The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-10-12 00:00:00

To the EDITOR of the LIVERPOOL STANDARD

SIR,
The foi

—The excitement of the Great Exhibition is over.
reigner has returned to his distant home; the trades.

islator to the 'affairs of the si

,enate ; and the- b

in the land to the exercise and enjoyment of their dom-estic
duties and virtues. The tumultuous and varied feelings
which azitated the minds of the people of this and of the

back upon the glories of the Great Exhibition as a splendid
vision, which dazzled the eyes and bewildered the senses,
but which in that form never can be realized again. _

The time for consideration has come, and the so
demands consideration.

The question which I propose to the British nation is
this—Whether it is essentially and morally just, that,
while others who have assisted in carrying out the vast
undertaking of the Great Exhibition have received their
pecuniary rewards, their prizes, and their honours, his
Royal Highness Prince Albert, who was the gfeat designer
of the plan, and mainly instrumental in its accomplish-
ment, should be the only individual who has not received
his merited recompense and reward ?
We see an illustrious Prince, selected as the object of
attachment and affection by our beloved Queen, the holy
ties of matrimony, designed to make two individuals for
ever one consummated, and Providence blessing the union
with a large and increasing offspring. We see them happy
in each others love, training their children to acts of great-
ness, nobility, and virtue, and actively and zealously dis-
charging the high, responsible, and sacred duties of their
peculiar station, as well as nobly fulfilling the social obliga-
tionsof privatelife. Theconductof theseexalted personages
shines forth as a bright example to the rest of the nation.
When we contrast these circumstances, and their conse-
quences, with many opposite and lamentable transactions
which are recorded in the history of royalty , this country
cannot be too thankful to Providence for having given to
Queen Victoria a mother, who, in early youth, has instilled
into her mind those great moral principles which have
brought forth their beauteous fruit in the spring and sum.
mer of life, and of whose autumnal richness, luxuriance,
and abundance, we may reasonably entertain the highest
expectations. _ _ _ _ __ . _

But my object in addressing the British nation concerns
his Royal Highness Prince Albert rather than her Majesty
the Queen. As a nation we are proverbially just, and as
an encouragement to the cultivation cf talent, integrity
and worth, the highest offices are open in the Church or
the State, in the Army or the Navy, and the most exalted
rank in the Peerage, to which a subject can attain, to him
who shall have promoted the honour, the welfare, and the
glory of his country ; and in proportion to the integrity
with which we maintain this principle, in the same pro-
portion will the high position of this country be main-
tained among the nations of the earth.

Let us consider how far this principle applies and can
be enforced, with regard to Prince Albert. Prom the
moment that his Royal Highness became the Prince Con-
sort, he adopted the feelings and the habits of this coun-
try, and has in every way endeavoured to promote the
prosperity and the glory of the people: and happy is that
nation, in which an individual occupying the station of
Prince Albert, overlooking the fluctuating opinions of the
day, carefully avoids joining any party of men, whose
politics frequently sit only loosely upon them, but keeps
the interests of his country steadily in view !

Do we practise the social virtues, and are we naturally
given to business ? I ask those who have had an oppor-
tunity of knowing Prince Albert, whether his opinions and
acts are not in strict conformity with these characteristics
of the British nation ? I appeal to those numerous and
brilliant assemblies of the aristocracy, who partake of the
sumptuous hospitalities of the royal family, whether they
have not every reason for congratulation that the consort
of our beloved Queen is Prince Albert; and whether his
social and amiable qualities have not endeared him to
every one who has the honour and happiness of his
acquaintance ? And likewise to those who have been with
him upon committees of business, whether he does not
discharge, with the most punctilious scrupulousness, every
obligation and understanding to which he has rendered
himself liable ? And what is the conduct of the Prince
with regard to the interests of the people ? I believe that
there is no project, essentially good in itself, and calcu-
lated in its operation to be beneficial, which his Royal
Highness is not always ready, both with his purse and his
personal exertions, to assist and promote ; and the socie-
ties for the relief of the poorer classes of the community,
which are chiefly supported by the beneficence and influ-
ence of his Royal Highness are genuine evidences of the
excellence of his heart. Even the criminal population is
not overlooked by him, for we observe him hying the
foundation of a Reformatory for Youthful Offenders, and
thus affording them a chance of return to a healthier state
of mind, and to society again. These are qualities which
add brilliancy to the gems of the coronet. With regard
to the arts and sciences, there is no individual in the
country who takes greater interest in, or gives more
encouragement to their progress, than Prince Albeit.
And as to our educational establishments, where the
foundation of all that is great and good is laid, those nur-
series of future mighty intellects which are to adorn the
literature or sway the destinies of the nation, his Royal
Highness has ever shown a wise regard, knowing that the
vital interests of the country are involved in the principles,
tone, and feeling communicated and imbibed in the facile
years of the morning of life. I cannot but express my
regret here, that the examination of our public schools
should be so thinly attended by individuals of wealth and
rank and mental acquirements, whose presence and inte-
rest manifested in the advancement of learning, would
afford a most salutary stimulus both to public professors
and their pupils ; and I trust that the conduct of Prince
Albert will induce others to the consideration and imita-
tion of his example.
With respect to the Great Exhibition of 1851, there can-
not be a doubt that this country is under a real and deep
obligation to his Royal Highness Prince Albert. The con-
ception of concentrating Earth's beauties, wonders, and
magnificence in our island, the mental energy, and im-
mense pecuniary resources necessarily brought into opera-
tion for its completion, the unbounded satisfaction ex-
perienced and expressed by this and other nations, com-
bine to stamp it with a greatness which the powers of
language have failed adequately to express.
The question now recurs, is it essentially and morally
just that others who have been connected with the Great
Exhibition should have received their rewards, their
prizes, their honours, and that the obligation which this
nation is under to the Prince Consort should remain un-
cancelled ? The answer must be in the negative. How
then can we show, in a manner acceptable to the Prince,
and worthy of ourselves, that we are sensible of the con-
stant wishes and zealous endeavours of his Royal High-

ness to promote the welfare, Coe honour, and the great-
ness of the country ? As in the case of William and
Mary, so let us, by an Act of Parliament, make his Royal
Highness a sharer in the honours, the dignities and the
responsibilities which encircle our beloved Queen. The
Crown will sit gracefully upon the Prince's brow, because
it will be decorated with virtues which will render the
wearer amiable in our eyes ; and the act will be worthy
of the nation, because it will be consistent with those wise
and just principles which it is the interest and duty of stll
to foster and maintain.—l remain, Sir, yours faithfully,
Chester, Oct. 1852. W. G. EATON.