Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

12 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

gtdrojjfllitan Gossip.

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Dyfynnu
Rhannu

gtdrojjfllitan Gossip. BY OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. [The remarks under this head are to be regarded as the expression of independent opinion, from the pen of a gentle- man in whom we have the greatest confidence, but for whicp we nevertheless do not hold ourselves responsible.] The twenty-ninth year of the reign of our most gracious lady and sovereign the Queen came to a close on Thursday. The event of her thirtieth accession was hailed with a joyous clanging of bells and a liberal display of bunting on the public buildings and the shipping on the river. When we look back on the history of the nine and twenty YJars during which she has been Queen, we cannot fai to be moved to grati- tude by the retrospect. In t aem the law has been greatly moderated, human life has been rated at a higher value in our realm, vexatious taxes have been abolished, labour is more amply remunerated, a closer relationship has sprung up between master and servant, between man and man, and the steady course of the whole commonwealth has been towards improvement. It may be said that the growing popular taste and skill and the increased education of the masses have brought this about, and that we are very little indebted to the throne for it. Yet her Majesty has a closer con- nection with our prosperity than at first sight appears. Under her gentle influence the gay and licentious courts of the Georges have been reformed, and being reformed have made their influence felt on the nation. With a pure lady on the throne, rearing a family in the principles of virtue, it was impossible for vice to exist in high places, and vice flourishes best in a com- munity where it has the patronage of the higher classes. But in addition to the private practice of virtue, her Majesty has in her public acts inculcated it and aided it; and in her exertions she has been ably seconded by her late Consort and her family. Prince Albert was the first in movements of charity, scienee, and beneficence. His highest prized honour was his presidency of the British Association, and it is to him that the world owes in- dustrial exhibitions such as that which fills Paris with strangers from all ends of the earth. Their family have grown up around them, and have become endeared to the people because of their free comings and goings, their own probity, and the readiness with which they obey the calls of public duty. Surely something of all this is due to the throne -to good example and careful teaching—and the wish of every Briton ought to be and is "Long may she reign." Her Majesty has returned from the quiet and soli- tude of her highland home to Windsor, and signalized her return and added to the decaying glories of "the season by holding a court. It was a rarity, and as such was unusually well attended. It is understood that great preparations are being made for the recep- tion of the Sultan. It is expected that his (what shall I say ?) Sublimity will arrive in .London about the 13th of July and will remain till the end of the month. He will, therefore, not be present at the military re- view, unless that event be postponed. It appears that he won't lose much, for the promised show has dwindled down to the paltry number of 7,000 men. Hyde Park is a big place, and 7.000 men would appear very small in it indeed, especially after the legions of the French army, which will be reviewed by his Sultanship. He will, however, have plenty to look at, and the naval review will, it is expected, take the first place in the show. After that in importance will come the Wimbledon gathering, which will be in full swing, and there will be the usual stock sights of London. I observe that the Portsmouth folks have voted a handsome sum for an entertainment upon the arrival of the Sultan. It will require some nice con- sideration as to the viands and the mode of serving. Flesh of pig is, of course, prohibited, and so are wine and spirits. Will his Sublimity leave the Koran behind him, or will he, to the relief of the Portsmouth folks, do as he does at home, ar.d look on an unin- terested spectator while others eat ? The arrangements for the Wimbledon gathering, which begins on the 8th of July, are now almost com- plete. The Belgi ans are coming in great force. Foratime the question was "What shall we do with them for lack of funds?" now it is When shall we allow them to go?" Money has come in abundantly, and kind offers have been forced upon the committee. The Mayors of York and Leeds volunteered to pay the expenses of the strangers if they would come and be their guests. The Duke of Devonshire was anxious to carry them off to a grand entertainment at Chatsworth, and --how them that palatial work of "Old Bess of Hardwick." Volunteer regiments innumerable quar- relled for the honour of receiving them, and even the sarans of the Council of Education wished to treat them to a conversazione. Colonel Loyd Lindsay and his colleagues have been compelled to refuse these kind offers, but plenty of entertainment still remains, and it is said that the ball in the Agricultural Hall, to which, by the way, the Sultan is invited, will be one of the finest which London has witnessed for many a day. Doubt- less our Belgian friends will go borne as July draws to a close, convinced that although John Bull in bis national character cannot cast off official dignity so far as to entertain undistinguished strangers, yet John Bull in private life has a deep purse, a kind heart, and a liberal hand, and has done honour both to himself and his visitors by the reception which he has given them. Europe in general believed very little in the great protestations of mutual good will which followed the ratifications of the Treaty of Luxembourg, but was inclined to give them more credence when William of Prussia and Bismarck visited Paris obviously on a friendly political mission. Rumours of impending rupture have, however, again become bruited abroad. It is said that Bismarck, when in Paris, was informed by Prince Gortschak-off that the French Government would be pleased if Prussia would refrain from pushing on the close union-with Southern Germ any just at pre- sent. The Count, it seems, promised to respect this wish, yet no sooner had he returned home than he pushed on the Custom's treaty with Bavaria, which unites it very closely to Prussia, and which is particu- larly distasteful to France. Napoleon is angry at being cajoled, and Prussia is suspicious of Napoleon, and one of their semi-official papers thinks it very queer that he should be purchasing so many horses in Hungary. The explosion has been put off for a time, and the Exhibition will be allowed to close as an Exhibition of Peace, but ere long there will be a grand smash. There can now be no doubt that the Emperor Maximilian of Mexico is in the hands of the Juarists, betrayed by a faithless general of his own. The