The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-02-14 00:00:00

Our Itr.o6on atorrtsvontatt.
• ______.
We deem It right to state that we do not at all times
identify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.]

Not many years ago, when the present Prime
Minister was the leader of the Opposition in the
House of Commons, he made use of an expression with
respect to the introduction of bills on the first night of
the session which has often been quoted since. On
that occasion scores of notices are given of the inten-
tion of honourable members to bring forward
measures upon all imaginable subjects; and the then
Mr. Disraeli, after listening to these for some time,
predicted "a terrible July," That conveyed a very
considerable meaning with it, July Is generally the
hottest month of the year in London, and it is then that
the House of Commons is busily engaged in trying to
get through the mass of business before it. Early it
works and late, through the long sultry afternoon, and
far into the bright summer morning, oftentimes when
the rays of the early sunshine are gilding the pinnacles
of the towers of Westminster, and lighting up the
broad surface of the river. From the amount of busi-
ness which is already before the expiring Parliament,
there seems every indication of Its lasting into that
"terrible July," which the Premier, in so few words,
described with such graphic power. On the part of
the Government the Criminal Code and the Bank-
ruptcy Bills are alone enozgh for the work of the
Session.
Using the word in its literal and not in its political
sense, England is a very conservative country. No-
where is this more observable than in the forms and
ceremonies which accompany the procedure of Parlia-
ment, Had we to construct our legislative system
now, we should not dream of introducing anything
like the observances which had their origin in days
when time was not of the great importance which is
now attached to it, In particular may be mentioned
the singular custom of re-reading the speech from the
Throne in each House, two or three hours after the
speech itself has been delivered in the House of Lords.
Parliament is always opened at two in the afternoon, and
the Royal Speech is then read to the assembled sena.
tors. It is selling by tens of thousands in the streets, is
telegraphed with lightning speed throughout the
kingdom, and, indeed, over the civilized world, After
the Sovereign has gone, the Houses adjourn, the
Commons until four o'clock, and the Lords until five.
Yet, when each of these assemblies meet, the Royal
Speech is again solemnly read, In the Upper House
by the Lord Chancellor, in the Lower by the Speaker.
Long .before this it has been perused in the farthest
limits of our isles, from Penzance to Wick; but that
does not signify. The custom is to read it, and read
It is. We should not institute such a practice now;
but having been establielerel by our forefathers a very
long time ago we scrupulously follow it. Indeed,
no one would think of attempting to disturb it.
A distinguished man has just passed quietly to
his rest who, a quarter of a century ago occupied a
conspicuous place in European history. Just before
the outbreak of the war with Russia, there were pub-
lished in official despatches the reports of conversa-
tions between the late Emperor Nicholas and Sir
Hamilton Seymour, British Ambassador at St. Peters-
burg, which had been transmitted to the-Toreign
office from time to time marked "Secret and Confi-
dential." When, however, war was inevitable, and our
Ambassador was withdrawn from the Russian capital,
Lord Aberdeen's Government felt compelled to give
this correspondence publicity. In it the Ambassador
described the attempts made by the Czar to induce
England to co-operate with Russia in the destruction
of the Ottoman• Empire, that mighty Potentate,
using an expression which has since become historical.
He compared the Turkish Empire to a "sick man."
who could not last long, and hinted that in the
division of the spoil, this country might take Egypt
and Candle, if Russia were allowed to have Con-
,:tantinople. Of course such a proposition could not
ee listened to ; but the publication of these despatches
reated an extraordine.ry sensation, Sir Hamilton
Seymour did not return to St. Petersburg after the
conclusion of peace, but WM appointed to the Embassy
at Vienna, and some years afterwards retired from
the public service. 11e has now died at the age of 82.
Meanwhile the Britian Ambassador who was at Con-
stantinople at the same time—Lord ntr.t.t..a de Red-
cliffe—is still amongst us, hale and vigorous, showing
his intellectual activity by occasional contributions to
the Nineteenth Century. Lord Stratford has attained
the astonishing age of 92 years, having been born in
1788. What a different world does the sun shine
upon to-day! When the veteran diplomatist was
born, Louis XVI. was upon the throne of France,
the Bastille was standing in the heart of Paris,
and there had been no French Revolution,
Wellington and Napoleon were young men less
than twenty years of age; Nelson, who has been dead
three quarters of a century, was a naval officer of
thirty. The United States, which celebrated the
centenary of Its independence four years ago, had
ceased to be British colonies just twelve years. The
vast range of events thus compressed into a single life-
time is as astounding as it is marvellous.
