The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-01-11 00:00:00

tiYa. 'goithon o:;orrtsponbtute

(We deem it rigLi; io state that we do not at all times
tdentily curselves with our Correspondent's opinions.)

The brief period of political rest represented by
Christmas aad its few succeeding days more imme-
diately associated with the New Year has already
passed away; and political manifestoes on both sides
have already been common enough in anticipation of
the meeting of Parliament five weeks hence, Not
that any change in the fortunes of either political
party is likely to be effectei so long as this House of
Commons may last, but it is growing old, and
members on both sides now seek to educate the
electors by speeches and statistics, so that they may
be enabled to give a well-considered verdict
at the polling.booths whenever an appeal to the
country shall be made. The last session of an
expiring Parliament, when it is known to be such,
is one in strong contrast to its first, when there is the
charm of novelty about the work, and men Coma to it
fresh and vigorous. But by the time the final session
has been reached, independently of the fact that the
novelty of the situation has long since worn off, several
years have been added to the lives of the members.
Those who do not intend to seek re-elect on are inclined
to be lax in their attendance—they have had enough of
Parliamentary life. Those who do intend to seek re-
election are busily engaged, but not at Westminster.
They are again asking for the suffrages of their consti-
tuents, so that between the two classes—those who care
no longer for a legislative existence, and those who do—
there are very few members left in London to get
through the ordinary business—just enough to make a
Huse every day, and that is all. Fourteen years have
,now elapsed since parliament witnessed a seventh
session, and that was in 1865. Lord Palmerston was
theu Prime Minister, verging upon his 81st year. He
never met the new Parliament which he had called;
for his remains were laid in Westminster Abbey more
than three months before its first meeting.
The obituaries of the past year have told us how
Death has dealt with the kings and princes of the
earth, and the chronicles of the daily papers con-
stantly remind us of the way in which it is continually
changing the personnel of Parliament. There is a
law of average in such things which seems stern and
unalterable. The Parliament which lasted from
December, 1868, to January, 1874, lost 65 of its -mem-
bers by death; the mortality in the present House
has been quite in the same ratio. If the last enemy
entered the House of Commons only four times in
1874, it was there fifteen times in 1878; and so
between the two the average was made up. One mem-
ber dies at 74, another at :5; and striking the balance
the mean is arrived at where the crevices of mortality
are apparent, and death approaches. To those who re-
member the excitements of 1874, at the time of the
general election, it seems difficult to believe that more
than fifty of the new members are now in their graves
—a proportion equal to one twelfth of the entire num-
ber. This, with other causes, such as the peerage,
resignation, and appointments to office, has made
quite as many changes as are brought about by the re-
sults of many an appeal to the country. In fact,
from month to month, the Lower House is scarcely
the same in all respects, for a slow but continuous al-
teration is always going on.
Old Christmas Day, or Twelfth Day, is the daie of
a festival sacred in the celebrations of the Greek
church; and twelve months ago, when it was com-
memorated throughout Russia, it was under
less favourable auspices than those of the present
time. Russia was then actually at war, and
although there could be no doubt of the result of the
conflict, the resistance of the Turks had been far more
desperate than had been anticipated from all that loi,d
been previously read and written about the condition
of the Ottoman Empire. The peace which now pre-
vails in Europe is one which, from the condition of the
various states, might well be a lasting one. Each has
enough anxiety at home without seeking foreign trou-
bles. France, which, a few years ago, was in a chronic
state of disturbance and unrest, is now the most pros-
perous member of the European family—thanks to the
wise policy of developing her splendid resources, and
attending strictly to her own affairs.
When Peter the Great founded the city which bears
his name, and transfered the seat of government to it
• from Moscow, more than a century and a half ago, we
are told thathebade his countrymen look forward to the
• time when Constantinople should be the capital of the
Russian empire, which would then be ruled from a city
away from the region of perpetual snow, and where the
people lived under sunlit skits and amid long summer
days. Could Peter have foreseen the length of time
which must elapse before the double-headed eagle was
set up in Constantinople, he would scarcely have
selected such a site as the capital of his vast dominions.
Built upon a marsh, and open to be inundated by any
