The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-10-21 00:00:00

Toopn corrtspanbent

. [We deem it right to state that we do aot at all times
idontX7 ourselves with our Correspondent's opaiions.]

The recent announcements in the London Gazette,
officially chronicling the creation of three new life peers,
to act as Lords of Appeal, remind us of the struggle
which took place over the same question twenty years
ago: Esrly in 1853, Lord Palmerston's Government,
with the view of strengthening the Court of Final Ap-
peal, and unwilling to add to the permanent strength
of-the House of Lords, created Sir James Parke, one
of the Barons of the Court of Exchequer, a peer for life,
under the title of Lord Wensleydale. But the innova-
tion nonnicioked upon as beritnenserdererras-- -
dignity otjtheirldigiese., pff Torde,e-tlipt ,tlaat nuegue4
assemble. thnks argifty tb'efue*,
letternepetiste Lorellsprdheiret and Lord Campbell
both doubting-the power of the Crowe to create ali ter
peerage without-the autheslty of an At of Parliament.
Both. these eminent lawyers declared that the
epvereign was no more entitled to lame a life summons
ftr a peenoaajhan to command, the election. of
a member for an unenfrauchis4C'on,stittteney. In the
latter case Hie House of Commons would certainly re-
eat such an infringement of itir privileges, and no less
would the Home of Lords contest the attempt to in.
tie:since lifespeeragei unless the assent of the Lsgishe
tore had been previonsly obtained. Now it happened
that the new Lsid Wensleydale had no
.eklreh, so
that in any case his peerage would have expired' with
hiilife; but this was not the question, The House of
Lordrcontended against the prineiple of life peerages
under any circumstance.; and ultimately Lord Palmer.
ston gave way, making out the Wensleydele patent in
the ustrafmattliee; with 'descent to heirs male. Twenty
years have.peseeel over our heads, and the noble dis-
putiathi bf 'that time:twee) disappeared like shadow.
from Abe, pissin. Ikoughtii4, Cam pbell, Cramwo;th,
Lyudfrirat,'Wensleydate, auciPahnetratoti himself have.,
all bein gathered to their When ;. and to-daiwa Aie
that the prejudices of thai-tfer.e have vanished. Life
peers have been created, under the authority of an Act
of Parliament it is true; but the Ilateise of Lords
could easily have prevented thataseasure from becom-
ing law if tisat await asseinli, had felt so strongly
upon the clizeidon as it did a couple of decades ago. ,
eziention of Lord Pelreesston's name is a re-
minder of the anniversary etas% death. It was on the
morning of Wednesday the 18th Qctober, 1865, that a
paragraph, printed in prominent 4pe appeared in the
London papers, stating thatthe Prime Minister had;
been seized with a eeekine illiaess a's his seat, Brockett.
Eifrall, Hertfordshire. 'tow, thelged statesman was
then within two days of completing his 81st year,
having been born at Broadlands, in Hampshire, on the
20th ectober, 1784. It was universally felt that it
wit it most *genius mattei 'far a seldom illness io
attack a. man with the enows'Otmeee than four-scordit
inters upon his heal; and al that day—one of
sombre glocm and drenching rain the principal
th'olottihfares of the capital were thronged by anxious t
ciheirds who watched with the deepest interest the
language of the bulletins as they were posted outside
the newspaper offices. "Lord Palmerston is sinking
ropldly," was soon followed by "Lord Palmerston is
dead-1" and the words seemed to fall like a knell as they
passed throughout the length and breadth of the
Inetropoli'3.l Then followed the removal of the remains
to Cambridge House, Piccadilly, and the public funeral
in lyel_;tminster Abbey on the 27th, when the by was
borne up the nave by the Cabinet Ministers with whom
the deceased Premier had acted daring his long palitical
career. Entering the House of Commons early in 1806
and quitting it late in 1365, sixty years of.
