The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-01-01 00:00:00

:11-gl IN OMING YEAR.
TilE bclis sij.Lieh ring out the old year and
ring in the new will the same peals serve to
indicate thai' no sudden change marks the
passage from one year to another in the
course of pubic e 'rits, or in the current of-
at.:, more than in the ordin-
• ary or Arire. It is only fancy
that I„ers. a'citt:ere.-,., in the tone of church
cloci;.s. striking tLe- ituuf crnidnight on the
31st of December aria, of.. any other night of
the circling yew,. There is, e=or`,,lingly, an
appropriatness in musicel their
jubilant sounds, being used to welcome he
incoming of a new year as the 'latest birth
of time. Rich as the past may be id great.
achievements, the future is still richer o:
possibilities commensurate with the progress
of civilisation. • There are special reasons
why the advent of the year 1887 should be
cordially and enthusiastically welcomed by
the inhabitants of this country and the
whole of the British Empire. As the Jubi-
lee Year of Queen Victoria's happy and
glorious reign, it will hold a place in history
all its own. None of the other three Sover-
eigns of England whose reign extended over
fifty years ever won or deserved, as her
Majesty has done, the love, loyalty, respect,
and gratitude of all classes of subjects within
the realm. The first decade of the present
century had. not attained its completion when
the Jubilee of George 111, was celebrated,
and his reign presented a striking contrast,
in all resnnt of. the QU'een.:
bration in 1809 could ihardly have been one -
of great national rejoicing, taking place, as
it did, at a time when the Napoleonic wars,
in which the country was involved, were in-
creasing the National Debt, year after year,
to portentious proportions, and when tax-
ation was almost Turkish in the rigour of its
exactlons. In the reign of George 111, there
were two American wars, the one lasting six
years and the other three, while throughout
the whole reign of her Majesty peace has
been maintained between the Monarchy and
the Republic, greatly to the advantage of
every interest that helps to promote the pro-
gress of the world. But for the obstinacy of
George 111, who had a bad habit of straining
the royal prerogative, the vast territory that
now constitutes the United States might
have belonged, like Canada and Australia, to
the dominions of the Crown, and joined like
these prosperous Colonies in loyally cele-
brating the Victorian jubilee. Some com-
pensation for the loss of the American Col-
onies in the Georgian era was found in the
acquisition of the great continent at the an-
tipodes discovered by Captain Cook, and the
circumstance that the centenary of the ac-
quisition fall to be held.. in 1888 will have
the effect of intensifying the loyal rejeicings
of the Australians net year, as it has been
during the Queen's reign that the Colonies in
that quarter of the globe, in common with
those of Canada. and South Africa, have
made their most astonishing advances in
prosperity and progress. Striking proof of
their advancement ill be afforded in the
incoming year by the Imperial Conference
which is to be held in London, and the
laying at South Kensington by Royal hands
of the foundation stone of the Imperial In-
stitute, the contents of which, when the
building is completed, will bear ample testi-
mony -Co the good use the great resources of
the Colonies have been put to in the promo-
tion of the inclusArial arts. In sonie quarters
an impression seems to prevail that on ac-
count of the widespread uneasiness caused
by the attitude of Russia to Bulgaria, and
the ominous fact that Europe is bristling
with arms, tile year on which we are about
to enter will witness the outbreak of a great
and terrible war. But whatever thGfuture may may have in store, there is satisfaction
;..I..,Lee. nig that Britain, if she shonld be,
unfortunately drawn into the struggle, :was
never in a better condition than. now for
holding her own, as she can confidently rely
upon her resources being supplemented by
the military aid cheerfally tendered of her
greatest Colonial possessions. It is true that
the unexpectedness with which the treach-
erous conspiracy, directed against the con-
tinuance of the rule of Prince .A.lexanOeri
let out from the darkness of secret plots into
the light of day at Sofia, renders it not fate.
gether improbable that war may break oct at
any moment when Spring has again returned.
Nevertheless there is no valid reason why
Britain) though th 6 fOr6igia Secretaries both
of the present and foregoing Administration
have supported diplomatically the interests
of Bulgarian independence, should become
involved in any warlike complications ori.ginz
ating in the rivalries and jealousies of the
great military Powers of Europe. Remem-
bering the enormous.loss of life and treasure
incurred through this country taking a.
prominent part in the
.Continental wars
which extended over many 'years before and •
after. the Jubilee of the. Third George, it
would cast the shadow of national sadness
instead of the glory of national rejoicing,
over the projected celebrations of the incom-
ing year if the worst fears with respect to
the near future were unhappily to be realised
Tennyson; in the dedication to the Queen of
the 1851 edition of his poems, giving ex-
pression to what he believed would be the
sentiments of our children's children respect-
ing the character of her Majesty's reign, has
the following lines:
Statesmen at her council met
Who knew the settions when to take
Occasion by the hand, and make
The bond4,of freedom:wider yet
By shaping some august decree,
Which kelt her throue unshaken still.
Broad-based upon her people's will,
And compassal by the inviulrte sea.
Since the above lines were written, over
thirty-five years have been added to the il-
lustrious reign which the Laureate extolled,
and durinc, that long period other "august
decrees" have been shaped• by wise states-
manship, widening still more the bounds of
freedom, and broadening in equal degree the
basement of the unshaken throne. There is
no reason to fear that, in the future as in
the past, the statesmen who enjoy the con-
fidence of the Queen will continue to "take
occasion by the band" in devising new
measures for the public weal, and thus rend-
ering the remainder of a great reign worthy
of the celebrity it has maintained during
half a century of continuous progress.

Lkear

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