The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-01-01 00:00:00

RETROSPECT

THE YEAR 11874. .

Years, as they glide over our heads, and are gathered,
ogether in the annals of the past, seem to disappear
as shadows flee away from the plain. "Day unto day
uttereth wisdom," in very truth, and the saying is as
• applicable now as it was centuries ago. But the
records of one day are often obliterated in the inci-
dents of the next, the interest in the smaller event
being natuolly absorbed in that attaching to the
greater. History is thus made rapidly; but while it
finds an abiding place in the chronicles of the time,
mere recollection is liable to fade from the memory,
and that which took place only a few months before
Is apt to be forgotten. We, therefore, make no
. .
apology in asking our, readers to accompany us over
the path of retrospect so far as the last twelve months
are concerned; 'foie although 1875 haa not been so
fraught wi• th' Momentous consequences to the people
of these Oisticle' ais Some which have gone before it,
Yet it luvi!iroduced much which is well worthy of
review— mach that will bear examination when the
Whole of its manifold occurrences are before us.
Naturally the members of the reigning House claim
first attention. Her Majesty, now in the 57th year of
her age, and the 39th of her reign, still rules over
a loyal, prosperous, and contented people. The Prince
of Wales, taking an active part in various movements,
Wherein interest is felt by considerable sections of the
community, was on the 27th of April installed as
Grand Master of the English Freemasons; and, up to
the time of his leaving for India, discharged the duties
of President of the Smithfield Club. The journey of
his Royal Highness to our splendid possessions, which
Was announced early in the year, was formally brought
before the House of Commons by the Prime Minister
on the 15th of July, and a vote of £60,000 for the
attendant expenses, was carried by a majority of 350 to
16. The Prince left England on the 11th October,
and landed at Bombay on the Bth November, the
natives vieing with the Europeans in the warmth of
their reception. With the exception of the birth of a
daughter to the Duchess of Edinburgh on the 29th
October, there is little TROT iii the domestic history of
the various members ot the Royal family. The
Queen's third son, the Duke of Connaught, is earnest
In his devotion to the military profession, while the
Inclination of Prince Leopold is in the direction of
literature, and the cultivation of science and art.
Princess Beatrice, the youngest child of her Majesty,
now in her 19th year, is the only one who is still at
home, her eight brothers and sisters having all
respectively taken those positions to which their exalted
rank entitles them.
The political history of the year has been marked by
circirmstances far less eventful than was that of its pre.
decessor. The result of the general election had been
to place the Conservative party in power, and for the
first time within a generation the Liberals were in a
minority upon the Opposition Benches. Immediately
after the resignation of Mr. Gladstone, in February,
1874, he consented to remain at the head of the Liberal
partY, during that session, reserving to himself full
Liberty to reconsider his decision at the beginning of
1875. The events of the autumn had led many to
doubt whether the right hon. gentleman intended to
remain the Liberal leader ; and on the 13th of January
last these doubts were set at rest. On that day Mr.
Gladstone wrote a letter to Earl Granville, in which
he announced his final resolve to withdraw from the
prominent position which he bad so long occupied.
The Liberal party, shattered and disorganised as it
had been at the polls, was thus called upon to select a
new leader in the darkest hour of its adversity, and
With a compact majority safely seated on the minis-
erial benches. In such circumstances the task of a
leader is a thankless one; but two names at once sug-
psted themselves. One was that of the Marquis of
biartington, who, as the eldest son of the Duke of
Devonshire, would be likely to command the influence
of the great governing families favourable to the
Liberal cause; the other was that of Mr. William
Edward Forster, whose state nnanship was unquestioned,
and -whose tact in piloting through the House of Com-
mons such measures as the Education and the Ballot
Acts, had been universally recognised. Both were men
of ability; they had sat together in the same Cabinet,
and each had his section of adherents. Mr. Forster,
however, unwilling further to divide his party, gave
Way, and on the 2nd of February a letter from him ap-
Peered in the London papers, in which he stated that
even if a majority of the Liberal members were in
favour of his taking up the mantle which had fallen
from the shoulders of Mr. Gladstone, he would feel
compelled to decline the ta.,lc. The issue, thus simpli-
fied, was soon set at rest. On the 3rd of February the
Liberal members of the House of Commons asseuiblod
at the Reform Club, Mr. Bright in the chair, at which
the Marquis of Hartington was unanimously requested
to act as the leader of the party, and this he consented
to do.