The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-12-04 00:00:00

SIR EVELYN WOOD, V.C., on the ARMY

Sir Evelyn Wood, in responding on behalf of the Army at
a dinner given in London, the other evening, said
The raw material of our army, the rank and file, con
tam n now, as ever, much of the sterling product of a
great country. We have all admired the unselfish
heroism of Sir Philip Sidney, who, parched with
thirst, passed a cup of water to a more sorely wounded
comrade. But what Queen Elizabeth's general did
300 years ago in Holland Queen Victoria's private
soldier surpassed three months ago in Afghanistan.
In the retreat from Maiwand an artilleryman gave
up his seat on the gun limber to a wounded
Linesman, and marched in heat, which it is difficult
for us in England to realise. Without food or
water this gunner limped the fifty-two miles to
Candahar, never uttering a sound to show he was also
wounded in the foot. The conduct of all ranks of the
battery proves that the spirit animating
,hat noble
man was not exceptional. The dashing and clear
headed Sir Frederick Roberts has lately shown the
world that when directed by trusted leaders the
marching and fighting powers of our army are as good
as ever. Even in the disastrous tale of Maiwand we
hear of acts which make the pulse throb with pride in
our nationality. I mention some cases because they
bear on advocated changes which would, I ccnsider,
be detrimental to our service. There has been some
talk of abolishing colours. It is suggested that they
are cumbersome and the cause of sacrifices. Is it
worth while to risk men's lives for a tawdry bit of silk?
You might as well say that because honour was in-
visible and faith impalpable they do not exist as
lodestars for the mind. Colours are potent to check
disorder' to rally fugitives, to inspire attack. It is
title that the battalion recently lost its colours, but
two-thirds of the battalion fell with those colours.
When Lieutenant Otway, badly wounded, was urged
to relinquish his honourable burden, he determinel.4,
refused and bore it till he died. Colonel Galbraith,
shot through the leg, sank on his knee, but when last
seen alive was still graAping a colour and with it rally-
ing the men. Similarly Lieutenant Barr Honeywood
and Sergeant-Major Cuppage, and many other officers,
non-commissioned officers and men were slain while
defendinc, those consecrated emblems of devotion
which had been carried triumphantly in eight Penin-
sular battles.. The chivalry that is shown in the de-
fence of any high ideal, whatever may be its symbol,
is surely never wasted. The actors, as Galbraith
and his intrepid comrades may perish, but their
example remains, and their history will serve as an
inspiration in the future.

WHAT MUST BE DONE FOR
IRELAND P
Mr. Cliff Leslie answers this question in Fraser's
Magazine by recommending (1) the vigorous repression
of crime, and the repeal of Lord O'Hagan's Jury Act;
(2) the establishment of a large number• of peasant !
proprietors, by the voluntary commutation of rents
which "could be converied into land annuities secured
on and collected by means of a land tax levied on
tenants becoming proprietors, like local rates, by
public officers under a land board;" (3) the repeal of
such portions of the Land Act of 1870 as tended to
perpetuate the existence of the smallest holdings,
which are the bane of Ireland ; (4) the encouragement
of emigration. The present. agitation Mr. Leslie
regards, as essentially Communistic, The landlord is
merely the first marked for destruction. The large
farmer, the banker, the money lender, and the shop-
keeper will follow. To meet this social danger, it is
, indispensable, even if it cost £100,000,000, to increase
the defenders of law, order, and property by increasing
the number of landed prOprietors in Ireland.

The Times, in a leader on Tuesday, says that many
have thought and urged that side by side with efforts
for the removal of existing discontents a serious en-
deavour should be made, by means of encouragement
given to emigration, to afford the starvelinc, and not
too thrifty peasantry of western Ireland an oppor-
tunity of a better and more hopeful life in a new
world and on 1, new soil. Many Irish cottiers hold at
a rent of £4, or even less. If these peasants were
placed in possession of the fee-simple of such a hold-
ing, it would fail to support them and their families.
It would be but a sorry outcome of the new legisla-
tion on which the mind of the country is now firmly
set if it resulted in establishing the poorest and most
indolent of the Irish peasanti y on holdings too small
and too poor to support -existence decently and yet so
fondly clung to as to extinguish all effective desire for
improvement.