naeotary life had passed over his venerable head:
"After life's fitful fever he sleeps well ;.,
Naw,ht can disturb him now.
It would be interesting to know how many Trafalgar
heroes are living to celebrate their great victory of
seventy-one years ago. Very few, in the natural order
of things, survive to look back upon that famous 'fight-
which took place on the 213 t October; 1805. Those-of
your readers who have ever paid a visit to Bdulogne
will remember the Napoleon monument there; 'ikitised
to commemorate the sojourn of the great Emperor
amongst the Boulongnais in the autumn of 1804, when
he amembled a vast army for the .purp see of invading
England. Writing afteriaorning tiais extraordinary man
weitild stand thpois the hill-51'61es and pie abstractedly Over
the sea towards the white cliffs of this ootintry, revolving
extenarveliarmes of pancliteit in h's mixed, when once
he had conducted 14144eMideble armada across the
Channel. B had; holteedr, one man to deal with,
universally recognised talambeen as great a genins
upon the sea as Napoleon .himself was upon the land.
Lord Nelson, than in command of our Mediterranean
squadron, saw that only by the destruction of the
French Fleet could a stop be put to Napoleon's plan of
kiasion. So he set out to look for it, and after pm,
ng it several months, came up with it, combined• - •
fesitli the fleet of Span, on the day of Trafalgar's
itiOnsorable triumph. No half Measures were dealt out
On that occasion. The mighty squadrons of Fr:loco
and.Stiain perished utterly, and although the victory
was dearly leattehs by the death of Nelson, Warburton
has told us that his life ended when his mission was
ascomplishel He had saved his country, for it was
lachSelees to think 613 a •descent on our coasts with the
French fleet destroyed, and the triumphant British
navy scouring the Channel. - SO Napoleon was com-
pelled to turn the faces of his legions away from
England, and led them instead against Prussia,
Austria, and —Russia. In neither cue had the sea to,
be cr6ssed, nor a stern British admiral to be en-
countered. Parliament marked its sense of Nelson's
service,' by making his descendant an earl, granting-
the holder of the title £6,000 a year, and voting
£20,000 for the erection of the well-known column in
Trafalgar-square, the most conspicuous monument to
any public man to be found in the three kingdoms.
Such meetings as these of the British Association at
Glasgow in August, and of the Social S3iEnce Congress
at Liverpool, have often suggested questions, border-
ing upon incredulity, respecting their practical value.
Do not the sounds of the discussions die away upon the
empty air, or leave no more impression than the foam
upon the crested wave when it comes into contact with
the solid rock? Well, there can be no doubt that they
effect great good by creating new ideas, striking out:
fresh sparks of light, and bringing men of diverse views
accustomed to .act independently all together into
relation and sympathy. But both organizations!
are in existence all the year. At the annuall
public gatherings, committees are appointed with!
a practical object, who conduct inquiry and re-1
search, bring information before those who are able to!
make use of it, strengthen the hands of workers in;
various fields, and help to provide for dangers which*
otherwise might assail us unpeapared, or they furnish
na with weapons which enable us to struggle more,
successfully with difficolties that are still in our way. t
Money is raised at these meetings, both the scientific'
and the social, for conducting experiments and demon-
strating new facts. It is the silent unpretentious work
of such societies which gives them so much value, and
often paves the way for me'asures of social and sanitary
reform.
One of the good fruits of Mr. Cross's Artisans' and
Labourers' Dwellings Ant has been the establishment
of the National Dwellings Soeiety (Limited). Its
