The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-03-27 00:00:00

Our faoan aorrtspnakut,
(We deem it right to state that we do not at all tlmas
idtutify ouneives with our Correspondent's opinions.]

Those who have followed the progress and develop-
ment of Parliamentariy institutions have often con-
trasted both with the comparative waning of the power
of the Crown. Yet a moment's consideration willshow
how numerous are the prerogatives and functions
,
which the Crown continues to exercise. It gives or
refuses to Dills which have passed both Houses of Parr-
liament, the Royal Assent; it causes the due adminis-
tration and execution of the laws; it acts on behalf of
the community in its-intercourse with foreiSt
and, as a part of that, to declare war or contcalueds.
e
peace; to direct the naval and military forces of the
country; to administer the publk revenue ; to prorogue
or dissolve Parliament; to create peers; and to coin
money. Further, the Monarch is the supreme ruler of
the Church, the source of justice and of mercy, of all
offices, honours, emoluments, and•chartered rights. In
every case,-however, the Sovereign nets by Ministers
who are responsible to Parliament, and it is
generally admitted that the clioice of these Ministers
is the only prerogative which can be constitutanally
exercised without responsible advisers. And,
although the Houses of Parliament, individually as
well as collectively, possess very wide powers, the ap-
pointment of the chief officers more immediately
connected with each assembly rests with the crown.
For instance, the crown has lately given the House of
Commons a new Serjeant-at- Arm!; and the filing of
the recently-vacant Clerkship of the Parliaments
rests also with the Sovereign. Even the principal
clerk of the House of Commons is appointed by the
Crown under letters patent. The choice of Speaker,
however, lies with the House itself; though as a
matter of form the selection must receive the assent of
the reigning monarch.
London turns out in vast multitudes twice a year
for the purpose of witnessing a spectacle. On the 9th
of November the attraction is the Lord Mayor's show;
on the Saturday preceding Palm Sunday it is the
University Boat-race. It has been estimated that the
annual aquatic contest upon the Thames is witnessed
by half a million of spectators. There are eight miles
of people--four on either bank of the rive!, and the
crews get over the four miles in about twenty
minutes. This, your readers will perceive, is very
smart work, the rate being that of a good steamer.
But the strain upon the physical powers must be
tremendous. I have witnessed the race several times,
both from the shore and from the press steamboat,
and you may rely upon it that the last few minutes of
the struggle are simply painful. The efforts of the
losing crew, as they strive to overlap the boat of their
opponents, are really desperate, and all the while the
air is filled with a hoarse roar from the mighty throng
upon the:banks, urging, entreating, shouting, implor-
ing, expostulating, gesticulating, encouraging, cheer-
ing, and I fear sometimes imprecating. Immense
numbers of these persons have laid long odds upon the
result, and it makes all the difference in the world to
them whether the light or the dark blue pennon
is a few feet in advance. And amid the cries of
victory at Mortlake, a moment's glance at the
beaten crew shows what a wonderful gulf
there is between triumph and defeat. I shall
never forget the roar which went up in
April IS7O, when Cambridge, after nine adverse
years, again came out the winner. Then for five years
in succession the tide ran in favour of the Light Blues;
now there is another swing of the pendulum, and the
cathedral city of Oxford once more rejoices over the
success of the Dark Blues. The result had been
generally anticipated, and in the streets of London
for several days before the race the colours of Oxford
certainly preponderated.
The London residence of the Duke and Duchess of
Edinburgh, Clarence House, has lately undergone
alteration and embellishment ; but although the work
of restoration now approaches completion, there is no
certainty that it will be open for festivities during the
present season. The name of the mansion is taken
from the title of her Majeity's uncle, the late King
William IV., who was for so many years Duke
of Clarence. It is well situated, being close to Marl-
borough House, and overlooking St. James's Park.
I may add that one of the most attractive
pictures at this year's exhibition of the Royal
Academy is likely to be Mr. Nicholas Chevalier's
representation of the marriage of their Royal
Highnesses at the winter Palace of St. Peters-
burg, on the 23rd of January, 1874. The figures on
the canvas include those of the bride and bridegroom,
the Emperor and Empress of Russia, the Prince and
Princess of Wales, the Crown Princess of Germany,
the brothers of the bride, the Dean of Westminster,
Earl Sydney (the official representative of her Majesty
at the ceremony), and a number of other notables, both
British and foreign. The scene of splendour is quite
dazzling in its brilliancy, and su h as people are not
generally accustomed to associate with Russian history
and traditions.
Since the Shah of Persia was over here in the
summer of 1873, the visit of no foreign Sovereign to
this country has excited anything like a similar amount
4,f interest. Last year, for instance, we had a very
distinguished man, in our midst—the Ruler of seventy
millions of souls, but no one will venture to say
that people grew so excited over the Czar of Russia
as they had been with respect to the Persian
monarch. One reason of this might have been that
the Russian Emperor went about in a dress to which
we have become accustomed, and not in an Oriental
attire all ablaze with precious stones. There is said to
be some chance of our having a visitor this year from
a very distant land, and one which, until lately, has
been but little known to us. I refer to the Tycoon of
Japan. Preparations are being made at Paris to re-
ceive him, and having come so far westward, in all pro-
bability he will cross the channel, and see something
of Lesion. He is quite a young man, and is said to
be not more that twenty-five years of age. The Tycoon
is represented as possessing a degree of enlightenment
not very common amongst Eastern sovereigns, who
are bred amid the traditionary exclusiveness which has
existed for centuries. Many Japanese students, during
the past three or four years, have come over to this
country for the purpose of studying its laws, watching
the werlang of its institutions, noting the development
of its arts, and witnessing the ingenuity displayed in
its manufactures. The Japanese are a highly intelli-
gent people, and some of the toys and trinkets sent
over here for sale are marvels of human mechanism.
From the discuseions which have taken place in
Parliament over the military estimates, it would
appear that one of the most difficult problems which
our statesmen have to solve is how to fill the ranks of
the army. Mr. Hardy, anxious to see for himself, in-
spected some of the regiments, and found them to con-
sist of ricketty and ill-developed youths. They are
very far indeed from being the flower of our manhood,
and would stand a poor chance in an arduous cam-
paign. The rise of wages in the labour market seems
to make the task of the recruiting-serjeant more and
more difficult. If a man is capable of earning ten
shillings a day as an ironworker, it is scarcely likely
that he will be satisfied with an occupation which
gives him a shilling per day, his rations, and
clothing. The question as to what is to be
done is more easily asked than answered. To
compete with any department of industry would
be to enormously swell the army estimates—
a result which might not be altogether gratify-
ing to the taxpayers. Nor can the people altogether
credit the rumour of a conscription, such as is in force
acre's the Channel; neither do they relish the idea of
oompulsory military services, like that which exists in
Germany. Either would knock the industrial occupa-
tions of the nation to pieces, and we may rely upon it
would not be resorted to unless in a crisis of the direst

