The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-12-18 00:00:00

THE MEETING OF PARLIAMENT. i

It has been supposed that Parliament might pro-I
bably meet earlier in 1876 than ordinarily, sc:as to give;
its sanction promptly to the purchase of the Suez i
Canal shares; but the Bth of February, instead of
being earlier, is rather later than usual (remarks The;
Times). In the whole of the present reign the Session, '
we believe, has only once before (in 1870) commenced
on the Bth of February, and never later than that day,
with the exception of 1871 and, necessarily, of 1874,
In which last year owing to a memorable Dissolution
and general election, there was no Parliament to meet
at the customary time. There have also been
three or four instances in which the Session
began before Christmas, and it was reasonable
that business should not be resumed in the
new year until a rather later day than was usual
for the meeting of Parliament. There has been for
some rime a tendency to fix the beginning of the
Session not quite so early as was common a few years
ay.°. In the first twenty years of her Majesty's reign
the Session often began in January, but since 1860 it
it has never been earlier in the year than February.
The meeting of Parliament in January might now be
regarded as rather remarkable, and implying some
special cause. As is well known, the United States'
Congress, whose Session has recently begun, must (by
the Constitution) meet on the first Monday in Decem-
ber, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

MR. BRASSEY AND ENGLISH
WORKMEN.
At the Lewes Mechanics Institution on Tuesday
evening, Mr. T. Brassey delivered a lecture entitled,
"A Voyage in Eastern Waters." At the close of the
lecture, alluding to Turkey, he said that among the
causes unfavourably affecting the destiny of the
Turkish Empire was the want of public men fitted
by birth and training to fill positions of responsibility.
In Turkey there was no such class. The young men
born of rich parents were as a rule self-indulgent,
effeminate, and uneducated. Asking whether we in
England ought to take warning from this state of affairs
on the shores of the Bosphorous, the hon. member said
our wealthier classes were, he feared, open to the
charge of indulging to excess in luxury. There was,
however' another side to the picture. In the hunting
field the lounger of Hyde Park became a man who
feared and dreaded nothing. It was in the bunting
field that were trained these brave officers who led the
Six Hundred, of immortal memory. .We owed much
to them, and he appreciated their many excellencies.
Certain it was they were distinguished by courage and
indomitable energy. When his father was first employed
in excavating railways on the Continent the majority of
the workmen were English. Thirty years ago 5,000 men
were sent across the Channel to make the railway from
Paris to Rouen and Havre, and in any work of excep-
tional difficulty English workmen were still employed to
execute it. Equally practical evidence was to be found
in other foreign countries of the high appreciation of
British skill and workmanship. He desired also to
express his admiration of Enelish working men for the
generous disposition which they always displayed in
helping one another; in this most excellent gift of
practical charity they offered an example to society
which all would do well to imitate, not merely in their
relations with one another, but in their relations of
class with class.