day or a work like the present. Among such may be ranked the superb
brass chandelier which Mr. R.W. Winfield sent to Osborne in 1853 for Her
Majesty, the Queen. Designed in the Italian style, this fine specimen of
the brassworkers' skill, relieved by burnishing and light matted work,
ornamented with figures of Peace, Plenty, and Love in purest Parian,
masks of female faces typical of night, and otherwise decorated in the
richest manner, was declared by the late Prince Consort as the finest
work he had ever seen made in this country and worthy to rank with that
of the masters of old. Not so fortunate was Mr. Collis with the
"Clarence chandelier" and sideboard he exhibited at the Exhibition of
1862. Originally made of the richest ruby cut and gilded glass for
William IV., it was not finished before that monarch's death, and was
left on the maker's hand. Its cost was nearly L1,000, but at the final
sale of Mr. Collis's effects in Dec. 1881 it was sold for L5.

~Chapels and Churches.~--See "_Places of Worship_."

~Charity.~--Charitable collections were made in this neighbourhood in
1655, for the Redmontese Protestants, Birmingham giving L15 11s. 2d.,
Sutton Coldfield L14, and Aston L4 14s. 2d. On the 6th of June, 1690,
L13 18s. 1-1/2d. were collected at St. Martin's "for ye Irish
Protestants." In 1764 some Christmas performances were given for the
relief of aged and distressed housekeepers, and the charitable custom
thus inaugurated was kept up for over seventy years. In the days of
monks and monasteries, the poor and needy, the halt and lame, received
charitable doles at the hands of the former and at the gates of the
latter, but it would be questionable how far the liberality of the
parsons, priests, and preachers of the present day would go were the
same system now in vogue. It has been estimated that nearly L5,000 is
given every year in what may be called the indiscriminate charity of
giving alms to those who ask it in the streets or from door to door. By
far the largest portion of this amount goes into the hands of the
undeserving and the worthless, and the formation of a central relief
office, into which the charitably-disposed may hand in their
contributions, and from whence the really poor and deserving may receive
help in times of distress, has been a long felt want. In 1869 a "Charity
Organisation Society" was established here, and it is still in
existence, but it does not appear to meet with that recognised supp