The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-01-03 00:00:00

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RETROSPECT

YEAR 1873.

As year by year pawed sway, and each is gathered
up by the veteran Time, ro noire to return to the
children of men, we find that their chronicles are full
of history. One event follows closely upon another,
even as day succeeds day, during each revolvina
season. The greater incident naturally effaces the im•
pression of the lesser upon the human mind; but when
the whole of them, loth gre it and small, are mar-
shalled before the memory at a glance, what a deeply-
interesting chapter in the pages of the world's prowees
do the annals of a single twelvemonth make ! It is
true that 1873 has nA been so eventful to the people
of this country as some of its predecessors; it is,
however, one well worth reviewing; and we there-
fore ask our readers to accompany us over the path of
retrospect, which will give them some idea of what
has peased over our head, since the dawn of the old
year first ushered in the fresh morning light.

First. then, for a few words reepecting our own
Royal Family, the members of which Lave this year
been free from that extraordinary anxiety which hrng
heavily over them during the closing days of 1871 and
the opening boors of 1872. when the Heir-apparent to
the Throne lingered upon the mys'erious border-land
between lift and death. Her Majesty, now in the
155th year of her age, and the 37th of her reign, still
rules over a loyal and contented people. The Prince
of Wale., now fully recovered from his illness, takes
an active part in various movement. wherein interest
Is felt in considerable sectione of the commonly. As
at the beginning of the year, Co at the close, the
Queen's two youngest children, Prince Leopold and
Princeis Beatrice—the former in his 21st year, and the
latter in her 17th—yet remain at home with the Royal
widow. But the most important event of 1873. as con-
nected with the domestic history of • prominent member
o ft} e Roy al Family, was the conclusion of a contract
of marries., b-tween the Duke of Eiinbrugh, the
second Con of her Majesty, with the Grand Duchess
Marie Alexandrovna of Russia. This engagement
ceived the official sanction of the Sovereign at a Privy
Council held on the 17th of July, and on the list of
the same month a bill WAR read a second time in the
House of Commons by a majority of 162 to 18, granting
the Duke 40,000 a year on hie marriage, in addition
to the £15,000 which has been annually enjoyed by him
since his coming of age. As on the occasion of the voting
of the dowry to the Princess Loulee, in-1871, there was a
so-called " demonstration" againat this increased grant,
but it met with no general sympathy. On the let of
August the Duke of Edinburgh's Annuity Bill passed
through Committee in the House of Commons ; it ran
rapidly through its stages in the House of Lords, and
on the day of the prorogation received the Royal
assent.

