The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-06-14 00:00:00


ur Tonkin itarrespanknt.

[We deem it right to state that we do not at all times
identify otirselves with our Correspondent's opinions.]

The annual Horse Show at the Agricultural Hall
at Islington has in the face of many competitors for
the public favour, retained its popularity. Twice a
year is this vast building, so conspicuous an object to
the wayfarer in the north ofiLondon, thronged to its
utmost available capacity by crowds who have come
not only from the uttermost parts of the metropolis,
but from distant places in the United Kingdom. In
the long days of June the best horses are to be
seen which England can produce; and in the dull
December light prime specimens are there from the
cattle which are upon a thousand hills. It i 3
difficult to decide which is the more popular
exhibition of the two; both are usually patronised
by Royalty, and are invariably well attended. The
saying that behind the horseman sits Black Care does
not apply to the Agricultural Hall. When the
summer sun is shining high in the heavens, the bril-
liant light falls upon an eager multitude which watches
the leaping with intense interest. There are fences
and hurdles, ditches and water-jumps, in fact, all the
accessories of life's incidents in the hunting-field ;
and it is no wonder that such a spectacle, in
the very heart of crowded London, should be so
attractive to its inhabitants, a large pro-
portion of whom, it may safely be relied
upon, were never in a hunting-field in their lives.
But a Horse Show seldom passes over without an ac.
cident—not often fatal, fortunately, but frequently
serious. Wet weather, so destructive to the success of
out-door recreation, Celle rather in favour of the
Horse Show; for everything there is under cover,
and a drenching rain rather adds to than takes
from the number of visitors. What a difference
shelter makes in a place of relaxation when a
rain-storm comes on, was never more forcibly illus-
trated than on the last Bank Holiday. In London
the day was one of the most dismal of this dismal
season, the consequence of which was that lees
than 18,00 persons went to the Zoological Gardens,
where there is no protection from the violence of
the elements, while more than 55,000 found accomo•
dation under the glass roof of the Crystal Palace.
On a fine day as many as 40,000 visitors are at the
former place on the occasion of a Bank Holiday.
Easter-Monday and Whit-Monday having been spoilt
by the weather, the people now look forward to the
first Monday in August for a few hours of fine
weather. That will be the last Bank holiday before
Boling-Day—a long spell of more than four months.
To large numbers of the working classes these
holidays are the only times of recreation in the twelve
months; they are anticipated for weeks with much
interest, and it is peculiarly disappointing when they
are utterly destroyed by torrents of rain.
The Silver Wedding celebration of the Emperor of
Austria is speedily followed by the festivities conse-
quent upon the commemoration of the Golden Wed-
ding of the Emperor of Germany. The great age of this
venerable monarch, and the vast strides which have
been made by his country during his reign, surround
with interest one of the most commanding figures
in modern European history. During his lifetime
Prussia, beaten to the ground by the first Napoleon
at Jena in 1806, finally triumphed over her old
enemy in the gigantic struggle of nine years ago,
and is now at the bead of the moat powerful
military organization in Europe. The Emperor may
not be old enough to retain a vivid recollection
of the consternation produced throughout Prussia at
the disaster of Jena, although he was then nine
years of age, but he took part in the events which
immediately succeeded the battle 'of Waterloo, and
was present with the Prussian army of Occupation in
France after the fall of Napoleon. Whatever of
truth there ma f be in the saying attributed to Marshal
Blucher when he rode through Paris, "Mein Gott!
what a city for to sack ! ' there can be none as to his
desire to blow up the Bridge of Jena, one of the
numerous structures which spans the Seine. Blucher
objected to the French people immort dising the
terrible disaster to his country which was represented
by the results of that battle; EO he was making
preparations to destroy the bridge when the Duke
of Wellington, who was also in Paris at the
time, heard of what was going on, and interdicted
it. Fifty-five years after the Battle of Waterlo, the
Emperor of Germany again entered France, when the
two countries were at war. That was in 1870, when
the German nation went forth to repel the French in-
vasion. From one end of the vast Fatherland to the
other, from the banks of the Danube to the shores of
the Baltic, the German people, like the dry bones
mentioned in the book of the prophet Ezekiel, "stood
upon their feet an exceeding great army."
"Who'll guard the Rhine—the tierman Rhine?
To whom shall we the task assign
Dear Fatherland! no care be thine,
Firm stand thy sons to guard the Rhine!"
