The New York herald., 1874-12-13
RepabIic. nism and Royalty.

/
The fault of our modern history is that i
presents its heroes in full dress Our grca
men are apt to become legends. We suppose
that by some such process of adulatior
mythology found its gods Macaulay, in one
OF his earlier writings, gives a prophetic ac-
count of an epic poem, to be written thou
sand years hence descriptive of Waterloo.
In this poem Napoleon, the son OF Mars,
fights o personal combat with Wellington,
armed by Vulcan and the Cyclops. We re-
spect the sentiment of reverence which yearns
for heroes and hero worship but it never de-
tracts from truly great man that the truth
should be known about him. That was q
manly admonition of CromwelPs that the
painter should not omit the warts We some
times think it would be q comfort to
have a real life Of George Washington, and
we wish that some courageous historian
would enter upon the task AS it is, the
awful figure of the Father of his. Country
fades into the shadows and becomes
legendary, and we think Of him more as
demigod than as mere man, with the pas
sions and virtues of manhood. The real Ma
poleon has been lost in the nimbus of French
glory. Frederick is as much Of German
legend as Barbarossa Jefferson, Jackson,
Lincoln-how little we know Of them, or,
rather, how little We remember of their real
manhood Franklin preserves his personality
to us because in spirit of sublime truth and
frankness he told his life as he really lived
when he fell, when he rise, when he was
weak and when he was strong. This very
courage of truth telling has undoubtedly given
him his ever fresh and enduring fame.
There are few periods Of English history
more interesting than the reigns of George
~. and his successor It was the time Of
the Reform bill England. exhausted from
her Titanic strife with the French Revolution
and Napoleonism, was herself rapidly drifting
upon a revolution that would have been more
terrible than anything ever seen in France; for
there are cruel possibilities in this Saxon blood
that we see in that of no other race. The aris-
tocracy made its last stand for the remnants
of the feudal system, for pocket boroughs and
manorial rights in the House of Commons, for
the exclusion Of the Catholic and Hebrew
from the higher privileges of an Englishman.
Europe, torn and still bleeding with its years
of war, was on the verge of new strifes. The
hatreds Of the bloody time were still fresh.
The German mourned over Jena and dreamed
of the Rhine, the Frenchman longed
for the hour Of revenge for Waterloo.
1t was an uneasy, distracted time and we
feel its influence to this day. The battles for
reform, for Catholic emancipation, for the
abolition of colonial slavery, were only antici-
pa!ions Of our own battles for union and lib
erty. We only see the history of these events
through the clouds of prejudice and party
feeling. We read the journals and learn how
royal, how gracious, how bene6cent king
was George w.! We read Thackerays fear
full arraignment and we learn that he was
Prince Florizel in velvet, silk, furs and
wig. We have q glimpse of William Nv. as
an honest, bluff, hearty sailor king-a royal
jack tar, fitly reigning over a nation Of jack
tars. We see Wellington, the most famous
Englishman since Cromwell, gigantic figure
on the canvas, "truth lover" and 'trYtb
teller" and rapidly becoming as much of q
legend as Washington. Brougham shoots his
eccentric course, blazing brilliant, incompre-
hensible. But over all are the clouds of pas
sion, party pride, anger, adulation, and we
only see the heroes in full dress.
As will be seen from Q review elsewhere
printed these clouds at last pass away. There
was . nobleman who sat in royal councils,
a keen, truthful, honest man, who noted from
time to time what he saw and heard. These
notes come to light in the shape of the diary
of Charles G. F. Greville, which is elsewhere
reviewed. Certainly there can be no more
instructive comment upon this time, upon the
true motives that governed England during
these eventful years, upon the whole royal and
aristocratic system, than is furnished by Mr..
Greville. This gentleman was not an agitator,
Chartist or republican, anxious to tear down
and destroy. He was tory, the descendant
of dukes and earls, with all the tastes of
gouty, old-fashioned English gentleman, low
ing racing and cards and high living, and
hating radicalism and innovation. We have
the aristocratic system as painted by an aris-
tocrat 1t is not for us as republicans to say
what its effect will be upon the minds of
thoughtful Englshmen. but certainly, as
republicans, we have the right to note the
moral When George Nv. ascended the throne
James Monroe was President When William
w. died Andrew Jackson was closing his
career. Mr.. Greville describes the history Of
two reigns. During that time England was
governed by George Nv. and his brother. The
United States were governed by James Monroe,
John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson.
The ruling minds in English politics were
Canning, Wellington, Brougham, Melbourne
and Peel. The ruling minds in American
politics were Calhoun, Crawford, Clay, Web
ster and Van Buren. AS statesmen the men
| who were called upon to govern by Parlia-
mentary system are not inferior to the men