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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:41:22 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:41:22 -0700 |
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diff --git a/13103-h/13103-h.htm b/13103-h/13103-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..414602a --- /dev/null +++ b/13103-h/13103-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6716 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Great Britain and Her Queen, by Anne E. + Keeling + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + body {background:#faebd7; + color:black; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + font-size:14pt; + margin-top:100px; + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align:justify} + hr { width: 100%; + height: 5px; } + hr.narrow { width: 50%; + height: 1px; } + blockquote { font-size: 14pt; } + blockquote.footnote { font-size: 14pt; } + .smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + p.footnote { margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 0; + text-indent: 0; + font-size: 14pt; } + table {font-size:14pt} + p {text-indent: 4% } + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + pre {font-size: 9pt;} +</style> + </head> + <body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13103 ***</div> + <h1> + The Project Gutenberg eBook, Great Britain and Her Queen, by Anne E. + Keeling + </h1> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + E-text prepared by Roy Brown<br /> <br /> HTML version prepared by Joseph E. + Loewenstein, M.D. + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <a name="ILL001" id="ILL001"></a> <a + href="images/001 Queen Victoria.jpg"> <img + src="images/001 Queen Victoria.jpg" alt="Queen Victoria" width="60%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Queen Victoria + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + GREAT BRITAIN AND HER QUEEN + </h1> + <p> + <br /> by<br /> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + ANNE E. KEELING + </h2> + <h4> + Author of "General Gordon: Hero and Saint,"<br /> "The Oakhurst + Chronicles," "Andrew Golding," etc. + </h4> + <h3> + Second Edition. Revised and Enlarged, 1897 + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr class="narrow" /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + CONTENTS + </h3> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <table> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + I. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#1">THE GIRL QUEEN AND HER KINGDOM</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + II. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#2">STORM AND SUNSHINE</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + III. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#3">FRANCE AND ENGLAND</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + IV. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#4">THE CRIMEAN WAR</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + V. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#5">INDIA</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + VI. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#6">THE BEGINNINGS OF SORROWS</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + VII. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#7">CHANGES GOOD AND EVIL</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + VIII. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#8">OUR COLONIES</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + IX. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#9">INTELLECTUAL AND SPIRITUAL PROGRESS</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + X. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#10">PROGRESS OF THE EMPIRE FROM 1887 TO 1897</a> + </td> + <td valign="top" align="right"> + XI. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#11">PROGRESS OF WESLEYAN METHODISM<br />UNDER QUEEN VICTORIA, + 1837-1897</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + + </td> + <td> + <a href="#12">CONCLUSION</a> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + ILLUSTRATIONS + </h3> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <table> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL001">Queen Victoria</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL002">Claremont</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL003">The Coronation of Queen Victoria</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL004">Kensington Palace</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL005">Duchess of Kent</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL006">Elizabeth Fry</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL007">Rowland Hill</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL008">Father Mathew</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL009">George Stephenson</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL010">Wheatstone</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL011">St. James's Palace</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL012">Prince Albert</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL013">The Queen in Her Wedding-Dress</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL014">Sir Robert Peel</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL015">Daniel O'Connell</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL016">Richard Cobden</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL017">John Bright</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL018">Lord John Russell</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL019">Thomas Chalmers</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL020">John Henry Newmann</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL021">Balmoral</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL022">Buckingham Palace</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL023">Napoleon III</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL024">The Crystal Palace, 1851</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL025">Lord Ashley</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL026">Earl of Derby</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL027">Duke of Wellington</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL028">Florence