The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-07-10 00:00:00

THE STOURBRIDGE OBSERVER.

chief magistrate for the term of his service, every true
American whatever maybe the differences of political
feeling and partisanship, is loyal to the constituted
authority of the land while it continues to be such.
(Applause.) I give you. therefore, "The President
of the United States." (Lnud applause.)

The toast was drunk amid loud- cheering, the band
playing "Hail Columbia" and "Yankee Doodle."
General Schenck next rose and said—Having paid
dutiful homage to our own chief magistrate—a man so
distinguished in civil and military life—we have to re-
member the ruler of that country where we now stand,
and in the midst of which we are now enjoying peace-
fully and happily her hospitality at this board. It is
the boast of the English people that the Sovereign of
this country is the fountain of honour, and we may
accept that idea with more distinctness and approba-
tion for its justice when we remember that the present
Sovereign is not only the fountain of honour but a
most-honourable lady. (Loud cheers.) Distinguished
and respected all over the world—(cheers)—as a wife,,
a mother, and a woman, I give you the health of Her
Majesty the Queen. (Loud cheers).
The toast was drunk by the company w
amidst the greatest enthusiasm, the ban plsybeg
"God save the Queen." (),
General Schenck nest gave "The day we celebrate"
which was responded to by the Hon. Freeman H.
Morse, late United States Consul-General at London.
Mr. Morse dwelt upon the unity of the American
nation, as evinced by the recent centennial celebra-
tions. He thought the day which they were celebra-
ting that evening had a broader significance than the
mere fact that on that day American Independence
was declared. It was then declared for the first time
in human history that a nation should be governed by
the people for the people. Considerable advance had
been made since then, in the direction of Republican
principles in the struggles of Russia, Italy, Spain, and
France towards free Government. The time was
coning as sure as God reigned when the principles of
Republicanism would spread all over the civilised
world; but whether they spread in the form in which
they at present existed in England or in America
mattered but little. (Loud cheers.)
General Schenck next gave "Great Britain and the
United States—Mother and Daughter."
Mr. Torrens, M.P., whose name was coupled with
the toast, declared that after that day all present would
say of England and America, "Aliens no mere, allies
for ever." But if there were to be political creeds there
should be toleration for differences in political faith.
Of the brave soldier fighting by his side in the cause of
mankind he would not ask if their creeds agreed, nor
would he give up his tried and valued friend because
he knelt not at the same altar.

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General Schenck next gave "Concord at Home and
Abroad," to which General Lucius Fairchild, American
consul at Liverpool, responded.
Th. :or...Lulus ttio.ota w-cL "The Centennial in
1876," for which Colonel John W. Forney, the United
States Commissioner to England, responded; "The
Ladies," for whom Mr. H. Richard, M.P., and Colonel
McCook replied; and "The Chairman," the whole
proceedings being of the most enthusiastic character.

