossal magnitude—two hundred millions sterling.
In recalling the fact that it was paid off with extra-
ordinary rapidity, it should not be forgotten that the
cost of the war to the French nation must have been
of an equal amount. Of course it was not paid off all
at once: but the fact remains that an additional
four hundred millions was added to the national
burdens. France having got rid of the army
of occupation set to work to reorganise her own, and
it is now quietly and unostentatiously announced
that she can put into the field 840,000 men. It is
barely eight years since she was prostrate at the feet
of the conqueror and bleeding at every pore; yet she
can now place her hand upon nearly a million soldiers.
Whilst thus attending to her military organization, she
has not neglected the arts of peace, as the success of
the Paris Exhibition last year conclusively showed.
The change of feeling which has come over the English
people with respect to the French has been wonderfully
marked even within the last twenty years. For cen-
turies there had been a standing antagonism between
the two countries, and they were taught to regard
each other as natural enemies. From the battle
of Agincourt to that of Waterloo there was a space
of exactly four hundred years, during which time the
two nations seemed to be in a chronic state
of warfare. Only a couple of decades ago—
in the year 1859—our volunteer force was called into
existence to resist a possible French invasion. Yet
any one who would raise such a cry now would be re-
garded as outside the pale of practical probabilities.
The constant facilities of intercourse with France has
doubtless had a very considerable e ffect in producing
an improved condition of relations between the two
countries.

Generally, the Lords rise for a vacation such as
Easter or Whitsuntide before the Commons, although
at a prorogation of course both Chambers are dismissed
together. This recess, however, the Lords sat two or
three days after the Commons had risen ; but on the
other hand they will not reassemble until a week later
—the Lower House on the 9th, and the Upper House
on the 16th. The time is coming, however, when
the Lords will expect more work than they are
accustomed to early in the Session. For one Bill
whieh is introduced into the Peers' Chamber, a score
are brought into the Commons, consequently while
the latter are being considered, the hereditary legii-
lAtors have little or nothing to do, In July and
August, however, when the 13111 s come up thickly
from the Commons, the position is different; and
Lord Redesdale, the Chairman of Committees, has
oftentimes eome difficulty in finding a sufficient num-
ber of neble lords to make up the Committees upon
private Bills which the Commons have diz;Posed of.

The remission, by the Duke of Bedford, of half la
year's rent to his agricultural tenantry, on account of
the depression under which the farming interest has
f r some time laboured, is a reminder that his
Grace has an enormously rich estate in the very
heart of London, covered with streets and squares,
the occupants of which are amongst the moat
prosperous and well-to-do residents in the metropolis.
It lies chiefly between the Strand and the British
Museum, although a part of it extends as far Ruston.
The Squares of Tavistock, Bedford, Russell, Woburn,
and Bloomsbury, with a host of thoroughfares, are all
upon the property of the Duke of Bedford. Gates still
stand at the entrance of many bf these streets, which
are closed for a few hours to vehicular traffic once a
year, for the purpose of asserting the rights of private
property. In years long ago, before London showed
such a capacity for extending towards the west, the
squares mentioned above were the refidences of our
proudest aristocracy. But sinae the building of Tyburnia
and Belgravia, they have been occupied chiefly by the
professional classes. The coarse of London westward
has been in the direction of the property of the Duke of
Westminster, the squares of Grosvenor, Eburv, and
others bearing names associated with the family testify-
ing to the ownership of the soil. Other noblemen pos-
sess rich properties in London, the streets and squares
being called after the names of the owners. For
instance, if a pedestrian through the Strand will take
the trouble to glance at the names of the thorough-
fares branching north and south, he will find Norfolk,
Surrey, Wellington, Cecil, Salisbury, Burleigh,
Villiers, Buckingham, Craven, Northumberland,
Southampton, Exeter, and Bedford, all bearing the
names of noblemen upon whose property the houses
stand. Exeter Hall is a building known throughout
the civilised world, anql. many might have supposed
that it was called after the cathedral city of Devon-
shire. This, however, is not so. It is known as
Exeter Hall because it stands upon soil owned by
the Marquis of Exeter, one of the branches of that
noble family of Cecil, the other of which is repre-
sented by the Marquis of Salisbury, the Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs.

