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November 19, 1853.] THE LEAD E B. III/.
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PEINCE ALBEET, A cobrespondent complains...
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THE aOYEMING CLASSES. '¦¦ . ¦¦ , ¦ . ' ....
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
In Re Hamilton : Lokd Malmesbury's ¦ M ....
macy with which English affairs are conducted , And how are these affairs conducted P ¥ e see the Minister of the Crown forcing the recognition , of a right , in order to let it be violated , and avowing the indignity offered to a British subject , and to the British nation , as a thing to be redressed by money !
November 19, 1853.] The Lead E B. Iii/.
November 19 , 1853 . ] THE LEAD E B . III / .
Peince Albeet, A Cobrespondent Complains...
PEINCE ALBEET , A cobrespondent complains of the manner in which we have recognised certain merits in the Prince Consort , and we are induced to print his letter , because we believe it expresses feeling very common amongst many of a class for whom we have a great respect ^ and whom we desire to understand our real meaning — the workingclasses : —
" Dear Sib ,- —The illustrious person above mentioned has been frequently adverted to in your journal of late , and lavish enconiums have been paid to him ; he has been set forth not only as a man of the age , but as a man in advance of the age ; not only as an individual who sympathises with the people , but as a man who desires their social and political elevation , and acknowledges the equality and fraternity of the race ; in short as a man thoroughly imbued with democratic
sentiments . '' Now , sir , however beautiful this may appear m print , I humbly conceive the position of the man will not warrant the assertion . Is it to be supposed that the ¦ . ¦ consort of the most powerful sovereign in the world , who has the prospect of being father to a , long line of princes , Bhould be so blind to his own and then . interests as to use his influence to destroy the sources from which it is customary to seek alliances ? Is it not much more probable that he will throw the whole
weight of British influence ( at his disposal ) into the scale of the aristocracy , and strive to keep the reigning families upon their thrones ? Indeed , judging from the countenance which Britain has as yet given to the cause of the people in the struggling nations of the continent , we must conclude that Government , however liberal , is the inveterate enemy of democracy . This is Kossuth ' s conclusion , and indeed the only one that could be drawn from the facts . A Glasgow Reader . "
Our friend misconceives our statement , and the actual statement of the Prince _ himself . He specifies certain very desirable objects , the social aud political elevation of a people , and assumes that those objects are packed up in the one word " democratic . Wow , it is a fact that the same objects have beeu sought b y men who were not in any sense democratic in their principles . The word democratic means " belonging to an opinion that the entire bulk of the people ought to be the governing power ; " a political preposition which we will not now discuss , but which is
quite separate from the objects mentioned by our correspondent . Many persons believe that the social and political elevation of the people , even the equality of the race , can bo better attained uudor aristocracy , or even autocracy , than under democracy : and history supplies materials for discussing rather than for settling that question . It may , indeed , bo said that the only genuine democracy ever witnessed in the history of the world is that of the United States of America : while
the rule of many aristocratic governments—such as that of England , or of Vonice at its boat—has resulted in very general happiness ; aud the nearest approach to social equality' has been attained uudor the absolute despotism of the Mussulman system , which recognises no distinction except the possession of power , —and where the beggar of to-day may to-morrow change places with the Pasha , tho possession of politico-military power convfcys but a social distinction .
• The reason why wo consider Princo Albert as one of the men in tho vanguard of the ago waa before our readers . We regard his principles as " « t forth particularly in tho speech which no de-Jivorod at the Mansion House , in March , 1850 ( not 1849 , as we erroneously stated ) . If wo 'wcribo undue merit to tho author of that speech , J ; ho render waa able to correct it , sinco we sup-/ lO
l > 'u- ( l him w | t j t ^ i (] u j a WJ ovor the author ° ' Mint Bpcoch was , wo pay that bo is a man who "ndoi-Hlands tho rolationfl botwoon a truly catholic r « 'igioU , tho most cultivated and scientific philo-H () phy , and tho industrial tendency of tho present ( liiy . ^ \ r beliovo Princo Albort to have" boon t » o author of that speech , from tho internal ovi-« onco offered by many other nddrosBes which ho } iiH dejiivqrod ; and lieliovmg no , wo boliovo tlmt \!\ grasped tho groat ; idea of tho ago .