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diction of the Star Chamber was but an irregular
development of the high jurisdiction of this great
Court before it was clearly defined and established,
and when the Star Chamber was abolished all that
was legal in its jurisdiction, or rather all that was not
unconstitutional, and much that was not strictly legal,
passed to the King's Bench and went to augment its
lofty jurisdiction. One part of it most certainly had
that origin, the jurisdiction exercised on "criminal in-
formation "—a jurisdiction long controverted, denied,
or doubted even by Lord Hale, and not firmly estab-
lished until it was sanctioned indirectly by statute after
the Revolution. It was felt that there must reside
somewhere the power of exercising an extraordinary
jurisdiction for punishment of great delinquencies
which could not await the slower process of ordi-
nary law, and so that part of the jurisdiction of this
great Court was recognized. So, again, in this great
Court resided the power of supplying the defects
of all inferior judicatures in the trial or execution of
criminals, and for this purpose it could remove a
case from any other Court and bring it before itself,
and send a case into any county in England for trial,
having for that purpose, as Lord Coke said, " sove-
reign and supreme authority "—an authority so high
that hilany 'county where it sat Courts of Assize could
not beheld, being deemed subordinate tribunals, while
this great Court was sovereign and supreme. From the
earliest times it has been the function of this_Court_to
exercise that which has ever been the peculiar pre.-
rogative of the Crown namely, to prevent "a
failure of justice." For that purpose it was invested
with an extraordinary jurisdiction, far surpassing that
of the ordinary Criminal Courts of the country—a
jurisdiction capable of being exercised without the
ordinary forms of law, and out of the scope of its ordi-
nary rules, and only controlled by the broad principles
of the Constitution, of which, in its best days, this
Court became, indeed, the great judicial guardian.
Even Governors of Colonies, Judges, magistrates, and
Ministers of State could be before this high Court
arraigned for misconduct and punished for abuse;
and its jurisdiction was subordinate only to Parlia-
ment itself. In this great Court resided, as the old
lawyers loved to say, the plenitudo potestatis—the
fulness of power to do or to enforce justice, which
could supply the defects of all inferior tribunals,
and contained within itself whatever was necessary
for the purposes of justice, unfettered by the narrow
rules of ordinary judicature. This high prerogative
was remarkably displayed in a recent famous case,
when the Court exercised its powers for the purposes
of justice with a vigour which no other tribunal in the
realm could have exerted. But other and still higher
functions belonged to it, even the dread power of life
and death, which belonged to it as the great Court of
criminal justice before which offenders of the highest
rank were brought to trial. It possessed also the ex-
traordinary power of directing the execution of the
last,dread sentence of the law on criminals convicted
before other tribunals, and who, for any reason, had
escaped the execution of their sentences, but who, after
any lapse of time, could be brought before this high
Court, and be, by its direct order, consigned to execution.
It was thus that Raleigh was brought before this
Court to receive sentence, and thus that Ratcliffe stood
at its bar to be tried for treason in a rebellion thirty
years before; and thus in innumerable cases the extra-
ordinary criminal jurisdiction of this Court has been
exercised over offenders the most distinguished, and of
the highest dignity and rank. It is to be feared that
its history would have to be written largely "in letters
of blood." Its traditions, indeed, are dreadful and ter-
rible not less than lofty and august; and, as the pre-
sent Chief Justice once said when speaking as an ad-
vocate at this very court, "at some periods the
courts of judice smelt like the shambles." Its
history is marked by the names of many noble
victims, whose memories impart to it a charac-
ter more of horror than of lustre. On the
other hand, as well in ancient as in modern times, its
jurisdiction has been exercised under some of the most
eminent men who have adorned our annals. The
names of Hale and Holt, and Hardwicke and. Mans-
field—four of the greatest names in our judicial history,
belong to this Court, and in later times the names of
Kenyon, Ellenborough, and Tenterden, though far
from being so illustrious, at all events upheld as great
lawyers and great judges the high character of its
ludicature.

sove- 1

Such has been the history, such the traditions, of
the high Court which ceased to exist yesterday, and
to Sir Alexander Cockburn, certainly, in many respects,
not the least distinguished of the series, belongs the me-
lancholy distinction of being the last Lord Chief Justice
of England. The jurisdiction of the Court, it is true, is
preserved by the Judicature Act, and is vested in a.
Division of the High Court of Judicature. And its pecu-
liar jurisdiction is vested in that division exclusively..
But as a Court—as that great Court which has existed
ever since the Conquest as a distinct and separate
tribunal, with that high and lofty jurisdiction
which could originally only be exercised by the King
in person, and was so exercised by our Sovereigns
ever since the time of Alfred, as that great Court of
the King, inferior only to Parliament in greatness and
in dignity—its history closed yesterday. All its
proud distinction and its lofty traditions expire and
pass away and become as things of the past. It has, how-
ever, a great history, a history of ten centuries' duration,
closely connected with the Constitution of the country
through a long succession of ages, and associated with
a series of great names and historic—often tragic—
events; and it was not fitting that it should pass away
for ever without a word by way of memorial, and in
some measure of regret.