The Daily Sews says :—To suggest emigration tri
families on the verge of pauperism is useless. Emi-
gration requires money, enterprise, health, good
spirits ; and those who are most able to resort to it are
jus,t those who need it least. Even were such a
remedy for Irish ills possible or sufficient, the system
which renders it, needful to depopulate a country
must thereby stand condemned. Such a confession
of failure and impotency as is involved in the mere
sending of the people away to live under another
Government and other laws should be beyond the con-
sideratinn of statesmanship. Irishmen flourish every-
where except in Ireland, and the inevitable inference
is that the fault is more in their circumstances than in
themselves. - •

AVERAGE PRICES Or BRITISI!
.CON,—The follow-
ing are the average pines of British corn for the week
ending November. 2, as received . from the inspectors
and officers Of Dibise :—Wheat, 445. sd. ; barley,
335. 6d. ; oats, 21s. sd. per imperial qr. Corresponding
week last year :—Wheat, 465. 7d. ; barley, 38s. 10d. ;
oats, 20s, 6d,

CENTENARY OF THE ACCESSION OF
JOSEPH IL OF AUSTRIA.

The celebration of the Centenary of the Emperor
Joseph's accession to the throne took _place on Tues.
y al; .1 !• prt-, iin.les nu less than in Vienna the
Festival was in the highest degree successful. It was
in the best sense a popular Celebration. The pea-
santry in the villages vied with the citizens of the
great towns in doing honour to the memory of Austria's
greatest Sovereign.
In Vienna the Municipal Hall, which had been
beautifully decorated for the occasion, was filled to
overflowing at ten o'clock in the morning. The
assembly present, in addition to the Common Council-
men, included representatives of almost every Society,
Club, and corpotate body in the capital. The Burgo-
master, Dr. Newald, presided, and delivered an
enthusiastic and most impressive address upon the
character of the Emperor Joseph and his services to
the Empire. The Burgomaster concluded his speech
in the following words :
! "The ideas of the Emperor Joseph in regard to
right, law, liberty, and equality continue to live
amongst us, and are handed down from generation to
generation. The-spirit of his laws has exercised an
enlightening influence on all subsequent times. Glory
and honour to his memory ! The wreaths which we
deposit this day upon his tomb, and with which we
are about to adorn his statue, are intended to bear
witness that we still gratefully remember his affection
for his people, and his devotion to the happiness and
welfare of Austria."
At the termination of his address the assembly
enthusiastically joined in the " Hochs !" proposed by
the Speaker.
The Municipal Bodyt hen left the Hall and marched
hi solemn procession through the streets of the capital
to the Emperor's tomb. Here the celebrated Vienna
Mannergesang Verein sang the anthem, " Beati
Mortui," and the Councillors deposited upon the coffin
a gigantic wreath, upon the white silk streamers of
which there were embroidered in gold letters the words
which the Emperor himself used on one occasion,
"There is nothing I love more on earth than my
mother country."
The procession then reformed, and proceeded to the
neighbouring Kaiser Joseph Platz, to the foot of the
Emperor's equestrian monument. Like the Imperial
tomb, the pedestal of the statue was completely
hidden by wreaths deposited in the name of various
Societies and Corporations. A short but deeply im-
pressive address was delivered in front of the statue
by the Burgomaster, after which the Meinnergesang
Verein brought the ceremonies to a conclusion by
singing the Festival Cantata specially composed for
the occasion.
The day was celebrated with equal enthusiasm in
every town in the Empire, and the telegrams which
have been received describing the proceedings in the
provinces were almost countless.