A no fact that tho author ia a P » 'iuco doon not Provont us from rocegniBing tho living force of ' ¦" o words . Truth k vital , wliothor it como from
the lips of prophet , peasant , or prince ; and no bigotry of class can close our ears to the fact , that the man who utters these sentiments is a man capable of appreciating truth in all its greatness . ¦ . ; ; - . ' :. ¦ . ¦ ¦ ¦¦ /'¦ . ' ' '¦ . ¦ . ¦ ¦¦¦¦ . ¦ ¦¦ ' .. The positionofthemandoesnotmodify the truth , which is greater than the man is . But what Prince Albert may " probably" dowecannot judge ; we expressly concurred with those who say that he ought not to have a statue , because the whole of his conduct
is not yet before us , but what he has done in " the causeof the people , " or of the " strugglingnations , " we are glad to be ignorant . Prince Albert's position cuts him off from interfering with pohtics , foreign or domestic ; by the principle of our constitution the Sovereign is irresponsible , but can only act through Ministers who are themselves responsible , and we do not desire to see that responsibility of Ministers diminished by thensharing it with the Crown .
If Prince Albert were to meddle in " the cause of the people" he would commit a crime . He can do nothing save that which is permitted to a private gentleman of high rank . But whether he be public or private , whether he commit any crime in future or adhere to the modest course to which he has hitherto confined himself , we still say , that the speech of March , 1850 , comprises in it a few words of sublime truth which will immortalize him . far longer than any statue of bronze or stone . ; .
The Aoyeming Classes. '¦¦ . ¦¦ , ¦ . ' ....
THE aOYEMING CLASSES . '¦¦ . ¦¦ , ¦ . ' . ¦ : ¦ . ' . ¦ ' No . x . ¦¦ . ' - ¦¦ THE DUKE OP CAMBRIDGE AND THE BEST OP THE ROYAL FAMILY . A corbespondent of the leading journal , being a gentleman who rides in hack cabs , and therefore cannot enjoy the parks of a free metropolis , complains that Buckingham Palace is more mysteriously exclusive than an eastern seraglio ; and he points out that if Buckingham Palace were in either of those despotically governed capitals , Paris or Vienna , the grounds of the royal residence would be open to the public . " Hack Cab , " in short , is horribly annoyed that her Majesty and the Prince like to have their house and garden to themselves ; his obvious tendency being to insist that the mob should have the right of entrde to all the private apartments of the Palace , and that " Victoria ' s faithful subjects should enjoy the privilege which Marie Antoinette ' s subjects assumed—of seeing every night whether the children had really been put to bed . But the " Hack Cab" class of Englishmen betray , in these despicable impertinences to the Sovereign who cannot answer them , a pitiable miscomprehension of the spirit and position of the British Court . That gloomy
and austere exclusiveness of the gardenswhich so offends the prying and pushing " Hack Cab , " is in perfect keeping with the tone of the Court ; and if the grounds wei-e made public the privacy of the audiencechamber would disappear : the Keynoldses would follow tho Boy Joneaes . The British Crown is so respected because the British Court is so exclusive ; and the exclusivonoss is requisite in a capital which is a commercial capital of shifting principles and uncertain aristocracies . Tlie Grand Monarque might use the tweezers in hia dressing saloon at Versailles , in tho
presence of two hundred French gentlemen ; but then they were gentlemen in as well ascertained positions aa bin own , who had had Siours , Dues , and Comtes before them , and who would loavo ( it waa thought ) endless lives of precisely the biwxo personages after thorn . " Edward tho handsome might stroll through Cheapsido , to nee the citizen ' s wives behind their latticoH , Charles might Haunter down tho Bird-cage-walk to feed his duckn imd air bin dogs , and walk off his last night ' s orgie ; and George , tho country gentleman king , miglrt show himself , with one of the unploasantest old ladies in Christendom on his arm , to his loving
. subjects who could get within sight of tho terrace at Windsor . TIjgko were dayn when Kings were kings by gnuio of God , an tlio loyal believed , nnd when noeioty waa kopt down in' utiil" demarcations , liub in those days Courts havo to be drcuninpuct ; they think that familiarity broods contempt ; and bo it does when the familiars are oontomptlblo . . ToHoph of Auntria set a terrible example of bonhomie to continental sovereigns ; and tlmt free juid easy Htylo of royalty Imh destroyed tho principle of monarchy hi Germany . Haroun al itaHclud is not a model for a lfiuropean king , for Harouu al iUnohid whh alwayn followed in his porormnations by anaido who was an adopt at tho