It was the rectification of the Rhine frontier for which
France went to war, and its results were to shut her
out from even a sight of that coveted river. Her
boundaries were instead pushed back to the Moselle;
and in the splendid palace of the kings of France
at Versailles the sovereign of Prussia was crowned
Emperor of Germany. Such he is now, and so he
celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of his wedding-day
after the "battles, sieges, fortunes he has passed ;"
and, moreover, more than once he has been subjected
to the danger of assassination.
One Royal visitor goeth away, and another cometh.
The Crown Prince of Denmark has left London, but
immediately afterwards, Prince Alexander of Batten-
burg arrived, and has been on a visit to the Queen at
Balmoral. Prince Alexander is the new ruler of Bul-
garia, a state which has been added to the European
family under circumstances which need not be
recapitulated here. The experiment will be watched
with great interest Bulgaria is to have a Prince, and I
to be supplied with a constitutional form of Govern-
ment ; and all will be anxious to see how the tree
of Liberty flourishes in that virgin soil. This still
leaves Russia the only country in Europe without
representative institutions of some kind. Russia went
to war in order to give Bulgaria a constitution while
she has none of her own. Prince Alexander of
Battenburg is accompanied to this country by his
brother Prince Louis, and both have made a very
favourable impression here. Every confidence is felt
in the ruler of the new State that he will discharge
his delicate and difficult functions with ability and
tact. Another of the scions of Royal honees who has
lately been over here is the Crown Prince of Sweden
and Norway—a kingdom of which we hear but little,
although it is washed by the same sea as that which
breaks upon the eastern coast of England—the German
Ocean, wherein the Thames empties its volume.
Sweden is even more of a terra incognita than Norway,
which in the summer months, during the past few
years, has been made a field for the exploration of the
British tourist.
The reassembling of the House of Commons after
the Whitsuntide Recess antedated that of the Lords
by a week; and so far as both Chambers are con-
cerned, there will now be no more holidays until
Parliament is finally prorogued for the recess that
lags throughout the autumn. Looking back, it is of
some interest to note how holiday after holiday has
relieved the length of the Session. The Legislature
met on the sth December, and upon its adjournment
the Christmas recess lasted two months. Reassembling
on the 13th February, two months more brought the
Easter vacation. Another seven weeks, and there
came the adjournment for Whitsuntide; and now two
months more will bring the prorogation. To the vast
multitudes who are incessantly engaged in business, or
are absorbed in the heavy toil of a professional career,
a small proportion of such an amount of holiday
would be most grateful. The Lords meet on four days
a week, sometimes sitting only a quarter of an hour;
the Commons meet five days a week, and their sittings
are often of a very protracted character. The Session,
excluding the holidays, does not last more than five
moLtlis out of the twelve, so that ample time is
allowed for relaxation from the effects of the long
hours which the performance of the duties occasionally
demani. The prorogation is expected to take place
at about the usual time—the second week in August,
and should the Parliament re•assecuble next year, it
will be for its seventh session. There are, however,
many well-informed persons in political circles who
are of opinion that it will never meat next year and
that now the Afghan business is out of the way e'ould
the Zulu War be brought to a satisfactory teirenina-
tion, Ministers would at once appeal co the country.
The commercial importance of the City of London
is recognised throughout the world, and is attested by
the fact that it returns four members to the House of
Commons. Yet the population is comparatively
small—not more than 75,000 at the last census, and it
is possible that it has since decreased, inasmuch as the
places of business and warehouses of which it chiefly
consists are at night left to the custody of care-takers,
the proprietors preferring the fresher air of the suburbs.
But it is the enormous interests of the city, and not
merely its population, which its four members of Par-
liament represent, and foremost amongst these interests
is the colossal banking business of Messrs. Rothschild.
BaronLioneldeßothschild,whoseremains were interred
in the Jewish Cemetery at Willesden, near Londun,
a few days ago, was the head of this giant undertaking,
daily accustomed to deal with miWons of money.
When the Suez penal shares were purchased, four
years ago, the necessary four millions were at once
advanced by Messrs. Rothschild, who would have had
310 &amity over five times that amount. It seemed
appropriate enough that the city should be represented
by Its greatest capitalist, and thus it came to pass that
for more than a quarter of a century, that great corn-