high sea which may gather in the Gulf of Finland, it
is an enormous distance from any other European
capital. The river upon which it stands is frozen
during several months in the year, and is therefore
inaccessible for purposes of commerce. Imagine
the Thames closed to navigation regularly from
November to May! What would become of the
prosperity of the metropolis, or its commanding
position as the chief city of the empire? The vast
distance of St. Petersburg almost from civilization
itself must ever place it at a disadvantage as a factor
In European politics whose opinion is entitled to any
degree of weight. Commercially, politically, and
socially it is nowhere, and that is the penalty which
the Russian capital has to pay for being planted in a
morass by a great but eccentric genius.
One of the penalties which must be paid for fitting
up our ships and fortifications with such immense
ordnance as that which artillerists have called into
existence of late years, is a danger which has been
shown in a terrible fatal way on board the battle-
ship Thunderer. Formerly, the power of a gun was
estimated by the weight of a shot which it propelled—
sixty-eight pounder, ninety-six pounder, and so
213. Our ninety.six-pound shot in the days of the
Crimean War were considered very respectable
missiles, and these were principally employed against
the defences of Sebastopol. Now our ordnance
Is judged by the weight—not of metal thrown—
but of the guns themselves-35, 38, 81, and 100
tons. Some time ego it was announced that a 200-ton
gun was in contemplation. Even the 35-ton cannon
has to be worked by machinery, which in the case of
one of 200 tons must of course be six times more
powerful.
General Grant's visit to Ireland has revived
the memories of the prominent part which he
has heretofore played in. a drama far more stir.
ring than one in which the chief actor is the
hero of presentations and of civic banquets.
It is now working on to twenty years ago, that by the
election of Mr. Lincoln as President of the United
States, in November, 1860, the seeds were sown of
that disaffection in the South which led to the civil
war of four years' duration. Beginning in April,
1861, it was not brought to an end until the 2nd of
April, 1865, by the capture of Richmond by General
Grant and the surrender of the Confederate army under
General Lee. During these four years 252 battles had
been fought, and tens of thousands of lives had been
sacrificed. General Grant stands before us as the most
- successful Soldier of his time. After the expiration
of Mr. Andrew Johnson's term of office as President
of the United States, General Grant was placed at
the head of the Republic by his fellow-citizens,
and remained there eight years. On Cie expiration of
his second term of office he came to Europe, and was
- presented with the freedom of the City of London.
By the time he returns to his native land he will have
been nearly all over the civilised world, and will have
left behinclehim the reputation of a brave and able
man, a shrewd observer, and an unassuming demeanour
not always witnessed in one who bee achieved such
marvellous success in his career.
The re-opening of the Law Courts for what are
called the Hilary Sittings on the 11th instant,
Is another indication of the return cf public engage-
roenta to their ordinary and accustomed channels.
• Like the Church, the Law begins its year at well-
nigh the end of the ordinary annual period of time,
the one commencing its work at what is known as
Michaelmas Term on the 2nd of November, and the
other at Advent. Of the two, the legal year is by far
the shorter, terminating in August, when the judges
and the lawyers have tiered months' holiday.
judicial tribunals, or rather those who have to resort
• •to them, are looking forward to the time when equity
shall no longer be administered in Chancery-lane, nor
common law alternately at Guildhall and West-
minster. In the premiership of Lord Palmerston an
Act was passed for the construction of new Law
Courts on the north side of Fleet-street and the
Strand, hard by Temple Bar, between the chimes of
St. Clements and St. Dunstan'e churches, and directly
overlooking these ancient cloisters of the Temple, so
rich in memories, and so fruitful in associations. Lord
Palmerston has been dead nearly half a generation,
!net the law Courts are not yet completed, the delay
beieg attributed to more than one untoward cause.
Still, they are making progress, more especially the
- eastern portion, and some of the younger judges are
ooking forward to a time when the seat of justice shall
*t
be in the very heart of the London, almost within.
sight of St. Paul's Cathedral itself, and close to one of
the great arteries of the metropolis.
It is nearly five years since the Duke of Edinburgh'
was married to the .Grand Duchess Marie of Russia,
and three of these years his Royal Highness has
served afloat, first as captain of H.M.S. Sultan, and
then of the Black Prince, preparatory to his being
made a Rear• Admiral. With the Duke of Edinburgh
cupYing a high' position in the naval• profession;
oc

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