The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-05-27 00:00:00

—Our Koilteit 07orasponbtnt.

IWel t right to state that we do wot at ell rinse
iligenty ¶ th al. • p ...t• ill opinions. i

Even those amongst us who may have been at first
inclined to side in opinion with the insurgents of Pali.,
thinking that they merely desired municipal Govern-
ment and the establishment of a kossi ride Republic, I
must of late have been saddened by the ountinueal in-
I elligence of the excesses of the Commune, and must
have seen that its members are uot the men to be in-
trusted with power. Add to the probability that
opinion usual have to a great extent changed in the
direction indicated, the undoubted feet that the pre-
valent opinion in our own country has always teen
opposed to the extravegoot theories ant the wild acts
of the Commune, and it lutist be patent that the news
of the entry of come IA the Versailles troops into the
capital will have given pretty arneral satiefasition. We
may fairly hope that this will be 'the beginning
of the end," and that the party of order will
finally triumph. But, aloe! what horrid scenes
must be exhibited to the eyes of the peaceful
Parisians before order is reetored. The Com-
muniete will rage and irnacine man i "a vain thing,"
and perpetra,e many a cruel and dastardly act, and
the Versailles party, flashed with temporary triumph,
and eager to turn it to account, will naturally be de.
termined to obtain victory at all hazards. Unhappy
Paris, besieged first by enemies and then by friend',
tam much to suffer yet. Heaven, in its mercy, grant
that, if her trials must be sharp, they may be short,
and that we who hug since have abandoned one old
hostility to the natLin, may ere long see Is belle France
once again peaceful and prosperous.
" It is already surmised that, on the restoration of
order in the French capital, Gounod will be elected in
place of the deceased Auber, Director of the Conser-
vatoire." Probable enough, but when, ob ! shin avid
order he restored Compared to that great event, the
directorship of the Conservatoire is a matter of infini-
tesimal moment. But for the sake of the music mid
the drama, as well as for so many other reasons, the
restoration of order is a consummation most devoutly
to be wished. Nero fiddled, they say (I wonder, by
the way, what sort of a fiddle he had) while Rome was
burning, but there has been very little fiddling in Paris
since brat July, and her actors, "lettere, and musicians
have been scattered over the habitable globe.
Why her Majesty should " keep " her birthday on
the wrong day—why it should be a "moveable feast"
—is •tbing "which no fellah can understand ; " but
at all events the royal anniversary Ra 3 duly honoured
on Saturday. The royal standard floated from our
public buildings ; the llonsehold troops were paraded,
and royal salutes fired; it was a brigade field day with
several of the metroyolitan Volunteer corps ; members
of the Government dined together, and the royal
tradesmen had their friendly dinner also; and at night
there was a good sprinkling of illuminations. Ed-
dently, the Queen's popularity is not on the wane.
Nest month her Majesty will open the new St.
Memoir's Hospital, that splendid range of buildings
which forms so worthy a tie .i ris to the Boners of
Parliament. Meanwhile the interior arrangements of
wards and Leds are being rapidly pushed forward, and
bits of garden ground around the hospital are being
prettily laid out. The boon which thie splendid insti-
tution will be, not only to Londoner", but to the sick
poor tar beyond the range of the metropolis—it is
astonishing from what a distarice many of the patients
at the London hoepitale are bought—will be Incal.
ridable ; and the 4;uern, who laid the first stone of the
hospital, and who intends to open the institution,
gives her powerful aid to a glorious wotk of bees,
volence.

When the Tichbome case is concluded, the proceed-
ings in the case, carefully edited, might form material
for a very interesting book, whatever be the result of
the case. The Court of Common Pleas Lai been
thronged every day during the trial, and the court
where it is now held is likely to be at least as crowded,
while the number of members of Parliament and other
Influential people who hate occupied seats on the
bench testify to the intertst which the case eacit,s
among the upper ten. Be the rault of the trial what
It may, the evidence certainly discloses a marvellous
narrative, many incidents in which would be set down
as grossly improbable had a novelist invented them.

