The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-02-08 00:00:00

MR. SPURGEON AND HIS CON-
GREGATION.

The Rev. C. H. Spurgeon has sent from Mentone
where he is at present seeking rest, a sermon to his
congregation, written, he says, "when far away from
his people." Mr. Spurgeon taking as his text a por-
tion of the 27 v. 20 c. of the First Book of Samuel—
" David's place was empty "—says that self-preserva-
tion is a law of nature which all men were bound to
obey. No man should needlessly expose himself
to a sudden death. It were well, he said,
that many a seat were empty for this reason,
for there were places exceedingly dangerous to
the soul, from which men should rise and
flee at once. Where Satan sat at the head of the table
no man should tarry, There was the seat of the
scorner, there was the settle of the drunkard, the chair
of the presumptuous and the bench of the sluggard,
from each of which it were wisdom to depart. Using
David's empty place for another purpose, Mr.
Spurgeon noted first that in the assemblies of his
congregation there were seats emptied by death.
Before he had left the shores of England for two
days he received the intelligence that two out of
the membership of his church had been "called
home" in one day. The rev, gentleman further
desired to remind his congregation that among
their assemblies there were for a timo seats emptied
through sickness. They, no doubt, would not
forget one place, the most conspicuous, which would
be empty were it not filled by willing ministers who
supplied his lack of service, Addressing himself to
the usual attendants at the Metropolitan Tabernacle,
Mr. Spurgeon says: "Dear friends—Do not let your
seats be empty during my absence. I shall be die-
tressed beyond measure if I hear that the congrega-
tions are declining. The beet preachers .ve can
obtain are selected to address you, and there-
fore I hope you will see no need to forsake your
usual place. If yos do so it will reflect but small credit
upon your pastor's ministry, for it will be manifest
that you are babes in grace, dependant upon one man
for edification. Nelson Judd, 'England expects every
man to do his duty,' and at this time, which is an
emergency in our church history, I should say, the
church expects every member to sustain all meetings,
labours, and offerings with unflagging energy, and
especially to keep up the prayer meetings." The rev.
gentleman winds up with a letter addressed to his
hearers at the Tabernacle and elsewhere, in which he
says :
Beloved Friends,—By the tender kindness of God the journey
hither was made without excessive fatigue and now I trust
that genial Weather will bring with it rapidrestoratlon. This
place has participated in the severe weather which has swept
over the Continent, so that I miss just now the bright sun-
shine to which I have been formerly accustomed ; yet it is
comparatively warm, and so far is beneficial to an invalid.
Rest is the main thing, and rest I hope to find, that I
may come back to you strengthened for sacred service.
It is at the request of many that I write these few lines,
otherwise I should be better content to say nothing about
myself. Tottering on my staff to-day in weakness. I look
forward hopefully to the time when I shall stand among y on
in fulness of vigour. God grant that mental, and above all,
spiritual, strength may be givfn use for the preaching of
the word in your midst, and thst my long bodily affliction
may assist to thst end. I trust I shall not be forgotten in
your prayers when it is well with you. I hope, a'so, that
the various enterprises, such as the college and orphanage,
will not be allowed to languish because their president is ill.
Peace be to you all.—Yours very heartily, C. IL SPURGEON.'

There being many workmen unemployed in the vil-
lage of Peaklured and the surrounding district, the Duke
of Devonshire has sent instructions for as many men as are
willing to be employed In cutting timber in his plantations
in the neighboorhood, and to be paid 2s. 6d. per day and at
the end of a week to be allowed, to remove a cartload col
brushwood for fuel.
Thomas Moore'e Centenary on May 28th is to be
celebrated in Dublin by performances of the poet's Irish
melodies.
M. Teisserenc de Bort, junior, son of the French
Minister, has won a piano at the Paris lottery. Ile Is an
accomplished musical amateur.
A large piece of stone, loosened by the action of
the frost, fell from the roof of Ipswich Town Hall on
Monday morning, and striking a man beneath killed him
Instantaneously.
