The Press.
London, England, 1857-07-25 00:00:00

f it tr at tut.

Addresses delivered by his Royal Highness the
Prince Albert. Published by the Society of
Arts. London : Bell and Daldy.
No candid mind can deny the fact that the
Prince Consort is one of the most accomplished
personages who ever occupied so high a station
as that which his Royal Highness fills in Eng-
land. If there were any doubt on the point,
it would be removed by a critical perusal of
these intellectual addresses. Few orators
rival the Prince Consort in forcible breadth of
generalisation. Prince Albert does not in-
dulge in mere abstractions ; his habits of
thought and speech unite the philosophic and
practi:ml. We might, indeed, infer from the
tone and sentiment of these addresses that his
Royal Highness was deeply conversant with
the ascertained laws of social history, as dis-
tinguished from mere political narrative.
There is a largeness of view, combined with a
closeness of thought, in his exercitations that
gives them much value. His Royal Highness
can be didactic without pedantry, and philo-
sophical without being fiigid. He has evi-
dently profited by the highest German culture ;
but his Royal Highness has superadded the
observation and practical reference which
belong to English habits. The blending of the
two qualities in these addresses is very inte-
resting. Other features, also, are apparent in the
style of his Royal Highness. The composition
is smooth ; there is no obscurity ; and, along
with the pithy power of thought in the logic,
there is considerable polish in the rhetoric
The reflection of an essayist, the shrewdness
of a man of the world, and the scholarly dic-
tion of an academic mind all meet in these
compositions. Brilliant brevity and sugges-
tive thoughts are sAlom found together, as
here, in the formal addresses from personages
of state.
When the Prince Consort first delivered
these addresses, it was said that " they were
" composed for him !" The question next
came, " By whom ?" and no one could answer.
The fact is that their high merit and origin-
ality consist in their being utterly unlike such
speeches as official formalists would venture
to put in the lips of a great dignitary. Their
boldness is unlike the pettiness and empty
verbiage of redtapists. At times, certain sec-
tions have been offended with the manly
frankness and honest utterances of the Prince
Consort. Roman Catholics tried to find
grounds for offence in the following admirable
sentiments, delivered on the festival of the
" Sons of the Clergy":—

When our ancestors purified the Christian faith and
shook off the yoke of a domineering Priesthood, they felt
that the keystone of that wonderful fabric, which had
grown up in the dark times of the middle ages, was the
Celibacy of the Clergy, and shrewdly foresaw that their
reformed faith and newly won religious liberty would on
the contrary only be secure in the hands of a clergy united
with the people, by every sympathy, national, personal, and
domestic.

Gentlemen, this nation has enjoyed for three hundred
years the blessing of a church establishment which rests
upon this basis, and cannot be too grateful for the advan-
.tages afforded by the fact, that the Christian ministers
not only preach the doctrines of Christianity, but live
among their congregations an example for the discharge
of every Christian duty, as husbands, fathers, and masters
of families, themselves capable of fathoming the whole
depth of human feelings, desires, and difficulties.
Whilst we must gratefully acknowledge that they have
as a body worthily fulfilled this high and difficult task, we
must bear in mind that we deny them an equal participa-
tion in one of the actuating motives of life—the one which
amongst the •` children of this generation " exercises, per-
haps of necessity, the strongest influence—l mean the
desire for the acquisition and accumulation of the goods of
this world.
Gentlemen, the appellation of a " money•making par-
son," is not only a reproach, but a condemnation for a
clergyman, depriving him at once of all influence over his
congregation. Yet this man who has to shun opportunities
for acquiring wealth, open to most of us, and who has him-
self only an often scanty life income, allotted to him for his
services, has a wife and children like ourselves; and we
wish him to have the same solicitude for their welfare
which we feel for our own.

Are we not bound then to do what we can to relieve
his mind from anxiety, and to preserve his children from
destitution, when it shall have pleased the Almighty to
remove him from the scene of his labours ?

We submit that nothing could be more worthy
of the heart of a Protestant Prince than the
foregoing eloquent passage. Candid Roman

THE PRESS, JULY 25, 1857.

Catholics confess that the "domineering Priest-
hood" did provoke the cry for a Reforma-
tion.

