The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-04-13 00:00:00

Our 17onbon Comspratitt.

[We deem it right to state that we do not at all times
;_deriiify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.]

The debates upon the calling out of the Reserve
Forces irresistibly reminds us of those which preceded
the outbreak of war with Russia twenty-four years
ago. Many of the members of the Cabinet of that
day have passed to "where, beyond those voices, there
is peace," Lord Aberdeen, Lord Palmerston, Sir James
Graham, Mr. Sidney Herbert, the Earl of Clarendon,
and the Duke of Newcastle being the names of the
most prominent of the departed statesmen then in
office. Mr. Gladstone is the only member of the
Aberdeen Cabinet who still remains in the House of
Commons—one of his most distinguished colleagues,
Lord Russell, having long since gone to the
House of Peers, It is still within the remembrance
of the people now how great were the excite-
ment and the passion of that time, and how
all-absorbing was the idea that the power of Russia
had increased, was increasing, and ought to be
diminished. Parliament, as in the present year, had
been summoned early, and language of a very menac-
ing character was used. It was on the 14th February
1854, that a statement was made embodying a saying
which has since become historical, and has passed
into a i)roverb. The Earl of Clarendon, our Foreign
Secretary, informed the House of Lords that though
war was not yet declared, it could hardly be raid
we were at peace. We were in an intermediate state,
but every hour " drifting " nearer and nearer to
war. The expression was warmly criticised at the
time, as showing that the Government had no settled
policy, but was carried like a piece of driftwood
whithersoever the stream might take it. Three
nights afterwards, however, in the House of Commons
John Russell set the matter right. "If," said the
noble lord, "peace is no longer consistent with our
duty to Europe and our duty to the world; if the
ambition of Russia has got to such a pitch that even
its moderation is more ambitious than the ambition of
other states; if Russia will not be contented with
anything less than the subjugation of the whole em-
pire of Turkey and the possession of Constantinople
itself—if such are her feelings and such are her
objects—then we can only endeavour to enter into this
contest with a stout heart. May God defend the
right! For my part I shall willingly share the burden
and the responsibility." These sentiments were re-
ceived with tumultuous cheering.
Speaking of Lord Russell is a reminder of an
intending address which is to be presented to him on
tire 9th of May, the fiftieth anniversary of the repeal
of the Teat and Corporation Acts in 182 E. At that
time he had been in the House of Commons half a
generation, having entered that assembly in 1813,
as member for Tavistock. Lord Russell has there-
fore had a seat in the legislature, first as a representa-
tive of the people and then as a peer, for the amazing
period of 65 years. Being 21 when he entered upon
parliamentary life, he is now 86. It seems difficult to
believe that we have to-day a statesman in our midst
who talked with Bonaparte when he was Emperor of
Elba, and who was a legislator two years before
the Battle of Waterloo was fought. How many
administrations have been formed, and how many
parliaments dissolved since he first took the oath of
allegiance to King George III? Seven years of that
sovereign, ten years of George IV., seven of William
IV., forty-one of Queen Victoria—what a public life! '
During its continuance ministries and parliaments
have faded away like so many phantoms of the night;
and of the House of Commons in existence in 1825,
when the Test and Corporation Acts were repealed,
not a single member has now a seat in that assembly.
Speaker, Ministers, and Opposition—all have gone to
join the silent army of the majority. All except one,
the venerable statesmas who was then only thirty-six
years of age, with a career before him which will be
remembered as long as the British Constitution lasts,
or history endures.

The British navy of the present time is said to be
more powerful than at any previous period in the
annals of oar country. Since we were last engaged
in war, it has undergone a complete change, and the
"wooden walls" for centuries so famous in naval war-
fare are now discarded so far as active service is con-
cerned. When Sir Charles Napier set out for the
Baltic in the spring of 1851, his flagship was the Duke
of Wellington, a Illige three-decker, carrying 131 guns,
now lying in Portsmouth Harbour, close by the
Victory. The fleet, the most magnificent that had
ever been brought together, set sail from Spithead in
the presence of the Queen and the Prince Consort, and
amid the enthusiastic cheers of teas of thousands of
spectators. Great results were expected from it. Sir
Charles Napier, before his departure, had been enter-
tained at a banquet at the Reform Club, Lord Palmerston
in the chair. On that occasion Sir James Graham said
that he looked upon Sir Charles not only as a gallant,
but as a discreet commander, and he had his entire
confidence. "He does not go forth under any hypo-
critical pretence of conducting a religious war, but to
assert the independence of Europe, to maintain the
balance of power, and to resist as lawless a spirit of
aggression and of reckless aggrandisement as ever
disgraced. any country. My gallant friend says
when he goes into the Baltic he will declare war;
I, as First Lord of the Admiralty, give him
my free consent to do so. I hope that the war may
be short, and that it may be sharp." But the
days had gone by for fighting upon the open sea.
Sir Charles Napier issued a general order to the
Fleet, which closed thus, "sharpen your cutlasses, and
the day is your own." The Russians, however, with-
drew their ships behind the fortifications of Cronstadt,
which were too strong to be attacked; and while this
was the case in the Baltic they sunk their Black Sea
Fleet across the entrance to the harbour of Sebastopol,
so as to keep our vessels out. Indeed, the exploits of
the British Navy in that struggle scarcely came up to
the expectations of the people; and upon the return
of Sir Charles Napier, after an angry correspondence
with Sir James Graham, there were acrimonious de-
bates in the House of Commons.

