The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-10-15 00:00:00

•Our Fanban Corrtspollbt.it

(We deem it right to state that we do not at all times
*entity ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.

In the uncertainty which attended the acceptance
by the Volicsra,ad of the Transvaal of the Convention
to which the British and Boer Commissioners had
agreed, an unwonted state of excitement existed in
Amsterdam, where the latest intelligence was posted
in the shop windows of the tradesmen, and was
eagerly discussed by a usually phlegmatic people

There is; indeed, considerable affinity between the
inhabitants of Holland and the Dutch settlers
in South Africa; hence the interest taken in the
matter in the city of canals and watercourses.
Seeing that the Lowlands, or as they are better
known, the -"Netherlands,. are only a few hours
from Englarid, the abience of our knowledge of
their physical characteristics, or of the manners and
customs of those who dwell therein, is not a little
singular. Those who know anything of the Dutch
speak of them • a. a homely and kindly race.
Many thousands of English travellers who pass
through France and Belgium in the summer months
on their way to Germany and Switzerland give
scarcely a passing thought to Holland, or if they do,
they regard it as unworthy the notica of the tourist
at all. Yet it is one of the most interesting of
countries; for its inhabitants have shown what man
is capable of doing in a struggle against enormous
natural difficultie.. Their life is a constant battle
with the ocean, which they keep out by means of
vast dykes requiring incessant attention. Some of
the Dutch towns, notably the Hague, are very
beautiful ; their picture galleries cannot be sur-
passed; and their public buildings are full of tra-
ditions and alive with historical associations. No
doubt an obstacle to travelling in Holland is the
difficulty presented by the Dutch language no less
than by the coinage. Tourists who understand French
and German, and know all about francs and marks,
become hopelessly puzzled over the relative value of
florins and guilders. Those who know anything of
the Dutch declare that they are well worth visiting,
and the closer an acquaintance is made with them the
better they are liked.

The people of the United States are great in Anni-
versaries, and for the last six years they have been
holding a series of centennial celebrations, commem-
orating the principal episodes in their struggle for
independence. It began with the battle of Lexington
in 1775, and ended with the surrender of Cornwallis
at Yorktown, in 1781 ; but the Americans reckon their
history as a nation from the 4th July, 1776, when
the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed
at Philadelphia. But it was Washington's crown-
ing victory at Yorktown which placed the top stone
on the fabric, and the most elaborate preparations
were made for celebrating its hundredth anniversary.
On the-6th October, 1781, the siege operations were
begun by the combined American and French armies,
which numbered 16,000, as against 8,000 under the
command of the British general. Three days later
the place was completely invested; a des tat 3 sortie
was unsuccessful; and Cornwallis surrendeted on the
19th. It is this triumph which is now being com-
memorated; but happily the relations between
Great Britain and the United States are now so
cordial, that there is nothing in the pr: ceedings
calculated to give offence to the -people • of this
country. Care has been taken to elimina:e from the
programme anything which could possibly offend
our susceptibilities indeed the procee di igs have
tended rather to show- the closeness of the ties that
unite the two nations than to keep alive the differences
which up to only a few years ago ser Jed to divide
them.

With the opening of the Winter Exhibitic us of the
London art galleries, has arisen a controversy which
cannot be said to be altogether new, for it has often
helped to beguile the dull season away. Is it a fact
that Great Britain can claim only a careful medio-
crity in its pictures and its architecture? Those who
contend that the British school of painting'has neither
idealism, breadth, aspiration, tradition, picturesque-
ness, nor vivid prepossession are replied to by
nthers, who maintain that never was the standard
Britisl nit so high, and that its histori-
cal, religious, and allegorical pictures now bear
favourable 'ccrciparison with those of any age
nation. Art, it is argued by many, takes the tone of
of its time; and the birth of any great intellectual
theory giVes to art a new departure. If the British
School of. Painting possesses neither imannation nor
impression, it is because there is no particular anima-
tion of thought perceptible just now. Let a new
wave of thought pass over these islands, and a fresh
living enthusiasm would be created, with the result
that our most eminent artists would rise to the highest
achievements of delineation.