Through all these addresses Social Philo-
sophy holds a high place. There is a posi-
tivism of thought in all of them which stamps
them as the productions of one mind, and it
is in their social aspirations and monitions
that their subjective originality is most to be
found. The facts that society, rightly con-
stituted, should make a grand whole, and that
the happiness of all classes are inevitably
joined together, are always presented to the
audience. The ideas of order, law, and
duty are philosophically touched upon, and
every address shows that the distinguished
speaker has been accustomed to reflect upon
the beauty as well as the utility of the social
structure.

The critical closeness of thought in these
addresses proves the sustained power of the
Prince Consort's faculty for observation. In
his speech at the Royal Academy dinner in
185] his Royal Highness observed :

Gentlemen! the production of all works in art or poetry
requires in their conception and execution not only an
exercise of the intellect, skill, and patience, but particn•
larly a concurrent warmth of feeling and a free flow of
imagination. This renders them most tender plant.,
which will thrive only in an atmosphere calculated to
maintain that warmth, and that atmosphere is one of kind-
ness, kindness towards the artist personally as well as
towards his production. An unkind word of criticism
passes like a cold blast over their under shoots, and
shrivels them up, checking the flow of the sap, which was
rising to produce perhaps multitudes of flowers and fruit.
But still criticism is absolutely necessary to the develop-
ment of art, and the injudicious praise of an inferior work
becomes an insult to superior genius.

" The concurrent warmth of feeling " is, in-
deed, necessary to all exercise of the artistic
and literary mind. To move others, a man
must be moved himself. The Prince then
proceeds:—

In this respect our times are peculiarly unfavourable
when compared with those when Madonnas were painted
in the seclusion of convents ; for we have now on the one
hand the eager competition of a vast array of artists of
every degree of talent and skill, and on the other, as judge,
a great public, for the greater part wholly uneducated in
art, and thus led by professional writers who often strive to
impress the public with a great idea of their own artistic
knowledge by the merciless manner in which they treat
works which cost those who produced them the highest
efforts of mind or feeling.
The works of art, by being publicly exhibited and offered
for sale, are becoming articles of trade, following as such
the unreasoning laws of markets and fashion ; and public
and even private patronage is swayed by their tyrannical
influence.

Jt is, then, to an institntion like this, gentlemen, that
we must look for a counterpoise to these evils.
Most true ; and the " merciless manner " is
often exhibited by critics who cannot draw a
sketch in Indian ink. Some of our msthetical
" critics " are the merest pretenders. The
world of art is comparatively restricted in
England, and critics in it, therefore, obtain
more despotic influence than in literature.

The characterisation of the late Sir R. Peel
by the Prince Consort is executed with great
ability, though open to criticism in detail.
We shall extract the whole passage, as it is
one of the most finished . effusions in this
volume. At the Lord Mayor of York's dinner
to the Lord Mayor of London in 1850, the
Prince Consort, alluding to the death of Sir
Robert Peel, spoke as follows :

Only at our last meeting we were still admiring his
eloquence and the earnestness with which he appealed to
you to uphold, by your exertions and personal sacrifices,
what was to him the highest object, the honour of his
country ; he met you the following day together with other
commissioners, to confer with you upon the details of our
undertaking: and you must have been struck, as every-
body has been who has had the benefit of his advice upon
practical points, with the attention, care, and sagacity with
which he treated the minutest details, proving that to a
great mind nothing is little, from the knowledge that in the
moral and intellectual as in the physical world the smallest
point is only a link in that great chain, and holds its ap-
pointed place in that great whole which is governed by the
Divine wisdom.

The constitution of Sir Robert Peel's mind was pecu-
liarly that of a statesman, and of an English statesmen :
he was liberal from feeling, but conservative upon prin-
ciple ; whilst his impulse drove him to foster progress, his
sagacious mind and great experience showed him how
easily the whole machinery of a State and of society is de-
ranged, and how important, but how difficult also, it is to
direct its further development in accordance with its funda-
mental principles, like organic growth in nature. It was
peculiar to btm, that in great things as in small all the
difficulties and objections occurred to him first ; he would
anxiously consider them, pause, and warn against rash
resolutions ; but having convinced himself, after a long and
careful investigation, that a step was not only right to be

taken, but of the practical mode also of safely taking it, it
became to him a necessity and a duty to take it : all his
caution and apparent timidity changed into courage and
power of action, and at the same time readiness cheerfully
to make any personal sacrifice which its execution might
demand.