A curious historical relic which figured in the Uni-
versal Exhibition of 1867, has just fallen into the possession
of a lady in Hungary. It is the distaff which Maria Antoinette
used in spinning daring her imprisonment. It is made of
ebony wood and ivory, inlaid with silver, and still bears the
hemp _which the ill-fated Queen left there on the eve of her
execution
A variety of turkey is found in Hondurae, which,
though probably too delicate to desist the hardships of an
English winter, might beintrodnced into Ireland. The bird
is inferior in size to the common turkey, but its plumage is
magnificent, its flesh is excellent, and it would make a
splendid addition to the poultry farm of those countries
where the North American turkey, from which our ordinary
stock is derived, would probably not thrive.
Viscount Maidstone died on Monday at Lord
Winchilseal residence, in London. His lordship, who had
been in delicate health for souse time past, and had gone,
just before the death of his mother, to the Cape of Good
Hope to recruit his health, was taken seriously ill only on
Thursday in last week. He was the only son of Lord
Winchilsea and ,Nottingham, and was born on the 26th of
December, 1852. He married in Deoember, 1876, Louisa
Augusta, youngest daughter of Sir George Jenitinson, M.P.
At a Mass meeting of the operative weavers in
Ashton-underLyne, held on Monday night, it was resolved
to resist to the last extremity the proposed reduction of 5
per cent. In their wages.
The following are the names of the ladies who have
passed in the Honours Division of the University of Loadon
—Sophia Bryant, Rebecca Bragg, Sophia Margaretta Lewis,
Marianne Andrews, EmilyTomlinson, Mary Clara Dawes.
The above rank in "Honours Division." In First Division
are Mary Louisa Ileppel, Alice Mary Palmer, and Eliza
Anne Jooeyline.
During the past week 61,097 persons have been re-
lieved in Birmingham, the numbers having been 54,662 in the
previous week. The relief fund now amounts to R-8,842., and
iti s thought that the balance in hand will suffice until the
severe weather passes away.
Under the head of "A Strange Visitor," the
Birmingham Poet of Wednesdty says :—" Yesterday the
sun, whom we have not seen in Birmingham for the last
three weeks, ventured out for about ten minutes; but, ob-
viously not liking the look of the weather, he went in
again, and we saw him no more."
The promoters of the scheme to aid the share-
holders of the City of Glasgow Bank by means of a lottery
have not dissolved themselves. Tau held a meeting on
Tuesday with closed doors, at which, it is understood, they
discussed a scheme for the purchase of claims against the
bank at as moderate a figure as the holders might be willing
to part with them upon cash being paid down. The share-
holders' committee met in the same building at the same
time, and it is stated they were called in to the other meet-
ing, and had the scheme submitted to them.
On Saturday morning a communication reached
Maidstone announcing that the Home Secretary had ordered
a respite in favour of Thomas Bartlett Mumford, who had
been sentenced to death for the murder of his wife at Dover.
The convict manifested great joy on receiving the news.
Strong efforts are being made toiobtain a reprieve on the
ground that the prisoner had received provocation.
An East Coast farmer suggests to his brother agri-
culturists and graziers that, in view of the risks and costs of
breeding and rearing stock, English farmers could profitably
import young and lean animals, and put on their foreign
bones English flesh, so as to render them naturalised beef
and mutton for our markets. The plan is worth considera-
tion and trial.
Mr. A. M. Sullivan, M.P., laid, on Saturday, the
foundation-stone of new Catholic schools at Crewe. The
hon. gentleman said that the only Irishman who was a
trouble to any community was the Irishman who forgot his
faith or neglected the education of his children. Every
day, birth and fortune were counting for less and less, and
power was becoming more and more the peculiar possession
of the man of education and intelligence. Speaking at a
subsequent banquet, Mr. Sullivan claimed for the Catholic
Church that it had alwv a been the friend and loiterer of
education.
The standard for Royal Artillery gunners has been
raised to the height of eft. 10in., which has had the intended
effect of nearly stopping the supply of recruits in that line.