The Times has the following leader on the Centenary
anniversary of the accession to thd throne of Joseph II.:

It is just a hundred years since the Emperor
Joseph 11. ascended the throne. Austria has had no
peaceful, uneventful time of it since thaZ; date. She
has had her full share of vicissitudes. But the re-
forming Emperor, the very spirit of restless change, is
still remembered. The Liberals still regard him as
their best and earliest friend; the clergy remember
him as one of their worst enemies and the first to
begin a series of changes which have been to
their disadvantage. It is in keeping with the
traditions respecting him that, while the Com-
munal Council of Vienna and other secular bodies
are to take part to-day in the ceremony at the
Josephsplatz, various Bishops, including those of Linz
and Gratz, have declined to join in the commemora-
tion of a ruler who was no friend to the Church, and
who was the cause of much sorrow to Pope Pius VI.
Austrian Liberals venerate him; but even they must
regard him as a splendid failure, and they cannot look
back on his career with complete complaisance. At
the base of his statue in Vienna may be read the

"Josepiw Secundo, qai saluti public ce rixit, non
diu, sed talus." But his aptest epitaph was his own
condemnation—" Here lies a man who, with the best
. . .

intentions never carried a single project into execu-
tion." When the vanity of human endeavours to fight
against the inevitable, or the barrenness of good
wishes not guided by discretion and not favoured by
time and opportunity, have to be demonstrated, the
story of the Emperor Joseph's career may be told.
Whenever Austrian statesmen would be warned
against the consequences of introducing hasty reforms
or not consulting sufficiently the humours of a miscel-
ianeous population, they will be reminded of his fate.
He is a warning for all time to hasty innovators. His
career is a chart for rulers of his country, distinguish-
ing for them the rocks and shallows on which goodly,
specious projects without end made shipwreck.
All probabilities seem to be confounded when his
career is considered. He began to rule with every
promise of prosperity. His subjects were flourishing
and numerous; Austria including lief outlying pro-
vinces, was of vast extent ; and her army was strong
and disciplined. There was a splendid opportunity for
a young and enlightened Prince, and with his talents
and laborious ind,ustry he seemed made to seize it.
He had caught the spirit of innovation 'which was
abroad. The waitings of the French philosophers
and economists were read. and liked nowhere more
tha,n in German Courts. Voltaire, Rousseau,
and Raynal were quoted and admired by princes
and nobles, who did not pause to give a thought to the
personal applications of the dangerous maxims or epi-
grams which they bandied about. It was fashionable
to believe in the rights of man; it was a mark of cul-
ture to take it for granted that kings and priests, the
Crown and the Church, could impose only upon
ignorant and barbarous minds. Superstition of all
, kinds was at an end; every one was to live sooner or
later by pure reason. Even the German Courts in
which churchmen ruled were permeated by this
restless desire and expectation of change. The
Emperor Joseph had drunk in the spirit of the
time. Ile projected vast plans of reform, and he
delighted the hearts of theorists and philosophers
by the magnitude of his schemes and Ms promp-.
titude in the execution of them. Nothing was
too minute or too comprehensive for him. He
worked in the fields in Moravia with his own
Imperial hands in order to show how highly he ac-
counted agriculture; and if he discovered the nuns
in a convent were idle, he must set them to work to
make clothes for his soldiers. He found himself ruler
of races speaking some ten diffa•ent languages; he
gravely meditated replacing 'them by one. His sub-
jects, loosely connected and aliens to each other,
were accustomed to a variety of forms of govern-
ment ; and it seemed to him true wisdom to break
down the old divisions of the provinces and substitute
thirteen uniform administrations, all converging in
the Emperor. He strove to abolish feudalism ; and
he did so with such ruthless thoroughness as to dis-
guest nobles and peasants. He substituted one land
tax for many; he abolished signorial rights ; he estab-
lished conscription • and he erected new courts of
justice. The Church was the especial object of his
attention ; he suppressed hundreds of convents ; he
took away many rights from the Bishops, and in malty
ways curtailed the Church's power. Not only did he
pass measures which had their justification in the ex-
orbitant authority of the Church, but he made other
