The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-10-23 00:00:00

THE "GROSSER KURFURST."

. The German Government are about to erect a fine
111„Pflument over the remains of the unfortunate victims
the accident to the Grosser Kurfiirst who are buried
elkestone Cemetery. In order to provide a founda,-
10/1 for the memorial the Home Secretary lately
V,sued a warrant for the exhumation of six of the
ies• The bodies having been exhumed and re-
A'''erred, it is expected that no time will be lost
-recting the memorial, which, it is believed, will
Arerthily express the sorrow felt by the German
;Tevernment and nation at the -loss of so many
rave men. At first the place of burial was
hrldieated by a large mound, but since then the ground
tiai'B been levelled, and there is now nothing to show
that under its grassy surface lie the bodies of nearly all
re Poor fellows whose remains have been recovered
r°l4 the wreck. The Emperor William has taken
grLeat personal interest in this matter. This he showed
ttn presenting period by presentin a Bible to the vicar
of Folkestone, who officiated at many of the inter-
&eras. We need not add that our own Government
Vlve lost no opportunity of giving expression to the
vrofound sympathy which the catastrophe excited in
this country.

THE BISHOP OF MANCHESTER ON
CHURCH EXTENSION.
BPeaking at a conference held at Blackburn in con-
j'ection with the Manchester Diocesan Church-build-
Society and Diocesan Board of Education, the
,18'10p of Manchester deprecated the building of
parehe,s before adequate endowments could be pro-
irl..p Ided for them. He was satisfied they needed more
pro-
lib in the Church. The mind of the Church of England
very distinctly expressed in the Prayer-book, and he
rru not want to be tied down with Acts of -Uniformity so
°I-1g as he knew the clergy and laity were loyal to its
trinciples. It was a notorious fact, which they would
,ave to meet promptly and vigorously, that a great
r"Ay of the people were alien from church and chapel.
r,
4;_ne working classes wanted something snore free than
'4l,e scholastic form of church service, and greater free-
was enjoyed in mission-rooms. In ten years he
",841 consecrated one hundred churches, seventy-ax
°I Which had cost half a million of money. That sum
at 4 per cent, would raise £20,000, providing stipends
°I £2OO a year for (me hundred additional clergymen,
which he would rather have taken th'an the new
churches.