The lowest infantry standard is oft. 61n., which shuts out a
great number of applicants of Wt. bun., or thereabouts, the
average height of candidates for military service.
There were 41 British and foreign wrecks reported
during the past week, making the total for the present year
228, or an increase of 63 as compared with the corresponding
period of last year. The approximate value of property lest
was £625,000, including British £565,000.
The late Dr. Frederick Foster Quin, whose collec-
tion of works of art, &a., was sold the other day at Messrs.
Christie's has left the bulk of his fortune, amounting to
about £17,000 to the London Homeopathic Hospital, Great
Ormond-steet, of which he was the founder. Dr. Quin also
bequeaths a legacy of £2OO, and his valuable medical library
to the Homeopathic Society.
It is stated that Herr Scheilin, master bleacher of
St. Gall, is the winner of the fifth prize of the .French Exist-
bltion lottery, an organ valued at 2.5,000 f.
At a meeting, under the presidency of the Mayor,
held at the Guildhall, Cambridge, it was resolved to take
steps to raise a fund for a championship skating belt. It
was agreed that the Lord Lieutenant be requested, on behalf
of the committee, to sign a letter to the Prince of Wales,
asking His Royal Highness, as a resident in the Eastern
Counties, to accord his patronage to the movement.
The Maidstone Journal says that some misleading
statements have been circulated as to the number of emi-
grants who started from Maidstone for New Zealand on
Wednesday morning in last week, one London newspaper
stating that the railway authorities issued 320 whole tickets,
so that the number of men may be put down at not much
more than 200. By no means all these were really service-
able labourers.
Since the young Prince Sergius Maximilianovitch
was killed near Plevna a subscription has been going on
among the soldiers, and now It has been decided to build
with the money a cathedral at Andijan to be dedicated to
Saint Sergius Randonejsky, the patron saint of the Prince,
and outside will be erected a statue of the deceased. The
Empress of Russia, who delights in building churches, has
taken great interest in the movement.
At the annual meeting in Manchester on Tnesday
of the Central Association for Stopping the Sale of Intoxi-
cating Liquors on Sunday, it was stated that the victory on
the Irish Senday Closing Bill had given a fresh impetus to
the kindred movement in England and Wales, and the
executive were of opinion that Parliament could not long
refuse a similar measure for those portions of the United
Kingdom
The Prefecture of the Seine has published the two
first volumes of the descriptive catalogue of the objects and
work of art belong to the city of Parts which ornament the
various. municipal buildings in the capital. These. two
volumes form the beginning of two series—one relating to
secular and the other to ecclesiastical buildings. From this
catalogue it appears that the munieipality have expended
£120,000 since 1816 upon their churches, which are little more
than a fifth of the total number in Paris.
A new place for invalids has been discovered,
Daros is alralidir filled to overflowing, and is getting dearer.
The new heeith resort is Alassio, in Italy, on the shores of
the Mediterranean. The English chaplain there describes it
as lying in a sheltered bay, with a background of moun-
tains. The air is wonderfully dry It cures rheumatism
easily. Oranges and lem-ms grow on the plain, oaruba and
oleander on the hills. The doctors praise the place highly.—
Court Journal.
The Crown Princess of Germany will come to Eng-
land at the end of February in order to attend the marriage
of the Duke of Connaught, andtbe Crown Prince will follow
at the beginning of March. Prince William, the son 'of
their Imperial Highnesses, will also be present at the mar-

riage.
A gentleman, writing from Mandalay to an Indian
newspaper (the Lticknoto Times), which has just came to
hand by the overland mail, states that a "gold mountain"
has been discovered at a distance of one day's journey from
that city. The ore which has been taken from this nOnder-
ful "mountain" is.said to be very pure, but none of it has as
yet been analysed. Our Indian contemporary, in noting the
fact, says it is thought by no means improbable that a vein of
gold may have been struck, as that valuable metal is known
to exist in various parts of both Upper and Lower Burmah.
A call for nearly £12,000 in respect of the costs
incurred by the cotton trade riots of last May has been
made upon the nuious in the Blackburn hundred. and a
"riot rate" of 2d. in the pound has been levied: Ills
feared that this will not be the only call.