THE ASTRONOMER ROYAL AT THE
MANSION HOUSE, IN LONDON.
On Saturday evening the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor
entertained Sir George Biddell Airy, the Astronomer
Royal, at the Mansion House, on the occasion of the
freedom of the City having been voted to him, when
a number of gentlemen distinguished in science and the
learned profession were present to do him honour.
After the loving cup hair been duly circulated, and
the loyal toasts honoured, General Sir W. Codrington
and Admiral Sir A. Milne responded respectively for
the Army and Navy. The Houses of Parliament were
acknowledged by Lord Talbot de Malahide for the
House of Lords and Lord A. Russell for the House of
Commons.
The Lord Mayor, in proposing, as the toast of the
evening, the health of his distinguished guest, Sir
George Airy, the Astronomer Royal, said the Cor-
poration of London had often in past times conferred
the honour of the freedom of the City upon men who
had distinguished themselves in the Army and Navy
or by their learning and public services, and they had
now determined—he thought very wisely—to confer
that honour upon Sir George Airy as a man distin-
guished for his scientific learning and for his devotion
to scientific pursuits. So far as the City of London
was concerned, no greater honour could be conferred
upon any public man. Men in the Army and Navy,
upon whom the freedom of the City had been bestowed,
had all, more or less, distinguished themselves for
their valour and the great victories they had achieved,
and it could not be forgotten that those victories
had been gained at the cost of many lives. But,
in the ease of Sir George Airy, his victories had been
over want of knowledge, and, while they had re-
sulted in the greatest advantage to science, they had
tended to save rather than to sacrifice human life.
(Cheers.) He was Senior Wrangler at the University
of Cambridge, and soon afterwards assumed the charge
of the Observatory there, putting it in order in such a
way that it had ever since prospered. It was now
forty years since he' succeeded to the office of
Astronomer Royal, and he had during that long
period, strenuously devoted himself to render his
office a national institution, serviceable alike to
science and to the public interest. Among other
public objects, he directed attention to telegraphic
time signals, and devoted a large amount of time and
attention to the variation of the compass with refer-
ence to iron ships, by which he had confered great
benefit on society, and especially on the Navy and
the Mercentile Marine. (Cheers.) He had taken three
voyages abroad to observe total eclipses of the sun,
and the last public duty which had devolved upon him
in that respect was that of making preparations for
the observation of the transit of Venus. To preparations
for that great ev.ent he had devoted more than five
years of his life (cheers) ; and in that way he not only
found out the proper stations, but also prepared those
who went to those stations for taking observations
with accuracy. The Lord Mayor thought that a man
who had rendered such services to his country and
mankind could not be too highly honoured; and the
Corporation of London had conferred upon him, in
consideration of those services, the freedom of the City,
the highest distinction it was in their power to bestow.
(Cheers.) The freedom having been voted, the Cor-
poration was now only waiting the completion of a
golden casket in which to present it, and meanwhile it
was his pleasing duty to offer his congratulations and
those of the company to Sir George as a guest of the
evening, and to propose his health, accompanied by
the expression of a hope that he might long be spared
to confer fresh obligations upon science and humanity.
(Cheers.)
The toast was received with enthusiasm.
Sir George Airy, in reply, said that he hardly knew
how to answer to a toast proposed in such flattering
terms and with such an accurate knowledge of facts
by the Lord Mayor, and which had been received with
such cordiality by the whole company. He thought
he might say that he felt the honour the Corporation
had done him more than any he had ever received, and
for this reason, that it had come from a body
among whom he had one or two personal acquaint-
ances. That honour had come to him from an
official source, from a body perfectly independent,
butwho at the same time possessed sufficient knowledge
of all the duties pertaining to his office to enable them
to understand and appreciate them, and all the cir-
cumstances under which he stood related to the
country. He therefore felt extremely the honour the
corporation had determined to confer upon him. He
might, perhaps, be permitted to allude to the position
which th 3 Corporation of London had always held in
his mind. It was the greatest and oldest of the muni-
cipal bodies in the,country, and he could scarcely ex-
press his sense of the value and greet importance of
those bodies in this country and in all ages. They had
always been the guardians of the inner life of England
and of all political progress. (Cheers.) It was a
remarkable fact that, in past times, from the Emperor
Trajan downwards, it was always found that whenever
absolute monarchs aimed at raising their power to a
btate of despotism their first effort was to suppress
municipalities. England was, in his opinion, much
indebted to her municipal institutions for the liberty
she now enjoyed, and he earnestly hoped that the
