The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-08-13 00:00:00

LIBERAL UNIONIST BANQUET.

SPEECHES BY LORD HA.RTINGTON AND
MR. BRIGHT.

The Liberal Unionist members of . the House of
Cf,annons have entertained the Marquis of Harl-
ington at a banquet at Greenwich. Mr. Bright pro-
skied, and Mr. Chamberlain was also preaent. The
chairman, in proposing the toast of the evening, said
they had heard moon of the breaking up of the
Liberal party. It would be well to attribute blame
to those who caused this disruption. It was said
that the Liberal Unionists supported a Tory Govern-
ment. True; but it was also a Unionist Govern-
ment. The people who complained were those who
were -once in and were now out, but wished again
to be in. Within twelve months, and mainly,
by the influence of Mr. Gladstone, three ad-
ministrations had been created and two de-
stroyed. He (Mr. Bright) traced the history of Mr.
Gladetone's Home Rule policy in terms of strong
condemnation. He said he had urged Mr. Gladstone .
to withdraw the Home Rule Bill, believing that at the
time there were not 20 naen in the House of Commons
who would have supported it had it been disconnected
from the great influence and reputation of Mr. Glad-
stone. He thought that had his advice been followed
it would have been much better for the Liberal party.
Discussion at the hands of all sections of the House
and the people would have followed, and probably a
satisfactory solution been. arrived at. Referring to
the recent victories of the Gladstonians, Mr. Bright
mentioned the contests in which their opponents
"had not dared to show their faces "—viz., those
I of St. Ives, and the City of London even. Sir
George Trevelyan had said that were Mr. Glad-
stone's bills again before the House he would
vote against them. To put the matter plainly
and shortly, Mr. Gladstone was open to consider
anything, according to his own professions, but, as
far as could be seen, with very little hope of abandon-
ing the most objectionable portions of his measures.
He thought he would sweep the country. He swept
it, but he did not gather much. Mr. Bright con-
cluded his speech with a strong denunciation of the
Irish party, at least 60 of whom, he said, were main-
tained by the dollars of the American Irish, who
would so dearly love to cause a war between this
country and the Great American Republic. Mr.
Gladstone had said that any scheme fathered by
him must be acceptable to these men. While he
was in that frame of mind there was an end to
all hope of settlemen. If on vital questions
the Liberal Unionists were compelled to support
a Tory Government, it was not because they had
changed their opinions, but they could not follow in
the dark a statesman whose actions had done so
much to shake the confidence of his former friends.
Lord Hartington, in returning thanks, said he felt so
absolutely the honour, right, and patriotism of the
course they had taken, that he sometimes attributed
the failure of a portion of his countrymen to support
them to his own deilciencies. He was not able to do
as much as they had a right to expect from their
leader in debate, but such qualities as he possessed
he had endeavoured to employ in the furtherance of
the cause they had so mien at heart. They had been
subjected to great souse and misrepresentation, but
much that had been said against them amounted to
a very lavish begging of the question. The plan of
campaign they had opposed :vas a scheme which
woald not have been tolerated in any country on
the globe. Yet when they denounced it their
opponents called them more reactionary than the
Tories. It was not for the purpose of excluding
Mr. Gladstone or of keeping a Tory Government in
office that they supported the Criminal Law Amend-
ment Act, but because they held it their duty to pass
suóh a Measure into law. He was bound to admit it,
and Mr. Gladstone might make use of it if he chose,
but if the Government were discredited in any way
over their Land Bill he and his friends were respon-
sible in some measure for it. Pending the introduc-
tion of a great land purchase scheme, they could not
advise the Government to admit a principle so full of
risk and danger and 'iso pregnant with difficulty for the
future as the remission of judicial rents to a solvent
tenant. Referring to Sir G. Trevelyan, Lord
Hartington said, however valuable the conces-
sions he thought he had obtained might be,
he would tell him that had all the party done as
he had done these ',concessions would not have
been obtained. Sir George Trevelyan had stated
with great self-confidence that he had never trod to
deprive a Liberal candidate of his seat. All he could
say was that if such were the case it would have been
more honest and manly if Sir George had refrained
from contesting a seat at the last election with the aid
of Tory votes. If they had all been as mealy-mouthed
as the member for Bridgeton the cause of the Union
would have gone by the board. His lordship went on
to criticise Mr. Gladstone's concessions, "so-called,"
and described them as impalpable and illusory. It
had been impossible to make anything up to the pre-
sent of Mr. Gladstone's explanations. Let him speak
plainly, for, as matters now stood, the Liberal Union-
ists maintained the attitude with which the country
was familiar. Speeches followed from Mr. Chamber-
lain and Sir Henry James.

