The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-02-14 00:00:00

ebe 3tottrbritrg esattr.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1874.

THE VOLUNTEER REVIEW ON
EASTER MONDAY.

Amateur acting, certaingly, has a chum of its

own, and provideit
.we finifit 'fresh and earnest,

_
As the excitement caused by the general r
we do pot'care for its too closely resembling-the
election gradually passes away, back roll the
professional style, yet our frieuds of the' Deli.
' matic Club" might run the gauntlet of criticism
' matter-of-fact waves of every-day life, and almost equally well, whether inersed as amateurs
things which glide entirely out of mind amid or as professionals. Their performance on Tees-
the roar of political turmoil, again present day, February 3rd inst., impressed us as corn-
themselves for consideration. One of these Ming, to a remarkable degree, the freshness of
is the question whether there shall be a their work, characteristic of amateurs, with a
volunteer veview on Easter Monday. This
degree of tectnical skill, attention to effect, and
has been a subject of much interest for many r qtiesedraenthit
--nrat cnienntcy professionalwhich ae not
artists. always I
Indeed,
years. Sometimes it has been held at Ports- notwithstanding the want of stage conveniences,
mouth, at others at Dover, and more fre- and the nearness to the audience (Union Hall,
y it must be remembered, is not a thentre) it would
rinently at Brighton; and great is the anxiet
and keen the competition amongst the places have been difficult for a practised critic to.de-
possessing eligible sites for such a gathering. tect any serious flaw in their performance. The
Many critics have declared that the neces- , pieces, too, were well chosen—" Whitebait at
Greenwich," and " A Phenomenon in a Smock
sity for such an annual field day has been 1
Frock."
tZeh The
name
nainer
a(which by the way hardly
done away with in the face of the autumn
mancerivres, where volunteers, instead of a "comedywo ladies, ') displayed
Il
ss Itio
advantage the acting of thet
West and 3liss 31. Wooldridge, who supported
simple march past, have spent days over the
actual exercises of camp life. Others, how- the female characters in a way which suggested
ever, still contend for the efficacy of the that their abilities woibld be found equal to more
Easter Monday Review, as being of great serious efforts; and that also of Mr. W. H.
importance and unmistakeable benefit to the Davey, who was excessively entertaining as he
volunteer force. For once in a whole twelve-
went about with his measuring-tape in search of
month our citisen soldiers muster in their
his long-lost parent. But to our thinking the
best bit of impersonation was the Mr. Sowerbu
thousands, stirred with a consciousness of of Mr. A. E.rendering,
their a very successful
their numbers and their strength, and pos. carefully studied, both as to demeanour and cos-
sessing all the enthusiasm which arises from tea 3' • ably supported, let us add, however, by
association. Besides, such an event as a re- ' the Jelin Buttercup of Mr. 0. Evans. Clearly,
view, by bringing a great multitude of spec. there is some native talent in the latitude of
tutors together, excites the martial spirit of Stourbridge. We wish we saw and heard it
: oftener. One or two good comic songs were
the people, and in a country where military
creditably given. The room was crowded, and
pageants are so few, even a parade of our !
pig
• gave every sign of beiug genuinely
volunteer army twee a year reminds the pub- ' fileilsicl and entertained.
lie lie of the fact that in an age when time is of We had almost forgotten to mention that the
so much consequence, thousands of men in ; bill of fare was varied by the introduction of
,
all ranks are found willing to make sacrifices two Shakesperian readings. There was a re-
in the cause of a common patriotism. Pro- i markably good band, including violin, violin-
perlyimanaged, the Easter-Monday Review 1 cello, cornet, &c, which contributed not a little
ought to he of considerable service to our to the success.
volunteers. The force has been in existence 4..
half a generation, and may therefore claim ANNUAL SOIREE OF THE CHURCH OF
to be one of our established institutions. It ENGLAND ASSOCIATION.

was called into being in the spring of 1859,
T
when the acts of the late Emperor Napoleon he annual soiree of the above association
was held at the Corn Exchange, on Thursday
were regarded with some suspicion by the
evening last. A large number sat down to tea,
English people. It has Jived down adverse the trays for which had been gratuitously pro-
criticism, petty jealousy, and ungenerous vided by ladies of the town and neighbourhood.
taunts, and if occasion should arise for its After the removal of the tables, the chair was
Aervices there is no reason to believe that I ti ken by Mr. William Robtrts, of Fearndale,
such a compact and earnest body of men Piaimore. There were also on the platform the
would be found wanting in discipline or Rev. W. J. J. Welch, Major Walker, and Mr. NV.
B. Collis.
duty. The War Office has sometimes been
The Chairman said he should call upon the
accused of dealing out a too strict economy President to read the report of the Association
to the Volunteers ; but we believe that no fur the past year, and then they would see that
patriotic taxpayer would begrudge the neces- the objects of that institution had been very
sary sattl for the complete equipment of the successfully carried out during the past year.
force, seeing how valuable the time of many Re did not know whether they were all aware of
of them must be; and we feel assured that the objects of that institution. It was quite
there will be a general feeling oVgratffication possible that they might think the giving of an
entertainment like the present one annually was
at the successful revival of the Easter Mon. their only object. If that alone was their object
day Review, those present would have reason to feel pleased
with the excellent entertainment which was uni-
formly provided for them. That, however, was
not their only object; and if they were to read
the rules they would find that the association
had objects of much graver importance than that
in view. One of the things which he might call
their attention to;was that ladies were allowed to
become members of the association. They had
not many ladies amongst their members at pre-
sent, but they had itfew, and their presence
would be very useful amongst the members of
that society. its men ceded upon Mr. Collis to
read the report.
Mr. Collis said he had very great pleasure in
remiing that report, because it snowed such a
great awouut of success achieved by that asso-
ciation. He was glad to see there were so many
there, because it showed there were many who
were interested in that association. He then
read the report, which we do not now insert, as
it has previously appeared in our columns.
The Chairman said Mr. Collis had very
modestly left out, in reading the list of classes,
the French class. He had also very modestly
left out the names of those who had conducted
those classes; but he was sure they all of them
felt very grateful to those gentlemen who had
undertaken that duty. He was sorry to see that
I some of the lectures which were of a graver
character were not so sell supported as they
might have beeu. Lectures, to be instructive,
must sometimes be of that character, and it was
just as necessary to attend those of that des-
cription as others of a lighter character. In the
name of the Committee and the President he
begged to return the thanks of the menibere to
the Rev. W. J. J. Welch for delivering the lec-
tures, and to Dr. Bodington for giving sonic
I readings.