inten- tion was to try him by court-martial. Those who knew best said that a court-martial would be fatal to the brave emperor, but a telegram assures us that he has only been sentenced to perpetual exile. I hat will scarcely be a heavy punishment. Unfortunately, Mexican intelligence is oftener false than true, and we must wait for proof. A manifesto, purporting to emanate from the unfortunate Emperor, and abusing Napoleon in round terms, has been published, but is either a fabrication or has been written in a desperate passion. That will require authentication also. This week our home news has certainly been of a very lively and exciting type, and moreover of a type almost essentially British. First of all we have had Birmingham in a state of riot and siege through a relitious feud. Soldiers have been called out, sabre cuts have been freely distributed, and sore heads have been uncomfortably common. It is not for us to entm: into the merits of religious controversies, else we should overstep our gossiping province and enter the dry terri- tory of theology but in passing we may say that Irishmen are naturally exciteable, and Irish- men in* defence of their religion are soon roused to enthusiasm. Consequently when Mr. Murphy poured forth his harangue there was a fight, the fig-ht grew Irgger and became a pillage of houses, and after military had been called out and the Riot Act read, the affair was suppressed, but not until a street was laid in ruins. It is very disgusting to read of such an outrage in the nineteenth century, and the thirtieth year of her Majesty's reign—Birmingham has belied the conventional idea. of an Englishman generally supposed to be a creature with an immense respect for law and order, but the conventional Englishman is a person of pluck, who lc,rns tohit a man when he is down, and leavt s stabomgm the dark and assassination to those benighted individuals called "foreigners"- but here, again we have been mistaken. The Com- missioners who were sent to Sheffield to inquire into the working of the trades' unions there, and who had free pardons for even murderers who would tell the truth, have brought to light an amount of devilish- ness which has hitherto been considered impossible in our enlightened land. Men have there been annoyed at their work, have had it destroyed by- gunpowder being mixed with their emery powder, have had their horses hamstrung, have had their houses blown up, and have themselves been maimed and murdered because they would not contribute to the Sawgrinders' Union, or obey its rules. Three as brutal villains as ever graced a gallows have told their story-a story which has been spread over the length and breadth of the land, and has called forth an universal groan of execration. Hallam's tears and frequent faint- ings have brought forth no pity for they arise from his terror lest some of his former comrades should be willing to put him out of the way for the standard sum of 15l Crookes's audacity only makes us despise him the more as a villain who is not ashamed of his villainy when his neck is safe, and Broadhead with his whining hypocrisy makes one almost regret that the Sheffield folks failed in their attempt to lynch him. The artizans of Sheffield, and particularly the sawgrinders, have never held a very high place among their working brethren, but we can scarcely believe that even they would approve of such acts. If they do not, the time has come when they must speak out, to gain the con- fidence and esteem of their fellow workmen, and when working men, as a class, must, and trades union- ists, in particular, express their horror and detesta- tion of such acts to save themselves from being branded as murderers at heart by the whole civilised world. It is a pity that since literature has become the pas- time of sovereigns, none of them have attempted the style of the essayist and given us a few pieces-say, after the manner of Charles Lamb, on certain subjects looked at from a royal point of view. A short paper on "Addresses" would be read very eagerly by those beyond the court. We all have at some time joined in most loyal addresses to the throne, yet what be- comes of these addresses we know not. It would be gratifying if some potentate would take pen in hand, and tell us whether these documents ever reach the royal eye—whether they are read by royalty or by proxy—whether they are answered individually or in a lump-and whether the gratitude which swells the royal bosom on their receipt is real or feigned, and not least interesting would it be to know what becomes of them eventually. Perhaps we shall be enlightened some day; but till then we must guess. The London Court of Common Council last week voted addresses expressing their lively gratitude to Provi- dence, that the lives of the two Emperors had been spared in the late dastardly attempt at assassination, and a deputation presented them at the Russian and French embassies. What does the autocrat of all the Russians care for cockney humbledom, what the Em- peror o the French? And what do the lord mayor and his satellites care for either of them? Yet the addresses were sent, the grateful and flattered answer will be received. But isn't it, after all, a piece of polite humbug ? We are told to look for an unusual spectacle on the 3rd of July. It is intimated that the wife of a duke 'in and the wife of a bishop will appear in Exeter Hall to take part in an oratorio. The ladies are the Duchess of Newcastle and Mrs. Ellicot the oratorio is Schach- ner's Israel's Return from Babylon and the object is to increase the funds of the Home for the Relief of Children with chronic diseases of the joints. Crowds will doubtless go to see and hear the ladies, and it is to be hoped that their benevolent object may be there- by attained. An attempt has been made to revive the evicted old Greenwich fair. Fortunately, it was unsuccessful, and only a few of the lowest class of booths were erected, and did not- receive any great amount of patronage. It appears that the police had no direct power to suppress this revival, but steps have since been taken to give them the requisite authority. Our law is a rather cumbrous machine, but if it is set to work it can do its work fairly although in this case it was rather like employing a steam hammer to break a nutshell. The real offenders escaped, but the stewards of the Manor and the Commissioners of Woods and Forests were summoned for holding a fair on Black- heath. They, of course, pleaded not guilty, and ex- pressed themseles opposed to it. The magistrates, thereupon gave the constabulary orders to clear away any such trespassing booths for the future. So "Bobby" has now full authority, and Greenwich fair has received a last blow.

THE SLADE BARONETCY CASE.

THE VISIT OF THE BELGIANS…

-----._---_--_--MAXIMILIAN'S…

STRONG AFFECTION A CHARACTERISTIC…

;:.,1...... ACTION FOR FALSE…

._--------"MARRY IN HASTE-REPENT…

-----.......-THROWING OIL…

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER…

-..... -------_--.------MEANY'S…

LOST IN THE BUSH.

A GOOD WORD FOR THE HOUSE…