changes—in regard to marriage and divorce, for ex-
ample—which nobody wanted or understood. He was
a free trader; at all events, he abolished internal dues
on commerce. He extended toleration to all his sub-
jects, not excluding toe- Jews; he was ahead of his
time in promoting codification: No ruler had larger
ideas as to liberty of speech. When he was requested
to stop the printing of a libel against himself his re-
joinder was, "Why so, if it be directed only against
me ? " The prejudices of rank and birth he scouted
as irrational, and he talked like a Jacobin about the
rights of man. Catholic though he was, he abolished
pilgrimages, reduced the number of the festival days,
composed a catechism of secular morality for the use
of youth, and in every way asserted the rights of the ,
State to interpose in ecclesiastical affairs. It was the
day of " isms. ' Every reformer got a hearing. The
Emperor's freedom from prejudice and his readiness
for any change were so complete that he was and still
is hailed as the paragon of enlightened princes. And
yet one and all of his projects were stricken with
barrenness. Nothing to which he put his hands
throve, and "the traces left by his reforms were shallow
and evanescent. His military plans though carefully
laid, ended disastrously. The upshot of his expe-
dition against the Turks was that he must write to
Marshal Laudon—" Go and repair the effects "of my
folly." He could not help carrying his reforming
fantasias into the Low Countries, where all was
peace and contentment. He proposed to treat them
as he had treated his German subjects. He abolished
pilgrimages, suppressed convents, altered the modes
of education, declared that Protestants must be tole-
rated, transferred the University from Louvain to
Brussels, set up in the former a seminary for the
education of all persons destined to the Church,
and did a dozen ,things to irritate a high-spirited
people. Old franchises were withdrawn, and a new
order of things, such as no one wanted, was esta-
blished. Such a shower of harassing reforms did
he rain upon his subjects that they broke out into
revolt, and the Emperor, to his amazement, found one
morning that fanciful and unsolicited innovations had
cost him his richest provinces. From the Hungarians
lie might have looked for favour. He had striven hard
to better the lot of the peasants. But from them,
too, he met with ingratitude and reproaches. He ran
the risk of losing Hungary as he had lost the Low
Countries, and in the former he was regarded more as
a fanciful tyrant than an enlightened Prince. Few
qualities requisite to a successful ruler were wanting
to him. He was laborious and indefatigable in the
performance of his State duties. His talents were con-
siderable, and he had the faith in himself which removes
mountains. His intentions were generally pure and
generous, and his life was austere and without reproach..
But he worked to little purpose. "I have made
few persons happy, and have left many ungrateful,"
was his own not unjust estimate of his life. His
work died with him. The spurious liberalism which
lie had caressed and fondled quickly disappeared; the
French Revolution opened people's eyes to the true
nature of the ideas with which he had played ; and
the Austrian Court, in common with .other German
Courts which had in quiet times dallied with the new
notions as to equality and fraternity, soon espoused
the policy of Gentz and Metternich. The enthusiasm
for the memory of Joseph 11. is not wonderful • but
truth compels one to say that, excellent and enlight-
ened though some of his ideas were, his projects too
rr rich recall the story told by Hunter, the anatomist,
of a surgeon who, having to operate on a patient's
hand, cut off not only four injured fingers, but one
which was whole and sound. Asked by Hunter to
explain why he had done so, his excuse was, "If this
little finger had been left, it 'would have looked
ridiculous."
From time time Austrian rulers and statesmen
have fallen into he mistakes which made Joseph.'s
career disastrous. They have sought to govern in
some one mode, and according to their ovm fantas3:,
all the diverse parts of the Empire. They haNe
endeavoured to create an appearance of unity
when the reality did not xist. Such attempts
have never been successful, and we may ynresunane
they are for ever abandoned. If the Austria -IV -
garian Empire has entered upon a new lease of fife,
it is because _
, there is no wanton_ disregard of feelings
whifh Joseph -11. would have trampled upon as
contemptible prejudices. If its statesmen navigate
troubled waters in safety, it is just because they try to
iespect distinctions which it was his aim to efface.

