Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1859-07-22
THE GAZETTE.
FRIDAY MORNING. JULY -. 1859.
4 PRINCE CUNSURT.


the shape Of rose, the first public inlinallon
from the youthful Victoria Regina, that she
had selected him from IA crowd of Sulturs. to
liz her future husband. i'll the enthusiasm OF
the m"r,emt, he is said to have seized II table
knife, and cut cash in the breast Of his
coat, for the purpose Of safely dep'sltins
therein the precious love.token. IL was II lit
Il. touch of German sentimemtails,n. which
brought IL smile to the lips at many OF the
distinguished guests who witnessed the gal
liant exploit. and very naturally formed the
subject of remark subsequently in Court cir
Giles and el>ew here But the honor of being
the Queens husband, however highly cove
ted, is not without its drawbac Queens
husbands in England are always OF foreign
and invariably ofGerman extraction. For
scion OF English royalty to marry into an
English family would be To forfeit all claim
to the throne. George ". rieed married
Mrs. Fitzherbert, but it WAS done secretly,
and to screen himself from the consequences,
1.-The first gentleman in Europe" did not
scruple to authorize his friends t" deny he.
fore Parliament the fact OF the marriage
Had proofs to the contrary been forthcoming
and they were not very difficult OF access
it might have cos: him his crown. Ii can
not be said that in choosing Prince Albert
for her consort. Victoria acted unwlsely.-
The selection of IA foreign Prince WAS .mpera-
tive, il any selection were made at ALL and 1t
was equally essential that he should be a
Protestant. Her choice was, therefore, lint
ted-Prussia, Denmark, and Sweden, and
some Of the smaller German principalities.
being the only Protestant States on the Con-
tinent of Europe. 1t would have been OBJ
jectionable to bring about to-" close AN ALT
ance between Prussia and England, by
marriage which light eventually have pla-
ced Prussian Prince ON the English throne,
and thus virtually unite the two crowns; and.
moreover, there was not ut the time to which
we refer any younger member OF the House
of Brandenburg of marriaseable age. So
the choice fell, as it has fallen Tor the last
two centuries. upon one ut those petty Ter
man sovereismtes with which English roy
atty claims cousnship. But however high
ly Prince Albert may appreciate the honor
of such All alliance, his position exacts from
him certain sacrifices which. to man "i
ability and independence OF character, can
not fail occasionally to pr"ve irkS"me. In
popular opinion. and by the provisions OF
the Constitution, he is the Queens husband
aud nothing more. In matters OF State p"lI-
cy he is not permitted t" Interfere What
ever may be his predictions "r however
much he may desire to exercise IN influence
upon the government, he can neither seek I"
lead, nor even to advise. without ronSlng nt
once the jealousy of the English people aud
incurrins an amount of odium from the con
sequences Of which not even the weli-known
loyalty Of the English to their sovereign
would shield him. For the most part Prince
Albert has carefully submitted to the ext
gencies of his position and has played his
limited role with becoming modesty. Only
on two occasions has ne been suspected ot ii
desire to transcend his prerogative>. During
the Crimean war it was alleged that he had
attempted t. assert right to he present ut
the Council of Ministers, as the representa-
tive Of the sovereign, and that the asSnlnp.
ton met with prompt rebuke from Lord
Palmerston. 1t is even SAID that tins spirited
action on the part of the Premier caused
GOODNESS to rise between the latter and the
Court, which has never since been entirely
obliterated. However this may be, the state
ment vas very generally believed ut the
time and the indignation expressed III con
sequence by some of the leading journalists,
supported as it was by public opinion, Was
at least a significant intimation OF the popn-
lar determination not Ia permit of any M
termeddling with the affairs OF government.
That the warning was not without itS effect
we may very reasonably suppose from the
fact that We hear no more OF Prince Albert,
in relation to political matters until recently,
when the supposed proclivitses "f the Court
party towards Austria has again caused
his actions to be closely scrutniled.
The duties required Of the Prince Cons"rt
are such as any well-bred gentleman, VIII" Is
blessed with a good constitutions might very
readily perform. 1t is expected OF him that
he shall be "a pattern husband and father to
model wife aud mother, and in this respect
he has certainly not disappointed Public ex-
pectation, for he has honurably fulfilled his
marital obligations, and can show g"odly
ouiyer full Of arrows. For the rest, he IS tn
attend the Queen on all occasions OF State ar
ceremony, and to assist In doing the hon"rs
of the ROYAL Household. Ii he wishes t"
make himself still more useful and popular
he NAV have his model farms. and construct
model tenant houses; he may patronlze Crys-
tai Palaces, designed for the display OF spccI-
mems of the worlds industrial pr"gresS he
NAV preside mt agricultural meetings, and
instruct country gentlemen i'll the art and
mystery of raising good crops and breeding
fine cattle. lie may occupy the chair at the
annual gath erings of scientific associations
and may even lend the light OF his counten-
ance to give lustre to the turtle that graces
a civic banquet. All this he may do, and
in all other thin. 8 outside OF his domestic du-
ties he may follow the bent of his inclination
lie may amuse himself with Yachting "ff the
Isle of w light, or with deer stalkingand grouse
shooting in the highlands of Scotland: Tw"
things alone are interdicted to him: lie must
not tirt with Maids Of Honor, and he must
not trouble himself with politics: Both OF
these acts are rigidly tabooed. But unior,
tunately, the human mind is 80 constltut' d
that we long for that which We are not per-
mitted to enjoy, and think lightly the plea,
sures of which We are free to partake. 1t
might not be very difficult to observe the st'-
puiation concerning Maids Of Honor. but t"
be debarred from discussing politics in the
atmosphere ola Court. aud to be compelled
to maintain Il position of neutrality when
Empires are contending for the mastery: to
be forced to be silent when you are anxious
to speak, and to conceal yonr emotion under
veil of stocal inditference-this it H. which
makes the position Of Prince Cons"rt IN
E,ol,,d h,, No ,na,ns altopether AN enVaDle