The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-02-19 00:00:00

OSTEND RABBITS.

The Gardener's Chronicle says :—Figures extending
into hundreds of thousands quite fail to convey the
enormous extent of our trade with and through Ostend
in Flemish rabbits. It is a curious fact that whilst
we have been engaged in the production of legislation
that must of necessity tend to the considerable cur-
tailment of our home stock of rabbits, we are fast in-
creasing our trade in foreign ruminants. It would
seem. to be our policy to restrain the production in
rabbits here, and to encourage their production in
enormous numbers abroad; in fact, we seem to think
it is better to buy what the town dweller esteems to be
a valuable article of food rather than raise it for our-
selves. It happens that here, unfortunately, the rabbit
is not regarded as presenting any place of importance
in food statistics. We have made the pretty little
creature partly vermin and partly game, and between
the two characters he has got to be regarded as a
pest and a nui,ance ; yet the rabbit must have, during
the past twenty years, either become a much
scarcer article or the demand for him by the public
has largely increased, for the price of a single one is
just double what it was a generation since. Under
the new Rabbits and Hares Act we May soon find
that the rabbit has at home become almost as scarce
6,fi the fox. When that is the case we shall have to
purchase from the Lowlanders more largely than ever.
The question naturally arises—lf the Flemings can
grow.these in myriads at a profit, whyalso carmot we?
If the wild rabbit must go, let it .go, but b 'fore it
goes let us get from it some hardy crosses with our big
fancy breeds, and, regarding rabbits no more as vermin,
but as articles of food, rise millions for ourselves.
We can see now in market-gardens and fields on every
hand vast breadths of food being wasted that would
feed and help to fatten rabbits wholesale. Is it wise,
is it sound economy, to permit all this food to lie waste
and valueless, whilst we expend vast sums to purchase
rabbits from Flanders we might so well raise for our-
selves?

SIR F. ROBERTS AND THE FREEDOM
OF THE CITY OF LONDON.

