The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-03-02 00:00:00

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ht euhk Illuminatehhgh tyyei:vsaraetp,
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iure .tlr result.
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be
stated at once that to illuminate St. Paul's effectively now
torus out to be an impossibility, but solely on account of the
cost The plan was to surround the dome with navy tempo,
red and green alternate, and to Illuminate the western
facade with Bengal light ; while the united time lights
that were turned en in Ludgate-hill to the number
of five would co-operate in heightening the effect. This was
done at 1.30, and at intervals of about half an-hour, hitt
for a few minutes only. As long as the blue or red light
played upon the façade and made its rosy and fairy-like
architecture stand out with tenderest proportions
against the dark and smoky sky the effect was ea.
ceedinigly lovely, awl reminded one of Turner's picture
but, alas, it only lasted for a few minutes at most. At
9.30, however, a desperate effort was made with throe
cressets by the Queen's statue„ and some figures were seen
slipping about in alarming fashion in the triangular gable
between the turrets, when suddenly three Bengal lights
(red, blue, and green) were lit at the three angles and
threw their light and smoky shadow on the dome. The
effect was splendid, it did all It could have done, :mil
Lad not the expense been ruinous, there is no reason why
this Wight not have been kept ip all night The whole, I,o*.
ever, only lasted live or six minutes, and if the committee
cannot be said to have illuminated St. Paul's, any none than
Mr. Froude call lie said to have written the history of
England, they have done what will not be easily surpassed
or forgotten."
The leading lines of the Gothic arch at the foot of Lud-
gate-hill were traced by small gas jets, and lamps were
added to throw light upon the details of Rs decoration,
Ili burning letters at the top of the arch were the words
" God Bless the Priuce of Wales." In like manner
the leading architectural lines of Temple Bar were
traced by gas jets under globes. flu both sides of the
frieze were the words " Thanks be to God," Whit over
the arch "Gait Save the Queen and the Prince," both
in bold letters, which, though not large, could be distinctly
read, as the jets burned well. In Fleet-street several plume',
Garter stars, and other decorations in cut glass testified to
the effectiveness of this mode of illumination and, by way
I of contraSt, lloare's bank was conspietioua for the boldness
of its &gigue in gas jets—" in large letters, a large
semi-circle, and a brilliant star.
The Strand was not so continuously lighted up as Fleet-
street, but a large quantity of gas was burnt in Pall-mall. The
flambeau lights in front of the Carlton Club and of other
Clubs, too, were like so many beacon tires.
' At the West-end, the illuminations were not only
very ntuterous, but also splendid inn the extreme, and
amongst the many and costly designs, it was thought
that Mr. Poole, tailor to the Royal family, exhibited
what was probably the most costly and most Inril.
tient private display. The Royal arms fully emblazoned
and with supporters, were enclosed by four large pillars of the
Corinthian order, which supported the entablature
and a broad elliptic arch carrying a set of plumes,
enfaced with motto. Between the outer columns were two
linilbein shields with elaborate monograms, the whole being
tastefully backed with trophies of flags. The grand centre
piece was flanked by the arms of the Prince and Princess of
Wales, each shield being encircled by large laurels. This ela-
borate display was composed entirely of cut glass In various
colours anti thoroughly illuminated with a good supply of
gas aided by reflectors.

THE WILLING HOMAGE GE A FREE PEOPLE.