emergency.
Various efforts have been tried from time to time
with a view of securing such an observance of Sunday
as will harmonise with the advanced stage of civiliza-
tion as we find it to-day. Any attempt at legislative
interference has generally proved abortive ; and I well
remember the disturbances which took place exactly
tweity years ago when rather a stringent bill for the
suppression of Sunday trading, was before the House
of Commons. Notwithstanding the absorbing interest
of the Crimean War, the inhabitants of the metropolis
rose in something nearly approaching insurrection,
and the result was the withdrawal of the obnoxious
measure. Since that time the object of its promoters
has gradually been attained by the operations of
societies formed for the sole purpose of
inculcating the
duty of Sabbath observance. Formerly the Lower
Marsh, in Lambeth, or as it is more familiarly called
the New Cut, presented a spectacle on Sunday feet
noon which in the heart of a Christian city was little
less tnan humiliating-. This thoroughfare connects the
Blackfriars and Westminster Roads, and some years
ago I had occasion to pass through it on a Sabbath
morn. The pavement was impassable from the
the shops were open,
presenc.. of costermongers' carts,
auctione,ers, or as they areNoreetimes called "Cheap
Jacks," were describing in stentorian tones the ad-
vantages offered to purchasers by an inspection of their
wares, the roadway was crowded with buyers who had
come to market; and altogether the Babel of sounds
seemed harsh and incongruous, as it drowned the melody
of the church bells. A very considerable hlnprovement
has been effected lately, and the description which I
have given would no longer apply.
The Admiralty is directing its attention to the im-
portance of affording means whereby a large propor-
tion of our sea men may be taught the art of swimming.
S carceiy a shipwreck amongst the multitudes of vessels
in the merchant navy takes place which does not
furnish evidence of its value. A knowledge of it makes
all the difference between life and death at a time of
danger, and this was forcibly illustrated when the

La Plata went down in the Bay of Biscay on the 29th
of November. Two of the men thus thrown out upon
the surface of the sea, saw floating at a little distance
from them one of the patent life rafts; they swam to-
wards it, and securing it were thus saved. But had
they been unable to swim, they must have perished
with the agonising reflection that the means of rescue,
although only a few yards off, was as inaccessible as
though it had been a mile, solely through a lack of
acquaintance with a practice which is not at all
difficult of attainment.
Easter falls this year rather too early for the weather
to be anything like that which we are accustomed to
associate with the enjoyment of a holiday. The date
of the festival is now the same as in 1869, and we shall
have the date again in 1880, that is to say, in each of
these three years Easter Sunday is on the 28th of
March. Next year it will be 19 days later, Easter
Sunday falling on the 16th of April, the same as in
1865 in 1854, and in 1843—a difference of exactly
eleven years between each recurrence of that date
within a generation, The probabilities are that the
middle of April supplies better weather for Easter
holiday keepers than the end of March; and should
there be any disappointments this year, let us look
forwand to 1876, as affording hopes of longer and
brighter days.