Nightingale</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL029">Lord Canning</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL030">Sir Colin Campbell</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL031">Henry Havelock</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL032">Sir John Lawrence</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL033">Windsor Castle</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL034">Prince Frederick William</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL035">Princess Royal</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL036">Charles Kingsley</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL037">Lord Palmerston</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL038">Abraham Lincoln and his son</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL039">Princess Alice</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL040">The Mausoleum</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL041">Dr. Norman Macleod</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL042">Prince of Wales</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL043">Princess of Wales</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL044">Osborne House</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL045">Sir Robert Napier</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL046">Mr. Gladstone</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL047">Lord Beaconsfield</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL048">Lord Salisbury</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL049">General Gordon</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL050">Duke of Albany</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL051">Duchess of Albany</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL052">Sydney Heads</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL053">Robert Southey</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL054">William Wordsworth</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL055">Alfred Tennyson</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL056">Robert Browning</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL057">Charles Dickens</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL058">W. M. Thackeray</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL059">Charlotte Brontë</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL060">Lord Macaulay</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL061">Thomas Carlyle</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL062">William Whewell, D.D.</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL063">Sir David Brewster</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL064">Sir James Y. Simpson</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL065">Michael Faraday</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL066">David Livingstone</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL067">Sir John Franklin</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL068">John Ruskin</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL069">Dean Stanley</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL070">"I was sick, and ye visited me"</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL071">Duke of Connaught</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL072">The Imperial Institute</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL073">Duke of Clarence</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL074">Duke of York</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL075">Duchess of York</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL076">Princess Henry of Battenberg</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL077">Prince Henry of Battenberg</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL078">The Czarina of Russia</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL079">H. M. Stanley</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL080">Dr. Fridtjof Nansen</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL081">Miss Kingsley</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL082">J. M. Barrie</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL083">Richard Jefferies</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL084">Rev. J. G. Wood</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL085">Dean Church</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL086">Professor Huxley</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL087">Professor Tyndall</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL088">C. H. Spurgeon</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL089">Dr. Horatius Bonar</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL090">Sir J. E. Millais, P.R.A.</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL091">Sir Frederick Leighton, P.R.A.</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL092">Wesley preaching on his father's tomb</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL093">Group of Presidents No. 1</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL094">Centenary Meeting at Manchester</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + Key to Centenary Meeting + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL095">Wesleyan Centenary Hall</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL096">Group of Presidents No. 2</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL097">Sir Francis Lycett</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL098">The Methodist Settlement, Bermondsey. London, S.E.