• REMINISCENCES OF THE BATTLE
The D • OF TRAFALGAR.
TPation
in ant. • adY Telegraph of Wednesday had a leader
raf of the anniversary of the battle of
tracts a gar, frowhich we make the following ex-
,
" To-ane
aS Lerd 'Tow (21st) is the anniversary of 'fatal Trafalgar,'
that deßyron called it—the day of the famous naval battle
stroyed the combined fleets of France and Spain,
toryerl, England's hero perished at the very moment of vie-
atria •d the country was enriched by one of the noblest of
tic watchwords. On the 21st of October, 18.5, Lord
,S!SOn fell on board the Victory, and by the success of the
b..aattalie of Trafalgar, which was the true crisis of a prolonged
• thev satruggle, not only,' as the historian says, was
a independence of England secured and all Napoleon's
°P es es of maritime greatness destroyed, but the navies of
r
ance and Spain were annihilated for half a century. . . •
ta" The story Of the Battle• of Trafalgar, and the picture of
"e scene on board the Victory, are familiar to all sorts and
eael?ditions of Englishmen, and have 'been perpetuated by
tainted canvas, vivid fresco and animated description. :The
sar;enell fleet had . escaped from Toulon, and had been
'
d-,died by that of Spain, notwithstanding the vigilance
an e son, who pursue( them o
el N. " t e West Indies with
t
a7aalllsignifleant force. Then the combined fleets, struck
"u terror, and for the moment paralysed, returned
'Without doi c anything save engage in a partial action
with sir nobneis
Cssa. ft d
't Calder o Ferrol, afterwards re-entered
lz. Nelson, once more on their track, closed with them
all)othe morning of the famous 21st of October, 1805, and
Ut ennusoois a general action began off Cape Trafalgar. The
ned French and Spanish fleets consisted of thirty-three
M• I
-of-the-line and seven frigates, and the English squadron
boasted twenty-seven sail-of-the-line and four frigates ;
aria then i
ths, t was, when boldly bearing down Ispon the enemy,
Nelson hoisted his never-to-be-forgotten signal,
bf,ngland expects every man to do his duty,' If 'the
11. ave tars had wanted any encouragement it would
.taave been found in these spirited instructions from
• hero of the Nile. Those were the days of broad-
on broadside fighting, 110 long shots, no ironclads
ond scientific warfare, no telegraphic system on board ship
Cr electric bells ;no "flat-iron "monsters after Devastation
t:ttero, but just such fine old wooden hulks as may be seen
tvglaY in Portsmouth Harbour or in sailing down the Thames,
•re in floating reformatories and training-ships our young
„a - ors are made. Lord Nelson, having hoisted his signal,
%ever hesitated what to do. A seadog of an old pattern and
Mil
t b 'Su e m the thick of the fray, he ordered his good
the Victory, to be carried alongside her old antagonist,
toue Santissima Trinidariti, where he was recklessly exposed
•liosa terrible fire of musketry. But what cared
i
f " When his heart was n his work? He
ailed
wart to observe the ordinary precautions that
abl are permits, and were requisite, in the case of so valu-
deee a life. Disdaining to cover his uniform and brilliant
°rations so nobly won, he became a target for any
an 1118 Y Marksman and rams the risk of being picked off by
an 1118 Y
Sailor perchedin the tops of the Bucentaur that lay on
hetqllarter. c ollingwodd might advise, -or Hardy supplicate,
,vbethere was no persuading Nelsen of his rashness, and just
its 't the action was hottest the treacherous bullet had
be, illet, and wounded the great English sailor just
lia'esw the shoulder. Three hours more and all was over.
as; l'eek his turn with the mess and disdained medical assist-
the until the proper time, but fate had giv.en the word, and
taie arrow had sped. After embracing his friend Hardy,
the '6allant soul went aloft,' and, ere his body was cold,
desired end was accomplished. We all
solais2•eat victory under Admiral Collingwood waskcompilete
teal?, e _ imay
allrr•a„,ll,d Mourned the noble sailorAand how the old Victory
• las le;', with the Admiral's remains off Portsmouth In
• cau(L'""er, 1805. We all have heard, and some living
ball recall the day, when his body lay in the
,painted
hiaaa„at Greenwich and somas afterwards vas ro-
fueto the Adnliralty, in anticipation of a public
• Nth eral such as London has never seen since, except
• caret! Arthur Duke of Wellington was borne on his funeral
.the id muffled drums and the sobs of mourning people,
-I'riCale long journey to the Cathedral of St. Paul. The
. be ii*.) of Wales and the Duke ofTlarence, both destine.d. to
With of England, followed Lord Nelson to his grave,
tro„ -Tousan d s -of military and naval officers and picked
&at the regiments that had fought and conquered in
heft; and shared the glory of the dead sailor who had
o deliver his country from the power of France.
that
Is curious to reflect after this long interval, and now
the trance and England are• firm friends, how differently
sae, 'wo nations would outwardly respect the immortal
the-1/Y of a Nelson If the statue of such a hero stood in
there"aee de la Concorde instead of in Trafalgar square,
Proeesl'sr.euld be seen to-morrow morning a small but pathetic
Witt "len of veterans wending their way to place, •
the reverent hands their wreath m s of imortelles at
the ,Tace foot of the public tomb of Nelson—not, indeed,
reccr
, where he is buried, but where ha is publicly
brr'ed, and his deeds are commemorated in granite and
hoe °llze• If such had been the English fashion here might
k.c.onie Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Rose Sartforms,
ssui„fa who is now in his ninetieth year, andfoughs as a
Phlan on board the 'Tennant ; Admiral Robert
blan in, now in his eighty-ninth year, who ty,as nudslup-
Jehasrl the. Lellerophan ; Admiral William Ward Perceval
boacea, who entered the navy July 2, 1803, and was on
kran IL° Victory at the time of the battle ; Commander
mid !i a Harris, a recipient of the naval pension, who was
I,ol7nipr-
!Jan in the Tem eraire ; Commandar William Vicsry,
1115 eighty-seventh year, who was midshipman in the
Eind and is in receipt of a Greenwich Hospital pension ;
or.t-aeuteant•Colonel James Fynmore, also a rscipient of
,4frirowlol hospital pension, who was midshipman of the
nn that famona day. But no wreaths or flowers or
.4.l.acemorative verses will be found on Nelson's statue.
• eahn-faced lions will still guard time base of the column,
Isreo outward display is likely to mark the day on which
liaadr died, the day when the Battle of Trafalgar was won. A
tists v nte" and pathetic
.banquet will, however, bring together
14 4 e erans of 1805, and lips enfeebled with age will drink
°serell Silence the memory of the hero of Trafalgar.
foanltas,a silrelYi is a subject for a picture charged with pro-
tnore sentiment and mute eloquence. Few occasions are
are s„ solemn than thew red-letter days, when great men
yen.:c_raembered and bold deeds commemorated. Year after
h,„,..Korrne veteran slips out of the ranks, some face is seen
'user e• There needs no skull on the banquet table, no
T
bY theento mod 'isrequired. The triumph of time isproclanned
arrawio-
g
e circle and the gradually d windled companion-
„ s, Year follows year, and the end is being gradually tic
azi'ecf,,e;.. the Trafalgar banquet will be a thing of the past, it is
Cud astheordinarycourse of life it eannotbe long
be I,;'4;l4,qupation whether some special honours cannot yet
bQt° tre tha contemporaries of Lord Nelson, and whether
. i,rixerceo_e jst dirge uttered we cannot gather up some
event. "lag incidents and final records of this memorable
Dearanceundemonstrative as we may he to all outward ap-
• Tras ' ls not likely that the annives wary of the Battle
ts algar will be ha which forottnn an s- island almost consecrated
,y" sea br
.0 eitipirea.„ eeds Nelsons to 'Tea
make •
t victories, and
evoll
"leer '.ltArt Of 1110 as h • 1 orders to all the
rocco issued
leate 3Of the at St
d aecou t e, thatirencsfortli pan to be use-
•
faiths are t of his rell'astduS baitilariV,
Alaj est, ,0 Ile On an equal footing before the tribunals.
eh took' "" Part • coMmunicated this decision to the Powers
in the Madrid Conference.