Turning to the home of another sovereign, and con-
trasting the incidents of its history with those of our
awn Royal house, we find in the opening slays of 1873
a remarkable' and mournful contrast. We are pre-
sented with scenes in the stetting panorama of a life
which cast into the shade the most wonderful changee
in the kaleidoscope, Bud surpass the tales of boundlese
romance. We see in imagination the nephew of the
great Napoleon, playing as a little child in the gardens
of the Tuileries snore than sixty years ate; we etb him
In exile after the downfall of the Great Conqueror, we
are carried back to stories ef abortive expeditions bearing
the names of Strasburg and Boulogne ; we are told of a
silent and inscrutable man doing duty as a
special constable in the streets of London in
1848; we see the same man, within a few months.
President of the French Republic; next he becomes
Emperor ; his armies fight side by side with ours upon
the bleak plains of the Crimea; he receives the Queen
of England with the most splendid magnificence in
his own capital ; he engages in a eucceestul war with
Austria; and for years his will is looked upon as law
upon the Continent of Europe. Suddenly the tide of
fortune turns against him, and within six weeks after
hie declaration of war against Prussia, in July 1870,
after having for days followed in the train of his beaten
and retreating armies, he surrendered to the King of
Prussia at Se lan, aril became a prisoner of war in
Germany. The Emperor of the French— for it is of
him of whom we eotentr —landed as an exile at Dover
in March, 1871, to.d scith his wife and son, took up his
residence at Camden Place, Chiselhurst. The Ire-
mendons fall from his former positi in, while it had
visibly affected his failing health, had secured for him
the sympathy of the English people, who amid all the
Emperor Napoleon's faults, could never forget that he
was a steadfast and faithful ally. As the year 1872
died away he appeared Tee and less in public, and al.
though Christmas was spent at Cbiselliuret with com-
parative cheerfulness, it was painfully evident that
the broken down and dispirited man was advanc-
ing with rapid strides "Pi where, beyond those twists,
there is pease." On the afternoon of Saturday the
4th of January last, it became known that the illness
from which the Emperor was suffering, bad taken a
serious turn; yet with the beat medical skill in England
at command, it was hoped that the life of the illus-
trious patient might be saved. It had been, however,
otherwise decreed. For a day or two the Emperor
seemed to rally, but it was merely the last deceptive
flicker of the flame of life, preparatory to the final die-
solution. In the forenoon of Thursday, January 9th,
in the Bixty•tifth year of his age, Louis Napoleon
Bonaparte passed peacefully away. His last words
were to the faithful Dr. Cooneem, who had been as true
in adversity as in prosperity. "Were you at Sedan?'
inquired the fallen monarch, as his mind wandered
back to the catastrophe which had closed his chequered
public career. His remains were deposited, on the 15th
of the same month, in the little Roman Catholic
chapel at Chieelhuret, having been followed to the
grave by a large number of members of the old Im-
periat Court which once moved with such stately mag-
nificence through the courts of the Tuileries. By
command of her Majesty a firm of sculptors at Aber.-
deeo have juet completed a granite sarcophagus in
which the body will be placed.
The impression caused by the death and funeral of
the Emperor Napoleon had scarcely died away when
the arrival of the month e February brought the Eng-
lish face to face with the time for the assembling
of the Legislature. Parliament was opened by Royal
Commission on Thursday the 6th of that mouth, and
within a week of that date both houses were in pos.
seseitto of the details ttf the two chief measures of the
ceesi 'n. It was on the averting of the 13th of February
that the Lord Chancellor introduced the Government
scheme of Law Morin to the notice of the House. f Lords.
Its main features include the establishment of a Supreme
Court of Judicature and a High Court of Appeal, thus
superseding to a qualified extent the jurisdiction of the
Howe of Peers; end providing for the fusion of Law
and Equity. The Bill, after a reference to a select
committee, and having undergone some modifications,
became law, and it is to come into operation on the
lot November, 1874. With the other great measure
with which the Administration began the work of the
session, they were less fortunate. While Lord Selborne
was explaining to the Peers the clausee of the Judi-
cature Bill, Mr. Gladstone, in a speech of three hours'
duration, stated the chief features of the Ministerial
plan for effecting University Reform in Ireland. The
eloquence of the Premier upon that occasion, rivalling
some of his most successful efforts, so charmed his
bearers that at first it seemed as though the scheme
tonetructed by the Cabinet would meet with general
sceptanoe, and be regarded as the solution of a difli-
tdmiestion, which had long occupied public atten
lon, more especially in Ireland. In a few days, how-
ever, these favourable anticipations were dispelled, the
Roman Catholic members, of the House of Commons
turned against the Ministry, and when the division
noon the Bill was taken, on the night of the 11th of
March, the Government were defeated by • majority
of three votes, the numbers havatig been 284 for the
measure, and 287 against it. On the evening of the
13th—exaetly a month from the date of the introduo-
tits' of the Bill—Earl Granville in the Lords, and
Mr. Gladstone in the Commons, announced the
resignation of the Government. The Queen bays
tng, in accordance with custom, sent for. Mr.
Datraeli, with a view to his forming a Ministry, the
House at once adjourned until the 17th. The leader of
the Opposition, however, declined to construct a
( ',sheet during the existence of the pis sent House of
Commons ; and this fact becoming known, when the
House met on the 17th, Mr. Gladstone was compelled
to ask for another adjournment until the 20th to enable
him to communicate with his colleagues. The result
of the negotiation. well that the Liberal Ministry re-
amed oflice, although, as Mr. Gladstone himself cen-
essed, with diminished prestige. The effect of this
was seen in the treatment by the House of Lords of
snits important Government measures passed by the
Commons—notably, the bills for securing greater uni.
formity in the system of rating. The Session was a
bsoken no, and the results of its labours were by no
means commensurate with the number of hours devoted
to the public business. Even the budget appeared to
suite less interest than usual. It war introduced by
Mr. Lowe on the 4th of April, and its proposals were
to pay half the Alakam a indemnity, to reduce the sugar
duty by one half, to take a penny off the Income•tax,
leaving it at threepence in the pound, and to exempt
hotel waiters from duty. These propositions were
generally acceptable, both in the House of Commons
and in the country, and it may be noted that the
Ineorne-tax is now at the lowest figure at which it has
stood since its re-imposition by Sir Robert l'sel in
1842. With the paesipg of the Judicature H it, the
reject n of the Irish University Bill, and the tiiscns-
sion of the Budget, the chief work of the Session may
be said to be Bummed up. Neither the army nor the
navy estimates save rise to much debate. The former,
brought In on th., 19th of February, !towed a decrease
of 8408,000 ; the latter, bustled oo't tt• - 26th of the saute
month, exaibited • diminution of £340.000.

No was Parliament prorogu. , nth 11 of
August, thn& erles of changee took pl.o t per-
son.' of the Adnanistration which amounted to its
virtual reconstruction. The most sweeping of these
alterations was made in the constitution of the Tres-
enry, • depict:moat In which, as was proved before •