The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-08-14 00:00:00

Our fonhn gorrtspoOtni.
[We deem it right to state that we do not at all times
identify cuselves with our Correspondent's opinions.

It is not many times in a session that the House of
Lords fills for a great division. Ordinarily, the Upper
Chamber of the Legislature is a very quiet place, free
from the excitement which so often characterises the
deliberations of the Lower. Three peers are sufficient
to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business,
and sometimes net more than half a dozen lords are
present. Seldom is there a set debate, for the work
is done in a quiet conversational way across the table,
a considerable proportion of the observations not
reaching the reporters' gallery. Divisions, which are
so numerous in the House of Commons, are of com-
paratively rare occurrence in the House of Lords.
But when the Painted Chamber is filled for a great
debate, the spectacle is one not easily forgotten.
The gorgeous alcove assigned to Royal visitors is
then occupied ; the places upon the steps of the
throne assigned to right honourables and members of
the House of Commons are filled; the galleries run-
ning round the House are brilliant with the wives and
daughters of peers, who have come down in many.
coloured silks and robes. The Lord Chancellor upon
the woolsack is the central figure of the illustrious
assembly, as he sits grave and solemn, wigged and
befolded in his robes of ermine. Before him is the
massive gilded mace; and on his right is the epis-
copal bench, where sit the bishops in their snowy
robes of lawn, presenting a striking contrast to the
feast of colour elsewhere. Such gatherings are, how-
ever, few and'far between, more especially at the close
of the session; for noble lords have by that time
betaken themselves to scenes of Alpine travel, to
Norwegian fjords and Lombardian lakes; and nothing
but a very strong sense of duty would bring the peers
back hundred of miles simply to give a vote. Formerly
the lords had the privilege of voting by proxy, thus
making no difference whether they were present or
not; but they surrendered this sever al years ago, and
the practice is now never likely to be revived.
A touch of nature makes the whole world kin, and
the sudden and serious illness of the Prime Minister
has evoked manifestations of sympathy from the
palace and the cottage alike, and from political
opponents no less than from associates. The refbn--
ences to the subject in the House of Commons
came spontaneously from both sides, and showed how
little there is of personal antagonism amid the
conflicting issues and varying fortunes of public
life in this country. It is not every Prime Minister
who occupies the official residence of the First Lord of
the,Treasury which is provided by the State for the
accommodation of Her Majesty's First Minister.
Lord Palmerston did not; for whether in or out of
office his house was 94, Piccadilly; Earl Russell did
not, preferring his own house in Chesham-place. But
Lord Beaconsfield lived at No. 10, Downing-street, and
thither Mr. Gladstone removed when he was appointed
to office some months ago, although in his first Pre-
miership he lived at No. 11, Carlton-house-terrace,
overlooking St. James's-park. Downing-street is a
very unpretending little thoroughfare, and not one
in which the visitor might expect to find the residence
of the Prime Minister of England. But in order that
there shall be no mistake about it, on the door there
is a brass plate bearing the inscription: "First Lord
of the Treasury." This street, during the few days
of Mr. Gladstone's serious illness, was filled with
people, who waited for the issue of the bulletins, and
it was noted as remarkable how quiet a crowd could
be when rest and silence were so essential to the
recovery of the patient.

The Prime Minister's illness will have the effect
of shortening the Parliamentary session, and mem-
bers will now get away earlier than they had anti-
cipated. The Law Courts, too, are gradually closing
their doors one after another; and with the excep-
tion of one vacation judge, who remains in town
to transact business in chambers, the whole of the
judicial staff will, at the rising of their courts, enjoy
a holiday until the 2nd of November. There are
many arrears in more than one of our tribunals, for
the election petitions have taken away six judges
from their ordinary duties for some time, and this has
thrown back the heatiling of the cases in which suitors
have so deep an interest. The petitions have now
nearly all been cleared away; so that when the legal
tribunals reassemble in November, they will be able
to devote their undivided attention to the work which
they are so well qualified to discharge, and the efficient
performance of which so vitally affects the interests
of the entire community.