The Daily Neir,, in a leader, remarking on the willing
homage paid to the Queen as an unmistakable evidence of
our National life, says
The feeling which on Tuesday made all other pursuits and
Interests subordinate to the desire to greet the Queen must
hove its roots deep in the National life. We sometimes hear
such a tendency estimated very superficially, perhaps some-
times judge of it superficially ourselves. Gruel aliens ago there
were those who cherished, or pretended to cherish, a sentiment
for Royalty that deserved to be called superstitious. Even
a Chatham could profess to be overcome with a sense of the
"goodness" of a Sovereign whose best acts were entitled
to little respect, and whom in hie heart he must
have despised. This nauseous insinnvrity has not sur-
vived the Great French Revolution. We honour the Queen
far more and infinitely better than our grandfathers honoured
their King ; but we do so on grounds that will bear the in-
vestigation of reason. The cheers that went up on Tuesday
as the Queen appeared, expressed the willing homage of a
free people. They signified our regard for the person of the
Monarch, but they signified something more. The Queen
was acclaimed in her individual and also in her representa-
tive capacity. We sometimes confound these two cha-
racters. We say that the Queen is loved because
she has been a good wife, a good mother, a kind
neighbour. And we judge rightly, for these are to a great
extent conditions of our regard which we could hardly (Its.
pense with. But the deepor truth is, that we think of
these virtues and graces as adorning a character which is
public as well as private, and is which we all have a title
In their possessor. The Queen is, so to speak, the mirror
in which the nation contemplates its own life. and it is
of consequence to us that this mirror should he clear and
bright.
There are countries where, such a centre being wanting,
the highest place in the State is the temporary reward
of public achievement. When Napoleon had been beaten
at Waterloo, he said to oue of his Generale, "You will
see that that man," referring to Wellington, ''cdl
nmke himself master of the Crown." The thought
of a nation accepting a reigning family and remaining
faithful to it in joy and sorrow, through prosperity
--slid through adversity, was one which that adventurous
mind could with difficulty enter into. He would have
understood the welcome given last summer to the King of
Prussia returning to Ids capital after a cmupaigu of unex-
pected success; but the cheers given On Tuesday to a lady
who had merely been faithful and good, would have been to
him nlysterious and unintelligible. Our political system
provides for the recognition of personal merit in a manlier
consistent with the reservation of the supreme honour to
one who needs not to unite all excellences in an individual
person. It is this representative character we attribute
to the Queen, and which we recognise in her even when
we do not consciously ascribe it, that makes it proper for us
to pay her honour which we should withhold from the most
eminent of her subjects. We deny our Sovereigns many op-
portunities of distiuguishing themselves in ways open to
foreign rulers. A King of England is no more permitted to
assume the direct command of his armies in the field than
to administer justice personally in the Courts of West-
minster but if those armies prevail it is he that is victori-
ous, for he stands for the nation.
It Is hi this representative character that Queen Victoria
was wekomed on Tuesday by her people. Not many, per-
haps, could give offhand an account of their sentimentos
towards the Queen, but there could hardly have been 000
who did not feel that he was greeting one who lived not in
and for herself, but in and for her people as no one else in
these KillplolllB does cress. The Queen has now- reigeed
over us for nearly five-and-thirty years, and never has tile
heart of the nation been stirred and the Queen not shown her
strung participation in its movement. Those years hex", fee
the most part, passed in peaceful progress. marked by new
and great public works, international exhibitions, and phi-
lanthropic enterprises. There is scarcely a nook of these
islands to which the Queen's warm interest in all that con-
ceits the common life of her people has not attracted her.
Our national experience, however, has been chequered. In
peace we have had disastrous and fatal accidents, earning
ruin to thousands of homes. or periods of depression like the
Lancashire cotton famine, and these have sot ved as °evasions
to Ming out more clearly the identity of the Queen's life
wills that office people. We have had at least one great
war, and the Queen has been the last to say "Good-by" to
the soldiers, and the fleet to visit them when they have re-
turned, wounded home. These were not simply the acts of a
benevolent lady ; they were done in the manner and spirit
of England, nil the nation has acknowledged its faithful
and august representative, in its Sovereign. The value of such
events as that of Tuesday is that they give the latent senti-
ment of the community occasion to express itself hi a
safe and agreeable manner. We like to see our public
men sod women, our statesmen, orators, poets, and mic.s.
fill commanders by aoa and land ; hut wholly distinct from
such pleasure as that sight gives us is the sight of the Queen,
because she is more national than any of them, the personal
embodiment of an institution to which they all bring their
- services, and from which they all derive honour.
she
rales's