Amid the practical work of life the philosopher
often takes a dive into the future, and pictures to him-
self a condition of affairs which although impossible
of attainment now, may perchance be reached in years
to come. Cities built on such sanitary principles that
the bills of mortality shall be at their lowest possible
limit; ,hot and cold water for the poor and rich;
houses combining all that tells of health and comfort;
streets well paved, and everything after the manner of
the towns described by Sir Thomas More, Lord Bacon,
and other such lovers of humanity. The intelli-
gence comes from America that serious arrange-
ments are being made for an Art city, to be inhabited
only by painters, musicians, sculptors, &c. Very
influential support has been given to the movement
by professional men, and wealthy Americans have
offered the necessary money. America is the land for
experiments; there is a plenty of room for them,
with every variety of climate, soil, and circumstance.
It is also the land for novelties, and an Art city would
certainly be one of the most remarkable which that
continent has:with all its ingenuity produced.
The negotiations for the renewal of the French
Treaty of Commerce, which...twenty years ago cheap-
ened the light wines of France to English consumers
lends some interest to the news from the French vine-
yards, which is on the whole satisfactory. In the east,
the centre, Lower Burgundy, Orleans, and Auvergne,
the prospects are good, and the Medoc district also
promises well In the Gironde and neighbouring .
departments the yield is small, but the quality is ex-
cellent. The new wines already made from this year's
vintage are fine in colour and sufficiently rich in
flavour to give them all the chances of good
preservation. It has been often said that comet years
affect the vine crop in the best possible way; and this
year will not—condemn the theory that these erratic
celestial visitors exercise a beneficent influence over
the growth of the grape. The French go further, and
maintain that the flavour of the wines is materially
improved whenever a comet appears in the firmament.
This year there have been three, the first of the series
being by far the most brilliant and noteworthy.
The Board of Trade returns for September amply
confirm the impression of those who deduced from the
August returns the fact that the cycle of adversity had
nearly run its course. There was a largely-augmented
export trade, which showed a renewed demand by foreign
countries for the products with which we are enabled
to supply them. There was a time, many years ago,
when Mr. Gladstone, who then, as now, was Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, described the prosperity of
_Vngland as increasing "by leaps and bounds ; " but
to that period of commercial sunshine there could not
but be a limit. The years of prosperity have been
followed by years of stagnation; and if any reliance
can be placed upon the signs of the times, the adverse

wave has now nearly spent its force. If the people
are not again to be prosperous, as in the early days of
Mr. Gladstone's official career, by leaps and bounds,
it is satisfactory to know that the time of depression
has at length been chased away.
The London School Board has now been at work
more than ten years; and on its reassembling every
autumn, after the summer holiday, the chairman
makes a statement, showing the progress which has
been made in the cause of education in the
metropolis during the year. The account which
Mr. Edward North Buxton, who now presides over
the deliberations of the Board, gives of its operations
within the past twelve months, is very satisfactory.
Retaining- its old supremacy in the teaching of
the three R's the Board has improved its position with
reference to ale higher standards, and has proved how
far it is possible to bring the rniversities into direct
connection witli,the..elernentary. sarools. The scholar-
ships establisheCl for Board sclic;)l pupils are, as the
chairman has pointed out, now beginning to bear
fruit, and one of them has already led its holder to
the highest place in the classical tripos at Cambridge.
With respect to expenditure on teachers' salaries, the
London School Board has to pay a larger proportion
than other towns ;but the quality of the work done is good
and the cost of living in the capital is considerable.
All jealonsy. of voluntary schools on the part of this
great organization has long since disappeared; and
whether th.l instruction imparted be by the Board
itself or by any other agency, the fact is recognised,
that there is room for all in the work of preparing the
young for their places of varying importance on the
great stage of human life, and which they must occupy
at the proper time, whether prepared or not.

Last month's Customs returns are about the largest
ever attnined in Spain. The total was 10,674,000 pesetas,
being 057,000 in excess of the corresponding month of 1880.
Mr. T. B. Potter, M.P., is calling upon the friends
of Free Trade for a special fund of £2,000, to enable the
-Cobden Club (which has published and issued about 200,000
books, pamphlets, dtc., since the prorogation of Parliament)
to meet the farther demand for publications explaining
Free-trade principles, and exposing the fallacies of the re-
actionary movement. Mr. .T. P. Thomasson, M.P. for Bolton,
has headed the list with a subscription of £2OO.