Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-02-04
Some Reflections on Passing Events

NOW Gndt In6 immaculate OoSp CufFGHt
of sorrow, and mourning in Great
Britain, following the early demise of
the late Duke of Clarence and Avon
dale, Edward Albert Victor, is in a
measure subsiding, may it not be al
lowable that we should reflect and per-
haps moralize upon an event so sad
and sorrowful to many? The present
writer has borne in his heart Of hearts,
a full share of the generous grief that
has been so universally felt in this
country responsive to that so generally
felt in his native land.
The writer can just remember the
day the great-grand uncle of the late
young duke died, leaving the way open
and clear for his grandmother, then a
beautiful and accomplished young
maiden of seventeen years, to reach the
throne of her ancestors in England.
But the English nation then was only
called upon to don the habiliments OF
mourning for an old man of seventy
two years-this was William, Duke OF
Clarence and third son of George Ill.
of noted memory. The accession OF
the young heiress to the throne, in the
beautiful person of Victoria Alex
andrina, only daughter of Edward, late
Duke of Kent, was attended with SO
much satisfaction and national enthus-
iasm, that the demise of the late King
was barely a thing of quiet memory.
The present writer happened to be in
merry England at the memorable times
of the coronation and marriage of the
present reigning monarch, but not old
enough to have any due appreciation
of these joyous events which were 1arg-
ly shared in by older members of his
family.
But, as in the case of other mortals,
that marriage, which opened amidst SC
many unsullied joys, was not permitted
to be left unsullied by its full share of
bitter tears. This good queen has
borne up well under the severe shocks
that her welded and widowed life was
compelled to realize and suffer. Even
now it is not quite certain that the
full cup of bitterness in human life has
already been drank to emptiness. Her
first draft of sorrow perhaps was great
est, taken on the early death of noble,
virtuous, and loving husband. After
him the death of lOveliest child, the
princess Alice, whom three nations
and many thousands of strange people
mourned for. This terrible loss was
soon followed by another of equal grav-
ity but so universally felt, in the early
life OF Leopold late Duke of Albany,
who died away from his home and alb
sent from young, graceful and devot-
ed wife. To add an additional pang to
this long list of painful events, comes
the death of Victor, Duke of Clarence
and Avondale, and heir presumptive to
the crown and royal dominions of her
present majesty.
The severity OF this shock to the
womanly heart of the Queen may be
best measured by the immense interest
taken in it by the English people great
and small. There were some circum-
stances surrounding this last great
family atfliction that added poignancy
to this more than a nations grief,
passing to other peoples, and the flow
of sympathy was as full as it was gen
erous and sweet.
The sorrow of that broken-hearted
young princes for her lost lover was
the climax of grief affecting the pres
ent condition of the entire royal family.
Standing now, as we are, at this great
distance, and after weeks of suspense
have been endured. is it not quite ad-
missible that we should draw aside the
curtain that separates the common
mass of mankind, from royal enthroned.
Whatever may have been the benefits,
if any at all, in times past, arising from
the existence of class distinction, and
castles, or even royalty itself, at the
present age of the world, the existence
of all such can only be regarded as a
misfortune and a burden to any nation
or people. Is not this growing sem
timent among all enlightened nations,
not excepting the British empire itself9
What benefit. it may be asked, does
royalty confer on any enlightened ma
ton? The late young prince is an ex-
ample of the inutility of any such
grade. That heir of royalty had ex-
pended upon him in the way of educa-
ton larger sums of money than any
other young gentleman of the English
realm. Every facility, from the day OF
his birth upwards, influences of the
highest order, teachers of the highest
grade, association of the most accom-
plished, every possible agency was ex-
pended. to develope his intellect, and
enlarge his store of literary accom-
plishments as a prince of the empire
and now at the ripe age of eight and