The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-05-24 00:00:00

Our Ironton erarrtspoubtnt,

(We deem it right to stpte that we do not at all times
Identify =selves with our correspondent's opinions.]

The May meetings which have called to the capil

so many divines of all denominations from various
parts of the kingdom, will be nearly at an end with
the close of this week, for, with the Whitsuntide
Parliamentary recess beginning on the 27th, there
will be very few engagements in Whitsun week, so far
as this description of meeting is concerned in London.
The wonder of the year, as indeed of some previous
• .• seasons, has been the Earl of Shaftesbury. Here is a
man 82 years of age, who thinks nothing of attending
four or five meetings a day, possessing such an intimate
knowledge of each as to enable him to advocate their
claims before audiences who know something of
the objects for " which they have assembled,
and would, therefore speedily detect any want
of knowledge on the part of the advocate.
Some days of this spring hava been so
cold and cheerless as to deter men twenty years
younger than Lord Shaftesbury from issuing forth
into the open air at all; but the noble earl seems
•,;.• never to4ear the east wind. Wrapped in his fur-
lined overcoat, there he has been ready, with the
burden of more than fourscore years upon his head,
mto help in any of the good causes to hich he has do
votxl his life.
By thr
. .

le proposal to ad

bourn the

:ouse

of Col

rnmons

'• for the Whitsun recess on- the 27th- an- annually-
-- recurring difficulty is avoided, and there will be no
debuts and division on the motion for the adjourn-
znent over the Derby Day, which is this year on the
- 28th. To many a heated controversy has this
:motion given rise. The notion of the British
" Parliament adjourning • for a horser:::_:e has been
ir a
siweepinily condemned both in the House atl outside it;
all the same the resolution has invariably been carried
by a large majority. Lord Palmerston once described
the Derby ris "our Isthmian games," and made
nothing to go down to Epsom and home again on
horseback. In 1-858, when Parliament adjourned for
the Derby, the House of Commons was in the midst
of a debate involving a motion of no confidence in the
Government of Lord Derby, whose horse, Tosopholite,
-,wassoue of the competitors at Epsom. Toxopholite.
w-aS; however, beaten, and it is very certain that- a—
defeat in the House of Commons would have•vexed
the earl much less. As it was, the adverse resolution

whieli threatened the fate of the Ministry was with-
drawn a day or two afterwards, and the Government
remained in power for the next twelve months.
As the time approaches for the decisio of the race
for:the:4*bn excitement in the sporting yorkl grors
apace. The Blue Riband will be contested ,for next
~week, and seems likely to be a very close struggle.
The winner of the Two Thousand Guineas is not
included in the entries, but the second and third
horses in that race are, viz., St. Medard and Har-
vester. The last-named has advanced to the position

of favonrite, and is likely 4 remain there on accoutlE
of• his victory at Newmarket a short time since

This was in the Payne Stakes, where he easily
defeated his former conqueror, Scot Free, the
winner of the Two Thousand. Of course he had the
advantage in the weights, having to carry 71b. less
than Mr. Foy's colt, but it is thought by some that he
could have beaten Scot Free if the penalties had
been even. It is not always that a favourite wins the
Derby, sometimes-a thorough outsider comes in first.
Last year St. Blaise was the winner, and although net
an outsider, started about fourth in the quotations, the
favourite Gaillard coming in third. A favourite's year .
may be recalled in 1881, when the American horse
Iroquois passed the post first, ridden by Fred
Archer. This year's contest is likely to be as exciting
as the memorahla one of 1880, when Bend Or came
itifirst;- and RoTert the Devil second, 'after a very
close race: The interest in this great race seems to
increase year by year, rather than decrease, and if
fine weather should, favour the day, there is certainly
to be witnessed a sight, on the far famed Surrey Downs,
that cannot be seen anywhere else in the world.
The statement that the Queen has approved of the
military parades usual on her Majesty's birthday
ii beigg, beta on the 28th June at all home and foreign
stations with the exception of London and Windsor

