The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-10-17 00:00:00

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litieal feeling, which acquired no much intensity
from the manifesto of Mr. Disraeli—for such it really
was— has been still further intensified by the address
of Mr. Gladstone to his constituents, which is equally
a manifesto to the country at large. One subject
takes the most prominent position in both addresses,
ant it is worth remarking how utterly diverse is the
policy severally maintained by these distinguished
men. Mr. Disraeli, referring to the policy of Mr.
Gladstone, though, of course, not mentioning him by
name, ii the Irish Church, says that to that policy
her Majesty's Government has offered and will offer
an uncompromising resistance; and now Mr. Glad.
stone says, 'One path, at least, lies before you, broad,
open, and well defined. One policy has advocates who
do not shrink from its avowaL It is the policy of
bringing absolutely to an end the civil establishment
of the Church of Ireland." The contrast in the
policy to he pursued is not more remarkable, however,
than the arguments by which they are to be severally
supported. The Liberal leader, it will be noticed.
says "the civil establishment of the Church of
Ireland," while the Premier treats the matter as a
religious question, remarking that "the severance of
religion from the exercise of political authority will
lower the character and duties of Government, and
ten Ito the degradation of society." It is clear, there-
fore, that on the whole subject of the Irish Church the
leaders of the Government and of the Opposition are
"wide as the poles asunder." The divergence of
opinion and the contrast of policy were well known be-
fore the last Session broke up, but the breach has now
lwen widened by these manifestoes, and it is not
surprising that they are now exercising a considerable
influence on the elections. I offer no opinion as to
whom.. the truth is to ho found, or whether the old
classic motto, in medio totiatimus ibis, is applicable to
the controversy; but it is undoubtedly true that the
elections will in many 'darns turn on this question.
That the Irish Church will be the pivot of the elections
would, perhaps, be saying too much, but it is the ques-
tion of the day, as Reform WM the question of the
day not long ago. The subject, at all events, gives an
zest to the electoral contests which are being—shall I

say rehearsed?
Whatever opinions may be held in respect to tenant-
right in Ireland, it will generally be admitted that the
matter needs some reform, and most people think that
it re. mires a great deal It is satisfactory, therefore,
to hear that a royal commission, intended to examine
into the whole question, is about to commence its
sittings. The commissioners intend to go into all the
details relative to the tenure of land, and it is hoped
that the report will be presented to the new Parliament
early in the ensuing Session. The subject is a very
difficult one, but surely the difficulties are not insur-
mountable. If this troublous question can be satisfac-
torily answered, it will be a great boon to England, as
well as Ireland. Recent events have brought the
necessity for reform more prominently before the
public, but, unfortunately, nothing new has been made
known. The evils connected with tenant-right are
of long standing, but it is never too late to mend.
It is hoped that next month the Prince of Wales
will open the Smithfield Meat and Poultry Market,
which is rapidly approaching completion. The Mime-
diate locality also is undergoing considerable improve-
ment. Instead of dark courts and blind alleys, there
are fine streets, not less than sixty feet wide. The
change in this part of London, through the Holborn
Viaduct and the new market is so great, that the entire
locality is utterly unrecognisable. It a fitting that so
fine an institution—and one, by the way, of so much
importance to the country generally—should be inau-
gurated by the Prince of Wales. Mention of His
Royal Highness, recalls the memory of the painful
statement made the other day, that the health of the
Princess is such, that it will not be considered advisable
for her to winter in this country. The Queen, and
the individual members of the royal family are so much
beloved by the nation, and deservedly so too, that the
ilhies 1 any member of it is a source of national
somov.
A step has been taken here which is of considerable
public importance, especially if it is intended toadvance
in the same direction. Placards giving a summary of
the new "Workshop Regulation Act," the bill being
printed by the "printers in ordinary to her Majesty,"
are posted up in one of our largest and most populous
southern parishes. The placards are issued and posted
,y the vestry of the parish, and are evidently read
with great interest. It may be that it is the com-
mencement of a great reform. The Romans used to
pest up their laws in the market-place, but then their
laws were short and precise, and were entirely free
from the rigmarole and verbiage for which British Acts
of Parliament are famous. The theory of our juris-
prudence is that no man can plead ignorance of the
law, but the fact is that no man can truly
assert that he has a full knowledge of a tenth
part f our laws. As everybody knows, our laws
are all printed, and can be had of the Queen's
printer by any one who chooses to pay a price varying
with the length of the several Acts. Of course, the
purchase of these documents is a very rare thing, com-
paratively to the importance of the Acts and the
number of people whom they affect. It would be a
very good thing, therefore, if the sum and substance
of each new Act affecting the general public were
posted up for general information. At present it is
re dasly's busint,s to do so, but all the greater praise is
therefore due to those whohave commenced the reform.
And while speaking of Acts of Parliament, let me add
that it is a great pity they are not more precise in their
language. How difficult it is, for instance, to interpret
the Reform Act, the proceedings at the Registration
Courts have shown, and the Court of Common Pleas
will further show. A case in point, in reference to
another Act, catches my eye as I write. A number of
people are summoned for having their "chimneys on
tire," and the police magistrate very properly remarks
that the Legislature has used a very strange phrase,
"chimney on fire," which must clearly mean the soot
within it. The phrase is what in classical language is
called a metenyme, the substitution of one word for
anther which involves the same idea. When we talk
of a chimney on fire, the thermometer falling, or the
kettle boiling, this is a metonyme which everybody
understands, but such language, I think, should not be
introduced into Acts of Parliament.

