Year: 1870

Justin Mccarthy portrait of the heir to
the English throne, which appears in the
Gdlary, though defending him from very
serious accusations, yet sets him forth in
light that is hardly less than pitiable
Here is brief extract from what is very
fair and eminently readable article:


Those who saw the Prince of Wales
when he visited this country, would surely
fail to recognize the slender, fair-haired,
rather graceful youth of that day. in the
heavy, fat, stolid, prematurely bald, elder
ly-young-man of this. 1t would not be
easy to see in any assembly more stupid
looking man than the Prince of Wales is
now. On horseback he shows to the best
advantage. He rides well, and the pleas
ure he takes in riding lends something of
animation to his usually inexpensive face.
But when his eyes and features lapse into
their habitual condition of indolent, good
natured, stolid repose, all light of intellect
seems to have been banished. The outline
of the head and face, and the general ex-
preston, seems to be growing every day
more and more like the head and face of
George the Third. Anybody who may
happen to have shilling or half-crown of
George the Thirds time, can see on the
coin very fair presentment of the present
heir-apparent of the English throne.
| Whether the Prince of Wales resembles
George the Fourth in character and tastes
or not, he certainly does not resemble him
in face. Even Il court sycophant could not
pretend TO see beauty or grace in our
present Prince.


think that to the eye of the cynic or the
satirist the Prince of Wales shows to great
est advantage when he sits in his box at an
advanced hour of some rather heavy classic
opera, or has to endure q long succession
of speeches alta formal public dinner. The
heavy head droops, the heavy jaws hang.
the languid eyes close, the heir-apparent
sinks into doze. Loyalty itself can see
nothing dgnified or kingly in him then.
| have watched him thus as he sat in his
box during some high class, and to him,
doubtless, very heavy performance at the
Italian opera and have thought that at
times he might remind irreyerent and dis
loyal observers of Pickwick's immortal fat
boy. | have often observed that his little
dozes appeared to afford innocent amuse-
ment to his sisters, if any of them happened
to be in the box; and occasionally one Of
the Princesses would playfully poke her
slumbering brother in the princely ribs,
and the Heir of all the Ages would open
his eyes and smile languidly, and try to
look at the stage and listen to the music;
and then, after a while, the heavy head
would sink once more on the vast expanse
of shirt-iront in which the Prince seems to
delight, and the fat boy would 60 to sleep
again. But this would only happen at cer-
tain performances. There were times
when the Prince had eyes and ears open
and attentive even in the opera house.
His tastes in general, however, are not for
high art in music or the drama. He is very
fond of the little theaters where the viva
cious blonds display their unconcealed at
fractions. He constantly visits theaters ut
which his wife and sisters are never seen,
and in which it would be idle to deny that
there are actresses who have made them
selves conspicuous objects ofpopular scan
dial. Now, am far from saying that this
necessarily implies any thing worse than
low taste on the part of the Prince ofWales. 5.
But there are stations in life which render
private bad taste public sin.