_
In Westminster Abbey, our Englis,h Walhalla, amid
the kindred duet of England's worth:es in arts, in
science, and in arms, now reposes all that is mortal of
Sir John Herschel, the astronomer, who. sleeps hard
Ivy the grave of his great predecessor, Sir Isaac New-
ton. A large company of people—wane genuine
mourners, others attracte 1 by mere curiosity, to
witness the funeral of an eminent man of rcierce—
assembled in the venerable Abbey; ad amongst the
throng of peof la there were one or two who probably
In course of time will themselves find a last resting
place in this the most celebrated of England's bur;al.
places. The ecene was altogether an incpresetee one,
and tne Way lasta, We regretued was ba waste or
the ladies present were dressed in a et) le utterly
unbetitting the scene. The ight of finery, that was
very elegant and pretty in Veld!, was painful from its
unfitness. Them ladies should either have ab-
sented th.mselves entirely or ehertld have
hablted them+el.-es fittingly for the ceremony at which
they were present. In other respects, too, some a the
visitors behaved in a way that was certainly neither
adapted to the place nor the occasior. It is Lot de-
sirable that peeps should "mimic Borrow when the
heart's net sad," but still there is a subdued calmness
and tranquility of manner that befit such a scene as
this, and I confess to a feeling ef pain and shame on
observing what a rude, sight-seeieg excitement in-
tinenctel many among the throng that crowded round
the grave of Sir John Herschel.
There has been rejoicing among religions communi-
ties at the baptism of Beboo Keshub Cl:sunder Sen—a
name which sounds very droll to us, but which he mast
be quite used to; but it turns out that it is not he who
has been baptized, but another Chunder Sen. The
former, it may be remarked, is a Unitarian, and there-
fore would not approve of baptiem es administered by
the Weeleyane, or indeed as adminiateted at all.
Slowly, hi: steadily, our sisters are asserting what
they conceive to be their rights. At the "general
examination of women" at the London University,
four candidates have obtained honours, and nine have
mussed in the first division; and the number of ladies
who have now invaded the domain of medicine and
surgery must be rather considerable. The advocates of
"women's rights" might, I think, do thsir sisters
good service by letting us know how many women
have thus succeeded. The stubborn fact of success, if
put forth in a pamphlet, would be a more powerful
argument than the more aesertion of theories.
The Divorce Court comininced its sittings on Mon.
slay with 22,3 cases to be heard ! It is highly impro-
bable that these will be concluded this term. The
obvious conclusion rom this long list of censer+ is not
very favourable to the morality of the country, but I
r fee to the matter to draw another conclusims- -Qat
the machinery of this court la not adequate to the
work it has to do. We have long been talking of
wparating the jurisdiction in probate and in divorce
;was and it Is strange that this has not teen done.
What connection there is between probate and divorce
it is very hard to see, and the sooner the inharmonious
couple are divorced the better.
Grocers., I should say, will now be very slow in
labelling any of their tea "Musing Congos]," if t.r the
'cry eeeelatione we have just had. These
revelations now acquire additional imports... Goe.
Ike fact that a whole family has just been poisoned by
drinking tea. Without commenting, however, on a
case under ingniry, I may point out that Dr. Letheby's
revelatiote, and the Home Sectetary's statements,
clearly show that cur erement laws relating to adtiltera-
lion are an egret ions farce ; and it is a pity that this
familiar fact is treated with such envorcere.
Dr. Dellinger, it is said, intends; to visit England, "to
seek repose and avoid the troublesome attentions to
which he has been subjected." If he is coining
here to 'Malt repose, I wish he may get it—not ironi-
cally, but will he get it? I doubt it. I fancy that
this is just the country where he is likely to receive
troublesome attentiohe At all events if he whdusi
to avoid them, he wi:l have to be very determined,
and especially Piet a tide time of the year, when the
May Meetings" are on.
- - - • • •

That there are people who "do good by stealth, and
Eusla to find it fame," is not a mere poetic theory, but
Is km, in fact, I read that the London Nimble
Penitentiary has received from an unknown friend,
.11. L. F.,'' a second subscription of 4:1,000, through
t.fi. sere. Hoare and Cr,. The eminent bankers, of
course, could fill up these initials, but the managers of
She benevolent institution who receive the money know
not their anonymous benefactor, but he or she can
secretly rejoice at the cioni thus unoatcctationaly done.
The secretaries of our philanthropic institutions could
tell of many uch acts as theee. One welt kootun
hospital has similarly received on two occasions £l,O i 0
from some anonymous benefactor. On the whole,
those inetittitions which are "supported by voluntary
contributions" are very well supported, though
recently they have suffered by the drain of contribu-
bone in aid of the sick and wounded in war. A very
large amount is contributed in the aggregate in
small sums, dropped into those convenient little
slits that so suggestively appeal to the passer.
by. " Pbs witi iw's mite" is often dropped into
these bolts. Some poor woman whore boy—o'
whom it may be wad in the touching words of Sacred
Writ, " he was the only son of his mother, and she
was a widow "—has been cured at a hospital, perhaps
kops a threepenny piece into one of these boxes, and
3eprives herself of food to make up the outlay, or some

poor labouring man whore favourite girl is lying
wearily on • little bed in Borne crowdtd hospital silo
• expence into cne of these receptacles, and feels all

the happier for it. I ant remind...l as I write that there
la cu the othor hand a great deal if ingratitude on the
part of the poor who reeeive the benefits of our chart.
table institution& No doubt of it ; but there is also a
great deal of heartfelt thankfulness, oocasiouelly
proved in the most practical way.