Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1884-09-11
Mptes 1T Trarelim Gurppe.
ENGLAND AS SEEN BY AN AMERICAN

The Royal Family--Henry VIII, Defender of
the Faith-Origin of the Title-Queen Vic
toria's Family--The Bank of England--Its
Origin--When Founded-Capital Stock--Ex-
penses--Guards.
The government of Great Britain is linn
tied monarchy, the present ruling sovereign
being Alexandria Victoria. In English
documents she is mentioned as "Her Majes-
ty, Victoria, BY the Grace of God, Of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire
land, Queen, Defender of the Faith and EN-
press of India" The sovereigns of the
British Isles have been styled "Defenders
of the Faith" since the time Of Henry VIII.
This title was obtained in the following
way Henry VIII, on account Of his sup
posed theological education, was granted
permission by Leo K, the Pope of Rome at
that time, to read the works of Martin Lu-
ther, the great reformer. Henry, in order
to show his literary attainments and theo-
logical knowledge, wrote book, in which
he undertook the overthrow Of Luther's ar
guments and the defense Of the absurdities
of the Church of Rome. The book is said
to have given evidence of considerable abil-
| ity, but it was thought, no doubt correctly,
that Cardinal Wolsey rendered the king aid
in the preparation Of its principal parts.
Be this as il may, the book was written and
sent to the Pope of Rome. The Pope not
only approved Of the royal effort, but laud-
ed it as fit to take place, side by side, with
the works of st. Jerome and St. Augustine,
and Henry was rewarded with the title "De-
fender of the Faith." Henry soon became
the bitter enemy of the Pope, because the
Pope would not humor his lecherous whims,
but he clung to the title "Defender Of the
all the sovereigns of Great Britain since his
day.
1t cannot be said Of all the British sover-
eigns, that, although styled defenders of the
faith, that they were remarkable for either
their moral or religious practices. Henry
was vile monster whose brutal acts dis
grace humanity.
Victoria the present Queen of England,
Ireland and Scotland is the only child Of
Edward Augustus, Duke Of Kent, and Vic
toria, daughter of Francis Duke of Sake
Coburg Her father, Edward Augustus,
was the fourth son and fifth child of George
the third. Queen Victoria is, therefore, the
granddaughter of George the third. Her
mother, whose name was Victoria, was the
widow of Charles, Prince of Leiningen.
Victoria the present sovereign of Great
Britain, was born May "a, 1919. Her father
died on the 23rd of January, 1920. On the
death of her uncle, William the ", she
succeeded to the throne. This event occur
red on the Goth of June, 1887 and on the 18th
of June, 1888 Victoria was crowned. On
the 10th of February, 1910 she was married
to Francis Albert Augustus Charles En-
| Prince
Coburg and Gotha. Prince Albert was
born August Goth, 1919, consequently he
was three months younger than Queen
Victoria. On the 14th of December, 1861,
Prince Albert died. Queen Victoria is in
the siXty-siXth year of her age since the
24th of May, and ins-the forty-eighth of her
reign since the Goth of June. Except her
grandfather, George the III, and Henry
the III, no sovereign of England has been
so long on the throne. Henry the III
reigned fifty six years and George the III,
sixty years.
Prince Albert and Queen Victoria were
five daughters. All of these are living
except Alice Maud Mary, who died Deem
ber 14th, 1873 and Prince Leopold who died
last year. All are married except the
youngest daughter, Beatrice Mary Vic
toria Fedora who is in her tWenty-eighth
year since the 18th of April. The descen-
dants of Queen Victoria are thirty-one
grand children and two great grand chill
dren of whom the greater number are alive.
The annuities to the royal family amount
to more than four million dollars. The
aries of the Queens household amounts to
more than million and quarter dollars.
This suggests the remark that the British
government is very expensive govern
ment. The number of government officials
is very great, and they all are paid good
salaries
The people of Great Britain are very
proud of Queen Victoria. All parties speak
enthusiastically of her and her household.
1t is characteristic Of the Americans to find
fault with their rulers. Not one of twenty
one Presidents Of the United States has been
universally a favorite with the people.
Even Washington was burnt in effigy and
LincOln and Garfield were murdered. On
the other hand while many of the sovereigns
of Great Britain were worthless tyrants
without any love or respect tor their sub
jects, only two out of the thirty-fve since the
conquest, more than eight hundred years
ago, were decidedly unpopular, and even
these, Charles the first and James the Sec
ond, had many faithful friends.
One of the many things of interest in the
city of London is the Bank of England. 1t
is conceded by all that the Bank of England
is the greatest monetary establishment in
the world. Itwas founded in 1854, its char
ter being dated on the 9th of July Of that
year. Its protector was Scotchman, bear
ing the name William Paterson. The Bank
of England had it's origin in the peculiar
financial state of the country at the time OF
it's founding. The system Of taxation in ex-
istence at that time was very defective and
greatly abused, and in addition to this, there
was a want of confidence in the government
established by the Revolutionary settle
ment. These two things rendered it no
easy matter for the government of England
to borrow money. TO remedy the evil a
number of individuals loaned the govern
ment, for public purposes, near six million
dollars. For the use of their money and
the expense of managing it, the lenders
were allowed by the government about nine
ty-siX thousand dollars annually, and grant
ed various privileges. Such was the origin
of that mammoth monetary establishment,
which is known all over the civilized world
as the Bank of England.
The present capital stock of the Bank of
England is $40, ,436, ,52O. The total dividends
for the year ending 9Th October, 1888, were
at the rate of 10l per cent. The price Of
bank stock on the 30th Of October, 1888, was
1927 for share ofone hundred dollars. The
bank building is huge stone structure COW
ering eight acres of ground. TO conduct the
business of the bank one thousand clerks
are employed to whom, in the aggregate, a
salary of $59OSOO is annually paid. The
bank notes issued by the Bank of England
are very unlike those issued by the banks
of the United States. Our bank notes are,
as is known, colored and covered with va
rious devices. The bank notes of the Bank