When on the 22nd of January, 1579, the Zulus
down upon a small British force at Isandula
and destroyed it, their army advanced in a horse-shoe
shape, like that of Hannibal, the famous Carthaginian
general, when he defeated the Roman legions at Cannm,
thus showing that, savages though the blacks were,
they had a military instinct for the art of war. The
particulars which have come to hand of the disastrous
engagement in Afghanistan on the 27th July, show
that in the Asiatic as well as upon the African conti-
nent, the male population have been men of war from
their youth up. Ayoub Khan's force was of a most
formidable character. His line of battle was skilfully
formed, his regular infantry appeared to have stood
steadily to their positions, the cavalry were brought
to bear on our native infantry, the guns were admitted
to have been admirably served. There were seven
regiments of regulars in the centre and three reserve;
two thousand ca./airy on the right, and on the left
four hundred mounted men, with two thousand
Ghazis and irregular infantry. There were, too, other
cavalry and irregulars in reserve, and five or six
batteries of guns, including one of breechloaders. The
superiority of the Afghan artillery in point of strength
more than compensated for the longer range and
greater precision of the British arm; and looking to
forces opposed to us and to the conditions of the fight,
it is a matter for thankfulness that the original de-
scription was not,realised and the whole of our force
annihilated.

The Twelfth of August is a date at which ordinarily
the business of Parliament is within three or four days
of being brought to a close. Noble lords and honour-
able gentlemen who have rights of shootincr over the
moors of Scotland and Yorkshire, have their hearts in
the Highlands rather than at Westminster; and
so far as the Commons are concerned, it is usually
quite as much as the Government whip can do to
keep forty members for the transaction of the neces-
sary business of that assembly. On the night before
the anxiously-anticipated Twelfth, the terminus offthe
Great Northern Railway at King's-cross is a sight well
worth seeing, for upon the platform are ranged vast
piles of luggage for transmission to the breezy North,
indicating by their bulk that the possessors thereof in-
tend to remain away from London for some time to
come.

Harvest prospects now occupy a considerable share
of attention, and there can be little doubt that the
continuance of wet weather is giving rise to some
anxiety. The experience of this summer has been
a few hours of bright sunshine, followed immediately
by a thunderstorm with torrents of rain, and days
of cloudy skies and lower temperature. In the imme-
diate neighbourhood of London there are scores of
acres of newly-mown grass, which ought to have
been converted into hay some time ago, rotting
in the fields for want of that sunshine of which
a few weeks would now be worth millions of
money to the farmers of these islands. A singular
fact in connection with the recent atmospheric
disturbances has been the presence of beautifully
clear starlit nights, followed too often at sunrise by
the drifting up of masses of cloud from the sea. Could
the conditions have been reversed, and the days left
clear for the sun to shine, our agriculturists would not
now be under any apprehension as to a deficient yield
of their crops ; for when the sun rises upon the vapours
of the night, they are speedily dispelled. The nights
in August have been quite as clear as though a hard
keen frost were prevailing; but a fine night is seldom
followed by a brilliant day.
Perhaps these are more courts north and south
of Fleet-street than in any ether thoroughfare of
equal length in the metropolis. The pedestrian comes
across them at every few yards, more especially on
the northern pavement, where they branch off towards
the back streets of Holborn. Some of these courts are
full of historic memories. In that, for instance,
called and known by the name of Wine Office, Oliver
Goldsmith lived ; and in Bolt-court, Dr. Johnson
found a residence for many years. As time has gone
on, however, the associations of these places have
become less and less of a literary character; and they
are chiefly devoted to newspaper offices, book marts,
and agencies of various descriptions. But in other
parts of the capital, where land is less valuable than
in the City itself, courts are the abiding places of con-
siderable numbers of the humbler classes, whose
aggregation in places where the sun seldom penetrates
except at noon-day, neither promotes their comfort,
nor conduces to their health. In the laying out of
new streets in London, there are now no courts; and
a movement is on foot to abolish those which exist.
It is proposed to pass a law which will gradually turn
all these places into thoroughfares, and thus let light
and air in upon a scene from which both have too
long been excluded.

The improvement of the Channel service of steamers
has for some time past been an object of solicitude to
public companies having an interest therein, seeing
that the Channel tunnel is still regarded as a practic-
able scheme. So far as rapidity is concerned, the
latest development of the steamboat facilities for a run
over to France would seem to leave little to be desired.
To leave Ike South Eastern terminus at Charing-cross
at 7,35 aan„ make the railway journey to Folkestone,

cross the sta to Boulogne, have luncheon there, come
back, and be at Charing-cross again at five in the

afternoon, is a development of quick travelling
such as ought to give satisfaction to all who are
able to enjoy a trip at sea. The new steamer, Albert
Victor, makes her way through the water at the rate
of nearly twenty-four miles an hour, a speed which
exceeds that of many a suburban railway, and illus.
trates in a remarkable degree the perfection to which
marine travelling has been brought. The distance
would not be accomplished in less time by a sub-
marine railway, with its shafts sunk at frequent
intervals for the conveyance of fresh air to those who
preferred steam under the sea to steam upon its sur-
face. There are many, however, to whom the very
thought of a sea passage is very keen torture, and
who would prefer the railway to the swiftest steamer
that was ever constructed.