On Monday afternoon the Corporation of the City
of London presented the freedom of the City, together
with a sword of honour, to Major-General Sir Fre-
derick Sleigh Roberts, G.C.8., "in recognition
of his gallant services in Afghanistan, where, sup-
ported by brave soldiers, he so well and nobly
upheld the prestige and reputation of the British
Army." The interesting and picturesque ceremony
was held in the library at Guildhall, the Aldermen
wearing their scarlet robes of office, the members
of the Court of Common Council their mazarine
gowns, and the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs and
Under-Sheriffs attending in full civic state. There
were present a large number of guests, including many
ladies, and several of Sir Frederick Roberts's brother
officers. On the appearance of General Sir Frederick
Roberts, who was in military uniform and wore the
riband of the Bath and his various decorations, the
whole Court rose to receive him and he was loudly
applauded. He was escorted by the Prime Warden
and other authorities of the Fishmongers' Company,
to which he belongs.
The Town Clerk having read the resolution confer-
ring the freedom on Sir Frederick Roberts, who then
signed the roll of Freemen,
The Chamberlain of London (Mr. Benjamin Scott),
addressing him, said, after a few preliminary re-
marks : Your public services have now become a
chapter of military history so well known that it is
quite needless that I should refer to them in detail or
at any length. The son of Sir Abraham Roberts, a
distinguished officer of the old Indian Army, you
commenced your career in the Bengal Artillery of
that service—a military school which has produced,
perhaps more than any other, wise administrators
and successful generals. The example of such men as
Sir Henry LaVirence, Governor ot the Punjab ; Sir
George Pollock, who retrieved the prestige of the
Indian Army in the former Afghan war; General
Sir Henry Tombs, Sir Vincent Eyre, Sir
William Whish, of Mooltan celebrity ; Sir Arch-
dale Wilson, the captor of Delhi, and last, but not
least, Lord Napier of Magdala, must have exercised a
powerful influence on your early military career; and
with such parentage, training, and examples, it is
not surprising that your record is one of continued
active service, honourable employment, and heroic
achievement; nor is it to be wondered at that your
name has been mentioned in flattering terms not less
than twenty-three times in published despatches.
Throughout the lamentable Indian Mutiny your
name appears again and again as honourably asso-
ciated with the capture of Delhi, where you were
wounded; the ever-memorable relief of Lucknow ;
the siege of Cawnpore, and the numerous operations
which ultimately crushed the Mutiny. For these
services, although then in a subordinate position, you
received the thanks of the Governor-General of India;
and I must not omit that at Khoda Gunj you
earned the Victoria Cross, so valued as the recogni-
tion and reward of definite acts of conspicuous per-
sonal bravery. I am compelled to pass over your
subsequent services in the expedition against the
tribes of the North-Western frontier of India, as well
as those of the Abyssinian campaign, and I can only
refer in the briefest possible terms to your more
recent appointment to the command of the central
or Kuram column of advance into Afghanistan.
You immediately justified the wisdom of that ap-
pointment by the gallant and successful storming of
the formidable heights of the Piewar Kotal and the
march of your victorious column through those
stupendous passes—the gates of Afghanistan—result-
ing in the early submission of the Ameer Yakoob Khan.
Then arrived the unwelcome news of the treacherous
massacre of Major Cavagnari and the British Mission.
at Cabul, quickly succeeded by your victory at Char-
Asiab, and the gallant repulse of the enemy swarming
round the cantonments of Sherpur. You received
distinctions from your Sovereign and the thanks of
Parliament. The capture and occupation of Cabul
speedily followed, and anticipations of security and
peace were not unnaturally entertained. But the
disastrous and deplorable defeat at Maiwand again
awoke the dogs of war and aroused gloomy fore-
bodings and anxieties lest the close of the war should
in some degree resemble that of the war of 1838-41.
Treachery, massacre, and defeat had, as on the
former occasion, followed in quick succession, and
men were asking themselves—particularly those
old enough to remember our former humiliation—
whether history would completely repeat itself
on this occasion. That it did not is due, under
Providence, to the remarkable forced march of the
Cabul-Candahar field force of 10,000 men, of which
you had the command. (Cheers.) Pressing on with
artillery and needful supplies through 320 miles of
desert country in 23 days, under a burning August sun,
harassed by predatory and hostile tribes, and suffering
individually from fever, you were, nevertheless,
enabled to deliver an immediate and crushing blow at
an enemy flushed with recent victory and to relieve our
beleaguered countrymen in Candahar. (Cheers.) This
march and its results have become historical. It stirs
our memories with recollections acquired in our youthful
days of the skilful and successful march of Xenophon
and his 10,000 Greeks after the defeat of Cunaxa. His was,
however, a splendid retreat through an enemy's country
after defeat; y®urs an admirable advance under
similar difficulties crowned with victory. I must
leave to competent critics to determine the place of
that march in military history. It is sufficient for
our present purpose to assert that your achievement
has snore than retrieved the prestige of the British
arms in India. (Cheers,) You will have observed
that the resolution of this Court associates yourself
with the gallant men, British and native, serving
under your command. This, lam sure, will be grati-
fying to yourself, for you have on every possible occa-
sion generously divided the honours with your comrades
Of all arms, all ranks, and all races. (Cheers.) We
may, not inappropriately, put into your mouth the
words attributed by our national poet to our soldier
king at Agincourt :
"This story shall the good man teach his eon;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered,—
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers ;
For he, to-day that sheds his blood with me,

Shall be my brother ; be he ne'er so vile."
(Cheers.) That fight we are not allowed to forget was
fought on St. Crispin's Day; it is my pleasing duty,
in the name of this Court, to commemorate St. Valen-
tine to-day by offering y9u this copy of your freedom
and the right hand of rellowship, which unites you
with us as a citizen of London. (Cheers.) I am also
to request your acceptance of a sword of honour. I
am sure that it is the heazty wish of his Lordship, of
his brethren, the aldermen, and of every member of
this Court, and, I may be permitted to add, of every
fair spectator of these proceedings, that you may be
spared many years to wear it at your side, but that
you may, if possible, be spared the necessity of draw-
ing it in bloody fray. (Loud cheers.)
General Sir Frederick Roberts, who was received
with loud cheers, said that a high compliment had
been paid in comparing his march from Cabul to
Candahar with the famous Retreat of the Ten
Thousand from the plains of Babylon to the shores of
the Euxine. To a great extent he might be permitted
to accept that comparison, both operations being
carried out amidst numerous enemies and through
difficult countries, and in both cases the object in view
was successfully attained.

