SUEZ MAIL NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1189, 21 May 1872, Page 2

SUEZ MAIL NEWS.

NOTES OF THE MONTH. [OOUKESPONDENT OF .ARGUS.] ' ' London, March 22. - The 27th of February was a day to be marked with white in the annals of London.: On that day the metropolis made its great physical demonstration in honor of Royalty in a- form which has astonished the loyal as much as it has confounded Koran,- Dathan, and Abiram, that is to say, Dilke, Odger, and Bradlaugh. It was ,the grandest function at which the people of England ever assisted, in point of numbers and enthusiasm, thisvisit, of the Queen and her son to the city. Nothing like it has ever been seen in this country, and probably never will. From the day it was announced that the Queen was to go to St. Paul's to offer thanks before her people for the recovery of the Prince of Wales, it was certain that there would be a sight to see such as no man ever witnessed. The day came and went by with a perfect success. From the earliest dawn, the stream,s of people which poured in from all parts of the. country and the suburbs to witness the procession were of themselves a marvellous spectacle. By 10 o'clock the whole line of route, about seven miles in length} ' from Buckingham Palace down Pall Mall, the Strand, Fleet street, and Ludgate . Hill, ; and back again over the Holborn Viaduct, Oxford street, through the Marble Arch, and the Park, was blocked by an eager crowd of loyal sight-seers. Scarcely- a house; along ther route, publio. or private, but had its contribution to the festive occasion, even if it was only in the shape of a red rag or two hung from the windows. Even Temple Bar had its face' washed. for the occasion, and ! came out gorgeous in white-wash, gilding, and new paint. Ludgate Hill was smothered in bunting. All down Holborn.; on both, sides were festoons of ' artificial' flowers,. ■ besides banners aud gay devices innu- | merable. The long unlovely street 1 of Oxford was brilliant with colored drapery r triumphal arches, and the innumerable means to which the festive Londoner re!sorts to ; show, his gladnesa-^some ugly,: some quaint, some touching from -'their extreme humility. ; ..Amidst a great deal of bad taste and a thousand outrages to {esthetic propriety^ there was produced an effect really almost bewildering for its wealth and prodigality of color. But as usual, of course, the best sight of all was the people. They lined the pavements and swarmed on the door-step:. They