A MAN wno naa roonsuiv ventured upon a verbal
contest with his wife, was met, as he was retiring
from the scene, by his little son who had just begun
to study grammar. P 4, said the child, what part of
speech is woman? To which the father replied:
Sue isn't any part of sueenh at All. C4...,-)ry she's
the :thole of it.

THE WELSH EISTEDDFOD IN LONDON.

The first Eisteddfod, or Welsh national festival,
ever held in London was opened on Tuesday in the
Royal Albert Hall, South Kensington, the ceremony
being preceded, in accordance with old Welsh tradi-
tion,, by the holding of the ancient Bardic Gorsedd
on an open space near the magazine in Hyde-park.
Unlike the Gorsedd which was held in the Inner
Temple. gardens in November last, and at which the
numerous display of umbrellas detracted considerably
from the classic nature of the proceedings, the core-
mony on Tuesday morning took place literally as the
ancient Druidical rites provide,-" in the face of the
sun, the eye of light." The heat of the weather,
indeed, was intense, and this, together with the
fact that the hour chosen was somewhat early, namely,
10 o'clock, was possibly the cause of the small
attendance of spectators, scarcely over 300 persons
gathering round the "sacred circle." The circle in
question was formed by some 12 unhewn stones
placed a few feet apart, with a larger one, known as
the" Logan Stone,' in the centre. At each of the
outer stones a bard was stationed, for the porpose of
guarding the circle, the central stone being reserved
for the Arch-Druid of Wales, Mr. D. Griffith, other-
wise Clwydfardd. The Arch-Druid, however, was
not in his place at the appointed time,
and, pending his arrival, the proceedings
were commenced under the direction of the Rev. R.
Williams (Hwfa Mon). At the sound of a trumpet the
bards assembled within the circle, among them being
Gwalchmai, Mebon, Llew Llwyfo. Na.l an Dyfed, Ap
bladoc, and Gwyneddon. Mr. Lewis Morris was also
present. Hwfa Mon, having ascended the Logiea
Stone, began by demanding, in a loud voice, whether
there was "peace," and the question, which was thrice
repeated, having been each time answered in the"affir-
mative, he took a sword and placed it in its scabbard,
which was held aloft by a group of hands. The Gor-
sedd was then declared to be open, after which a pro-
clamation was read authorising the holding of the
National Eisteddfod of Wales in London. The next
business was the deliveryof poeticaladdresses,the bards
being very cordially received. Liew Llwyfo, the crown
bard of Wales, in the course of his address, pointed
out, as a proof of the love which Welshmen in all
parts of the world felt for their national festival, that
two bards had travelled 4000 miles, having come all
the way from Texas to attend the present Eisteddfod.
The announcement was received with cheers, and the
demonstration was repeated as the American bards,
in response to an invitation, entered the "sacred
circle." The Arch-Druid having in the meantime
arrived, a deputation from Brecknock advanced and
asked the Gorsedd to grant that the Eisteddfod for
1889 should be held in their borough. The delegates,
among whom were the Mayor of Brecknock, Lord
Treciegar, Mr. Fuller Maitland, M.P.; Mr. 0. V.
Morgan, M.P., Prof. Rowlands, and Mr. D. Richards,
were informed that the matter would be carefully con-
sidered by the National Eisteddfod Association.
During the Gorsedd some Pennillion singing was given
by Idris Vychan and Eos y Berth, the Welsh harp
being played by Mr. Albert Roberts. The Gorsedd,
which was conducted wholly in Welsh, was soon
_afterwards closed, having lasted for about three
quarters of an hour.
At eleven o'clock the first meeting of the Eistedd-
fod was opened in the Royal Albert Hall, Lord
Mostin occupying the chair. The proceedings were
under the direction of Mr. W. Abraham, M.P., while
Mr. J. IL Puleston, M.P., and Mr: Henry Richard,
M.P., were also present.
, Lord Mostyn having delivered an opening address,
a letter was read from Mr. Gladstone expressing his
inability to be present. Mr. BeniDaviesthq&gave an
enective rendering of Dr. Parry's " Gwlad fy Ngene-
digaeth (" The Land of My Birth"), after which the
contralto competition took place, and the three
young ladies who had been selected, out of a total of
13 competitors, having each sang Handel's "Hence,
Iris; hence away," the prize of .E 5 was final .y
awarded to Miss Lucy Clark, of Cardiff. After an
example of pennillion singing, the next item was the
choral competition for male voices (open to all comers)
the prize being the sum of £5O, together with a
gold medal for the conductor. Eleven choirs, averag-
ing from 50 to. 70 performers in each, competed for
the prize, the adjudicators being Sir George Mac-
faeren, Signor Randegger, Mr. Joseph Bennett, Mr.
John Thomas (Pencerdd Gwalia), Mr. D. Emlyn
E sane, and Mr. David Jenkins. The test pieces were
Beethoven's " Where is he ?" Sullivan's "The
Beleagured," and David Jenkins's "Valiant War-
riors," and these in every case were very finely de-
livered. So near, indeed, was the contest that Sir George
Macfarren in annonncing the verdict, said the judges
had been equally divided between the Huddersfield Glee
society (the only English choir competing) and the
Rhondda Glee Society, so that they had decided to
award £25 to each choir, and gold medals to the
. conductors (Mr. John North and Mr. T. Stephens).
Two other prizes were also competed for, that for
harmonium solo being gained by Richard Pritchard,
of Carnarvon, and that for tenor solo by E. A. Jones,
of Montgomeryshire. Between the competitions
the Welsh hymn, " Bydd myrdd o ryfeddodau "
(Crowned with a thousand marvels") was sung by
the entire audience, conducted by Mr. Abraham,
M.P. The meeting closed at about four o'clock, after
lasting for five hours.
At five o'clock on Tuesday afternoon the annual
general meeting of the National Eisteddfod Associa-
tion was hold in the Queen's-gate Hall, South Ken-
sington, Mr. D. Griffith (the Arch-Druid) presiding.
The report having been adopted, it was agreed, in
response to a request from the Mayor of Brecknock,
that .he Eisteddfod for 1889 should be held in that
borough. The Eisteddfod next year is to take place
at Wrexham.
A grand concert was given in the Albert Hall on
Tuesday evening, under the auspices of the Eisteddfod,
among the performers being Miss Mary Davies,
Madame Edith Wynne, and Mr. John Thomas
(harpist to the Queen). The proceedings on Wed-
nesday con=isted of a Gorsedd in Hyde Park at ten
a.m., continuation of contests in the Albert Hall at
eleven, and a. second concert in the evenieg. No
political questions were discussed at the Eisteddfod
meetings, political differences as well as religious con-
troversies being entirely tabooed.
POISORING A CHILD.

