The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-07-02
VICTORIA AND ALBERT EDWARD.
The Latter Growing in Popularity at the
Expense of the Former.

NJ. D. Conveys London Letter.
The Queen is certainly not liked by the
English people. l have formed a pretty
large acquaintance in the course of twenty
years residence here, and do not know one
English man or woman who personally likes
or admires the Queen. She is variously OBJ
jected to as morose, morbid stingy, grasping,
ugly, sullen, ill-humored and torpid ii not
stupid. l do not say that these opinions
of her are correct, but they are gene
rally held, though. OF course, not publicly
expressed. There are a number OF English
Radicals of the Bright school who set
high value on the Queen really be
cause she has brought a large degree OF
unpopularity on the throne. They would
like her to live long time, because every
year the people learn more and more how an
important the throne is to them, and are
gradually forgetting the traditions of court
spiendor and gayety. Their appreciation of
the Victorian reign is as little complimentary
to the Queen personally as the dislike Of the
average people. The Queen has offended the
most influential women of England by her
hostility to all movements for Ell larging the
sphere of occu patton and influence Of her
sex. The thinking and literary people are
ashamed that her only ELUSIVE patronage
should be accorded to military men whose
tribes. The great conservative middle classes
upper and lower) sneer at her heaping
up idle millions of money and giving none
of it to the Prince of Wales, while he per-
forms most of her public ceremonial duties
for her. Again | say | am not making
charges against the Queen, but reporting
them, and if any one thinks it ungracious to
report them, | respect their sentiment and
demur to their Judgment 1t is important
that Americans should not be misled by the
loyal silence of English writers and speakers
concerning facts so pregnant with importance
as these. So long as our countrvmen, at
home or abroad, indulge in eloquent piati-
tudes about the personality of the Queen
because, for instance, she telegraphs con
dolence on the death of a President, as if there
were some martyrdom in it-they will never
realize the profoundly historic significance of
her unpopularity among her subjects. The
fact is that England having out
grown all the reality OF monarchy,
has more fully come to yalne 1t as
the social and decorative department of the
nation. The monarchy has finally become
ceremony, an ornament, a national drawing
room, center of festivities; and just the
country has been politically evolved to dis
tinguish that as the sole rason d etre of
monarchy, behold, that is Just what Queen
Victoria is not If my reader will recur to
the grounds of the Queens unpopularity
given above he will find them to be mainly
make gay, lavish and decorative monarch
OF course deacon might say she is all the
better for the absence of such worldly quail
ties, but the average EnglishmanS reply
would be that he can pension plain, retired
old lady in apartments at Windsor for very
little money, and, since he pays largely in
money and loyalty for a splendid historic
court he would like to have it. The mon
arch being a constitutional automaton, so
far as concerns politics, if she is not socially
and ceremonially adequate, it amounts to
abdicatiom.
The Queens growing unpopularty meas
ures the growth of the Prince of Walcs's
popularity. This has been steadily increas-
ing until it is fast mounting up TO enthu- |
siasm. The Prince has endless good humor
and marvellous tact, an instance of the latter
being his prompt consent to go off to East |
bourne and open a small asylum there, be-
cause it was named after his deceased sister
Alice. He is clever: too. Not long ago the
Savage Club invited him to attend banquet
at their rooms; the whole thing was slightly
snobbish, and there was good deal of salts
faction when the Prince afer dinner, sug-
gested that so large and fine club lit con
sists chiefly of actors and musicians) should
found scholarship in the new Royal Col
lege of Music. The afiluence OF the club
was chiefly on the table. But
they could not excuse themselves
to the Prince, and are now learning
JHAJ udnCeTS WHO inuuiS6 III royal piper
must expect to pay him royalty. The Prince
always makes faultless speeches now (he has
lived a long time since he spoke to Queen
Elizabeth as his ancestor, aud never puts on
any airs. He has outived great deal of
gossip arising from his liking for pretty
girls, lin which was always more of the
merry German than the dangerous English
"firtatiousness, y and his love for the Prin-
cess is shown not only in his constant atten-
tions to her, but i'll the bloom and beaming
happiness of her face. 1t is probable that
there is not happier pair in Europe.
While it is known that the Prince is no
wealthy, he is known to be generous and
has never been accused of mean thing. He
shows no inclination to mngle in party
politics or in sectarian matters. He is a
brilliant man of the world able 20 converse
with any European in his own language and
his visit to any foreign court is there well
coined as signal for exceptional festivities.
Even il Queen Victoria possesses more good
qualities than she is credited with-and
have no doubt she does-she could not but
but be eclipsed by her heir, who shows pre-
cisely those ornamental qualities related to
the now merely ornamental character of the
British throne. He and his princess are
now virtually the king and queen in all save
the salary, and few official duties which,
as Carlyle long ago showed, could be done
quite as well by an autograph automaton.