The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-07-31 00:00:00

ur XpOon Correspoitlnt,
rWe deem it right to state that we do not at all ttat!!
M.entifi ourselvea with our Correspondent'a opinion

People who have gone over the Houses of Parlia-
ment—and there are few who come to London that do
not pay a visit to the Palace of the Legislatures, have
often wondered why the ladies. should find greater
favour in the eyes of the peers than in those of the
representatives of the people. In the Lords, accommo-
dation is provided for the fair sex in spacious open
galleries looking directly down upon the crimson
benches, but when Parliament is opened by the Queen
or by Royal Commission, peeresses actually take their
seats in the body of the House itself, and the Royal
Princesses find places upon the woolsack, the roomy
and comfortable seat of the Lord Chancellor. On one
of the nights of a great debate in the House of Lords,
the side galleries are thronged with the wives and
daughters of the peers, right in full view of the House,
their varied and elegant costumes making up a most
picturesque feature of a lively scene. But the face
of a lady is never even seen within the precincts
of the Chamber occupied by the stern and
austere Commons. If you look carefully at the
space between the Reporters' Gallery and the
elaborately-finished ceiling, you will see what looks I
for all the world like a gilded cage, the front bars
whereof are so closely arranged that it is impossible
to see from without who may be within, although
those inside can see very well what is going on in the
body of the House. That is what is called by courtesy
the Ladies' Gallery. So jealous are the Commons of
female influence in their debates that this so-called
gallery is not even held to be a part of the House—a
distinction which is of course accorded to the seats
provided for the Press, and even for strangers. ,
Therefore while, in the Lords, scores of peeresses,
wearing their lorgnettes, and armed with opera
glasses, survey the scene as from the upper boxes of a
theatre, the cage appropriated to the ladies in the
Commons contains but a very few front seats, so that
those who have the misfortune to occupy the back
benches can see nothing at all. Sometimes an honour-
able member makes a piteous appeal to his fellow
legislators to remove those horrid bars, even if they de.
line to supply better accommodation, but hitherto
these appeals have been without success. There the bars
'remain, excluding most effectually the inmates of the
little box from the gaze of the representatives of the
people. The truth is, I suspect, that the proceedings
of the Lower House being, as a rule, so much more
excited than those of the Upper, the presence of any
considerable number of ladies might at times be found
embarrassing. Strangers are kept in order by the
ushers; no demonstration ever comes from the re-
porters; but who could answer for the ladies? They
might not be slow to express approval or disapproba-
tion in the most unmistakeable manner; and the very
idea of such a thing is almost enough to make the hair
of the Speaker's wig stand on end! In the stirring Re-
form debates of 1831, when the intense excitement in
the House of Lords at times rose to such a pitch that
the peers well-nigh came to blows, the ladies in the
galleries gave loud expression to their terror at wit-
nessing such extraordinary scenes. By nature the fair
sex are highly emotional, and it is because the House
of Commons will not run the risk of having any addi-
tional liveliness imported into its debates, that it sted-
lastly declines to increase the accommodAtion set apart
for the ladies.

