The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-24 00:00:00

on the other a building devoted to those arts and sciences
in which the late Prince Consort took so deep an interest.
This plan, however, was found to involve an expenditure
larger than the sum raised by subscription, or the sums
which we might fairly ask the house to grant. Therefore,
upon further consideration, the commissioners have reported
that they recommend her Majesty to abandon cue portion
of the proposed memorial, which consists of a hall of
science and art, and to confine the memorial to that personal
part which was to form a balance, as it were, to the other.
The site recommended by the commissioners to her Majesty
is that part of Hyde park which lies between the publio
road to Kensington and the carriage drive through the perk,
and that portion of it which lies opposite to the ground
which belonged to the commissioners of the Exhibition of
1851, The site would be in all respects suitable for the
purpose. It would ie in the public view, it would not in-
terfere with any other arrangements, and it would be, by its
vet y position, well calculated to display anything that
might be placed upon. Now, sir, in regard to the practice
of raising monuments as memorials to great and di.•tin-
guished men, I can only say it is a practice which has pre-
vailed in all countries and in all ages. In this country
there are many examples of such memorials; and it has
often well been said that such memorials answer a double
purpose. They not only satisfy the feelings of those who
are contemporaries of the man who is to be recorded, they
not only gretify the feelings of admiration, love, and affec-
tion of those who raise such memorials, but they stand as
examples to future generations, 'o stimulate them to emu-
late the virtues and high qualities of the persons in whose
honour they ate raised. New there was never perhaps a
person who in that double capacity was more fined to have
his memory recorded than the late Prince Cells°, t When
a n ernoriel is erected to some great military or naval corn
mender who has lost his li e in winning a great victory,
conducive to ►afety and dignity of his country; or when it
is erected to a more fortunete commander who has cart ied
himself uninjured through a hundre t bat lee, and has the
good fortune to fini-h his days in honourable repose, amidst
gratetul and admiring country—in either case the
example can be followed but by few, because the occasions
which present themselves even in these services to men
to display the great quel tie, which render illustrious
the name of such a hero, happen but seldom —they
happen only in times of war, wh ch it is hoped in
any time, and in all countries, will be few. But
the high qualities and virtues displayed by the late Prince
Cons 'rt were virtues that belong to every class of society
:rem the highest. to the lowest, and which come into action
and operation every day of a man's lite, and which no man
can say that the posi ion in which he is placed does not
afford him ample and honourable opportunities of carrying
into effect, His royal highness had qualities of the highest
or der. He would have been a distinguished man in what-
ever position of life it might have been his fortune to be
placed, and he has contributed, as much as it was possible
for any man to do in the performance of those various and
extensive duties which fell to his lot, to the happiness,
welfare, and prosperity of the country. Well, then, sir, I
say, upon every principle—whether it be to gratify and
satiety the feelings of the country, or whether to hold out
an example to every man of the exercise of those qualities
—these forbearing qualities which accompaniedthe highest
feeling and most honourable ambition on the part of his
royal highness, and which may be practised by any man,
and when practised will secure for any man the honour and
respect of his countrymen—l say, so far as that subject can
be accomplished, I am sure that the house will be of opinion
that the proposal is worthy of a vo eof this house. And
then, when we consider the affection which is felt by the
whole nation for our gracious Sovereign, when we recollect
what a deep and irreparable blow she has sustained by the
loss of the person who was the foundation of the happiness
of the happiest possible life—when we consider how the
feelings of the country sympathise with her Majesty, I am
persuaded that I am not wrong is saying that this house
never can be end never has been a more true exponent and
organ of the feelings of the country, then when they ten-
der, as I trust they will do this evening, respectfully to
her Majesty a token of the deep sympathy which they
feel for her misfortune, and of their heartfelt attachment
to her family. (Cheers) It may, indeed, be said of the
people of this country that they feel they have a Sove-
reign who, without any disparagement to her, it may be
said, they consider as one of themselves. Her joys are con •
sidered by them as their joys—her sorrows are partaken of
by them as sorrows of their own ; and I am persuaded,
therefore, that I am not at pealing in vain to the good feel-
ing and loyalty of this house in propos ng that we should
this evening vote the sum which will be necessary to com-
plete the amount of the subscription raised to the sum which
has ben estimated as the probable cost of such a memorial
as her Majesty shall select tor the put p ,se in vie w. Tne
commissioners have made their report. They recommend,
as I have said, a single and person memorial. I believe
that they calculate the cost of tbat to be something lik-
£ t 10,000. The amount subscribed reaches nearly te £6O 000.
If to that we add the £50,00'), which it is my duty to pro.
pose to parliament, I believe an amount will be gained
amply sufficient to erect a memorial which shall be worthy
of the country by whi h it is erected, and at the same time
du adequate honour to the Prince Consort, and be soothing
to the feelings of those to whom this house and the country
are desirous to do honour. (Cheers )
Mr. TIT E said he thought the amount of the subscription
had been considerably modified : that many cities and loca-
lities in the country oeeired to have a nueruotisl of their own.