is a curious one. The abandonment of all military
display at Windsor under present circumstances is
easily amderstood ; for it would be an incongruity
under the shadow of the Castle just now. But
London, which now never witnesses any court
pageantry of any sort or kind, might have been spared
its anval trooping of the colours. It is a very inno-
cent ceremony on. tlfek Hone Gualds -Parade once a
year ;and there is no Court in-- the metropolis to be
disturbed by the spunds.of martial music. Londoners
would have been much better pleased if they had not
I,bean comprisectwithin this exclusion.
It may be remarked that the Queen's birthday is
always celebrated in London with a good deal of
spirit. As a matter of .course the ministers and
great officers-.of Stile give grand banquets either
11 their dffficiale'residences or atthe principal West-end
4 hotels;. but the clubs; many of the public buildings,
anti thoronghfares in that part of the town are really
Well worth seeing. Sometimes the date hasbeen fixed
- ofor the celebration when the moon has happened to
be at. the full, and the effect of many of the devices
and tiAndparencies has thus been interfered with;
• but when the night is dark, the result is worth a
iourqey of considerable distance to—behold. Let
'll 41) Whitehall; past the Horse Guards
and the Admiralty, turougu ii, _ _
host of, clubs in-that thoroughfare up St. James's-
street into Piccadilly, give a glance at New Bond-
street as he passes, and then into Regent-street, where
there is the greatest blaze of light of the evening.
The broad pavements are crowded with pedestrians,
the wide thoroughfare is filled with streams of
'Aides- moving slowly in two directions up and
clown.; the electric light vies with the gas in shedding
° juste upon a scene which commemorates the birth of
a sveyeign whose accession now seems more like a
dream than a reniembrance, and who, only two years
hence, will enter the fiftieth year of her prosperous
reignpver the ever-growing empire.of England.
It takes a very long time to amend the representa-
tion of the people in the United Kingdom. The pro-
cess was begun more than half a century ago, and it
is still going on. • Lord John Russell spoke of the bill

-r4

of 183.`i-as ; final measure, yet twenty years after-

wards- he himself brought in a Reform Bill; there
wv.another in 1854, in 1859, in 1860, in 1867, and
• • againmow. -The bill-now before Parliament in the
matter of enfranchisement is the most comprehensive
of-the whole; for it- proposes to add- two millions of
• .
J. •
• nevr voters to the register. The confident assertion
r Volt 'the- Lords will throw out the Reform Bill
• galahat the Souse of Commons will then be dis-
'; '• solved; 'proceeds upon an assumption of circum-
- r, tanpQa never. yet. witnessed in the modern political
' history cpf this country:- No administration with a
majority lathe .Corautonst.has dissolved that assembly
. • - bee:use of an adverse vote of the Peers. To do so
... - be to .transfor4tlae balance of-power from the
repwtative* of the people to a body nominated by
Attie Grown.
•-•
- .
• ,---..14,10944a5uffrb0-bePregarded as improbable that the
''
tfstrial .
schefne for the reform of the local govern-
:,
. ~mmel,ii.,London,wilbpass this session. The Opposition
to it -U of a ;very determined character, and the forms
• • theouse of Commons give ample opportunity for
• • delay, if. the opponents of a measure are bent upon its
beliig fully discussed at every stage. •..111 1835, when
Lord Melbourne's Government reformed the con-
stitution of the municipal corporations in England
" ' • an‘W-ales, London was omitted from the bill because
.%. A it.,would have overweighted -the measure, and it was
-•- understood. that the capital wottld be dealt with in a
seParAtia.bill,
•, That Wait .nearly half -a century ago,
and
.the bustness of• Parliament has not only increased
- • 1n1i4"645-44ewshi1e,•but. the talking power of the
House aftlzo. au,gmented. Tnstead of rising at
• •• anima or eight in the evening, as it did fifty years
sinfelefy often as Mr. Gladstane has told us, "Who
goo' home ?" is not now heard until one or two in the
. motillng;
•••-•
.71ureFfifttp.r,1 .Tunnel -tloes: net
_seem to be within
• th6fotPge•of• practical possibility for .a longer time
• thad j*,-ttir4le life can expect to look forward to
s . • horamengst:techildrerr of- men. A period may
• ••• •TV --L• natt,22fll.calihie,Of the inhabitants of
.:•"; et4
- • them- isityttli,Will be steeled against •panic but at
• prtUn.4.witl,k,,So many millfou.s Of different intellects
to ft-1: with, a npfderabje proportion would be likely
toiebby%niC.toa; very considerable degree.
• • 1100,4tNalitiorZtuef bAlcili-606416nce at the time
°f•AllerYldlt-cooaeilroit war., when tha :Teutons were
giThiere-exi)re4-04 ••taltlitisat's ef inicasion against
thif-ilerunfV, i•thi3rtf is litt/e-db4l)t• that 'there wouldha'e en ia4ewenaced-advano of the vast
,
„weft
• • ---_latwsipts si ,5704: •

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