</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL099">Theological Institution, Richmond</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL101">Theological Institution, Didsbury</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL102">Theological Institution, Headingley</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL103">Theological Institution, Handsworth</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL104">Kingswood School, Bath</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL105">The North House, Leys School, Cambridge</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL106">Queen's College, Taunton</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL107">Wesley College, Sheffield</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL108">Children's Home, Bolton</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL109">Westminster Training College and Schools</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#ILL110">Group of Presidents No. 3</a> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <a name="ILL002" id="ILL002"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/002 Claremont.jpg" alt="Claremont" /> + </p> + <h4> + Claremont + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="1"></a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + CHAPTER I<br /> <br /> THE GIRL-QUEEN AND HER KINGDOM + </h3> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p> + Rather more than one mortal lifetime, as we average life in these later + days, has elapsed since that June morning of 1837, when Victoria of + England, then a fair young princess of eighteen, was roused from her + tranquil sleep in the old palace at Kensington, and bidden to rise and + meet the Primate, and his dignified associates the Lord Chamberlain and + the royal physician, who "were come on business of state to the Queen"—words + of startling import, for they meant that, while the royal maiden lay + sleeping, the aged King, whose heiress she was, had passed into the deeper + sleep of death. It is already an often-told story how promptly, on + receiving that summons, the young Queen rose and came to meet her first + homagers, standing before them in hastily assumed wrappings, her hair + hanging loosely, her feet in slippers, but in all her hearing such royally + firm composure as deeply impressed those heralds of her greatness, who + noticed at the same moment that her eyes were full of tears. This little + scene is not only charming and touching, it is very significant, + suggesting a combination of such qualities as are not always found united: + sovereign good sense and readiness, blending with quick, artless feeling + that sought no disguise—such feeling as again betrayed itself when + on her ensuing proclamation the new Sovereign had to meet her people face + to face, and stood before them at her palace window, composed but sad, the + tears running unchecked down her fair pale face. <br /> <a name="ILL003" + id="ILL003"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/003 The Coronation of Queen Victoria.jpg"> <img + src="images/003 The Coronation of Queen Victoria.jpg" + alt="The Coronation of Queen Victoria" width="50%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + The Coronation of Queen Victoria + </h4> + <p> + That rare spectacle of simple human emotion, at a time when a selfish or + thoughtless spirit would have leaped in exultation, touched the heart of + England deeply, and was rightly held of happy omen. The nation's feeling + is aptly expressed in the glowing verse of Mrs. Browning, praying Heaven's + blessing on the "weeping Queen," and prophesying for her the love, + happiness, and honour which have been hers in no stinted measure. "Thou + shalt be well beloved," said the poetess; there are very few sovereigns of + whom it could be so truly said that they <i>have</i> been well beloved, + for not many have so well deserved it. The faith of the singer has been + amply justified, as time has made manifest the rarer qualities joyfully + divined in those early days in the royal child, the single darling hope of + the nation. <br /> <a name="ILL004" id="ILL004"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/004 Kensington Palace.jpg" alt="Kensington Palace" /> + </p> + <h4> + Kensington Palace + </h4> + <p> + Once before in the recent annals of our land had expectations and desires + equally ardent centred themselves on one young head. Much of the loyal + devotion which had been alienated from the immediate family of George III. + had transferred itself to his grandchild, the Princess Charlotte, sole + offspring of the unhappy marriage between George, Prince of Wales, and + Caroline of Brunswick. The people had watched with vivid interest the + young romance of Princess Charlotte's happy marriage, and had bitterly + lamented her too early death—an event which had overshadowed all + English hearts with forebodings of disaster. Since that dark day a little + of the old attachment of England to its sovereigns had revived for the + frank-mannered sailor and "patriot king," William IV; but the hopes + crushed by the death of the much-regretted Charlotte had renewed + themselves with even better warrant for Victoria. She was the child of no + ill-omened, miserable marriage, but of a fitting union; her parents had + been sundered only by death, not by wretched domestic dissensions. People + heard that the mortal malady which deprived her of a father had been + brought about by the Duke of Kent's simple delight in his baby princess, + which kept him playing with the child when he should have been changing + his wet outdoor garb; and they found something touching and tender in the + tragic little circumstance. And everything that could be noticed of the + manner in which the bereaved duchess was training up her precious charge + spoke well for the mother's wisdom and affection, and for the future of + the daughter. + </p> + <p> + It was indeed a happy day for England when Edward, Duke of Kent, the + fourth son of George III, was wedded to Victoria of Saxe-Coburg, the + widowed Princess of Leiningen—happy, not only because of the + admirable skill with which that lady conducted her illustrious child's + education, and because of the pure, upright principles, the frank, noble + character, which she transmitted to that child, but because the family + connection established through that marriage was to be yet further + serviceable to the interests of our realm. