The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-07-31 00:00:00

these same folk do not take the trouble to visit
places of equal beauty and interest in their own
country, though they could the more appreciate
them because they would understand tlieir asso-
ciations. There are many Englishmen who have
been to Versailles. and who have never visited
The seals of office are about to be transferred Windsor; many who have been to Fontainbleau
from the old Ministers to the new, and, when and have
never visited Hampton Court. Places
this ceremony has been accomplished, there will of artistic beauty and historis interest, which we
have been four Administrations it England have practically at our very doors, are thus
within the brief space of thirteen months. This neglected, while others are favoured principally
is a circumstance for which we shall have to look because they happen to be outside our own land,
back a long period to find a precedent; and at and some sort of distinction is supposed still to
the first thought many people may be inclined attach to "going abroad."
to think that England is drifting into the same We are not hearing as much about mad dogs
course as France, and is "Using up her in London this summer as last, and those who
Ministers" quickly. But a second consideration are timorous concerning hydrophobia have felt
will disclose a difference which is important, and relieved accordingly. The police, however, still
which is in favour of England. Although there keep a vigilant look out for any animal of the
have been four Administrations, there have been canine species which betrays symptoms of in-
only two Prime Ministers—and for a statesman cipient madness, and snaps and yelps at passers-
to be Premier a second time in France is so rare , by. Sufficient credit is not always given to the
a circumstance as to be especially marked, constables for the pluck they display in pursuing
because M. de Freycinet, the present holder of and killing dogs in this condition, for they are
the office, and M. Ferry, his predecessor, have armed only with a truncheon, and that is
accomplished the feat. And not only have there not the most effective weapon against an
been only two Prime Ministers, but the personnei agile, powerful, and rabid dog. Occasionally
of the four Administrations have practically been the police are even treated with contumely
only that of two. In England, when a Govern- when they are doing their best to prevent
ment is beaten sither dt the polls or in Parlia- the spread of hydrophobia, and a case
mentary conflict, its members are not in the which came before a metropolitan magistrate
political battle slain, but most decidedly live to a few days ago, illustrates a difficulty with which
fight again. It is our great good fortune they have sometimes to contend. It appears
that in this country ostracism is not a question that an inspector pursued a mad dog, near
in politics. The nation either likes or dislikes Regent's-park, and had just succeeded in over-
certain measures, and according as it decides one taking it and striking it a heavy blow, when a
set of' statesmen is in office or another. But, not lady came to the upper window of the house
only has impeachment gone out of fashion —a and threw a jug of water over him, as a protest
process which in former days often led straight against the animal being slaughtered on her
from the Senate House to the block -but the doorstep. Such conduct, of course, could not
desire to crush a politician utterly because of his be suffered to go unpunished, and the lady was
failure to carry a particular measure, is unknown taken before a magistrate and fined, which was
to either party in English pelitics. only just, as her action was scant enceeeseement
There is another marked difference between to the police to continue doing an irksome and
English procedure at a change of Ministry, and danzerous duty. A. F. R.
the plans which are adopted in various other -
countries. It is not our custom when one Prime
Minister gives place to another, to "purge the
army," as the phrase runs in irance, to "weed ,
the magistracy," or to reconstruct the civil
service. The question is not asked whether this
General or that Admiral is a Liberal or a Con-
servative, and his command is not rendered de- •
pendent upon the political principles he may
chance to hold. Similarly no judge is re- ,
quested to retire, and no magistrate is shelved
when one party or the other comes in or
goes out. And thus two of the
pillars upon which the security of the subject
rests—the army and the magistracy—are not
dependent upon political considerations. It is
the same with the civil service, upon which in a
far greater degree than the general public
realises rests the good government to which we
are so accustomed that we do not always recog-
nise its value to the full. If we tried for a
moment to realise what a change of Ministry
would mean if every civil servant, from the
highest to the lowest, then had to yield his
place to another, solely on political grounds, we
should find what a blessing it is for a country
not to have grafted such a system on its public
life. The spectacle of excisemen and Customs
officers, of postmasters and telegraph clerks—in
fact, of all those employed by Government—
being turned adrift because one party succeeded
in obtaining a majority over the other, would be
lamentable in the highest degree; and it is com-
forting to know that no serious person has ever
proposed that in England we should in the
slightest approximate to such a ruinous system.
