~Chandeliers.~--Many beautiful works of art have been manufactured in this town, which, though the wonder and admiration of strangers, receive but faint notice here, and find no record except in the newspaper of the 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 Originally made of the richest ruby cut and gilded glass for William IV., it was not finished before that monarch's death, and was left on the maker's hand.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 £1,000, but at the final sale of Mr. Collis's effects in Dec. 1881 it was sold for £5. ~Chapels and Churches.~--See "_Places of Worship_." ~Charity.~--Charitable collections were made in this neighbourhood in 1655, for the Redmontese Protestants, Birmingham giving £15 11s. 2d., Sutton Coldfield £14, and Aston £4 14s. 2d. On the 6th of June, 1690, £13 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 £5,000 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 support which such an institution as suggested requires. In 1882 a special fund was started for the purpose of giving aid to women left with children, and about £380 was subscribed thereto, while the ordinary income was only £680. The special fund can hardly be said as yet to have got into