people of England would cstinue attached to those
institutions; that whateva changes were made
in the future they would be in no way detrimental
to what had proved so useful and valuable in
the past; and that the Corporation of London would
long stand untouched in all its essentials. (Cheers.)
Adverting to the position of men of science in general,
he said it would be found in all cases associated with
something utilitarian, and it was most fortunate that
it was so. That was particularly the case with the
office which he now held. He was not an astronomer
more than he was a navigator; and in the office he
held he had not to attend to astronomy simply, but to
astronomy and navigation. He was proud to say he
was connected with an establishment, which for two
~.ntnrifta Insui nrsdonbtscily enntribinted very numb to
both astronomy and navigation and which could new
boast of an observatory well. klo wn throughout the
world—an institution which was maintained in a state
of steady, respectable celebrity and rising fame, which ,
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no other astronomical institution had ever enjoyed.
In the next place, he would say, that, although science
did possess that utilitarium character, still in every
branch of it, and more particularly in astronomy, it
must be founded on an education of the strictest order,
such, perhaps, as could be scarcely attained in England
except at the University of which he was proud to be
a member. It must, further, be founded on a severe
course of education and a general knowledge of the
history of astronomy, and with a determination to
make something out of it. More than any other
science was the study of astronomy connected with the
past and with the future. Astronomy, of the present
day was only perfecting what was commenced many
years ago, and many things connected with astronomy,
so far as they had gone up to the present, would not
be fully developed for many years to come. It had
been agreed by common consent that the astronomy
of modern days commenced in 1750, or there-
abouts. A great step in, advance was made at that
time; and what had been done ever since was
really executing what was then conceived. The fact
was that the full meaning of astronomical discoveries
was not fully understood till the lapse of many years
after they were hit upon. So it was in the past so it
was at present, and so probably it would be in the
future. What was done in 1750 was only now fully
understood, and what was being done now might pro-
bably not be entirely appreciated -till the year 2000.
Therefore it was essential that in the study of astro-
nomy we had to look both to the past and to the future.
There was in this particular nothing similar in other
sciences. Though as a rule navigators had but a poor
knowledge of astronomy, it was wonderful how
readily they came to understand it when they were
called upon to put it to a practical test in the
navigation of their vessels. As a proof of this, Sir
George instanced the case of a captain of a vessel
who had found, to his own great surprise, that on the
strength of instructions he received, he made a most ac-
curate correction of his compasses on astronomical
principles. As another proof of the value of this study,
the Astronomer Royal referred to a difficulty which
was experienced at one time as to the drawing of a
straight line in connection with military movements.
It arose in this way. In conseqwence of the Ashburton
Treaty two points were defined in reference to certain
rivers, with an interval of between 60 and 70 miles be-
tween them. It was ordered that a straight line should
be drawn between those points. The question was how
to trace that straight line from one point to the other.
He, Sir George, undertook to do it by astronomical
problems, and he trained men of the Royal Engineers
to do it astronomically. Officers were placed at the
Royal Observatory to learn his methods, and they
knew perfectly well what to do. The object was
to go the least round-about; and they were able
to lay down a rule in a certain direction, and
to carry a line through forests and swamps, where
the foot of man had never been before, and to
carry it over 64 miles. In the end they found they
were right within the breadth of a match-box.
(Cheers.) After some further references to what had
been accomplished by raeans of the study of astronomy,
Sir George came to the conclusion that, after all, men
of science were not so different from other men as was
generally supposed. One thing they certainly did not
differ it., and that was a due appreciation of such an
honour as that which the Corporation of London had
conferred upon himself. As he had said, he highly
valued the compliment, and he begged to thank the
Corporation, through the Chief Magistrate of the City'
of London, for the handsome manner and the circum-
stances in which it had been conveyed to him. Sir
George, on resuming his seat, was much cheered.

The Lord Mayor, in a few appropriate sentences,
proposed "The Learned Societies,' connecting it
with the name of Dr. Hooker, President of the Royal
Society, who, in reply, referred, in highly compli-
mentary terms to the noble part the Lord Mayor and
Corporation had played in the preservation of Epping
Forest. "The Health of the Lord Mayor" was after-
wards proposed by Mr. Cnnliffe Brooks, M. P. "The
Corporation and'Sheriffs:of London" followed, to which
Mr. Alderman Cotton M.P., and Mr. Sheriff Ellis
briefly replied.