One of the fashions in which we of the
present day have taken a step that our
forefathers would scarcely have approved is
that of providing gymnastic exercises for
women. And yet, seeing that we are doing
this at the same time we are securing im-
proved methods of education for the gentler
sex, there can be little doubt among those who
believe in the necessity for a sound mind and a
sound body to go together, that we are on the
right track. Side by side with records of the
progress of lady students at Girton and at
Newnham, and of the establishment of fresh high
schools for girls in different parts of the country,
we see reports of lawn tennis tournaments, gym-
nastic performances, and even occasionally
cricket matches in which ladies have taken part.
We have, in fact, left far behind the days when
" dancing, deportment, and calisthenics "were all
the physical exercises in which girls were trained
or which they were supposed to need.
The old practice with that instrument
of female torture known as the " back-
board " is now found to be insufficient, and
even the dumb-bells have been discovered
to fall short ot the ideal position in which once
they were placed. Delicacy of mind and idea will
always be hoped for from women, but delicate-
ness of health will not be insisted upon. There
was a period when a girl, if she looked ruddy and
well, was apt to think she appeared unladylike,
but this strange idea of ladyhood has passed
away. The results are apparent on every hand,
and even those persistent denouncers of the
present day who cannot, or will not, see good in
anything which marks this third quarter of the
nineteenth century, will not be hardy enough to
contend that our women are less strong, less
graceful, or less amiable than were their mothers
m by-gone times.
While we are in this way attending to our
girls, our boys are not being neglected. We
have not as many public playgrounds in London
as we should like, but a stroll through such as
we have on any summer evening, or especially
on a Saturday afternoon, will convince anyone
that they are much appreciated. The amount
of cricket which is played is something
astonishing, and any who move about that por-
tion of the parks devoted to the game have to
keep their eyes open, lest a ball, struck from one
of the multifarious wickets, hit him when least
expected and when not at all desired. Bicycling and
tricycling also have their votaries in some of
these places, where the old restrictions have been
removed; and in some of the parks there are
gymnasiums, upon which the boys enjoy them-
*elves to their hearts' content. The spectacle
afforded by this successful pursuit of pleasure on
the part of so many young people is almost a
cure for low spirits. It is a poor heart that never
rejoices, says an old proverb, and it is a poor
heart that is never the happier because others
rejoice, may be observed with equal truth. Bre
must be a misanthrope indeed who cannot
smile when he sees children at play. The
complete manner in which they abandon them-
selves to the pleasures of the moment may,
furnish food for the meditations of a philo-
sopher,
,but to the ordinary true-hearted man
' the spectacle of their happiness untouched with
care can scarcely fail to bring joy.
This is the time of year when London is con-
ventionally said to be empty, and a very large
proportion of those who have left it for a season
have gone to the seaside. There is no mistaking
• a train bound for some favourite watering-place,
if one happens to be at a metropolitan terminus
when it is about to start. The anxiety of the
. fathers about the luggage and of the mothers
lest their little ones should in their eagerness
fall under the wheels or get lost in the crowd,
are only what would be observed if the excursion
were intended to proceed to some point inland.
But the spades and the pails with which the
children are provided, equally with the sand-
. shoes which are on the feet of some, tell plainly
, the destination for which they are bound. And
• when the train reaches the selected spot, while
parents are often harassed by the difficulty of
procuring suitable lodgings, the whole anxiety
of the children centres upon getting an in-
stant view of the sea. They are not con-
sent until they have had a chance of di-
vesting themselves of shoes and stockings
and paddling in the waves, and when the time
comes for them to be stripped of everything and
to be bathed, the initial nervousness is soon got
over, and great is their delight. Just as some
- of our watering-places are given up to invalids,
-- others appear almost entirely devoted to children.
• ' Adults seem really the minority in these latter
' cases, and the merry voices of the little ones are
•' the chief sounds, just as their merry faces are the
• chief sights presented by human beings as corn-
- panions to the ever recurring ripple of the
waves, and the ever frowning heights of the
• cliffs which form their boundary.
Many LOndoners who like a change at each
holiday-time, who have been to our chief water-
ing-places, and who have exhausted the pleasures
of Dieppe and Boulogne, go up their own river
ond spend some weeks on the upper portion of
the Thames. The trip is one which, in point, both
of health-help and picturesqueness, may be
commended: and it can be made with
such comparative ease, that the wonder
is that it is not more popular. But the
British public is very gregarions in its instincts,
and in no way is this more plainly shown than
in the choice of holiday resorts. There are cer-
tain watering places to which a number of people
go. not because they are particularly pleasing or
especially healthy, but because a number of other
people have gone there before them, and it is
thus 'the proper thing to do." For much the
same reason, many visit the Continent, forget-
ting that, for a right appreciation of much that
se there to he seen. aim 3ns
t cnec.ial education is
needed. tlterl this if, the nture strange bocause