Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1879-10-14
CONTINUED from First Page. }

brilliant manner of the great master, part
ly defeats his purpose There is not scope
and verge enough in an hours lecture to
deal with the long life of a man who was
the ruler of nation and the central figure
OF society. A lecture must not be dull
it must he piquant and attract large
number Of people or il is a failurer and
Thackeray's lectures, like similar per-
forinances of lesser men, will not bear the
test Of literary criticism. In the case of
George ", the unsheltered guilt of the
wretched offender and the unsparing lash
of the cruel satirist have the effect of
awakening our pity. Thackeray was in
tolerant of snobbery and pretense; the
character of the prince was false, selfish
and paltry. and his punishment is given
untempered with a ray of mercy. Use
every man after his desert, and who should
'scape whipping?' In dealing with
George, Thackeray entirely forgets the
kindly Horatian philosophy of which he
is the best modern teacher; he overlooks
the fact undertaking all human nature
that there are two distinct characters, a
bad and better. even in the worst.
The regent and king. bad as he seems,
was not responsible for the tone of Eng
ilSh ooCtttN. lit was OIlN ttl tAtIllDit vi IL
placed in the blaze of that fierce light that
beats upon throne. Prince Puckler-
Muskau, an acute German, who travelled
in England early in the century. wrote
letters that were published under the title
OF Letters of Deceased Person. This
hook, now somewhat rare. accurately
photographed English society of George
Tvs time, from the capacious duke of
York. in whose cOuntcnance six bottles of
claret did not produce change. to the
lowest member of society. These letters
show us the luxury without taste, the
magnificepce without comfort of the
aristocracy, and the vulgar manners of
the middle class a profigacy as great As
that of the French noblesse under Louis
XIV. That was the society of which George
was the leading gentleman. lie drank
heavily; but so did all the world He did
not pay his debts but men have been for
given for that crime, even by their cred-
tors. He was unkind to his wife. even to
public persecution; but she. like his other
associates. was a bad lot, '" and there was
little to choose between them. He com
mitted bigamy in the case of Mrs. Fitzher
ben,-a wanton and superfluous crime,
but that was forgiven by society because
the ceremony was performed in the Catho-
lie church, in which no defender of the
Protestant faith could be legally married.
1t may be said in his favor that he was
very handsome, graceful, really accom-
plished and much tempted He was apt
in learning. well educated and preferred
the society of men of wit. In his early
life he loved manly exercise. and what
would have endeared him to the American
heart, he was famous driver. 1t was
the day Of stagc-coaching in England. and
fast driving; men had not invented the
swindle of horse trots nor degraded the
roadster to the society of those who "en-
ter" him in ''classes that haint never
beat" whatever minutes and seconds, -
though it must be said that this form of
diversion has not obtained foothold in
England even the London cab-drivers
have higher equine aspirations. There
were good roads and gallant nags in the
days of regency; the prince himself once
drove four-in-hand from Brighton to Carl
ton house IS miles, inside of four hours
and . half. The thoroughbreds from
whose generous blood the qualities of the
American trotter are derived, Diomed,
Messenger and others, were contempora-
1--WE W siC iCeVDb' IL may DC vi
George that he was generous with the
peoples money and had none of the sordid
thrift Of his father nor the boarding char
acteristics of his niece, Victoria. mother of
the youth who as successor to the title of
his great-uncle seems to have taken him
~ bis exampler.
Albert Edward. son of good woman
and IN excellent gentleman. seems to have
inherited none of the paternal virtues.
When George w was at his nephew's
age he enjoyed better character than the
Prince of Wales has had any time since he
was man The change of public manners
makes the princes position more indie
corous. In the time of the regency gam
ing, hard-drinking. dueling and dissolute
living were the vices of men who adorn
the pages OF history and whose names are
carYed on stored urns. 1t is to the advan-
tag of banners, IL not of morals, That the
present age behaves rather better in pub
lie than the last did. Human nature is
pretty much of muchness' in every
age. and though Joseph Surface was not a
good man, he is a better example than
the braxen fellow who flaunts his vice in
the face of garish day. The prince of
Wales and his set are reckless of public
opinion, and though his good nature,
unostentatious ways and frequent appear
ance IN public, have given the prince great
popularity with the masses. he has got it
without deserving and he is liable to lose
it in a monent. q, His. conduct is a sore
trial to conservative, respectable England,
and he has now come to an age when men
rarely reform. Springfield Republican.