The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-09-25 00:00:00

[We deem it right to state that we do not at all t!t:',:!s
identify.ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.

When the Sultan of Zanzibar was in London in the
summer of 185, he was borne by steamboat from
Woolwich to Westminster Bridge. He passed between .
Miles of houses, forests of masts, and fleets of ship-
ping. it was a sight well calculated to impress the
African ruler with an idea of the size, the wealth;.'
and the importance of the British capital; and it did
ao most effectually, for he exclaimed : " The greatness
of this ity had not been reported unto us." Alagni-
tude is indeed the chief feature of London as grandeur
of natural position and scenery is that of Naples,
beauty that of Florence, historical interest that of
Rome, shops, boulevards, ornaments, squares, and
gardens that of Paris. But in no other city does the
peculiar characteristic of a place so force itself upon one's
notice as in London. There you are brought face to face .
with magnitude whichever way you turn. You may
soon become insensible to the beauty of Florence, to
the shops of Paris, to the ancient glory of Rome, or
even to the situation of Naples ; but the spectator can
never forget how vast is London, and how great its
population. _The.visitor finds, after spending his first
week in doing nothing else than scouring the metro-
polis from end to end, in order to obtain some general
ndtion of the place, that he is as'much a stranger as
when he began his travels.' 'Though he has gone so
far he has made no progress; though he'has seen so
much he can remember little; he is in fact bewildered
at the immensity of the great town. In other capitals