A telegram from Geneva states that a singular and
almest unprecedented meteorological phenomenon has been
obrervable during the past ten or fifteen days in many parts
of Switzerland. While the temperature in the valleys and
plains has been low, the waters covered with ice, and snow
resting on the ground, a warm south wind has prevailed In
the uplands and among the higher Aips, where the streams
remain unfrozen and the snow has almost disappeared.
A conference of delegates from the various branches
of the engineering trade in London was held on Monday
evening, when a resolution was adopted recommending the
men in the eighteen shops which have given notice of a
reduction of seven-and-a-half per cent, on the present
wages to withstand the proposal. The men employed in
these establishments will, consequently, go upon strike on
Friday.
The area of American wheat will astonish many
readers. It is now nearly ten times that of the United
Kingdom—say 32 millions of acres—and the increase of a
single bushel in yield thus gives an extra surplus of 4 million
qrs. Moreover, the inerease of breadth lately has been pro-
digious—from 20i to 32 millions ot acres in one year.
It is stated that an Act has baen drafted for pre-
sentation to Parliament, and will prol9ably be introduced in
the coming session, the object of which is to restrict during
a limited time the granting of new licenses and certificates
for the sale of intoxicating liquors by,retail. Mr. Burt, of
Niorpeth, has been asked to take charge of the Bill, and
Sir Wilfrid Lawson has expressed his approval of the
measure.
The Star of India, 1,040 tons, Captain H. D. Rook,
chartered by Sir Arthur Blyth. Agenf-General for
South Australia, left Plymouth on Friday in last week for
Port Adelaide, with 365 emigrants, under the charge of Dr.
Joseph H. Mitcheeon, surgeon; among whom are 72 female
dome atic servants under the care of Miss Davidson, matron
Thii Queen of the Belgians is about to present to
each member of the deputation of the Belgian women, who
congratulated her Majesty on the 2.5 th anniversary of the
royal marriage, a souvenir consisting of an engraved testi-
monial signed by her Majesty.
The Right Hon. James Stansfeld, M.P., speaking at
the re-opening of the Haley Hill Working Men's Club, Halt-
fax, on Saturday evening, expressed his satisfaction that it
was to be open to both sexes. The time had come to throw
overboard old conventionalisms on this subject, and he did
not see why people of both sexes should not enjoy together
the advantages of such an is stitution. The club was also to
be open every day, like the middle-class clubs, and the laws
and regulations applied to it would be the same as were
applied to the great palaces in Pall-Mall and the West-end
of London. He recommended social iutercouse ens the most
railing kind of entertainment. One great advantage of such
clubs was that no one was unduly influenced to take any-
thing "for the good of the house," but every one must feel
as if in his own house.
The recent strike in the Warrington iron trade has
come to an end. Oue of the principal reasons which deter-
mined the men to give in was (says the Morning Post), the
action of Mr. Peter 'glands, who, at lie own expense, sent
over three of the strikers (sire drawers) to Germany to find
out the condition of the trade there. These men, on return-
ing home, reported that they had found that while wages
were less than in England the hours of labour are three
hours a day longer. This discovery had a great influence in
Inducing the strikers to yield.
The Geneva Correspondent of The Titus says that
the heavy duties imposed by the Italian Customs on forego
tobacco make smuggling so profitable a trade that the
frontier population are leaving their occupations by hun-
dreds in order to engage in the business. Last year in the
district of Como alone 37(00 kilos. of tobacco were con-
fiscated. The fines colletted amounted to two and a ball
million lire, and, in default of payment, many persons have
been sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. The penalty
for smuggling a single cigar is 70 lire.
An Order in Council was published in the London
Gazette of Tuesday relating to the registration of cow'
keepers, the sanitary condition of dairies and cowsheds, and
the contamination of milk. As to the latter, it is ordered
that if at any time disease should exist among the cattle in
a dairy or cowshed, or other building or piaee, the milk ofa
etseased cow therein shall not be mixed with other up.k .
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