The following two paragraphs have been sent me by correspondents, from
country papers. I do not answer for the facts stated in them; but
however mythic either may be, they form part of the current history of
the day, and are worth preserving; the latter especially in
illustration of what I meant by the phrase “roseate repose of domestic
felicity,” in the Fors of July, this year, p. 184. One of the pamphlets
written by John Hopper will become a subject of inquiry in a future
Fors.
John Hopper.—On Tuesday, July 6, passed away from our midst the pioneer
of Co-operation in Sunderland, John Hopper, shipwright, aged
forty-seven on the 22nd April last, after a lingering illness of six
weeks’ duration, of paralysis of the right side, and the breaking of a
blood-vessel in the brain. This was caused by his constant and
unremitting study and writing on all questions relating to the progress
of his fellow-workmen. More especially had he devoted his time and
money to publishing several pamphlets on Co-operation. He also ably
advocated the cause of Working Men’s Unions and Trade Arbitration
Councils instead of strikes. He looked forward to Co-operation for the
solution of all the great questions in dispute between the employer and
employed, and lived to see some portion of his ideas carried out with
great success in the organization of a co-operative store in our own
town, which now possesses two branch establishments, and does a very
large, extensive, and profitable business, and possesses also two
libraries. The organization and successful carrying out of this store
was largely due to his own exertions. As its first secretary he gave
his arduous labours free to it for several years. Though frequently
offered superior situations in his own trade as a shipwright, he
conscientiously refused all such offers, preferring to cast his lot
amongst the working classes, and with them finish his days, toiling on
side by side with them, as an example of honesty, toil, and love of his
trade, before all other things; for work indeed to him was truly
worship. He scorned to earn his bread by any other means than by his
own trade. He often lamented over men of superior talent who deserted
their class for wealth and gain, and did not stay by their fellow-men,
and by so doing try to elevate them by their example. He had been
ailing some fifteen months, but kept at his work until quite exhausted,
some six weeks before he died. He worked in the yard of Mr. Oswald, of
Pallion, for many years, and also at Mr. J. Laing’s, at Deptford. With
the latter gentleman he served his apprenticeship as a shipwright. He
leaves a widow and seven children unprovided for. The eldest is now
serving his apprenticeship to his father’s trade with Mr. Oswald.
Simple and retired he lived, despite all their praise—content to live
and die a working man. Often after a hard day’s toil he was too ill to
walk all the way home, and had to lay himself down to rest by the
roadside for awhile. The following is a list of his pamphlets, eight in
number:—Causes of Distress; History of the Sunderland Co-operative
Store; Organization of Labour: Co-operative Store System; The
Commercial Reformer’s Bookkeeper; The Workman’s Path to Independence;
The Rights of Working Men; and, Elections, Trades Unions, and the Irish
Church.
Marriage of Miss Venables, formerly of Leicester.—From the Yarmouth
papers, we learn that on Wednesday week Miss Eveline Mary Venables, the
only daughter of the Rev. George Venables, vicar of Great Yarmouth, and
formerly vicar of St. Matthew’s, Leicester, was married at the parish
church, Great Yarmouth, in the presence of 4,000 spectators, to the
Rev. E. Manners Sanderson, M.A., vicar of Weston St. Mary’s,
Lincolnshire. The bridegroom was formerly curate of Great Yarmouth.
Very extensive preparations, we are told, were made for the wedding
festivities, both in the church and at the vicarage. A number of lady
friends of the bride undertook to decorate the nave and chancel of the
fine old church, and for several days they worked assiduously at this
labour of love. Nearly the whole length of the chancel was tastefully
decorated with a choice assortment of flowers, plants, mosses, and
ferns, the gas standards being also similarly clothed, while along the
communion rails were placed leaves of ferns, intermingled with roses
and water-lilies. Within the communion rails were displays of cut
flowers and plants, which gave a most pleasing effect to that portion
of the church. The reredos was beautifully dressed in wreaths and
flowers, and above the communion table were the words in white letters
on a scarlet ground, “Jesus was called to the marriage.” The effect of
all these magnificent decorations was beautiful, and presented such a
picture as our grand old church probably never before exhibited. The
nave and chancel were converted into an avenue of flowers, and as the
richly dressed bridal procession wended its way from the south porch
the scene was one of the most imposing and affecting nature. It was
understood that the marriage would take place immediately after the
usual morning service, and long before that service commenced (eleven
o’clock), several hundreds of people had congregated in front of the
church gates, and when they were thrown open, they flocked into the
church, and soon every available space in the church was filled with
thousands of people. A number of seats near and in the chancel were set
apart for the bridal party and friends, and these were kept vacant
until the arrival of the ladies and gentlemen for whom they were
reserved, and who were admitted for the most part by ticket at the east
door. The morning service concluded about half-past eleven, and the
clergymen who were to take part in the ceremony, and who had been
waiting in the vestry, then walked in procession down the chancel,
taking up their position under the tower, where they awaited the
arrival of the bridal party. Their names were as follows, besides the
Vicar: Rev. E. Venables (canon of Lincoln), Rev. Dr. J. J. Raven
(master of the Grammar School), Rev. Bowyer Vaux (minister of St.
Peter’s church), Rev. A. J. Spencer, Rev. F. G. Wilson (vicar of
Rudham), Rev. G. Merriman, Rev. A. B. M. Ley, Rev. R. H. Irvine, Rev.