thronged^the windows'and.tlie housetops.; At interyals.of every few y^irds there, werei atages&prected, some'of gigajntic.|propor-\ tij^Qlf^a'ch closely packea^with sp%ptat6%/ In the business streets there was scarcely a shop which had not turned its front window into rows of seats. The churches, the~railway«~Btation3 r the»clubs^alUweEe« covered, with wppdwonk outside for the rece^tfdn of tue sitters/ iA ib'and of human faces, in fact, lined the whole way to St. I OPanlVand'-baok?- * on~the^mbst'm6derate-j calculation^ jtbere;fm*ust. hays ibeenjpver a couple of millions of people assembled - in the streets tb view the procession.' It was? an assemblage almost appalling from, ate., magnitude — the largest crowd of human beings in one 3pace perhaps that have ever met since the dispersion at Babel. What they came to see was in a material sense quite insignificant. Nine carriages escorted by cavalry^wentitheir way slowly througli-the-sarging- streets,-,. First.came-i the Speaker, in^hj^earriagfyof the Charles 11. period, large, heavy, and rumbling, a heayyj piece . of magnificence, drawn by. two dray 'horses, of Bickfbrd's. ' Then the Lord Chancellor, 'smug' and 'learned, tntfi the - ibldom •: of the ■ Collier- .appointment fresh upon him. - Then :the Commauder-in-Chief, ;bald:headed and pleasant, whom every one knows and whom" ttie people applaud. .Then carriages of state, flunkeys, lords 'in' waiting, ladies' of 'the' bedchamber and the rest. ''Last but- one was the yehicle cpnljaining. the Duke of Ecjiiiburgh and Prince Arthur, fahb were iretmensely cheered, the former being miltaken by many for his elder brother. Last of all wtfs'th.e'' Royal 'carriage, with the Queen and the Prince of Wales, the approach pf which, | w^s the. signal for a spontaneous outburst of voices,' which, from~~thi3ir~heartiness--and~unanitnitys ass.unied „quij;e; Prince was looking tolerably Veil, ihbiign mnch pulled down by his recent illness, almost bald! No prouder man thari, : he should have been in all the world on this ,day.[, ; J'rom, >hpuse; house the ( -pljeer,s rolled down the street in one hoarse delirious shout of acclaim. N o descrip- ; tioh 'could ''exaggerate' the ecStaCy of. enthusiasrarthe-perf ectaccord'^jMoyalfcy which marked/;ith.|>)jb,e:^aviour of the i people. From personal observation, also, , It am able to speak of the fac>^take;it for what it is worth — that Gladstone wai Jeceived with a' 'mingled: fch'orus of cheers and hisses, while, his j rival, .the imperturable Dizzy, evoked a/ perfect storm of applause all down the roadf which swelled in Hyde Park into a wild attempt on the' part. .of. ,the mqb . to take out the horses frbncrhis carriage. ' ' l - ' ! It is all over nbw^' and everyone is congratulating himself on . the . yerjr effective counterblast which this has j given to ,-Dilke and Co; -If there : w.as : any ■ dpubt before as to the feeling of the peoplejof this country (towards! royalty: and /the monarchical institution,,, that doubt has been very completely dispelled. There never was .a time,- 1-, believe, when the nation was less inclined to change its form of government, and when the spirit of loyalty, in spite 'of the; little aliment whichit'has hadj~ burnt more-brightly-in the British bosom-hthe Hole-in-the-wall and the Chelsea barcnet notwithstanding 1 . If anything were wanting after the demonstration, .of. .the;,- 27th day f of February to hsighteh the popular enthusiasm for royalty it was furnished by .the miserable, creature, who,-.with ah unloaded pistol in his hand, attempted to frighten .the Queen,into.signing ;an order for th'e ;! >releaseiof the.; Fenian prisonera. -Her Majesty, :who, of course,.t could not know -'whether the' pistol was-loaded or not, behaved oh the occasib'nwith allnthe courage of race, and has since taken' to going' back to Lond6n more : thanfeyer. It is .a pity, seeing how easy it Us for royalty iri England io win'populaniy, that \ more frequent , attempts, .are not made to cultivate the " feeling.- The people look f upo,n the Queen .and, aU belonging to heras their own property, and they blight to .be,gratified jnpr.e m than Jhey .have^been^.biy a sight of their .possessions. „I t is tlie cheayest'defeilce'b'f'nations^h'e^est resource against Odgerism, Dilkeism, Communism, and the other' vile- things 1 in ism. If we are to have .Royalty at all, it is* right that it should b^ ' kep't'before men's eyesand be I 'ihVde 'use of.- i: lt ig'bnly when'it ,is^ put - ; o£' sight; vthat stalks abroad, and,! Holes-rinrthe- wall become populated. Since the affair of the 27th, ! the Prince and Princess" haveg"one" abroad' -to-recover strength in~ltalyf---r---- -- ' The course^qfTiParliafient, though unquiet, has been less eventful than had. been expected, ( The Government shave dodged the Collier scandal, and shaved past the. Eveline •'job'/, but not without damage. The greit rock ahead is;'' howi ever, the Alabama' diffioiiityj which seems to be as far from a settlement as ever. John 'Bull^will liotf yield, and Jonathan ! cannot. It is a diplomatic impasse, out -of—whioh—<there—is-no—GonceivableJoop-hole. The B^ishjGgyernment, it is reported, would gladly take any course which would relieve .them; of the enqtbarrassment. They are not disinclined^ It is ' whispered, to allow the 1 indirect .claims to" go /before the ,Qene,va_tribiinal, upori an understanding .that they, are. merely nominal. „ Another rumor 'has it that the difficulty will be arranged 1 by. the payment pi a round sum,!down in satisfaction of all demands. I do' J not think' either . course, .will Jje . jatisfactpr^^bi^hation, which^nqw that W is fairly aroused to a sense* of'the^mon'slrbrishe^s'iitHhe American demand, will rather fight than pay a sixpence ''more than what i's"- strictly "and. legally due. It is ominons thai- MrGladstone, refusesito take.. Parliament ,-intp , his confidence in respect to his future policyjipL the, Ameripan case,,.and that the Times has for some days past been engaged- in laboriously, fishing;, for public ■opinion. — TJiose-who_do^pi_belie.v.e in Mr Qkd^tpnej think th^t we are on the eve 6t another surrender, of which the* public, will only, be, informed when, the terms are signed' and sealed. As mi the; Megtera 1 business, that has' been "Tfehded_ off" by the interposition of a buffer in jthe shape ; of a RpyaLCommiasionj.Wjhich after |; a, 'laborious, inquiry, ,has issued a' report blaming a-number .of; the subprdi-'---nate ■. offiqials. ;■ . The public are , : naturallly a little disappointed;-;:, They: ;did not oare-to-know- -what -particular-officer of the permanent, jdepiE^tment is responsible, but 'who is responsible for the permanent lofficer. ; They-cannot hielp ask-ingi-what hasiibecome; of the principle of Ministerial responsibility if, at any time when anything goes wrong, the Govern-, ment of the day is ' able to appoint a Royal Commission to lay the blame on some subordinate. We know nothing of the permanent officials, and have no control over them. ' We appoint a First Lord of the Admiralty for the speoial

: '>' i ■■■■■' dutyiof becoming responsible for the department,' and jit can be no . excuse for hini jto ple^ythat some one in hia office is £(J*blatfifS/ Nobody can doubt that the real cause of the disgraceful disaster which occurred to the Megsera was the state of confusion in which the Admiralty was w by~Mr?Blßittera ? '»M forms. Everything. , was 7 pulled down by that indefatigable gem.leioaan'j ! ahd nothing waa buUt up. This is evident "elTo^rfßmttFil^^ of its obvious spjrituofi tenderness to the administration. As for Mr Childers, he has returned to the^Hqiise, and made a speech the other,^igi| ;J)j»^iaval affairs 1 ; but I am iriformeaih'eaj^Jiever again be able to resume^work'-^SBy Ministerial office.- His health vis permanently {injured,and it is perhaps fortunate on allaccounts. that he <is able to if all back upon the soft : cashion of the Vactoriari'agentrgenflralßhipv : By-the bye, v . what, will , he, .said in Melbourne to Mr Duffy's appointment of his familiar arid'satellite/ Mr Gashel Hoeyv to the place of secretary to the Victoria agency ? . ' • What i is j there) ;so T -laborious in the duties of the agent that he 'must have a secretary at L6OO a year, to help him, especially 'seeing ij; is'^ne 'set- r piirpose ,of your Victoria' Government' 'to ! put "down emigration to t;he vl colony ?,., -JBy-the way, Sir' George Verdon was, 'by a ludicrous blunder, gazetted the other day as having been presented at Court oiv the occasion of'his being: appointed: *' Governor of-New South' Walesa,: -: ,-...i -„,; i ])■,.■■ -■...;