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg + was second son of the Duchess of Kent's eldest brother, and thus first + cousin of the Princess Victoria—"the Mayflower," as, in fond + allusion to the month of her birth, her mother's kinsfolk loved to call + her: and it has been made plain that dreams of a possible union between + the two young cousins, very nearly of an age, were early cherished by the + elders who loved and admired both. <br /> <a name="ILL005" id="ILL005"></a> + <br /> <a href="images/005 Duchess of Kent.jpg"> <img + src="images/005 Duchess of Kent.jpg" alt="Duchess of Kent" width="45%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Duchess of Kent<br /> (From an Engraving by Messrs. P. & D. Colnaghi + & Co., Pall Mall East) + </h4> + <p> + The Princess's life, however, was sedulously guarded from all disturbing + influences. She grew up in healthy simplicity and seclusion; she was not + apprised of her nearness to the throne till she was twelve years old; she + had been little at Court, little in sight, but had been made familiar with + her own land and its history, having received the higher education so + essential to her great position; while simple truth and rigid honesty were + the very atmosphere of her existence. From such a training much might be + hoped; but even those who knew most and hoped most were not quite prepared + for the strong individual character and power of self-determination that + revealed themselves in the girlish being so suddenly transferred "from the + nursery to the throne." It was quickly noticed that the part of Queen and + mistress seemed native to her, and that she filled it with not more grace + than propriety. "She always strikes me as possessed of singular + penetration, firmness, and independence," wrote Dr. Norman Macleod in + 1860; acute observers in 1837 took note of the same traits, rarer far in + youth than in full maturity, and closely connected with the "reasoning, + searching" quality of her mind, "anxious to get at the root and reality of + things, and abhorring all shams, whether in word or deed <a + id="footnotetag1" name="footnotetag1"></a> <a href="#footnote1">[1]</a>." + </p> + <p> + It was well for England that its young Sovereign could exemplify virile + strength as well as womanly sweetness; for it was indeed a cloudy and dark + day when she was called to her post of lonely grandeur and hard + responsibility; and to fill that post rightly would have overtasked and + overwhelmed a feebler nature. It is true that the peace of Europe, won at + Waterloo, was still unbroken. But already, within our borders and without + them, there were the signs of coming storm. The condition of Ireland was + chronically bad; the condition of England was full of danger; on the + Continent a new period of earth-shaking revolution announced itself not + doubtfully. + </p> + <p> + It would be hardly possible to exaggerate the wretched state of the sister + isle, where fires of recent hate were still smouldering, and where the + poor inhabitants, guilty and guiltless, were daily living on the verge of + famine, over which they were soon to be driven. Their ill condition much + aggravated by the intemperate habits to which despairing men so easily + fall a prey. The expenditure of Ireland on proof spirits alone had in the + year 1829 attained the sum of £6,000,000. + </p> + <p> + In England many agricultural labourers were earning starvation wages, were + living on bad and scanty food, and were housed so wretchedly that they + might envy the hounds their dry and clean kennels. A dark symptom of their + hungry discontent had shown itself in the strange crime of rick-burning, + which went on under cloud of night season after season, despite the utmost + precautions which the luckless farmers could adopt. The perpetrators were + not dimly guessed to be half-famished creatures, taking a mad revenge for + their wretchedness by destroying the tantalising stores of grain, too + costly for their consumption; the price of wheat in the early years of Her + Majesty's reign and for some time previously being very high, and reaching + at one moment (1847) the extraordinary figure of a hundred and two + shillings per quarter. + </p> + <p> + There was threatening distress, too, in some parts of the manufacturing + districts; in others a tolerably high level of wages indicated prosperity. + But even in the more favoured districts there was needless suffering. The + hours of work, unrestricted by law, were cruelly long; nor did there exist + any restriction as to the employment of operatives of very tender years. + "The cry of the children" was rising up to heaven, not from the factory + only, but from the underground darkness of the mine, where a system of + pitiless infant slavery prevailed, side by side with the employment of + women as beasts of burden, "in an atmosphere of filth and profligacy." The + condition of too many toilers was rendered more hopeless by the thriftless + follies born of ignorance. The educational provision made by the piety of + former ages was no longer adequate to the needs of the ever-growing + nation; and all the voluntary efforts made by clergy and laity, by + Churchmen and Dissenters, did not fill up the deficiency—a fact + which had only just begun to meet with State recognition. It was in 1834 + that Government first obtained from Parliament the grant of a small sum in + aid of education. Under a defective system of poor-relief, recently + reformed, an immense mass of idle pauperism had come into being; it still + remained to be seen if a new Poor Law could do away with the mischief + created by the old one. + </p> + <p> + Looking at the earliest years of Her Majesty's rule, the first impulse is + to exclaim: + </p> + <blockquote> + <blockquote> + <p> + "And all this trouble did not pass, but grew." + </p> + </blockquote> + </blockquote> + <p> + It seemed as if poverty became ever more direful, and dissatisfaction more + importunate. A succession of unfavourable seasons and failing crops + produced extraordinary distress; and the distress in its turn was fruitful + first of deepened discontent, and then of political disturbances. The + working classes had looked for immediate relief from their burdens when + the Reform Bill should be carried, and had striven hard to insure its + success: it had been carried triumphantly in 1832, but no perceptible + improvement in their lot had yet resulted; and a resentful feeling of + disappointment and of being victims of deception now added bitterness to + their blind sense of misery and injury, and greatly exasperated the + political agitation of the ten stormy years that followed. + </p> + <p> + No position could well be more trying than that of the inexperienced girl + who, in the first bloom of youth, was called to rule the land in this wild + transitional period. Her royal