The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-03-14 00:00:00

- Our Imitirn: agcolenb.
4.14, IS NOS rwells*,
tFoi

If the old saying "Happy is the bride the sun
shine, on" be a true one, than IL, It-iciness of Edin•
burgh mold be very happy indeed In her nege.etnake
of life. Saturday fast, the day of her landing at
Gravesend, was characterhed by brilliant sunshine,
such al one of our poets has beautifully„deeeribed as
"like the meeting of heaven and eurtb." The Duchess
had no doubt heard and read a grenitildtal- ale/
humid climate and of fog-bound Loudon, -116-stre Say
depend upon it that her first impresidhun of England,
as the sunbeam' shone upon the placid stream of the
Thames, and lighted up the multitude of eager faces
upon Its banke, will long be of • moat favourable cha-
racter. By • siegular coincidence Saturday ti- 7th of
March, I en 3, witneeeed the arrival of the bride of the
Prince of Wales, and on that day &even years after-
wards the Queen's tecond eon presented his wife to the
English people. The City of London came out very
arandl y mu ea tertainlng the Prinerea of Wales, nor will it
fall ish,nt now, for In the ball which the Lord Mayor and
Corporation intend to give in honour of the Duke and
Duchess f Edinburgh everything will be done which
is In the power of looney to make it a minden& The
City of London hea never yet broken down when it
ham set itself to receive and entertain Royalty.
The Duke of Edingburgh has bad no more loyal ad-
dress at congratulation on his marriage than that
which wise voted by the Corporation of Trinity Howie,
of which hie Royal Highness 15 the Muter. Next to
the Mint, Trinity Home le one of the most Interesting
places on Tower Hill. It is all institution for the in-
crease and encouragement of navigation, the ex•Millile
iioll of pilots, the regulation of lighthouses and buoys, and
all na val matters not under the ex reels j uriticlict ion of the
Admiralty. It was incorporated in 1529 by the name of
"The Minder, Wardens, end Assistants of the Guild or
Fraternity, or Brotherhood of the Moet Glorious and
Undivided Trinity, and of St. Clement, In the parish
of Deptford, Stroud. in the County of Kent." In
1680 its first lighthouse was erected, all lighthouses
which had previously existed on the English coast
having been built by private individuals, under a
patent from the Crown. It was not till 1854 that the
private rights in light duos were abAished, and the ex-
elusive right of lighting and buoyieg the coast was
given over to the Trinity Board. The Corporation
consists of a master, deputy-master, thirty-one elder
brethren, and many humbler members. The elder
brethren are generally selected from old commanders
in the navy and merchant service. The revenue of
the corporation Is enormous, consisting of shoat
£300,000 a year, miming from shipping dues and the
licensing of pilots. This imoi is devoted to the building
and maintenance of lighthouses, paying off the debt
Incurred by the purchase of all existing private eights
in such erections and in eupporting ,poor disabled sea.
men and their widows and orphan. in the corporation
hospital at Deptford. The Mueeum contains • flag
taken from the Spanish Armada by Sir Francis
Drake.

It Is remarkable to note the adherence to ancient
forms and ceremonies which is still preserved in •
matteriof-fact age by that august body the British
Parliament. Take for instance the proceedings at the
openin of the sittings of the Legislature on Thursday,
bhe sth net. The formalities consequent on the
election of a Speaker, which have been observed
generation after generation, are still kept up.
The gentleman upon whom this high honour is to
be conferred site in • prescribed seat in • certain
par of the House during the speeches of his proposer
and seconder; he manifesto great humility in returning
thanks; e is conducted to the Chair as in days
of old ; he io presented at the bar of the Lords for the
Royal approbation, and there claims all the ancient
rights and privileges of the COMMOCI., including
freedom of speech and from arreat. The same time.
honoured cerenioniala are observed when the yeoman
Usher of the Blank Rod is despatched from the House
of Peers to Comm in the Commons to their lordship's
bar. Before the Speaker Is elected, and the aesembly
properly constituted, Black Rod enters the lower
chamber in an easygoing, confident manner, marches
up to the table, and looking round him, addresses the
representatives of the people as "Gentlemen." and
desires their immediate attendance at the bar of the
Lords. lint when the Speaker to in the chair, the
Black Rod is one of the most humble of individnale.
When the Commons' doorkeeper sees him coming down
the lobby, he shuts the door in his face, the meaning
of which is that the messenger of the Lords enters the
other House by perniieeion and not as a matter of
right. Then Black Rod gives three taps at the
door with his wand, the door-keeper obtains the
Speaker'e consent to his admittance, and Black
Rod makes three courtly bows--one on entering the
Home, another when he is half-way up the floor andthe
third when he reaches the ttble in front of the Speaker.
Then he declares his bueine ea, retires backwards, gives
three more elaborate bows, and withdrawe. Practice
enables Black Rod to perform the bowing part of the
bminese with the utmost ease and grace, but less ex-
perienced persons make a moos of it, and beat a retreat
amid roars of laughter from the facetious members. I
remember • case some years ago when two of Her
Majesty's judges, in their scarlet robes, brought a bill
to the House relating to a settlement for the Prince of
Wales. On wa king up the tdior they did not bow in
unison, one making his obeisance at one step and the
other two or three feet in advance. But this was
nothing to the merriment which ensued when they
attempted to back out with thee Wee towards the
Speaker. In their confusion they forgot the re visite
obeisance, and when scores of members shouted "Bow!
bow! they did It so aakwardly that peals of inexi
tinguishable laughter rose from the crowded benches,
and the judges, in despair, gathered up their robes, and
rushed from the place. Forms and ceremonies are all
very well in their way, but not when they make high
judicial functionaries look ridiculous.