The Queen has once more shown her sympathy in
works which command the support of her people, by
the subscription of £lOO, which she has sent to the fund
for relieving the survivors of those who perished
through the foundering of the Eurydice; and as the
Lord Mayor has opened a list at the Mansion House,
there is no doubt that an adequate response will be
given to the appeal. In time of war a Royal Patriotic
Fund is started for the benefit of the widows and
orphans of the men who fall in battle; and there can
be no question that those who lost their lives in such
catastrophes as those of the Captain and the Eurydice
are as much entitled to their countrl's consideration
as though they had been slain by an enemy against
whom they were fighting. Numerous indeed are the
calls upon the attention of the charitable and the
benevolent, For several months more than one fund
has been open for the reception of subscriptions for
alleviating the misery and distress caused by
the war between Russia and Turkey. Then there
was the Indian Famine Fund, which accounted for
half a million sterling. And only a few days ago the
Lord Mayor presided at a meeting held at the Mansion
House for raising £125,000 for the London Hospital,
in order to keep open the 400 additional beds in the
new wing lately opened by Her Majesty. This insti-
tution is in the midst of a great but poor population,
and it is satisfactory to know that notwithstanding
the many other calls upon the purses of the public,
a noble response was made to the appeal on its behalf.
These pleasant April afternoons, leaving winter
behind them, and with the prospect of summer before
the, find large numbers of persons in the London
parks—Rotten Row and the Ladies' Mile being more
especially the favourite places of resort, for there
may be witnessed rank and fashion, wealth, and
beauty in rich profusion. Take your stand out-
side the enclosure which marks the confine's of
Rotten Row, watch the carriages and the horsemen,
cast your eye upon the range of palatial dwellings
stretching away beyond the precincts of the park, and
you are presented with the bright side of the metro-
polis, in whieh life "is a midsummer night's dream."
From the: distance you can hear the roar of traffic
which tells of the existen a vast population, the
most enormous ever brcugis together in the world's
history. Three years ago the Sultan of Zanzibar was
go impressed with the immense size of the place that
be exclaimed, " The greatness of this city was not
reported to us." As a rule, the residents of one district
know nothing whatever of the geography of that which
lies in an op?osite direction. For instance,' a house-
holder in Highgate would be as great a stranger in
Norwood as in Newcastle, and Belgravia has no in
formation whatever respecting the manners and the
customs of the people in Bethnal-green. Where
parks and palaces abound there is little knowledge
that far away eastward of the city boundaries at
Aldgate is a number of inhabitants equal to
those of Liverpool and Glasgow united, where
the shipyards rival those of the Mersey and the
Clyde, where the docks for miles are filled with
a forest of masts, and where the Government
establishments at Woolwich compete in reputation
with those of Portsmouth and Devonport, Pembroke,
and Chatham. Truly a wonderful place is London,
and one in which a human being may pass an entire
existence without forming any adequate idea or just
conception of its immensity !

The last few days of the practice of the University
crews upon the river previous to the race itself are
full of interest to thousands who assemble upon the
banks and watch the progress of the training. The
London papers record the vicissitudes of the day as
though the destinies of a nation depended upon the
feathering of No. 3, the want et slid. in No. 7, the

lack of "go " in No. 4, or the wild steering of the
coxswain. The suburban railways abutting upon the
upper reaches of the Thames run excursions every day,
and the struggle to obtain seats in the trains is often
as great as on the day of the aquatic contest, which is
always rowed on the Saturday preceding Palm Sup.
day. In our variable climate the weather at Easter
time, as the men assembled at former volunteer
reviews have more than once found to their cost, is of
a most uncertain character. In 1872 the boat-race
was rowed in the midst of a blinding snow-storm,
while in 1873 the day was as fine and spring-like
as any which ever lighted up the surroindings of
Putney and Mortake. Speaking of the volunteer
review is a reminder of the difficulties which of late
years have stood in the way of ourcitizen soldiers having
their annual field day. The Bank Holiday Act has
so enormously increased the Easter Monday excursion
traffic on the lines leading out of London to holiday
resorts, that the companies find it impossible to convey
the volunteers to any of thoge destinations sueh as
Brighton, Dover, and Portsmouth, to which for so
many years they annually looked forward. The
companies plead that in these days of competition
they cannot afford to throw a great stream of excur-
sion traffic on to a rival line by allowing the volunteer
force practically to monopolise their own system on
one of the four popular holidays of the year. And
yet the volunteers deserve some consideration, for •
they give up time, which is now represented by
money, to the service of the State; and their value
would be conspicuously apparent if we became
engaged in hostilities, when the regular army would
have to leave our shores for foreign service.

The members of both Houses of Parliament will
doubtless enjoy their prolonged holiday. Having met
on the 17th January, they will have had a continuous
sitting of thirteen weeks by the time they rise for the
Easter Recess, a longer period than can again inter-
vene, seeing that seven weeks from Easter comes
Whitsuntide, when my lords and gentlemen will be
entitled to another rest. The peers, at the ensuing
adjournment, have very nearly a calendar month
of release from legislative duties at Westminster, and
the Commons close upon three weeks. At this period
of the session the former are not much pressed with
work; in its later stages, however, when a number of
Bills have got through the Commons, the lords find
ample occupation, and the Earl of Redesdale, Chair-
man of Committees, often finds it difficult to get
together a sufficient number of peers to dispose of
the private Bills.