It appears from returns issued by the Board of
Trade that 55,150 emigrants embarked during
last quarter from the various ports of the United
Kingdom at which emigrant offices are stationed,
showing a further marked increase upon the
numbers in the two corresponding quarters of
previous years. The proportion of emigration, which
declined from 1873 to 1877, has since steadily increased.
The emigrants of British origin during the quarter
were 44,055, the remainder being foreigners, and the
proportion of emigrants to a million of the population
was 1,155 from England, 1,280 from Scotland, and
1,930 from Ireland. Compaied with the proportions
In the corresponding quarter of 1878, the increase was
equal to 56 per cent, among the English, 36 amongst
the Scotch, and 77 per cent, among Irish emigrants.
Of the total number of British emigrants last quarter,
54 per sent. left fof the United States, 25 per cent. for the
Australian colonies, 9 per cent. for British North
America, and 12 per cent, for all other places. Emi-
gration to the colonies of Australia has of late shown
a marked decline, while it has augmented as regards
the United States.
It is often difficult to trace the origin of customs
which are as familiar in our mouths as household words.
Take for instance the practice of sending love-missives
on St. Valentine's Day, No one seems quite to know
why the 14th February should be selected for the
forwarding of a vast number of letteis through
the post, many of these being elaborately got up,
beautifully finished, and perfect specimens of work
of art in their way. Very few indeed who send
or receive these communications care to trouble them-
selves about the fact that St. Valentine was a
Christian bishop who suffered martyrdom under
Claudius 11. at Rome, or, as others say, under
Aurelian, the destroyer of Palmy:o2... post, which
SValentinet.has sin ce
had established the system ofu
witnessed such a wonderful development, his memory
might well be held in perpetuation. But there can
be little doubt that posts originated in the regular
couriers established by Cyrus, who erected post-
houses throughout the kingdom of Persia about five
hundred years before the Christian era. Augustus
was the first to introduce this institution amongst
the Romans. This was followed by Charlemagne,
about 800. Louis XL first made post-houses general
throughout France, owing to his eagerness for news,
and they were the first regularly-organized institutions
of the kind in Europe by this sovereign just over 400
years ago. It is now not uncommon for a million letters
to pass through the General Post-office in London on
St. Valentine's Day.
Upon the authority of the Registrar-General, we
have been told that, with the exception of 1814, last
year was the coldest of this century. The mean tem-
perature at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,
during the fourteen months ending December last,
averaged only forty-four degrees. The mean tem-
paratnre of the last quarter of 1879 was three
degrees below the average for the corresponding
period in 103 years. In the same three months
the atmospheric characteristics were an absence
of sun and a lack of rain, The number of hours of
bright sunshine recorded in the whole time was only
thirty-eight, and the measured rainfall was but slightly
over two inches, or five below the average. But
taking the rainfall of the entire year, the excess of the
previous three quarters made it the wettest since 1860.
. The number of frosty days last quarter was thirty-
seven, and in that time 249 degrees of frost were
registered. Bearing in mind the continuance and
severity of the cold, the rate of mortality was re-
markably low. Indeed, it is a noteworthy fact that
the cold was much less fatal than the moderately low
temperature which prevailed in
Vie last quarter of the
previous year.
A cargo of fresh meat has arrived in this country
from Australia in excellent condition. This is a piece
of news all the more remarkable when it is remem-
bered that a vessel coming to us from Australia has
to cross the equator, and to pees through that boiling
cauldron, the Red Sea. The temperature of the hold
of the ship in which the meat is packed is therefore
lowered to a freezing point by a dry air refrigerating
process. The British consumer is therefore, through
this means, fate to face with a new market, and the
colonists with a vast body of fresh customers, It
seems that the meat, which is said to be undies-
tinguishable either by appearance or by any
peculiarity of flavour from freshly-slaughtered English
animal food,-can be put on !Nerd in Australia at 2d.
per.l
lb and that it can be sold here at 6d., a price at
which it would be obtainable by a very considerable
proportion of the humbler classes,
The Suet Canal has been open wore than eleven
years, and Km great Importance to thia country, em