Occasionally we read of some such pleasant Incident
As a concert, a theatrical performance, or a fair in a
lunatic asylum. Mr. Sothem and some friends, I see,
have just been giving a taste of their quality to the
evident delight and the appreciative enjoyment of the
inmates of a lunatic asylum at Itainhill, near LiverpooL
The treatment of lunatics is a matter in which great
reform has been made of late years; and the power of
Liminess, accompanied by firmness, is now the leading
principle in treating the insane. How strongly doe
modern policy in this respect contrast with that which
held sway during the times of our grandfathers and
some of our fathers. Let any one, for example, read
Maekenzie's "Man of Feeling," a now almost forgotten
book, and it will be seen by the narrative of a visit by
the hero to Bedlam, what was then the horrible mode
of treating the wretched inmates—a system that
unhappily continued long afterwanis. But we have
changed all this, or nearly all of it. It is to be hoped,
however, that the Legislature will ere long direct its
attention to the management of private lunatic
asylums. The best reform that could be applied to
these institutions would be to abolish them. However
admirably managed many of them may be, there are
others in which abuses of a serious character un-
doubtedly exist. By the theory of the law the Lord
Chancellor (poor man ) has the care of all the lunatics
in the country, but that this is rather too much for his
lordship, need not be insisted on.

An agitation is being carried on, as is usual about
this time of the year, for the abolition, or at least con-
siderable curtailment, of the Lord Mayor's show. Your
readers probably feel not the slightest interest in the
matter, and whether this absurd procession be curtailed
to sober matter-of -fact proportions or whether some of
the ancient buffooneries be restored, is matter of
perfect indifference to most people out of the great City.
But five days before the mayors of corporations are
elected there is a more ridiculous affair' than the Lord
Mayor's Show, and which Is moreover insulting to a
lar4e body of our fellow subjects. Why should we
please to remember the fifth of November, if the re-
rnemberance is to be aosociated with such irritating
circumstances as is usually the case. It is quite time,
in these days of civil and religious liberty, that the
memory of Guido Fawkes should be consigned, if not
to oblivion, at least to the annals of history; and it is
high time that the nuisance and the insult of a hideous
stuffed figure, with matches and lantern, borne by
ragged, ignorant urchins, should be abolished. Ad-
mitting that Catesby, Piercy, and Guido Fawkes aid
plot for blowing up " the King and all his Parliament," ,
that is no reason why the Catholics of the present day,
who would be as much horrified atthe repetition of any
such conspiracy as Protestants would be, should be
annually insulted by dirty street vagabonds. It is to
he hoped that the police, with their increased powers
under recent Acts, will find some meansof so repressing
this annual tomfoolery, that 1868 may be the last year

11,.ric.,

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