The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-02-21 00:00:00

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'--- •-' our Correspondent's opinion' )

IZA:liy missives with

With the completion of the returns to the new Par-
dement the fathionable end of London will pat on en
sir of expectation preparatory to the beginning of the
80111400. The date fixed for its assembling—the sth of
March—ls exaAly • month later than the time origi-
nally appointed for the meeting of the House which
Wee so mudded, dissolved. The macron will therefore
be go much shortened, for Peri iatnentary &along cannot
well be extended so as to make up foe any time lost i&
Ike early part of the year. No matter when the Legis-
lative body may meet, It k alrocetimpossible to keep
It together after the encloppl week les,Angagt. On the
12th of that month grouse .booting begins, and 'the
attractions of this sport are fax more powerful than
the claim. of • Government or the exigencies, of an
Opposition. Whatever may be the result, from •
party point of view, of the recent appeal to the coun-
try, we must not look to the Session of 1874 as one
likely to whams any great legislative achievement
Even when Parliament amemblee, on the sth of
March, several days must be occupied in swearing
In the new members, and fresh as very many of
them will beta the work, they will not be prepared
all at once to settle ' down into the routine of
House of Common. life. No robber will they have
begun to apply therwrires to kris duties than the
Easter Recoil will have arrived, but 'under the cir•
enuastanoes it may be reasonably anticipated that this
venation will be a very brief one. The first day of the
gathering of • new Parliament Is always an interesting
time. For nearly an hour before the period arrives
for the chair to be taken, members without distinction
of party congregate upon the floor of the House, and a
busy horn of conversation fills the chamber. Mutual
congratulations are exchanged, and as the benches are
surveyed the seat of many an old member is found
vacant, while • crowd of new faces scanning the place
with carious looks betoken the existence of these repre-
sentatives of the people who have put been returned.
Puller and fuller grows the Horne, louder and louder
the talk, until two o'clock arrives. But there is no
Speaker to call " Order!" " Order I" and no Mace
upon the table. In acoordanos with precedent the
Clerk of the HOLM takes • seat at the table, and calls
upon the assembly at once to proceed to the election of
• Speaker. Sometimes this high functionary is moved
and se xcidel upon the Ministerial side; on other occa-
sions the mover and seconder sit upon opposite benches,
so as to denote the unanimity of the House in the choice
which has been made.