Gentlemen ! if he has had so great au influence over
this country, it was from the nation recognising in his
qualities the true type of the English character, which is
essentially practical. Warmly attached to his institutions,
and revering the bequests left to him by the industry, wis-
dom, and piety ofilhis forefathers, the Englishman attaches
little value to any theoretical scheme. It will attract his
attention only after having been for some time placed before
him; it must have been thoroughly investigated am? dis.
cussed before he will entertain it. Should it be an empty
theory, it will fall to the ground during this time of proba.
tion ; should it survive this trial, it will be on account of
the practical qualities contained in it ; but its adoption in
the end will entirely depend upon its harmonising with the
national feeling, the historic development of the country,
and the peculiar nature of its institutions.
It is owing to these national qualities that England,
whilst constantly progressing, has still preserved the integ-
rity of her constitution from the earliest times, and has
been protected from wild schemes whose chief charm lies
in their novelty, whilst around us we have seen unfortu-
nately whole nations distracted, and the very fabric of
society endangered from the levity with which the result of
the experience of generations, the growth of ages, has been
thrown away to give place to temporarily favourite ideas.

This is very fine and discriminative eloquence,
but, like Lawrence's portraiture of the original
in oils, it is too flattering. Cromwell desired
that the warts in his face should not he
omitted ; and in this portrait of Peel we are
made to think of Queen Elizabeth's wish that
she should be painted without shadow.
" Attention, care, and sagacity " in studying
" the minutest details " Sir Robert Peel un-
doubtedly possessed; but, in our opinion, he
always made too much of " difficulties and
objections." He did not look enough into the
general reason of things ; he often lost himself
in mere details ; and when two opposite prin-
ciples sere tendered to him Sir R. Peel tr ould
puzzle himself, because he would think upon
them without reference to higher views than
consideration of mere detail ever can give. Be-
sides, he did not see in time " the difficulties '
from standing still. He had no prescience,
and his want of imagination is omitted from
the foregoing picture. A Conservative states-
man is bound to be as prospective as a Liberal
politician. He is as much bound as the
leader of ary other connection to weigh the
eventualities between inaction and innovation ;
and when he sees that measures are inevitable,
he ought to take part in devising those which
are least dangerous.
The political and social character of the
Englishman as described by the Prince Con-
sort is drawn with clear and firm outlines.
Yet it is remarkable that Sir R. Peel once de-
clared that it was " extremely difficult to
" understand the people of England." He
confessed that he was often puzzled by their
love of money and property, and by their fond-
ness for political excitement.

This volume is handsomely got up, and it is
published by the Society of Arts, of which the
Prince Consort is President. It is certain to
be found in most libraries, as, in addition to
the value of the orations themselves, much
interesting matter is prefixed to the several
speeches. An interesting account of the 23rd
Regiment (Welsh Fusiliers) precedes the
fuldress on giving them new colours in 1849.
The following is curious :

An ancient custom is connected with this regiment, in-
dicating its Welsh origin, of which it is not a little proud.
When marching in review it is preceded by a goat with
gilded horns, and crowned with flowers ; and on St.
David's•day, when the health of thy• Prince of Wales is
drunk, the goat, in magnificent housings, ridden by a
drummer boy, is solemnly led round the table by the
I)rum•Majot. In 1775, when the regiment was at Boston,
the goat lwing frightened, leaped upon the table, threw his
rider, and bounding over the heads of the guests,
escaped, caparisoned as he was, to his quarters in the
barracks. In 1844 the regimental goat died, and her
Majesty graciously presented a fine Persian goat to each of
the two battalions.

The last words of the address from the Prince
Consort were these :
Take these Colours, one emphatically called the Queen's
(let it he a pledge of your loyalty to your Sovereign, and
of obedience to the laws of your Country), the other
more especially the Regimental one, let that be a pledge of
your determination to maintain the honour of your Regi•
ment. In looking at the one you will think of your
Sovereign, in looking at the ether you will think of those
who have fought, bled, and conquered before you.

