The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-05-09 00:00:00

The other institution which is revived in the month
of May is the stage coach. Drop into Piccadilly be-
tween ten and twelve in the forenoon, and you will
see coach after coach bowling away from the " White
Horse Cellar" to several towns within coaching-
distance of Lomb es. The stables of this well-
known hostelry recall the times when the old
Quicksilver mail and the well-horsed Regulator,
each doing their twelve miles an hour, were looked
upon as the perfection of travelling. When I was a
boy in a round jacket the arrival of the mail coach in
the morning, anti its departgre in thratternoon, were
the.two great events el the'v/ape*hith etileed the
minds of the community. flow the mail-guard was
envied by the youthful section of the population, as in
his blazing red uniform he rattled through the
streets at a sisnking rate on the top of the
coi:-th, playing 3 tra-ladira on his bugle as he
alon4 ! "Happy man, that !" soliloquised
Ole unov phisticated youngstms of the time, who
knew nothing of the great worhi 1,o), ourl the en-
circling chain of their native hills. Guards, drivers,
and coaches were, however, gradually
and now we host e our Flying Dutchman upon the Greet
Western, which performs the 200 miles between Lou-
,l. Pll and Exeter in four Mews and a half. The fancy
for coach travelling has spread wonderfully of late,
for only ten or twelve years aoo, in a lunacy in-
quiry, it was gravely contended that for a gentleman
to drive a coach was a clear and uuntistakeable proof
of insanity ! Now, however, the ribbons are deftly
handled by peers and baronets with as much readiness
as they take their seats in Parliament, and passengers
flock to the coaches anxious for a spin in the pure
country air, as affording an agreeable contrast to the
close and stuffy railway carriage.

The annual opening iif the Royal Academy on the
firit Monday in May is always an event of great
interest in art circles. In the new rooms of the
Academy, in Burlington Gardens, are gathered the
choicest works of our most eminent painters, some of
which have occupied them the entire year, others an
even longer period. The Royal Academicians, forty
in number, have the privilege of exhibiting as many
pictures as they please, while the less fortunate out-
siders have to depend upon the judgment of the Hang-
ing Committee, three in number. On an average a
thousand pictures are rejected every year, and all that
the splendidly.clad porters at the Academy doors
make of it is, "Won't there be a lot of tearing of
hair!" The matter is, however, often beyond a joke
for the unhappy artists who find the labour of a twelve-
month thus lost. A few days ago I was dining at the
Crystal Palace with several of our painters who had
assembled to judge the merits of the pictures
in the new Gallery. One of these was in great
trouble over the fate of three "gems of sea
views," as he called them, which he had sent
in for exhibition. " What," I said, "not re-
jected "N,,," he replied, " not quite that, but the
Hangiug Committee, who know nothing of the sea,
have placed them fifteen feet high, close under the
ceiling. No one can possibly see them, and the work
of a year is thus destroyed." Such are smile of the
anxieties in the walks of art. As to the rejected
ones, they bear their disappointment with more or
le. resignation. An artist once told me how he
acted in these untoward circumstances. With a pale
face and a beating heart he asked the porter whether
his work was accepted. The well-dressed officio,
referred to the list, replied in the negative, and asked
my friend if he would take it with him. "Yes," was
the answer, so he took the picture, went to the back
of the National Gallery, set it down on a doorstep,
aml ran away as fast as his legs could carry
" Did you ever hear what became of it?" I inquired.
"Never, from that day to this,'' Was the response.
But he tried again, and is now an Ai•sociate of the
Royal Academy.