In a land where, more especially in summer time,
the success of so many engagements depends upon the
weather, it is important to know what that weather is
likely to be. Hitherto the man of science has been
baffled over this question. He may oonstruct a tele-
scope of the power of Lord Rosse, which shall reveal
to him the hidden secrets of the skies; he may
measure the height of the mountains in the moon,
gauge the dimensions of huge sun-spots, tell us when
the next transit of Venus will occur, and predict the
precise time of an EtClipB9 a century hence, but
while all this and ranch more can be done in traversing
vast fields of science, it is absolutely impossible to say
with certainty what the weather will be to-morrow.
You may draw up tide tables drawn up to last for
. years to come, so easy is it to estimate the ebb
and flow of the sea. But the currents of the
air have hitherto defied human attempts to bend
thew to the will of zna. You can Gee in any
London paper the exact second et high water 111 London

,serfir isinteata

Bridge morning and afternoon, but you cannot ascer-
tain what the weather will with certainty be. How
convenient, for example, it would be to find in the
journals something like this—" Nine o'clock, sunshine
for three-quarters of an hour; 9.45. rain until 10.20;
no more rain until 12.17, when there will be a smart
shower, lasting 34 minutes 5 seconds. Bright sun-
shine the remainder of the day." What an improved
world it would be I The Meteorological Office have,
however, made a great step towards letting us know
the probable weather for the day. At eight o'clock on
the previous evening the observations which have
come in are made up, and the results appear in
such of the London papers as care to pay for the
information. As the Meteorological Office charges
each jcurnal £3OO a year for its forecasts, it is assumed
that these are compiled with the most elaborate care;
and those who have followed these prophecies for some
months past declare that they are thoroughly trust-
worthy, and in the great majority of cases turn out to
be correct.

Charles James Fox once described St. James's street,
the handsome thoroughfare connecting Pall Mall with
Piccadilly, as the campus martius of London, the type
of'Rome in the days of her splendour and her power.
Unquestionably, there is no part of the metropolis
where such an idea can be obtained of the vast wealth
of the capital as that conveyed by the neighbourhood
of St. James's-street, Bond-street, Piccadilly, and
Regent-street, on a fine bright afternoon in the
height of the season. As the Middlesex aide of the
river has attt acted to itself all the public buildings,
the palaces, and everything of national interest which
is worth seeing, so the west-end streets draw to
themselves the beauty, rank, and fashion of the first
city in the world. Just now, with the Royal Academy
open, an idditional number of visitors id drawn to that
part of the town. The Exhibition is held in the gal-
leries of Burlington House, on the north side of Picca-
dilly, almost opposite the top of St. James's Street,
and within three minutes walk of Regent Circus. You
may challenge Paris, Vienna, or Berlin, St. Petersburg,
or New York to show anything equal to Regent Skeet
or Piccadilly on a summer afternoon. Four rows of
carriages move east and west, while the broad and
ample pavements are crowded with pedestrians, the
great majority of whom have come out to admire the
glories of the shops. The excursionist to London has
many places marked out upon his list whieh he
is bound to see. He must go through the grim
old Tower, mallet ascend to the whispering gallery of
S. Paul's, go to the top of the Monument, be con-
ducted through the Guildhall, see the curiosities of the
British Museum, inspect the treasures of the National
Gallery, go over the Houses of Parliament traverse
the aisles of the venerable Abbey, have a run upon
the underground railway, and taking a steamboat
trip upon the rapid tide of the Theme?, include a view
of the Embankment and Cleopatra's Needle by the
way. In the midst of all, however, a glance at Regent-
street—and, in the language of the poet Gray, " all
that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,"—ought to be
one of the engagements, and it would not be forgotten
after the return of the ordinary matter-of-fact occupa-
tions which combine to make up the work of every-day
life.