nominal capital is Z,000,000, in 200,000 shares, but
the first issue is limited to £100,094. The shareholders'
include a considerable number of the aristocracy and
many members of the hierarchy. Three freehold
properties have already been purchased—two in
Gamden Town and one in Kensington. Premises are
now in course of erection which will contain about
NJ rooms, and are to be ready sepout Christmas. It is
intended also to purchase a site in Shoreditch, and
another in Greenwich. Meanwhile the Workmen's
Town, which is being Wit on the Queen's-park
Vatate, in the Harrow-road, by an older society
named the Artisans', Labourers', and General Dwell-
ing Association, is developing with great rapidity.
About 650 houses are in eourse of erection, and it is
expected that the whole of these will be completed
about the end of the year.
Mr. Theodore Martin's second volume of the life of
the Brinoe Consort is likebi to be one of the most
widely-read- books of the autumn. Tennyson has
written of the "fierce light which beats upon a Throne,"
and there is no matter so full of interest to the masses
of the people as that which tells of the inner life of
the Court, and of the sayings and doings of the most
exalted per gee in the land. Of late years we have
bad several of these works through the favour of the
Qdeen, notably "Leaves from the Diary of our Life in
the Highlands," and "lady years of the late Prince
Consort," every line of which has been read by many
thowania of her Malexty's subjects. Mr. Martin's
work now before us covers a period in the Prince
Consort's career in which, as it now tunas out,
he WSB the object of mush nilarepseuts.tiou_
viz, his Tie W 3 respeating the Crimean war.
The Prince's opininse deliberately committed MR. W. E. FORSTER UPON THE
to paper, have been issued to the public moat oppor. ARMISTIUE.
• letter tunely at the present time, when the war-cloud in the The Times of Tuesday published the following
et —I, cannot East assumes so ominous an aspect. One day the
between abnucti khaTinbliceytlLatn the
cfecaTlaltperteosreentthe
public. difference
political firmament seems to brighten; on the next it is
plsweewxitli make reforms which ought to satisfy the
again obscured by precursors of future darkness and t Turkey offers six months' Armistice, :coloring that during
Chh r ttimeta n
Russia refuses this offer, and falls back upon the English
tempest. The next v dame presented by Mr. Mart.in
to the public will comprise the PriDCP, Ccnsort's
rztucsesibaetwwoezithe proposals was
dowa to that dark Deomber day in 1861, when it was proposal,
Ti to which the other five Powers have assented.
terminated after a few days' illness from a terrible I
weenkss
;parnoFio;falthweasslordlif,,short Armistice—a month or six
disease with which his eldest son sucsesefuliy battled the length of the Armistice,
P
one
ar to seek a
exactly ten years later.
Cause of offence by prEferring the shorter period. •
Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, who, at the advanced ris not the difference In reality a much more serious
age of 88, is still amongst us, and gives the public the I If the Porte had signed a protocol accepting Lord Derby's
tprreoserailiihTtutroksTreurwVidie.hgletiligilvenl
ottietheehristiaril Power, a
benefit of Las vie 74-3 upon Eastern affairs, was for many
years the Briti-sh Ambassador at Constantinople, where self-rule, or admin!strative autonomy; Would, In sing, liacvlei•
he veal opposed to Prince Menschikoff, the representa• g'ven aim the right of
present propos evades this]
Interference on behalf of her Chris
-
tire tire of Russia, whom he checkmated. Lord Stratford's .44°41'whi'cbs'
Rue Porte
, demand, and merely say% 'Give us six montal
ha, and we will
despatches were always good reading, and one of tne di w you what we will do."
most haterssti.w of theee wee the ean in v?hlizh ha con. /Aso% reolica "I le et believe in Tow rroml!-:5. I .3av

