The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-05-13 00:00:00

WEATHER AND WORK IN MAY.

The month of May has, time out of mind,
been favoured by poets and by writers of sweet
and agreeable prose. It is a time, in theory at
least, of genial sunshine and pleasant flowers,
of emancipation from the iron bands of winter,
of lengthening cheery days, and of cloudless
skies flecked with moonlit rays. Balmy breezes
from the South, bearing upon their wings the
breath of life and health—such were the gifts ef
the month of May. What is the reality ? Just
this, that there is no time of the year more dis-
trusted by persons of weak constitutions, or
more feared by invalids. Annual experience
has now taught us that if we leave off our wraps
and winter coals in April, convinced that at
length the spring-time is at hand, these gar-
ments have to be resumed in May. Bitterly
cold north-east winds, carrying with them the
seeds of consumption and disease, occasional
falls of snow, severe frosts at nights, a general
feeling of discomfort, and a strong disposition
to grumble at the unreasonable weather—such
is the heritage which May now invariably
brings. Whatever may be the reason, there
can be no question that the spring-time in these
islands has undergone a great change for the
worse during even the past quarter of a century.
We no longer sing of the " merrie month of
May, when bees from flower to flower do hum."
May, indeed, is not so dismal as November, but
it is equally as cold, and although we so rapidly
approach Midsummer, and the sun's rays are
becoming more vertical every day, the fierce
polar-blasts completely neutralise the advancing
heat, and we have the incongruity of bright
fresh vegetation without, and warm winter fires
within. If matters go on so, May, instead of
being a harbinger of better and warmer weather,
will be looked upon as a season for ordering the
most comfortable overcoats which are to be
obtained, and for laying in an extra store of
coals, in the certainty that they will all be
wanted before the month has run its course.
It is a more pleasant task to turn from the
weather in May to the work which is associated
with its name. The London season would not
be that full transcript of English life that it is,
did not the series of religioun and charitable
anniversaries called the May meetings happen
simultaneously with it. It is a time when the
metropolis holds a wider representation of the
entire country than at any other period.
Religious enthusiasm and voluntary zeal are
now in full activity; Exeter Hall is open day
and night; and on a hundred platforms the
popular agents and representatives of as many
voluntary organizations assemble to hold their
field days, when crowds of their supporters
assemble to cheer and encourage them. These
societies are as various in their aims as the
philanthropy which they embody. They repre-
sent missionary zeal that leaves no part of the
world untrodden, and never despairs of bringing
the wildest savages within the Christian fold.
They show for the personal efforts in whieh
money and personal service are poured out in
profusion with the most abundant faith in their
usefulness to mankind. Voluntary organization
for religious and philanthropic purposes is one
of the great features of English life. It sustains
the village Nonconformist chapel, clusters round
the village church, and in a great degree keeps
up the village school. In the great towns, too,
there are hospitals, refuges, institutes, and
missions that are the outcome of this same
enthusiasm of humanity. The manifestation of
zeal is creditable to those who put it forth.
There is, indeed, good reason for congratulation
on the immense number of enthusiastic
and earnest persons who are scattered all
through society and whose constant efforts to do
some good to the world around them constitute
them without exaggeration " the salt of the
earth." The prevalence of this element in the
first part of the London season is, therefore,
truly representative of English life. Sometimes
the report of the progress made is not so en-
couraging as the promoters of the work might
desire; bat these men and women would not
come together every 3 ear as they do unless they
were, upon the whole, satisfied with the result
of their labours. The sentiment is noble and
the business is beneficent. The missionary has
been the pioneer of the merchant in many cases,
and civilization has often had its root in religion.
And if we turn our attention from foreign climes
—from China, Africa, India, and Polynesia—
and look at what had has been accomplished in
our own great towns, it is easy to see bow much
this energetic zeal has done. It is impost-ib' e
to imagine a modern English community with-
out its elaborate machinery for doing good.
Much ignorance undoubtedly exists ; but let us
for a moment endeavour to contemplate what
would have been the case if so much noble
charity had been called into existence. It must
of necessity be an excellent thing that a large
number of people should interest themselves in
the public welfare. It may truly be called the
saving grace which goes with our prosperity.
The vast revenue which these societies dispense
comes from all classes, and is made up of the
widows mite as well as of rich men's benefac-
tions. Their large resources represent an un-
selfish side of the national character, and a firm
faith in the idea that a time will come when the
gospel shall have been preached to every
creature, and the knowledge of Clod shall cover
the earth as the waters cover the sea.