bowstring ; . We see that the parvenu . Emperor of France , while affecting a belief in a new set of royal ideas , goes back to the traditionary etiquette of the ancien regime , and if he can ' t have gentlemen has at least gentlemen's , dresses , and shutting himself up with them in hia palaces never shows himself to the people . Our Court can afford to throw off the restraints of etiquette when put of town ; and we all admired Queen Victoria more than ever when we heard how she went about gossiping with the peasants in the Highlands , or how she scampered up to Dargan ' s house and shook
him heartily by the hand . But in " town" boy Jones must be handed over to the police , and Eeynolds must be ignored ; every act is a precedent , and rigid routine is self-defence . We have no aristocracy to constitute " the Court" proper , and in a commercial capital Toyalty would be compromised by cultivating the casual Robinson who has made a great fortune , and opened a great house—for Robinson
may be m the Gazette next year , or may take advantage of courtesy to propose a statue ; Our Court , under the influence of one of the most accomplished men of the age , encourages arts and letters ; and proof that Prince Albert is a great man , is in the pleasing circumstance ¦ that when he leaves the routine of a prescribed list he seeks the society of successful writers , artists , and savants . But these are exceptions sustaining the rulethat the British Court is the most exclusive Court in
Europe . Hence extensive popular ignorance of the Court ; extreme vagueness in speaking of the royal family ; and immense inevitable error in the popular opinion of the most influential of all our Governing Classes . Fuseli said , that there were many reasons why Petrarch was not popular in England , but that the principal reason was that the . English knew nothing of Italian . There are several reasons why the subordinate members of the royal family of England are not popular ; but the principal reason is that "the people
knownothing of those royal persons but their names . There is a Court Circular to give us a cipher to explain the national affection for the Queen ; and we can , at least , deal with Prince Albert historically , and judge of him as we would of Prince Rupert—from what we can make out of his acts . But what can the people know of the public characters they pay for who lead a profoiindly private life ? When they are dead and gone we make surprising discoveries ; and the other day we found Mr . Landor remarking quietly that the Duke of York , who was generally cheered in the street and
caressed in society was a " swindler" —the very man who was declared by three Bishops as tho '' only hope of a Protestant land . " There can be no doubt that he was as surprising a scamp as ever lived ; but should wo not have known that at the time , or before we put up the monument that stands in Waterloo-place , London , like a note of exclamation upon British enlightenment and Protestant faith . Ho had a large salary for a long time ; as had also their Royal Highnesses , his brothers and sisters , who perhaps , on tho whole , were scarcely worLh what
they cost—being , as a family , perhaps the least respectable of all families who ever enjoyed tho privileges of this free and happy land . The . perfect seerctiveness of royal porsonages as often doo . s them harm as good : for , as in the case of tho Duke of Cumberland , a frightened public easily gets into the habit of believing any thing bad of a man who , in the beginning , got a bad name , and was never frank enough to explain it away , —a Reynolds only finding opportunity for tho mysteries of a court which in mysterious . If a gentleman of taste and authority is hear-heated in terming her Majcnty ' fl uncles " swindlers , " wo may rapidly got used to that Hort of candour : and there
are a few tilings to bo said of an extremely painful character both of fcho gentlemen and the lad ion who sprang from the union of George 111 . and Charlotte : it ' s historical injustice ; but it . ' s a pity wo havo to wait till " men are dead to attack l , hom----being , besides , too lato to reform them . Wo ought to bo encouraged by Mr . Landor to courage and candour towards the living illustrious . There wan poor Mr . Hunt sent to prison for mentioning that his Majesty Ceorgo IV . wan an ' Adonis of fifty , or something of that sort : nnd though wo havo progressed so far oh to be able to tnigpettt now that be wan an unworthy King—or w Mr . Landor , who in forcible , Hays , a " HWindler" --- we are not ; much bolder with his relativos who survive — even when wo know poai-
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 19, 1853, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_19111853/page/13/
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