As one of the members of the committee, the designs for
the competition had come under his observation, and he
must say they displayed a great variety of architectural
talent. The selection had fallen upon a design by Mr. G. G.
Scott. It was a memorial cross. The house possibly knew
that he (Mr. Tite) differed front many other persons with
regard to the use of Gothic architecture for secular ba ld-
ings ; but for a building of this kind nothing could be more
appropriate, and nothing more elegant, as it was of a sacred
character, and in imitation of the monumen► erected by King
Edward I. to his Queen Eleanor, With regard to the
character of these monuments, the best examples were to
be found at Berlin, as that of Frederick Lby Rauch. It
was proposed that the cross should be of a certain height—
three hundred feet had been mentioned, but that was an
exaggeration, and its actual height would be 150 feet.
Mr. CONINGHAM said he was sorry the subscribed
fund had been found insufficient for the purpose. He
thought the reason of the deficiency was that the public dis-
approved of the plan submitted by the Government. If it
had been of a useful character, and calculated to benefit
posterity, he thought the amount of the subscription would
be doubled, and even trebled ; and when they cast their
eyes round on the monuments of the metropolis, and saw
how unsuccessfully generally they had been carried out in
the shape of statues—(hear, hear)—he thought every sen-
sible man would wish to be memorialised by some means
calculated to benefis posterity. Ho trusted it was not yet
too late for the royal commission to reconsider their deci-
sion. At first it was proposed to erect a monstrous mono-
lith ; now it was a still more monstrous Eleanor cross, as it
was called ; which he thought was least calculated justly
to perpetuate the memory of the Prince Consort, and least
useful to the community at large.
Mr. DISRAELI—Sir, I cannot agree with the hon.
gentleman in the causes he has assigned for the inadequacy
of the public subscription for this object, nor can I agree
with him as to the principle on which the monument should
be erected. I think her Majesty's Government have upon
the whole taken a well-considered and judicious course in
this matter, which was not altogether tree from embarrass-
ment. The object is simple, and one which no one cen
possibly object to ; but no doubt it had become connected
(from the manner in which the proposition originated) with
some circumstances which rendered the course of the Go-
vernment embarrassing. Sir. lam always confident that
the common sense of the house will extricate us from a
difficult position, and I am gratified to see that her Ma-
jesty's Government are of the same temper, and that by
appealing to the house with a proposition which is clear
and comprehensible, they have terminated a position of
affairs which Was not altogether sa isfaetory. With re-
gerd to the o•iginal feeling when this sad event occurred,
some time ago, I cannot agree with the hon. gentleman in
the inference which he has drawn, hat in the desire to
raise to the memory or that illustrious person whom the
country lost there was any dissatisfaction with the
nature of the appeal that was made to them. No one can
d übt the real sympathy that pervaded the country when
that greet calamity occurred—indeed that is scare ly an
adequate expression to describe the emotion that was then
felt—it was a feeling almost of anguish—anguish for the
loss of him who had departed, and anguish for those who
were left alone and deserted. Sir, I think there was upon
that occasion every desire in the country to express, so far as
their contribute ns could express it, the feeling of the net-
tion. But it is to be observed that at that moment the
sympathy which was felt in the country was entirely of a
personal charaeter. The loss was so sudden and unexpected
that the natural emotions of the community were naturally
directed to tbs person and character of him who had de-
parted. An affectionate busiest:id, a perfect father, a master
whose yoke was gentleness, a wise and faithful counsellor
of the Sovereign—his consort—there were traits of cha-
racter in the station of the Prince that touched all hearts
and appealed to all feelings, and while there was a general
desire by a public contribution to show their sense of these
qualities, every community felt that it was equally a judge
of those virtues with he metropolis; and there was an im-
mense amount of local subscriptions, which though incon-
veniently yet very naturally were devoted to the localities
in which they were taised. Every person, for example, who
had a scheme for erecting a hospital or a school seized that
opportunity of general sympathy and sorrow for the merits
of the Prince whom we had lost to make a successful
attempt for obtaining, the fund which would not have been
otherwise acquired. I believe that was the reason why pub-
lic contributions were not directed to one source. But as
time drew on something of the influence of posterity was
exercised upon the opinion of the country, and the country
became conscious that they had lust a man not only of vir-
tuous and benignant character, who had exercised the quali-
ties he possessed for the advantage of the community of a hich
he was an eminent member, but a man of very original and
peculiar character, who had exercised a great influence upon
his age—an influence which, as time advanced, would be
more sensibly felt. The character of Prince Albert was
most peculiar in this respect—that it combined qualities
which are considered to be greatly incompatible, and com-
bined those qualities in a complete degree, the character of
contemplation and the character of action, Prince Albert