The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-02-27 00:00:00

our Correspatat.
(We deem It tight to state that we (la not at all umel
owes ourselves wish our Ccetreapondent's opinions.]

The old illustration of the storm which, though
the ~vinds have fallen, leaves its result for some
period ion the action of the waves, may well be
applied to the effect caused by the recent riot in
London. Weeks have now elapsed since the
lamentable disturbance which thrilled the metro-
polis, and yet it can scarcely be spoken of as
altogether a thing of the past. The waves of
rumour still rise and fall, and recollections of the
panic which ensued continue to eddy around the
rock of circumstance. It is even thus with any
event which, striking terror into the public
mind, is apt to gather strength as it passes from
mouth to mouth. Readers of Carlyle's "History
of the French Revolution" will remember the
thrilling effect with which he tells, in the first
volume of "The Brigands," those wretched beings
who impelled by hunger and desperation, rose in
isolated revolt in some of the towns, and who
were rendered by rumour übiquitous, "But
now," Carlyle says, after his immortal description
of the taking of the Bastille," at every town's-end
in France, there do arrive, in these days of
terror men,' as men will arrive; nay, men
on horseback,' since rumours oftenest travels
riding. These men declare with alarmed coun-
tenance, The BRIGANDS declare,
be coming, to be
just at hand; and do then—ride on, about their
further business, be what it might! Where-
upon the whole population of such Town defen-
sively flies to arms. In much the same fashion
did the recent panic spread in London; men ran
through City and suburbs circulating the
rumours that the rioters were on the road; and

although the effect has now largely subsided,
the tale of the three eventful days will be told
to the grandchildren of those who now are
young.
London, however, is always on tin look-out
for a new sensation, and when the eTect of one
has ps.ssed away another is eagerly awaited. A
great many persons are now looking for what
has in these days become an exceedingly rare
event—the presence of the Sovereign at a place
of public recreation. Since the death of the Prince
Consort, it has been but seldom that the Queen
has attended anv such, and it is with deep satisfac-
tion that her subjects will witness in a few weeks
her appearance at the Albert Hall. The occasion
will be the performance of Gounod's latest great
work, "Mors et Vita," and a very crowded
audience is certain to be present in our largest
concert-house on the evening fixed. This is, of
course, inevitable and it may be taken as an
indication of the pleasure with which her
Majesty's appearances in public are always
greeted. But it has its unfortunate side, never-
theless, for it is well understood that a part of
the Queen's hesitancy to more frequently visit
places of popular resort is that, in the present
state of her health, and more particularly of her
nerves, she cannot bear the excitement of being
in any way mobbed. It is an apparently in-
eradicable tendency of the English to stare
abundantly at the great, and, in the case of the
Queen, there is always such a crowd when she
comes in any way among her subjects that its
pressure becomes painful. The Prince and Prin-
cess of Wales suffer from the same thing, but
they are younger and have not been tried by the
same troubles as the Queen. The fact stands,
however, that the pushing and crowding to
which the chief personages in the State are sub-
ject, are accountable for much of the seclusion in
which the greatest of all has felt compelled to
keep herself.
Paris is to have another Great Exhibition in
1889, and the French Government has decided
within the past few days that, like its three
predecessors—those of 1855, 1867, and 1878—it
shall partake of an international character.
There had been some doubt as to whether this
would be resolved upon, for, owing to the fact
that 1889 will see the centennial of the out-
break of the French Revolution, it was thought
by many that some of the monarchical Govern-
ments of Europe would object to participate. If
the Exhibition is to be turned into an apotheosis
of the Revolution, or a glorification of it in
any form, it can be understood that Russia, Ger-
many, and Austria—each of which suffered in
various ways from the ultimate effects of that
uprising, and neither of which can be expected
to sympathise with "the principles of 'B9"
—would not be desirous of taking any corporate
part in it. But the difficulty, if it ever
existed outside the brain of those who sought
to turn it to their own purposes, appears to have
been smoothed away, and visitors to Paris three
years hence will have an opportunity for seeing
a festival of the nations, which is intended to be
on an unprecedentedly large scale. The Parisian
tradesmen will cordially welcome such an influx.
They have been complaining for some time of the
dulness of trade, and they will put on their very
smartest airs to tempt to their establishments
the throngs of foreigners who may be expected
on such an occasion.