The Aldershot summer manceuvres came to a close
on the same day as the annual competition of the Rifle
Association, the success of both being somewhat marred
by the wet weather. The physique of the men compos-
ing the army has often been a subject of controversy;
but there can be no doubt that a very considerable pro-
portion of the men who marched past in the Long
Valley on Saturday contained the pith of genuine Eng-
lish soldiers of the old type, such as stormed the
heights of Badajoz, niarched to the relief of Lucknow,
scaled the hills overlooking the Alma, or pressed for-
ward with unwearying endurance through the deadly
swamps of Ashantee. Since we cannot overwhelm an
enemy by the number of our troops, we must hope,
whenever we are put to the test, to bear the brunt of
dense masses by obstinate physical endurance and
bravery; and whatever may be said of the standards
now employed in recruiting for the army, it is seldom
that one sees a weak or sickly soldier. If some have
more bone and sinew, the rest are at least tough and
wiry, able perhaps to bear as much fatigue, and en-
dowed with as much spirit and energy as those who
strike one more readily by their height and figure.
Not long ago the Duke of Wellington gave up his
riding-school at Knightsbridge for a bazaar on behalf
of the Ventnor Consumption Hospital; and more
recently there has been a bazaar at Grosvenor House,
the town residence of the Duke of Westminster, for
the Convalescent Children's Home. The bazaar is one
of the most popular of our institutions for rendering
assistance to religious, charitable, and philanthropic
objects. True, it has its critics. The Bishop of
Manchester, a little while ago, declared "Honestly, I
do not quite like bazaars." The good purpose for
which it was ostensibly called into existence was not
always uppermost. There is no doubt that, next to
private theatricals, there are peculiar facilities for fun
and flirtation conceded by an occasion of this sort. The
time inevitably arrives when there is really a kind of
social necessity for a bazaar. It comes, with a sudden
revival a interest, in the midst of the season, evokes
latent enthusiasm, and creates new situations. Still,
there can be no doubt respecting such thoroughly deserv-
ing objects as a Consumptive Hospital or a Convalescent
Home. The choice of a good purpose, moreover, re-
moves the most unfavourable criticism which can be
adduced on this subject. No doubt everybody who
goes to buy is in some sense a pigeon to be plucked.
You pay rather an extravagant price for a sprig of
mignonette or a paper cutter; but then comes the
happy recollection that the aim of the vendor is a de-
serving one ; that disinterested and high-minded
motives are at the bottom of the charges, and that the
overpayment is a donation to a good cause. No one
can regret if by a little gentle pressure he has been the
means of a young child being perfectly restored to
health through pure air and good diet, or has brought
renewed vigour to the debilitated frame of a consump-
tive patient. Besides, when dukes and duchesses
throw open their splendid mansions for bazaars, there
are many people who will pay rather a severe price for
admission into such places. It is also a new experience
to behold titled ladies in the position of amateur shop.
women, but there can be no question that they do
their work extremely well.
Leigh limit remarks, in one of his essays, that there
are few spots in London where one cannot see a tree;
and this assertion, to a great extent, still holds good.
It would take a year's tour to obtain a full knowledge
of the extent and variety of metropolitan gardens,
especially in the suburbs. But in. the City itself they
still linger, apparently struggling for existence. In
back places in Fleet-street—once noblemen's and
trees and ragged vines still
bishops' gardens—old fig
fight for their life, cheered now and then, when there
is an improvement in the neighbourhood, by glimpses
of old plane trees or long imprisoned elms, showing
towards openings of shattered walla. Hundreds of
these captives still exist in city back courts and spots
of retired ground, especially in the old churchyards.
It is astonishing how often in the old city lanes a
glimpse of green leaves freshens the sense, and carries
one's thoughts away to the country. The air cannot
be so bad, after all, where these old residents breathe
and flourish, and it will be a long while before Time
weeds out such old inhabitants. I may say here that
the shrubs of the Northumberland House gardens
have been transferred to the Thames Embankment,
which is rapidly becoming one of the most charming
promenades in Europe.
It may be truly enough said that Waterloo has been
avenged more than once since 1815. Nearly twenty
years ago over £40,000 was raised in this country to.
wards the relief of the distress caused by the floods; in
1870 we sent over enormous subscriptions for mitiga-
ting the Buffering of the sick and wounded in the war;
in 1871, no less a sum than £BO,OOO was collected for
the starving people of Paris ; and now again there is the
help rendered necessary hy another disastrous inunda-
tion. How grateful the French are for such a,ssistapce
in the time of their trouble four or five years ago, is
amply seen by the beautifully illuminated addresses of
thanks which were presented to Her Majesty in the
winter, and now exhibited, by Royal permission, in
the British Museum. The Lord Mayor of London's
relief commissioner in Toulouse has experienced a
most enthusiastic reception on his errand of mercy.
Upon the Arc de Triomphe, standing at the top of the
Champs Elyse, in Paris, and containing the names of
the manifold victories cf the first Napoleon, you will
find only one claimed by ti French over British
arms, and even that oats ia doubtful. That solitary
word is "Toulouse," where a battle was fought in
1814 between the Duke of Wellington and Marshal
Soult. Both sides claimed the victory; but we need
not contest the point now. Suffice it to say that in
the very town which raised a column to commemorate
the triumph, a British representative is now received
with acclamation, for he brings glad tidings of great
joy from the land of the former enemY.

The Mansion House Banquet to her Majesty's
Ministers always signalises the approaching close of
the session. It also marks the break-tip of the London
on. The Lord Mayor then leaves town for his
holiday; Parliament rises; the School Board adjourns;
and the Metropolitan Boatd of Works suspends its
sittings for several weeks. Some years ago a singular
incident happened in connection with this banquet.,
Early in July, 1866, when the invitations were issued,
the Liberals were in office; but before the date for the
dinner arrited a Conservative Ministry had been
formed. What was to be done ? The Lord Mayor
a the time was, howerrer, eqtal to the occasion. '

411.