The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-26 00:00:00

though ha was pursued by noting but the sound of
lanuter in Bleeding Hart Yard, rip2iing through the
air, and making it ring again.

Does anyone wish—rather, does not everybody who
has read Little Dorrit wish iolearn s ,met hing (before
closing she book) about the WhereaLouts of the
vanished old debtor's prison of the Msrshalsea
Here is the eminently. characteristic record
by Mr. Dickens (:n his preface) of his own pers anal
researches into the matter down at Bermondsey.
He writes
- -

Some of my readers may have an interest in being in-
formed whether or no any prtions of the Marshalies
Prison are yet standing. I did not knaw, myself, until.
the sixth of this preteut manth, when I went to look. I
found the outer front courtyard, often mentioned in this
story, metamorphosed into a butter-shop; and I then
lmost gave up every brie& of the . jail for lost. Wan-
dering, however, down a certain adjacent " Angel
Court, leading to Bermondsey," I came to " Marshal.
sea Place ;" the houses in which I reclgirsed, not
only as the great block of the former prison, bat as
preserving the rooms that arose in my mind'.-eye when'
I became Little Dorrit's biographer. The smallest boy
I,ever conversed with, carrying the largest baby I ever
saw, offered a supernaturally intelligent explanation of
the locality in its old uses, and was very nearly oorriet.
How this young Newton (for such I judge him to b 4)
came by his information, I don't know ; he was a quar.
tor of a century too young to know anything ahout it of
himself. I pointed to the room where Little Dorrit was
barn, and where her father lived so long, and a ked him
the name of the lodger who tenanted that apartment at
present ? He said " Tom Pythick." I asked him who
was Tom Pythick ? and he said, " Joe Pphick's
uncle."

From this same brief yet ample Preface We
learn with delight, but not by any means with
wonder—(for a popularity like that of Charlie
Dickens, true, and noble, and genuine, and good,
like his own Rare Genius, must inevitably expand
rather than contract in proportion as the know-
ledge of it spreads, and with the knowledge of it
the no less inevitable appreciation)—that "never*
has he had so many readers ! He said the same thing
(as he reminds the public) in his Preface to Ble t,k
House. And he adds, "In the preface to its suc-
cessor, Little Darrit, I have stall to repeat the
same words." An announcement his many realers
will receive, one and all, with no trival sense of
satisfaction. It is from the introductory pages to
Little Dorrit that we cull—(a blossom betw‹ en the
two last green leaves of the serial)—our conso-
lation upon closing Mr. Dickens's latest narrative.
" Deeply sensible of the affection and confident)
that have grown up between u.," writes Mr.
Dickens to his readers, " I add to this Prefacc.., es
I added to that [the Preface to Bleak House}—May
we meet again 1" How many will echo " with a
heart and a half" that plea,ant aspiration I

TH& "PRINCE CONSORT."

At the Council which was held yesterday an
order was passed for publishing a Letter Patent,
by which the Queen gran's to Prince Albert the
title of "Prince Consort" during their joint lives.
No one can object to the distinction which is thus
conferred on the husband of the Queen after 17
years of married life. We are not now concerned
to say whether the title of " Prince Consort" gives
to the possessor any accession of heraldic rank which
continental Chamberlains would recognise. Suffice
it to say that it makes Prince Albert legally, as
he already is actually, a member of the British
Royal Family. Hitherto the Prince has had no
British rank whatever. Philip of Spain was
titular King of England, but the Consort of the
present Queen is only what he was prior to his
marriage—a Prince of the House of Saxe-Coburg-
Gotha. He has not even received a British
Peerage. Although a naturalised subject of
the British Crown, Prince Albert has hitherto
lo:)rne only his German title, and out of
England takes, we believe, according to the code
of Court precedence, only his rank as a younger
brother of a Ducal German house. Although
styled "Royal" among ourselves, and no doubt
invested by courtesy with Royal honours in friendly
States, the Prince has by birth a claim only to the
title of " Serene Highness," and must yield prece-
dence to numerous scions of continental Royalty,
whose lot is obscure comparatively with his own.
Her Majesty has then certainly transgressed no
bound of moderation when, after a reign of 20
years, she confers on her husband a title which,
without giving him any authority at home, assures
to him a high and definite position abroad. Prince
Albert will now meet foreign Royal families with
the status of a British Priuce of the highest rank.
Already, by Royal Order, he has taken precedence
of all members of the reigning family in England,
the new title only assures to him the same position
in other countries, where these matters are ordered
by immemorial usage rather thin in accordance
with the statutes of any particular monarchy. We
may well acquiesce, therefore, in the act which the
natural affection of our Queen has prompttd in
making this innovation on English heraldry.
The law of this country has, indeed, always been
that the rank of the wife confers no dignity on
the husband. No ilougbt this is in accordance with
the law which determines the descent of dignities
in England. All our old English Baronies and a
great number of the Scottish Peerages are, like the
Crown, heritable by women. So, in default of a Saha
Law, we have established by custom another which
th e non-existence of the former almost renders neces-
sary—namely that thehusband shall receive no rank,
dignity, or precedence in right of his wife. This
bas become so much a part of our jurisprudence
that we are inclined to forget that it is hardly un-
derstood in many parts of Europe. In Spain and
Portugal, both lately governed by Queens, the
Consorts of the Sovereign had the title of " King."
It was thought no more than just that the hus-
band of a Queen Regnant should have the same
social rank as his wife, even though he did not
share her authority. Her Majesty is certainly the
bast judge whether a similar regulation in England
will enhance the dignity of her husband. If the
title of "Prince Consort" gives to Prince Albert
a higher position at the Courts where the Wife's
dignity naturally attaches to her Consort, the
people of England can have no objection to the
graut. It is within the prerogative of the Sove-
reign of England to bestow any title of honour or
any place in precedence, although a,:tual authority
within the realm can only be conititntionCly exer-
cised in pursuance of an Act of Parliament. Prince
Albert, therefore, may fairly bear his new title.
We cannot, indeed, believe that the change was
necessary to obtain for the Prince fitting respect
among ourselves. For 17 years he has receive!
almost every honour which the Crown or the great
Corporations of the country can bestow. The list
of his titles and offices obtained before middle age
is.a proof of the public respect for himself or the
widely diffused loyalty to the Crown. His Royal
Highness the Prince Consort of the United King-
dom will be to us pretty much the same as his Royal
Highness the Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
But, in spite of the poet, there is much in a name,
and, if there be increased homage rendered to the
new title on the banks of the Spree or the Danube,
the English people will be happy to sanction and
adopt it.--Times.