admiration is often directed to some of the. palaces of
the nobility—one here and another there; sometimes
to the houses of some of the great commoners. In
London, however, these signs of wealth are not
isolated here and there; but in the West-end, in
street after street and square after square these man-
- siens of the rich are to be seen on every hand.
A feature of London, similar for magnificence, for
nobleness, and for size, is its Parks. These great
enclosures, however, scarcely answer to the descrip-
tion of parks as understood in the sense of breathing
places for the inhabitants of large towns. They more
resemble portions of the country fenced in, with houses
just visible in the distance. To attempt to describe
London in any detail, or to endeavour to depict what
it is like in a comprehensive glance, would be a
matter of great difficulty. There are features of it
which are of varied interest—churches, palaces,
museums, and galleries. But there are numbers who
. prefer the crowds of London Bridge and Cheapside,to
seeing the Tower, the Crown jewels, the knights on
horseback, and the stairs down which Lady Jane Grey
went to execution. The on-looker is gazing on a flow
of human life which there is nothing like anywhere
else, and which is a more impressive thing to witness
than all inanimate objects whatsoever. It is not SO
much a stream or a flow of life as an animated torrent,
a living Niagara. Its arrangements and regulations,
although sometimes rudely broken in upon and dis-
turbed by a snow-storm, is as complete as those of any
city in the world, and more so than most. That side
of London which has relation to locomotion, either on
the narrowest or broadest scale, 'Somewhat resembles
the order that proverbially reigns in an English
household remarkable for punctuality, trustworthiness,"
skill, celerity, honesty, and neatness. This obser va-
lien applies to the hackney coach or the omnibus as
well as to the trains which are ever hurrying through
the homes of a dense population.
The information which has lately been desseminated
in this country respecting the condition and prospects
of American agriculture, has attracted considerable
attention. It opens up a wondrous vision of the
capabilities of that great continent for supplying, not
only its own population, but the whole world with
food. It is true enough that English agriculture has
been revolutionised ; but it is manufacture, engineer-
ing, and the discovery of new powers in nature, to-
gether with their extended application that have pre-
pared us for agricultural development. England loves
her farms, and homesteads, her pastures, her water
meadows, her sleek and fat beasts, her lowing herd,
and the sweet and simple routine of her dairies. There
is a good deal of sentiment clustering around the tradi-
tions of centuries. But here is America offering to do
everything for us. She tells us that for generations she
s'dl have an area which will be far ahead of all our
demands; she has enterprise that never gives up, and
ingenuity that is never baffled; she rejoices in the
colossal scale of her undertaking; she has a climate
suited for operations to be done quickly, and at high
pressure. In the pleasant homely residential 'sense there
is little of what we should call country in America;
but there is a yearly battle with Nature, well fought
and generally well won. On the other hand there
are serious disadvantages attending any competition
on the part of America with our agriculturists, and
how far these are surmountable, time can only show.
Towards the close of the month of August 1879,
• the capture of Cetewayo effectually brought to an
end the Zulu war; but ;subsequent events have shown
that the rule of this country in South • Africa involves
a complicated variety of questions. There-is, for
instance, the question a South African Confederation,
besides the policy to be adopted in dealing with the
Transvaal Republic; the manner in which Natal is to
be governed ; the issues connected with the Zulu war ;
the treatment of the Basutos ; and the rondo diffi-
culty. There are three populations in South Africa—
the Dutch, the English, and the native; and the
problem is—how to do justice to either one of these
populations without offending the other tivo ? The
Dutch ask that their feelings should be consulted ; the
7,nelish ask that commercial facilities should be in-
creased; and the natives ask that they shall:be allowed
- to develop their natural instincts as traders and agri-
culturists. The key to this situation can be supplied
only by the highest order of statesmanship.:
The details about the fighting in Afghanistan have
suggested a resemblance between the irregulars of that
mountainous country and the old Highland armies
which came to the front after the deposition of the
House of Stuart. The method of warfare is strikingly
similar. The Afghans, like the Scotch Highlanders,
are accustomed to assemble with wonderful rapidity,
so much so that armed men .seem to spring from the
ground. Without much discipline, they fight with
skill as well as with daring, and-with a constant pre-
ference for close quarters. They readily endure hard-
ships, and undertake long marches; but, in the case
• of the Ghazis, protracted operations, or the least sign
of indecision on the part of their leaders, niakes them
speedily disperse. •
At the recent prize distributions at +University-
Cellege, in London, the success of some Japanese
students was mad; tile subject of complimentary..
reference, as illustrating the ability and showing the
application of the Asiatic race. More lately at the
examination at the Indian MediCal Service, out of
twenty-six successful candidates, no fewer than nine,
.er more than one-third of the total, were natives of
India. A Mahommedan from Oude passed fifth,
closely followed by a Brahmin from Bengal. Most
of the remainder came from the Presidency of Bom-
bay, and one was an Indo-Portuguese. The natives of
India do not, however, come here merely to study the
civil service or the law. Many are here for the pur-
pose Of examining science and land-surveying, and of
making a most effectual research into the principles
nixes which are founded the land laws of this country.
When the partridge is enjoyed, as it often is, upon
the table during the present month, there are
comparatively few who reflect that this month
contains a day once sacred to the memory of a
saint whose nameha s now, almost passed out of
remembrance. Formerly great honours were paid to
the memory of St. Giles. His arm-bone was preserved
in the cathedral in Edinburgh, which bore his name.
Every year there was a regular procession in his
honour through the streets of the Scottish capital.
On one of tlese occasions, as the procession was
about to start, it was discovered that the wooden
image of the saint, which was always carried
abut at these times, had. been stolen, a riot
ensued, and St. Giles gradually dropped o t
of mention. So far as London is concerned, the
wee is now chiefly associated with the Seven Dials,
through which a new street is to be made between
Charing-cross and Tottenham Court-road. A new
Church is now but seldom dedicated to St. Giles.
There are, however, some very fine old
.churches
called after him, .one of the best known in the south
of London being that of the parish of Camberwell,
with its beautiful peal of bells, and whose cemetery at
Forest-hill, is one of the prettiest in the outitirts of
the metropolis.
To grouse and partridge speedily follow the pheasant;
and pheasanteshooting in October is an'agreeable kind
of sport, especially in the western counties, where
one may linger in sheltered nooks and corners, to
which the spirit of agricultural improvement has not
yet penetrated. What is wanted are thick hedges and
broad ditches, with the growth above and below
allowed to follow its own will ; rough ground, with
patches of furze, brambles, and ferns here and there;
rank grass, with small woods and copses. • To these
an experienced authority adds arable land inter-
mingled, with small fields of turnips, mangolds, and
so forth, still standing. Amid such surroundings, the
pheasant still rears her young in safety; and the
sport may still be followed after the fashion of our
grandfathers, who, in stiff bread-skirted jackets,
corduroys, and leather gaiters, with their brace of
spaniels, and a flint and steel gun, were the typical
representatives of pheasant shooters in the olden
time.
The late drain of gold from London to America
has called attention to the fact that London becomes
more than ever the exchange centre et .the world on

which bills can be drawn and international balances
are settled. From neither France nor Germany just
now is it practicable to get much gold. With regard
to the Imperial Bank of Germany it appears that
while gold is paid at the head office in Berlin,
the branches of the bank pay only in silver. This,
in effect, cheeks the
,drain from Germany, owing
.to the expense of bringing gold from Berlin to the
coast for shipment, compared with taking it direct
from the Bank's- branch at Homburg. The gold in
the Bank of France is practically inaccessible; hence
as. the Bank of England contains the only available
stock,' of bullion, it is at once drawn upon when a
foreign demand springs up. Both France and Germany
are therefore both spared any stringency in the money
market uhich might threaten us :film a scarcity of the
precious metal—a scarcity which at one time did not
seem improbable, considering the short
.arrivals of
gold in this country.