By the time the Exhibition is opened, there
will probably be completed in the French capital
a metropolitan railway modelled upon much the
same lines as that we possess in London. The
Minister of Public Works has intimated that in
a few days he will bring forward, in the
Chamber of Deputies a bill for this
purpose, and there is a sentiment in its favour
which is likely to secure its early adoption.
When the line is completed, it will be
an advantage, not only to the Parisians,
but to the many thousands of English and others
who annually visit their city. The omnibus and
tramway system there is admirable, but 'busses
and tramcars cannot be as generally serviceable
as trains. There already exists the Ceinture
Railway, which, starting from the St. Lazar°
station, runs around the city, as its name be-
tokens and comes back to its original point.
But this is purely a suburban line, and is of com-
paratively little use to those who wish to get
from one part of the city to another. The
visitor, however, who wishes to have a good view
of the environs cannot do better than take a
circular ticket, and go for a two hours' journey
around Paris. The greater portion of the line
is above ground, and a panoramic view of the
valley of the Seine can be obtained, which well
repays the time and trouble of the journey. But
for business men and those who wish to go into
and not around the city, the proposed metropo-
litan railway will prove of greater service.
When a death occurs of someone sufficiently
noteworthy to have the event recorded in the
press, it is strange how often it will serve to
recall some interesting event of the past, and
that not always of something which has happened
to the deceased himself. The passing away of
Lord Melville, which has taken place within the
last few days, has in this manner suggested to
students of English history the remembrance of
the last impeachment by the House of Commons
of a Minister before the House of Lords. It was in
the earliest years of the present century that the
first Lord Melville—better known to history as
Henry Dundas—was accused in the House of
Commons of certain transactions during his
tenure of the Treasureship of the Navy, which,
in the opinion of his opponents deserved im-
peachment. A motion to this effect received a
number of votes equal to those obtained against
it, and it was with the utmost anxiety that all
concerned awaited the verdict of the Speaker.
Only after a prolonged pause could that
officer decide what to do, and then,
pale and trembling with agitation, he
gave his casting vote in favour of impeachment.
The charges were tried by the House of Lords
the next year, and Lord Melville, by large
majorities, was acquitted. A decade previously
Warren Hastings similarly, though condemned
by the Commons, had been exonerated by the
Lords ; and it is, doubtless, one of the reasons
why later days have seen no further impeach-
ments that the two most recent so signally
failed.
During the discussions that have lately taken
place concerning the distress in the East of
London, frequent reference has been made to the
scenes which daily take place at the dock-gates.
The eager struggles of the almost famished
crowd, and the continual strivings for a day's pre-
carious work, have been pictured in newspapers,
and the illustrated press, as well as upon the
stage; and even those who have never visited
the docks, and to whom the East-end is as
unexplored a region as the centre of Africa,
have been brought acquainted with one
of the most painful scenes which London can
daily show. But it is only another illustration
of the old saying that one half the world does
not know how the other half lives that it should
not be until a moment of acute distress that the
well-to-do and the comfortably-off in the metro-
polis had heard of the struggle which every
morning goes on within a very few miles of
them. Men necessarily live very much to them-
selves; they come to their business iA the City
in the morning and they go to their homes in
the suburbs at night, but they know nothing,
and can scarcely be expected to know anything,
of what their fellow-men are doing in Pets
whir& they never see, and of which they only
casually hear. But if the present diAtress brings
about an increase of sympathy between Wes.t.
and Epj, between the well-to-do and the very
Door. tesults will not be wbcily ill.—