The address of the Chamberlain and the reply of Sir
Frederick Roberts were ordered to be entered on the
journals and printed on the minutes of the Corpora-
tion.
With that the proceedings ended. General and
Lady Roberts were loudly cheered on leaving the
Guildhall.

The sword of honour was manufactured by Messrs.
Hunt and Roskell. The scabbard is of standard gold,
and at the upper part, near the hilt of the sword, is
decorated with representations in high relief of the
Orders of the Bath, the Indian Empire, and the
Victoria Cross, surrounded by branches of palm, and
with
re"Paimam qui meruit ferat." Separated
from
a chased band are panels containing
gu
relief, emblematic of Justice and
figures, in
mottointhese
by
Mercy, Prudence, and Speed, and below these,
on either side of the scabbard, are heads of
the Indian tiger and the African elephant, form-
ing bosses to which are attached the rings of
the sword-belts. The ornamentation is continued in
the form of tablets bearing the names of the principal
engagemei:its in which General Roberts has figured—
viz., Delhi, Lucknow, Cawnpore, Umbeyla, Looshai,
Abyssinia, Peiwar Kotai, Char-Asiab, Cabul, Canda-
har. The remainder of the scabbard is chased with the
national emblems treated conventionally, the rose,
shamrock, and thistle, together with the lotus, the ser-
pent, and various palms, in allusion to India and Africa.
Among these emblematic devices two panels are conspi-
cuous : on the one is embossed the gateway of Eton,
where General Roberts was educated in 1847, and on the
other, the gateway of Candahar, the scene of the General's
latest exploit. The hilt of the sword is of ivory, ter-
minating in a lion's head, and delicately carved with
oak leaves, emblems of Valour and Fortitude, and the
cross-piece of gold bears on one side the arms and sup-
porters of the City of London, and on the other the
arms and supporters of General Roberts. The blade
is decorated with appropriate engraved devices, and
bears the following inscription :—" A Common
Council holden in the chamber of the Guildhall of the
City of London on Thursday, the 2nd day of Decem-
ber, 1880, M'Arthur, Mayor. Resolved unanimously
that the freedom of this City, together with a sword,
be presented to Major-General Sir Frederick Sleigh
Roberts, G.C.8., V.C., in recognition of his gallant
services in Afghanistan, where, supported by brave
soldiers, he. so well and nobly upheld the prestige and
reputation of the British Army."

In the evening Sir F. Roberts was entertained
at a banquet at the Mansion House, and amongst
the company were the Duke of Connaught, the
Duke of Cambridge, and the Secretary of State for
War.

The Duke of Cambridge responding to the toast of "The
Army, the Navy, and the Reserve Forces," in the course of
his speech, said-1n his remarks upon the military opera-
tions he 'had conducted, Sir Frederick Roberts had looked
particularly to see that he had seasoned troops to serve
with him. Dwelling upon the importance of this question
to England, whose army had to serve under great diffi-
culties in all parts of the world, his Royal Highness pointed
out that since its numbers were comparatively small the
efficiency of the Army became a matter of the greatest
consequence. No doubt the Army was costly, but tile
Empire it was required to protect was great, powerful, and
rich (cheers), find his own opinion was that there was
no Englishman who had the interest of his country at heart
Will) was not prepared to bear the necessary cost of properly
guarding the Empire. (Hear, hear.) He was gratified to see
among those present his excellent and Worthy colleague, the
present Secretary of State for War, for, his Royal Highness
added, he had no hesitation in saying that there was no man
more anxious to see the Army in an efficient condition.
(Hear, hear.) Whatever his views might be with regard to
the means, his desire was to see an efficient Army. , The
difficulty which the' had to face was the necessarily large
expense of maintaining a thoroughly efficient Army in these
days of active intilligence and progress.

The Lord Mayor, in proposing the toast of the evening,
briefly traced the events which led to Sir Frederick Roberts's
undertaking his famous march, and alluded to some of the
many battles and campaigns in which his distingnis,hed
guest had been engaged.

Sir Frederick Roberts, who was warmly cheered on rising
to respond, in the course of his reply, said :—I would ask
you, my lords and gentlemen, to remember two essential
points in connexion with our army. First, that it is
England's boast that her array is a volunteer one. Next,