South-eastern Independent. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1871-1871, 1871-11-24
RepubIicanism I'm England.

1t seems just now a debateable
question, whether Or not Queen
Victoria will ever have a successor
on the throne of England. She has
of late years demonstrated the pos
si5llity of England's getting Oh
quite as we'll without q monarch as
with one, and the people who have
seen how smoothly the machinery
of government can be made to go
while the Queen remains in seclus.
ION, are evidently questioning the
propriety of maintaining any long
er 50 expensive u collection of fig
ure heads as a royal family must
necessarily be. The saubbIngs to
which various members OF the
Queens household, including the
Queen herself, have been compelled
TO submit, show a waning loyalty
on the part of the people which is
by no mean encouraging to the
young man who hopes to be the next
KIng of England. The angry muir
murings of the lower orders are u
dible across the Atlantic. Libera'-
Ism ia the middle class has already
proved itself a power not to be de-
spIsed, and were England other
than che rs, the indications OF q
coming revolution would be pro-
nounced unmistakable by all look
ers-on. AS 1t is, We must throw in
10 the opposite scale the intense
conservatism of the British cbarac-
ter, q conservatism amounting at
times almost to stolIdity. We must
remember, also, that nearly all the
wealth of England would be Imper-
lied in making any change, and the
repressive power of this wealth can
hardly be estimated.
Again, the government as il is, is
becoming more and more liberal ev-
cry year. and there a be no ques-
ton of the fact that 1t already Sc
cures to the subject q measure of
personal liberty almost if not quite
rs great as that enjoyed by citizens
of we'll governed republics. This,
taken in connection with the fact
that a large number of the most ac-
tive advocates of the republic are
tainted with Communism, must
greatly weaken the hands OF those
who would alter the Constitution
by the abolition of royalty and ar
istocracy. The English Governs
ment is felt to be g good one as 1t
is, and there must be many of the
people who, while they would pre-.
fer a republic, do not wish it earn
estly enough to join hands with the
communistic and agrarian elements
for the sake of securing it. They
would like a republic, but shudder
at.the idea of the Commune, and,
choosing between two evils, they
would IN the event of q revolution
join with the conservatives rather
than the radicals. English repub-
l;canism is too Frenchy to bear
good fruits, and intelligent English
men probably know the fact too
well to consent 20 u change which
may result IN a general oycrturnIng
of all that is good in Their constItu :
ton, and the substitution of social
astic ideas against which The An.
glu-Saxon character always revolts.
On the whole, it seems probable
that the English people will permit
no revolution TO effect sudden chan
ges in their form of government.
In the future as in the past, chang
CO will necessarily be made, all
tending toward a wider personal
liberty and a more liberal form OF
government. A divorce of the
Church from the State appears mo-
vitabie. What remains of feudalism
IN the English law will be stricken
out. The vigorous energy CT the
Commons will continue TO ~cncroach
upon prerogatlves of king and ar
i~stocraey, but all these things may
and probably will come about grad
ually, and a republic may uIti
mately be wrought out of the.exist.
ing governmental fabric without
violence, just as the present Eng
lIsh Constitution has been hewr
out of feudal despotism piece by
piece.