courage and gracious tact, her transparent + truthfulness, her high sense of duty, and her precocious discretion served + her well; but these young excellences could not have produced their full + effect had she not found in her first Prime Minister a faithful friend and + servant, whose loyal and chivalrous devotion at once conciliated her + regard, and who only used the influence thus won to impress on his + Sovereign's mind "sound maxims of constitutional government, and truths of + every description which it behoved her to learn." The records of the time + show plainly that Lord Melbourne, the eccentric head of William IV's last + Whig Administration, was not generally credited with either the will or + the ability to play so lofty a part. His affectation of a lazy, trifling, + indifferent manner, his often-quoted remonstrance to impetuous would-be + reformers, "Can't you let it alone?" had earned for him some angry + disapproval, and caused him to be regarded as the embodiment of the + detested <i>laissez-faire</i> principle. But under his mask of nonchalance + he hid some noble qualities, which at this juncture served Queen and + country well. + </p> + <p> + Considered as a frivolous, selfish courtier by too many of the suffering + poor and of their friends, he was in truth "acting in all things an + affectionate, conscientious, and patriotic part" towards his Sovereign, + "endeavouring to make her happy as a woman and popular as a Queen <a + id="footnotetag2" name="footnotetag2"></a> <a href="#footnote2">[2]</a>," + telling her uncourtly truths with a blunt honesty that did not displease + her, and watching over her with a paternal tenderness which she repaid + with frank, noble confidence. He was faithful in a great and difficult + trust; let his memory have due honour. + </p> + <p> + Under Melbourne's pilotage the first months of the new reign went by with + some serenity, though the political horizon remained threatening enough, + and the temper of the nation appeared sullen. "The people of England seem + inclined to hurrah no more," wrote Greville of one of the Queen's earliest + public appearances, when "not a hat was raised nor a voice heard" among + the coldly curious crowd of spectators. But the splendid show of her + coronation a half-year later awakened great enthusiasm—enthusiasm + most natural and inevitable. It was youth and grace and goodness, all the + freshness and the infinite promise of spring, that wore the crimson and + the ermine and the gold, that sat enthroned amid the ancient glories of + the Abbey to receive the homage of all that was venerable and all that was + great in a mighty kingdom, and that bowed in meek devotion to receive the + solemn consecrating blessing of the Primate, according to the holy custom + followed in England for a thousand years, with little or no variation + since the time when Dunstan framed the Order of Coronation, closely + following the model of the Communion Service. Some other features special + to <i>this</i> coronation heightened the national delight in it. Its + arrangements evidently had for their chief aim to interest and to gratify + the people. Instead of the banquet in Westminster Hall, which could have + been seen only by the privileged and the wealthy, a grand procession + through London was arranged, including all the foreign ambassadors, and + proceeding from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey by a route two or + three miles in length, so that the largest possible number of spectators + might enjoy the magnificent pageant. And the overflowing multitudes whose + dense masses lined the whole long way, and in whose tumultuous cheering + pealing bells and sounding trumpets and thundering cannon were almost + unheard as the young Queen passed through the shouting ranks, formed + themselves the most impressive spectacle to the half-hostile foreign + witnesses, who owned that the sight of these rejoicing thousands of + freemen was grand indeed, and impossible save in that England which, then + as now, was not greatly loved by its rivals. An element which appealed + powerfully to the national pride and the national generosity was supplied + by the presence of the Duke of Wellington and of Marshal Soult, his old + antagonist, who appeared as French ambassador. Soult, as he advanced with + the air of a veteran warrior, was followed by murmurs of admiring + applause, which swelled into more than murmurs for the hero of Waterloo + bending in homage to his Sovereign. A touch of sweet humanity was added to + the imposing scene within the Abbey through what might have been a painful + accident. Lord Rolle, a peer between seventy and eighty years of age, + stumbling and falling as he climbed the steps of the throne, the Queen + impulsively moved as if to aid him; and when the old man, undismayed, + persisted in carrying out his act of homage, she asked quickly, "May I not + get up and meet him?" and descended one or two steps to save him the + ascent. The ready natural kindliness of the royal action awoke ecstatic + applause, which could hardly have been heartier had the applauders known + how true a type that act supplied of Her Majesty's future conduct. She has + never feared to peril her dignity by descending a step or two from her + throne, when "sweet mercy, nobility's true badge," has seemed to require + such a descent. And her queenly dignity has never been thereby lessened. + "She never ceases to be a Queen," says Greville <i>a propos</i> of this + scene, "and is always the most charming, cheerful, obliging, unaffected + Queen in the world." <br /> <a name="ILL006" id="ILL006"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/006 Elizabeth Fry.jpg"> <img + src="images/006 Elizabeth Fry.jpg" alt="Elizabeth Fry" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Elizabeth Fry + </h4> + <p> + That "the people" were more considered in the arrangements for this + coronation than they had been on any previous occasion of the sort was a + circumstance quite in harmony with certain other signs of the times. "The + night is darkest before the dawn," and amid all the gloom which enshrouded + the land there could be discerned the stir and movement that herald the + coming of the day. Men's minds were turning more and more to the healing + of the world's wounds. Already