the tft

reocasion faso2ae_ll.o.,___ _ _ _
-- --• the entertain

The following la from the Special CorrsspontleMitlll*,
rime., ander date, Belgrade, Oct. 15:—
The strong belief in well-informed circles here is
that the Turkiah proposal for an armistice 41t1ircit le
accepted by Servia. I hope that there iiiin-fOT,;
ground for this belief, because if there be we are ant'
the eve of a European war. I have already ataled.nlyH
own confliction, founded on careful inquiry, that they
. . _

disposition of the Seivian Government is-to re- ject it, lantil
attach no more importance to that disposition than I do
to the oratory and the rcsolutions of the Hyde park
meeting. The Servian Government will do in this
matter exactly what Russia dictatei ; tlis preset,

crisis is too ecave for any language other thaii
speakivg. The issue of peace and war La in the handsi
of Russia, and I venture to assert that this will not be.,
contradicted by any one who has sufficient knowledge ofi
what is going on to enable him to forn an opinion On thal
subject. It would appear as if what would probably be
the most widespread and calamitous war that eVer,
has been waged in Europe has done a good—depl to '
bring things to such a state tbat the people of England
will make no objection to Ruseia occupying the ,1
Christian Provinces and marching to Constantinopo.,
Lord Derby may as well spare himself the tpnibla
,ftirther-ziegcciations in the direction of-peacer.----Tlieyt
!may be assured that Austria and Germany are not pre-
!
pared to see with equal complacency thetailying out4af,
rainy such one Power policy. If Rusaiiilirgiffialo uiitter
;stand that the other Powers of Europe have still an
opinion on the Eastern Question, and are prepared to
back that opinion, her advlce to ,Ser7isk will be such
as will lead to peace. It *el.° much le 'be de; I
sired that this fact was —thoroughly realized in I
,England. There need be no lack of sympathy with
the Balgarian victims, at the same time that Euro-
pean interests are not disregarded. Austria, France.
Italy, and Germ-any will have well grounded cause of
complaint if tangible ground be given for the belief,
eagerly snatched at here, that England approves a so-
called Servian War against Turkey being directed by
'ltlnsettain commanders and fiught by an army which it
is a most mi4chievous abuse of terns to style. any.
thing else bu.t Russo-Servjata._

!The following is from the coiresponde t,of Thittiierir
Berlin, under date Oct. 15:— f• 4 IP
Russia and Semi& are atudomito reNtrickthAAPn. 1;
!dice tp a peritoi shorter than thght, offered by Turkey.
rpm the whole, letvever, the attftnddo4Rnesla bas
become ome what more pacific. The udanimity die'
played by England and France in, regarding the
Turkish proposienne d'aceelitable seems -to. 4m4ler itro.
dnced an impression atai-Petersburg.

5 Germany, as usual, leaves Rosie , and Austria tcor
agree, end says very little. Austria finds It
very difficult to agree with Russia now that matters are
qmsts to a crisis, sothat -ever3l4lngdepends upon the
dims-Inn that will be adopted- fn
further proof ,were required that Rtrsia has been drift-
ing into this entanglement without originally medi.
tilting war, such proof would be supplied by the
Council aesembled at this_critical junctr re. Had
war been intended alliances would have been
seenred in advance 9 • .and operations been sleaped
without hesitation or diference. As it is",.Russita Auia
by tie forbearance of the Powers. been ,encoußgeejlie
catty her experiment to a pitch which inspired tte
hope of final victory, yet-diti not remove the contingent
der gars. of the last decillye attempt. , Hinoff tire%
topics under disculsion at Lividia paust be *Mat
the kng-suffering neutrality of the Powers would
bably be maintained were Rusaia, to, proceed from
words to blows, and what likelihood is 'there for Russia
to secure *1 lea should she meet with resistance.
• •
The telegram by whrd.ch'the Russian government commu-
Limted its roection ot the Porte's proposal for a Mx
months' armistice, is dated October 14th, and is textu ttly as
follows :—" We regard a six months' armistice as unnecessary
and as not favon, able to the conclusion ot a durable peace,
which we are desirous of brtuging about. We are not in a
position to exrolte pressure upon Servla and Montenegro to
btain their consent to such a considerable prolongation of
their uncertain and difficult position. Finally, we consider
that the financial and commercial situation of Europe, which
is already unbearable, would suffer still more by such a
postponement. We must insist upon an armistice of from
four to six weeks, as was originally proposed: in E ngland,
with the provision that it mtgat be farther prolonged if the
progress of the negotiations should demonstrate the neces-
sity for such a step."