At Bristol Assizes, before the Lord Chief Justice,
Sarah Ellen Joseph, 14, servant, was charged with
the murder of Albert James Rudd Sloman, at
Bristol, on July 5. Mr. Kinglake and Mr. Broad-
mead prosecuted for the Treasury; Mr. Charles
Mathews defended. The prisoner was charged with
having caused the death of the deoeased, a child aged
one year and seven months, by chlorodyne. On June
28 the prisoner became general servant to a Mr. and
Mr,. Sloman, tradespeople in Bristol. She had been
an unsatisfactory servant, and had been on several
occasions de'ected stealing various articles belonging
to her employers, who had threatened to speak to her
parents on the subject. On the morning of July
5 Mrs., Sloman left the prisoner in the house
alone with the deceased and other little chil-
drer, locking the front door and taking the key with
her. Before Mrs. Sloman left the prisoner inquired
if she was going to tell her parents about her. Mrs.
Slotnan replied that she should do so, whereupon the
prisoner said her father would kill her. Rather
more than an hour afterwards the prisoner attracted
the attention of a little girl who was passing by
rattling the letter-box, and said the child was very ill
and asked that Lssistance might be obtained. The
little girl called a man who lived next door, and with
whom the prisoner spoke through the letter-box, ask-
ing that a woman should come and see the child.
Tue man got over the wall into the garden of the
home, and saw the child, who appeared in great pain.
Mrs. Sloman returned at this moment, and the pri-
soner told her that the child was very ill, and she
believed he was dying. Mr. Sloman was sent for,
and on his arrival, finding the child smelt of chloro-
dyne, sent for a doctor, and afterwards took the child
to the hospital, where, in spite of all efforts to save
its life, the child died soon afterwards. In the result
the jury found the prisoner guilty of manslaughter,
and on Saturday, sentence baying been postponed,
she wa4 condemned to 20 months' imprisonment with
hard labour.