F. C. Villiers, and Rev. R. J. Tacon (Rollesby). The first to arrive
was the bridegroom, accompanied by his bestman, the Rev. R. V. Barker,
who were shortly afterwards followed by the bridesmaids and other
ladies and gentlemen constituting the bridal party, who entered by the
south door and awaited the arrival of the bride. The bridesmaids were
most elegantly attired in bleu de ciel silk dresses, with long trains,
trimmed en tablier, with Mousseline d’Indienne, pink briar roses and
white heath, wreaths to match, and long tulle veils. Their names were
as follows: Miss Rose Venables, Miss Sanderson, Miss L. Sanderson, Miss
M. Sanderson, Miss Wilson, Miss Ruth Venables, and Miss Mander. Each
bridesmaid carried a bouquet of white roses, pink geraniums, and
forget-me-nots, the gift of the bestman, the Rev. R. V. Barker. The
last to arrive was the bride, who wore a dress of superb white satin,
with a very long train, garnie en tulle et fleurs d’orange; the corsage
corresponding. The veil tulle de Bruxelles, brodé en soie; the trailing
wreath clematis, myrtle, and orange blossoms; and a necklet of sprays
of silver ivy leaves (the gift of Mr. Percy Sanderson). Her magnificent
bouquet was composed of orange flowers, stephanotis, Cape jasmine,
white roses, and ferns, and was the gift of the bridegroom. The bride
was supported by her brother, Mr. E. Venables, and was received at the
south porch of the church by her bridesmaids, who accompanied her up
the nave to the chancel, where they were received by the vicar and
clergymen. The choir were stationed in the triforium, and Mr. H. Stonex
presided at the organ, which was used on this the first occasion since
its removal, although the repairs are not yet complete. While the
bridal party were entering the church, Mr. Stonex performed “The
Wedding March” composed by Sir George Elvey on the occasion of the
marriage of Princess Louise (Marchioness of Lorne). The bridal party
took their places under the tower, and the marriage service began, the
Vicar being assisted in his office by Canon Venables, and the bride
being given away by her elder brother, Mr. Gilbert Venables. After
singing the hymn, “The voice that breathed o’er Eden,” to the tune St.
Alphege, Canon Venables read the first address of the Marriage Service.
The Vicar has just printed this service with a few explanatory remarks,
and about a thousand copies were distributed on the occasion. After
that portion of the Marriage Service ordered to be performed in the
body of the church was completed, the clergy, bride and bridegroom, and
bridesmaids proceeded up the choir to the chancel, the singers and
congregation chanting the 128th Psalm. The clergy having taken their
positions, the bride and bridegroom, with the bridesmaids and the Rev.
R. V. Barker, knelt at the communion rails; the service was continued,
and a short sermon read by the Vicar, from the text, “Heirs together of
the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.” The service
concluded with the benediction, and as the party left the church, Mr.
Stonex performed Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March,” in a very skilful
manner. The bride’s trousseau was entirely supplied from Yarmouth, and
the wedding cake, which weighed 100 lb., was manufactured by Mr.
Wright, of King Street, Yarmouth. After the marriage, the bridal party
assembled at the Vicarage, where the register was signed, and then sat
down to a récherché breakfast, the management of which was placed in
the hands of Mr. and Mrs. Franklin, of the Crown and Anchor Hotel. The
following is a list of those who were present at the wedding breakfast:
the Vicar and Mrs. Venables, the Honourable and Mrs. Sanderson, T. H.
Sanderson, Esq., Lord Hastings, Chas. Venables, Esq. (Taplow, Bucks),
and Mrs. C. Venables, Miss Sanderson, Miss Lucy Sanderson, Miss Maud
Sanderson, Canon Venables (Lincoln) and Mrs. Venables, Miss Ruth
Venables (Lincoln), Miss Rose Venables (London), Gilbert Venables,
Esq., B.A. (Lower Norwood), and Mrs. Gilbert Venables, Rev. F. G.
Wilson (Vicar of Rudham) and Mrs. and Miss Wilson, Rev. J. J. Raven,
D.D. (Yarmouth), and Mrs. Raven, Rev. R. V. Barker, M.A. (Yarmouth),
Edward Venables, Esq. (Emmanuel College, Cambridge), and Mrs. Edward
Venables, Rev. Bowyer Vaux, M.A., and Mrs. Vaux, Rev. R. H. Irvine and
Mrs. Irvine, Mrs. Palgrave (Yarmouth), Mrs. Woollnough, Rev. F. C.
Villiers, M.A., and the Misses Villiers, E. Villiers, Esq. (Galway),
Rev. A. B. M. Ley, M.A. (Yarmouth), Rev. G. Merriman, M.A., Rev. A. J.
Spencer, B.A., Miss Mander (Tettenhall Wood), Mrs. Palmer, Rev. R. J.
Tacon, M.A. (rector of Rollesby), Mr. Stonex. The presents to the bride
were very numerous, and among the donors we find the names of Mr. and
Mrs. T. North, of Leicester, a bread platter and knife; and Mr. and
Mrs. Burbidge Hambly, of Mountsorrel, a dessert service. The honeymoon
is being spent at Sans Souci, Dorsetshire.