- •
The Eastern Budget of Tuesday said :--" We hear that the
Turkish proposal or an armistice for six months has met
with a most favourable reception on the part of the Cabinet
of Vienna. In Austrian government circles the proposal is
regarded as an Important concession made by the Porte to
the Guaranteeing Powers, and under such circumstances it
Is considered only fair that the Porte should be given as
great facilities for the protection of its interests as are com-
patible with the attalnmett of the main objects of the
armistice—namely, the establishment of peace and of a re-
formed administration of the Turkish Empire. For such a
purpose the propoped period of six months is deemed far
from excessive, experience having shown that it would be a
mere delusion to expect diplomacy to bring about any settle.
moot of the present troubles in the East in a shorter time."
—The same paper understands that Count itobilant, the
Italian ambassador at Viesdaa, has been instructed to express
the.regret of the Italian Court at the language used by cer-
Lath Italian newspapers with regard to possible acquisitions
ot Austrian territory in the event of a European war.

The Russian Government are concentrating troops not
only in the Western and South-Western Provinces, but also
in the Caucasus. Roumania seems to have been promised
Independence if she. does pot impede the much 01 the Ras-
stans through her teiritofk,

The despatch of Russian soldiers to Beryl& assumes more
serious propoTtions ; many of them arrive in uniform and
with arms. Five hundred a day is no longer accounted an
' number. The Servian Government have ordere4
complete uniforms.

unutual
160,000

•
The Tunes Correspondent says that—"Servta, except as
aff.irding a fighting ground, is altogether out ot this business.
Her soul is not her own. Her Ministerium is a place for
register:Lig and irsuing in the Servian language decrees made
at ht. Petersburg, and M. Pasties would find it more con-
venient to transfer his department to the bureau of Prince
Gortchnkc ff."

A special telegram Aoln Berlin, on 'Tuesday, In the Pal
Mall Gazette, says;—''he Great Powers have now reverted
to Lord Derby's earlier proposal to conclude an arrnistice of
six weeks, without any conditions whatever, in order to
devise during that period a basis for a treaty of peace.'

The Ruski Mt, General Tchernaleff's organ, in an article
upon the Russian proposal to occupy Bulgaria, says that
without doubt that proposal, emanating from the Czar, has
been genezally understood as implying permanent conquest,
and lite Hi, professes to know that even the Imperial
°Merl:anent has so understood it. •

The Journal de St. Petoriburg, a semi-ofiLial organ, says
there are certain indications which induce it to believe that
people at Constantinople regard war as unavoidable, and
welcome the decision of Russia to finish the matter without
further delay. 'Xibe meeting of Russian statesmen at Livadia,
it says, indicates a crisis ta the steady course of our politics.
"De Crar, the Grand Duke, successor to the throne, the War
Minister, the Finance Minister, the admiral in comthand of
the Black Bea navy, this, adds the Journta, is official Russia,
assembled in view 'Atha Bosphorus and seat of war.

Ruda and Austria ere believed at Vienna to be upon the
point of concluding in armietice, by the terms of which—
ahonld Turkey refaee a short armistice—ltussk Is to inter.
vene militarily, whilst Austria obeerves neutrality; nd in
the event of the overthrow of the Ot.toman Government, the
latter Power is to have yielded to it by Runts such an
extension of territory as she might claim.

It is lard that all the Russians in Paris under 40 have been
ordered home.

The rejection of the Turkish armistice by Italy is held at
Berliu to be a conclusive proof of an agreement for common
a3tion between her and Russia. The reports that Austria
had accepted the armistice provisionally have been
pre mat are.

Advlcea from Bucharest state that an agreement has been
come to between Roumnia and Russia by which in case of
war the R ,umanian troops wilt he/Aced under the command
of Rusin= cflicerg.

The Deutsche teitung states that negotiations are pending
between Russia and England for settling a neutral ante in
view of the contingency that suvrain States may be formed
In certain parts of Turkey.
A telegram from Bucharest states that a convention has
been concluded between the Russian and Roumanian rail-
w‘sty companies, by which the latter undertake to hold at
the disposal of the linssian Government sufficient trains for
the conveyance of 4,000 troops daily.

The Turkl were victorious is the fighting near the Mon
ilenegrio and Albanian frontiers on Monday and Tuerday
although their losses were severe. The, have cut off the
bestegers of Medun by occupying the 4eights in front of
• ..