On the bloody heights of the Alma these
colours were borne in triumph by this re-

nowned regiment, which is certainly one of the
most deservedly famous in the whole service.
We have given an early notice of this va-
luable volume (which reached us only this
week), and we may, perhaps, return to it on
a future occasion.

Unprotected Females in Norway : or, the
Pleasantest Way of Travelling There, passing
through Denmark and Sweden. With Scan-

dinavian Sketches from Nature. London :

Routledge.
DOES any one ever read a modern volume of
travels ? We doubt it, always excepting the
critics whose elaborate opinions upon the
several works which come under their bands
can he educed by nothing less than honest
straightforward reading, page by page ; but
the reading public. unless such a book as
" Fothen," or a Whig lord's milk-and-water
" Diary," makes its appearance, we are con-
vinced, seldom take up a volume of continental
travels ; and we think the public instinct in
this instance is right. The books are in
general so bad, the subjects so stale, the
locality so well known, that the difficulty of
saying anything fresh and original is insu-
perable. As well might the attempt be made
to be original and entertaining upon a martello
tower which every one goes round and round
so often as he or she visits the Sussex
coast. Indeed, we feel more surprised that
certain folks should write such books than
that certain other folks should decline to
read them. But, now and then, if we don't
get a very profound and original work, we dis-
cover a tolerably lively and entertaining one.
Let us take, for instance, the " Unprotected
Females in Norway." Autumn is coming;
Parliament's days, Lord Palmerston has told
us, are " numbered ;" and before many weeks
London may be once more out of town. It
will not be a bad trip to follow the two unpro-
tecteds, and plunge into Norway and Scandi
navia, and for the sake of its glorious scenery
to consent to live upon porridge, sleep upon
hay, and wash out and iron our own linen for
a month or two :

We two ladies, having gone before, show how practicable
the journey must be, though we have found out and will
maintoin that ladies alone get on in travelling mach
better than with gentlemen: they set about things in a
quieter manner, and always have their own way ; while
men are sure to go into passions and make rows, if things
are not right immediately. Should ladies have no escort
with them, then every one is so civil, and trying of what
use they can be; while, when there is a gentleman of the
party, no one thinks of interfering, but all take it for
granted they are well provided for.

The only use of a gentleman in travelling is to look after
the luggage, and we take care to have no luggage. " The
Unprotected " should never go beyond one portable carpet-
bag. This, if properly managed, will contain a complete
change of everything ; and what is the use of more in a
country where dress and finery would be in the worst
taste? Two waterproof bags, with straps, and no key (a
thing always missing), straw hats which will not blow up,
thin mosquito veils, solid plaid shirts with light polkas,
woollen stockings, and hobnail shoes, are the proper Nor-
wegian accoutrements, with a light hooded waterproof
cloak to go over all, much the same as would be taken for
a Highland tour, with the addition of two other things—a
driving wli!p and fishing rod ; the former is generally
represented oy a switch at the Norwegian posting houses,
and it is the gr-2atest resource in the world to have the
latter to throw into the nearest stream, without fear of a
loud " llolloa !" if kept waiting for, or in want of, a meal.
Front London to Calais, Malines, Ghent,
and Hamburg, and through Holstein to Kiel,
you cross to Copenhagen, and after being jolted
Out of life and liver over its rough stones, and
your head cracked with the springing of the
dustmen's rattles on a hot summer's day, you
find yourself on board the steamer bound up
the Sound to Gottenburg. How the two un-
protecteds bore the voyage, how they felt
qualmish and lay upon deck, talked to by a
well bred Englishman, who told them when
anything interesting came in sight, and they
" popped up their heads just to look ;" how
they landed at the different stations, and
talked to and sketched the peasantry ; and how,
on reaching their destination, Elstad, they
found at the end of the pier " a pretty little
" light carriage, with red body arid green
'' wheels," into which they packed themselves
and their bags, and started off upon the tour,
the book itself will tell better than we can.
They got on, however, " splendidly;" the pony
" ran up-hill and down hill," and carried them