Such wild rumours were blown about town during
some days in last week respecting the Ashantee war—
at one time telling of the entire destruction of the
British force, and at another unmistakeably proclaim-
fug the capture of the King—that we are compelled to
rely almost exclusively for authentic intelligence upon
the official dispatch. of Sir Garnet Wolseley. Cer-
tainly the Vet of casualties published in Saturday
moruing'e papers, more especially that relating to the
I.2nd Highlstiden, establishes the reputation of the
Ashantees for bravery as well as for craft and dissimu-
lation. It is imtliciently evident now that King Koffee's
proposal to treat for peace had two objects--to gain
time and to keep us out of his capital. While his
messenger', bearing pacific tidings, were negotiating in
oar camp, scraps of metal were being industriously
converted into Mimi at Coomassie, and from all rides
the scattered forees of the dusky sovereign were being
once more collected. The stand made by the Aehantees
must have been a very determined one, looking at the five
days' fighting that itecost us to get into Coomassie. The
destruction of that place is likely enough to be ad-
versely criticimed in some quarters, but at all events it
Is an a...Linenco which the Ashantees will not speedily
forget. We have paid a heavy price for our victory, it
Is true, but savage and treacherous monarchs are very
slow to regard treaties of peace unlepthey know that
• stern lesson will be taught to them upon • breach of
faith. The Ashantee power has now been burnt:led in
the sight of all Africa, and we may look for a satis-
factory adjustmeLl of our relations with all the tribes
on the Gold Coast on a psrmanent heels.

Those whone professional duties cell them out in the
silent watchee of the night have often noticed, dotted
here and there upon the Loudon averments, the stall
ot the chffew vendor. There he is in all weathers—in
the blinding snowstorm, in the clear frosty atmosphere,
and when the winds blow bitterly from the nor h and
east, chilling the very life-blood in one's veins. Some
of there stalls are models of cleanliness an I comfort
they are warmed by a clear and ample fire, and the
tiros containing the coffee are sup,lied with portable
gas. Th, e ere many who in broad i'eylight, when
prcvistees and hattries are 'rwily Beetbeil le, would be
disposed to • atil by the bumble c ,ffee stall with con-
tempt, or at all erects With inuifference. But at
two or three &clerk on a winti 3. morning, when no.
thing elseiia obtainable, the came is a very different one
indeed. Then is the time to see a minceilane ins crowd
around the etch—men from the different departments of
the daily papers. street sweepers, cattle drover., early
umerket•gardenere tro ping into Covent Garden, those
who are in charge of. nefg h binning tire e.cepe, these and
reprreentati vv. of mane other ei are es wh t [Wares com-
pels them to Issue forth at night. If a biting wind howl,
through theedeeerted street, and both hands and feet re-
main icy cold, notwithstanding every effort to enstain the
circulation, depend upon it there is oo pride amongst
the group which shivers round the stall. The liquid,
which is rent lug hot, is dispenswl as rapidly as the
proprietor can serve it out, and the piles of cake and
bread and brnter graMmlei diminish, the customers
muttering that they must Lave sou ethieg to keep
but th. coil.' By some a th Euetheeen neither the
coffee nor the slioes would be looked at in the middle
of the day, but with every other place of refreshment
closed against them, there Is no alternative but to
patronise the unpretending stall keeper. The potato
ovens, whose owners make the evening air ring with
the cries " All hot I All hot 1" have disappeared hours
before, a. also have the stewed-eel and hot soup pots.
The coffee-man, therefore, ham all the business now to
himself, and thankful enough are many nocturnal
worker" that he is "an institution." As you stand by
his stall, the silence which has settled down upon the
vast metropolis is eometimes almost painful. But
by and-bye, as the shadows of the night fade before