Those who visit to-day the statue in the Jpserthaplatz
and think of his career will no doubt recall his austere
virtues, but in the main they will regard it as an
admonition rather than an example, and not as a lesson
of the fate that befalls good intentions not guided by a
sound judgment.

THE BISHOP OF ROCHESTER ON
RITUALISM.

'Th) Bishop of Rochester preached 6n Sunday night at St.
Walworth, which has lately been vacated by the
death of the Rev. W. P. C. Adams. In the course of isis
sermon the Bishop said
"Yet another reason 'brings me here to-night. It
cannot be desirable that the parishioners of St. Paul's
should be kept in suspense about a matter which must
cause them keen anxiety; and therefore I have felt it
right, at the first opportunity, to come here myself
and tell you my mind. ,Possibly it will not greatly
surprise you to hear, though I fear it will disturb
some of you, that whatever is illegal in the ritual of
this church will have to be discontinued; though in its
dignity and heartiness, and its marked devoutness, and
its elevating service of song, I trust it may continue
as stirring and as impressive as ever. Distinctly
understand that it is as patron as well as ordinary
that I assume this responsibility. Bound by my con-
secration vows to use such authority as I have by
Gud'-s word, and as is submitted to use by the ordin-
names of the realm, I cannot hesitate as to my duty
in personally interposing, when suitable occasion
offers, distinctly and emphatically, to prevent a con-
.tinued violation of the law. If Ido not at this
moment further discuss this matter, it is not that I
ignore hi anything of harshness or arbitrariness
cherished preferences, Or that my individual
convictions on the entire subject do not cover
a wider area, or involve other issues, than those
of legality and order. Far from it. But to enter this
evening on any lengthy arg,ument would be only
useless and irritating; and to a statement which I fear
has greatly troubled some of you already I would not
add one word to cause gratuitous pain. For the
present purpose it is enough to explain that the ritual
here being, without dispute, in many conspicuous
features quite nonconforming to the established order,
it must in such particulars be amended. No one loves
liberty more than I do, or is more ready to vindicate
it; but liberty must not be suffered to become disorder.
Congregational independence, pushed across its proper
boundaries, is fatally inconsistent not only with the
discipline of a national Church and its homogeneous-
ness, but with its very existence."

The Times of Tuesday says :—" There was a dis-
turbance outside the church as the Bishop left. It
had been cufrently rumoured throughout the neigh-
bourhood that a 'row'. might be expected, and in con-
sequence a large gang of the roughs who abound in
Walworth assembled in the precints of the church.
Finding the Bishop of Rochester, as he left, the object
of an unfavourable demonstration, tne gang proceeded
to personal violence, and but for the adroitness of
his coachman and the support of a few stalwart
young men of the congregation, his lordship would
have been roughly handled. As it was, a blow
aimed at the Bishop just missed him, smashing, how-
ever, two of the carriage windows. In the mißee the
coachman's hat was knocked off, and he had to drive
away bareheaded. The hat is now in the possession
of one of the church officials. Immediately after the
occurrence the parish clerk, Mr. M. A. Gabb, wrote
to the Bishop, disclaiming on the part of the congre-
gation any share in the outrage, to which his lordship
has sent the following reply—' Westminster, Mon-
day morning.—My dear Sir,—lt never occurred to me
for a moment that any -if the St. Paul's congregation
had a share in what h:,ppened last night. Thank you
for your letter.—Yours faithfully, A W. ROFFEN.' "

The Bishop of Rochester has conferred the vicarage
of St. Paul, vacant by the death of the Rev. W. P.
C. Adams, M.A., upon the Rev. Evelyn Ferguson
Alexander, of Brasenoso College, Oxford, M. A., who
was ordained by the present Archbishop of Canter-
bury in 1872 to the curacy of Cheriton, next Folke-
stone. Mr. Alexander, after taking priest's orders,
at once entered the more active sphere of the London
diocese, and became curate of St. Pancras, under
Bishop Thorold, where his work and activity are well
known. During the last three years he has filled the
responsible post of resident chaplain to the Bishop of
RoThester.