As so much has lately been said respecting the office
of Speaker, • few words on this subject will not be out
of plaoe here. Peter de Montfort, afterwards killed at
the battle of Evesham, was the first who held thia
dignified position, and he was appointed in the year
1260. Upon the Speaker's election he proceeds to the
bar of the Howe of Lords for the formal approval of
the Sovereign, which, having been given, he demands
all the ancient rights; and privileges of the Commons,
and these are also granted. It ia not of ten that •
Sovereign refuses his assent to the choice of has people's
representatives but this wee the Cage in March, 1678,
when Charles 11. would not ratify the election of Sir
Edward Seymour, and Serierint William Gregory was
selected by the Commons in his room. In • former
generation the election of a Speaker was sometimes
made the occasion of a trial of party strength, but there
has been no contest of thia kind since BM!, when Mr.
Gonlburn was defeated by Mr. Shaw Lefe ore, now Lord
Eversley. The Speaker remivee a eatery of £5.000
s year, he has • furnished residence within the Palace
of Westminster, and upon his retirement • peerage
Is conferred upon him, together with a pension
of £4,000 a year for two lives. A Speaker who is de-
feated gets his peerage all the same, for etiq eette for-
bids a man who has once filled the chair from again
taking his seat as an ordinary member, and submitting
to the rule of another. This, In 1835, although Mr.
Manner@ Sutton lost his election to the chair through
the direct action of a party effort, he was at once
raised to the peerage, and his pension was granted as
though he had resigned.
If any doubt, previously existed respecting the
authenticity of the news of Dr. Livingstone's death,
these must have been net at rest by the publioation of
the deep itch received at the Foreign Office from her
Majesty's Acting Coaaul General at Zanzibar. To
read this story is to be filled with astonishment that
the intrepid traveller did not succumb to his hardships
long before. It appears that while in search of the
ancient fountains of lierodotue, Livingstone and his
party had to march for days through an extremely
marshy country, and that at times they were wading
through water up to their armpits. Liv:ngstone
was attacked with dynentry, to which he succumbed
In ten or fifteen days. During this trying
journey two of his men died, and several deserted.
The remainder embilmell the body as well as they
would ; and from the ac,ounts received, the highest
marks of re-ipect seem to have been paid to the memory
of this distinguished explorer. It must have often
surprised many when they read of what he paased
through, how a civiThed being could possibly lead such
• life from choice. No convict in a penal settlement
over ran such risks or was exposed to such constant
and manifold dangers.
One of the sub; sots discussed at the Let meeting of
the Court of Common Council was the expediency of
constructing a tramway from the Great Eastern
Terminus at Bishopsgate to Columbia-market. This
Ls a noble building in the east-end of London, con-
structed at the sole expense of the Baroness Burdett
Coutte, at a coat of a quarter of a million sterling. It
was first intended by this munificent lady as a place
In which oostermongers might resort, where, under
cover, and protected from all exposure to the weather,
they might sell food to the people of the very populous
and poor district in which the building is situated.
It was, however, found that costermongers preferred
• raving life, that moreover the people had been no ac-
customed to have go ida brought to their doors, that
they would not take the trouble to go Co the market to
make their purchases. Then the Barone,' endeavoured
to make its success as a fish market, and many hoped that
this might be accomplished, seeing that it is in a central
position, and in the heart of a dense population, while
Billingsgate is inconveniently placed by the river side,
and can he approached only by steep and narrow
Amite. Lady Brirdett-Coutte threw herself into this
scheme with great energy. Three or four large fish
salesmen were induced to take premises for a year ate
nominal rent, and were paid salaries for carrying on
their business, in addition to any profits they might
make. Agouti were sent into the country to subsidise
both the menders of the fish to London and the fisher-
men as well, but when the subsidy ceased the trade
same to a standstill, and has never been rammed. The
forces of tradition was too strong; both sellers and
buyers continued to go to Billingsgate, notwithafand-
ing its awkward means of access, and Its out of-the.
limey position. It is now proposed ta make • tramway to
the market from the Great Eastern Terminus, so as to
supply a mcre expeditious means of transport. This
Is still under consideration, but whatever may be the
decision of the Corporation, it is earnestly to be hoped
that a scheme carried out at great cost by a benevolent
lady for the benefit of the poor, will not be allowed to
collapse.

A few evenings ago the Worshipful comp's], of
Fishmongers gave a banquet to the Judges and otitis
eminent per:ons, amongst whom were Mr. Goacken,
the First Lord of the Admiralty. The entertainment
took place in the hall of the Company, which over-
looks the Thames at the north-west corner of Loudon
Bridge. Unlike many other of the city guilds, whose
existence has outgrown the purposes for which they
were originally established, the Fishmongers discharge
exceedingly useful functions, more especially in the
seizure of putrid fish in the summer monthr. Upon
the roll of the Company's members some distinguished
names have from time to time been found. A noted
Fishmonger was Sir William Walworth, Lord Mayor,
in 13/30. It wag then, during the reign of Richard 11.
that the NVat Tyler insurrection took place. The
Kentish rebel, havinggbeen ins ited to a parley with the
young king, asimmtd each an arrogant air that
Walworth, who was standing by, became so in-
dignant that he drew his dagger and slew Tyler
on the spot. It was lons supposed that the dagger in
the City arms was added in commemoration of this
blow, but Stow has demonstrated that it was Intended
to represent the sword of St. Paul, the patron saint of
the Corpora.ion of London. The Manor of NValworth
belonged to the family of this Lord Mayor, who was
buried in the church of St. Michael, Cro,hed.lane, the
pariah in which he had reelded.
The fire which destroyed the Pantechnioon on the
night of Friday the Idth instant, was the most destruc-
tive which had been seen in London Iliad) the Toeiey.
street conflagration of Jane, 1801. It was on that
occasion that Mx. Braidwood, the energetic chief of the
Fire Brigade, lost his life. The dismay and alarm
cause] by that conflagration will never be forgotten by
those who witnessed it. Al one time it seemed 111
though it had obtained the mastery over the human
forces which were endeavouring to subdue it, and that,
spreading in two directions, it would devastate all the
greater part of Southwark. It was only by tremendous
efforts that it was got under. The fire at the l'an-
technicon did not get to such • pitch before it was
fully dealt with. Still, at one time there was
for considerable anxiety, for the brisk breeze
whirls bi,w from the southwest rendered the operations
of the hremen of an exceedingly arduous and difficult
The head-quarters of the Brigade are in
4, ha the beset of the City, and Captain

suounesfully

OatUPI

nature.

Wei Harked,