one great humane enterprise had been + carried through in the emancipation of the slaves in British Colonies; + already the vast work of prison reform had been well begun, through the + saintly Elizabeth Fry, whose life of faithful service ended ere the Queen + had reigned eight years. The very year of Her Majesty's accession was + signalised by two noteworthy endeavours to put away wrong. We will turn + first to that which <i>seems</i> the least immediately philanthropic, + although the injustice which it remedied was trivial in appearance only, + since in its everyday triviality it weighed most heavily on the most + numerous class—that of the humble and the poor. <br /> <a + name="ILL007" id="ILL007"></a> <br /> <a href="images/007 Rowland Hill.jpg"> + <img src="images/007 Rowland Hill.jpg" alt="Rowland Hill" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Rowland Hill + </h4> + <p> + How would the Englishman of to-day endure the former exactions of the Post + Office? The family letters of sixty years ago, written on the largest + sheets purchasable, crossed and crammed to the point of illegibility, + filled with the news of many and many a week, still witness of the time + when "a letter from London to Brighton cost eightpence, to Aberdeen one + and threepence-halfpenny, to Belfast one and fourpence"; when, "if the + letter were written on more than one sheet, it came under the operation of + a higher scale of charges," and when the privilege of franking letters, + enjoyed and very largely exercised by members of Parliament and members of + the Government, had the peculiar effect of throwing the cost of the mail + service exactly on that part of the community which was least able to bear + it. The result of the injustice was as demoralising as might have been + expected. The poorer people who desired to have tidings of distant friend + or relative were driven by the prohibitory rates of postage into all sorts + of curious, not quite honest devices, to gratify their natural desire + without being too heavily taxed for it. A brother and sister, for + instance, unable to afford themselves the costly luxury of regular + correspondence, would obtain assurance of each other's well-being by + transmission through the post at stated intervals of blank papers duly + sealed and addressed: the arrival of the postman with a missive of this + kind announced to the recipient that all was well with the sender, so the + unpaid "letter" was cheerfully left on the messenger's hands. Such an + incident, coming under the notice of Mr. Rowland Hill, impressed him with + a sense of hardship and wrong in the system that bore these fruits; and he + set himself with strenuous patience to remedy the wrong and the hardship. + His scheme of reform was worked out and laid before the public early in + 1837; in the third year of Her Majesty's reign it was first adopted in its + entirety, with what immense profit to the Government we may partly see + when we contrast the seventy-six or seventy-seven millions of <i>paid</i> + letters delivered in the United Kingdom during the last year of the heavy + postage with the number exceeding a thousand millions, and still + increasing—delivered yearly during the last decade; while the + population has not doubled. That the Queen's own letters carried postage + under the new regime was a fact almost us highly appreciated as Her + Majesty's voluntary offer at a later date to bear her due share of the + income tax. + </p> + <p> + It is well to notice how later Postmasters General, successors of Rowland + Hill in that important office, have striven further to benefit their + countrymen. In particular, Henry Fawcett's earnest efforts to encourage + and aid habits of thrift are worthy of remembrance. + </p> + <p> + Again, it is during the first year of Her Majesty's reign that we find + Father Mathew, the Irish Capuchin friar, initiating his vast crusade + against intemperance, and by the charm of his persuasive eloquence and + unselfish enthusiasm inducing thousands upon thousands to forswear the + drink-poison that was destroying them. In two years he succeeded in + enrolling two million five hundred thousand persons on the side of + sobriety. The permanence of the good Father's immediate work was impaired + by the superstitions which his poor followers associated with it, much + against his desire. Not only were the medals which he gave as badges to + his vowed abstainers regarded as infallible talismans from the hand of a + saint, but the giver was credited with miraculous powers such as only a + Divine Being could exercise, and which he disclaimed in vain—extravagances + too likely to discredit his enterprise with more soberly judging persons + than the imaginative Celts who were his earliest converts. But, + notwithstanding every drawback, his action was most important, and + deserves grateful memory. We may see in it the inception of that great + movement whose indirect influence in reforming social habits and + restraining excess had at least equalled its direct power for good on its + pledged adherents. Though it is still unhappily true that drunkenness + slays its tens of thousands among us, and largely helps to people our + workhouses, our madhouses, and our gaols, yet the fiend walks not now, as + it used to do, in unfettered freedom. It is no longer a fashionable vice, + excused and half approved as the natural expression of joviality and + good-fellowship; peers and commoners of every degree no longer join daily + in the "heavy-headed revel" whose deep-dyed stain seems to have soaked + through every page of our last-century annals. And it would appear as + though the vice were not only held from increasing, but were actually on + the decrease. The statistics of the last decade show that the consumption + of alcohol is diminishing, and that of true food-stuffs proportionally + rising. <br /> <a name="ILL008" id="ILL008"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/008 Father Mathew.jpg"> <img + src="images/008 Father Mathew.jpg" alt="Father Mathew" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Father Mathew + </h4> + <p> + There were other enterprises now set on foot, by no means directly + philanthropic in their aim, which contemplated utility more than virtue or + justice—enterprises whose vast effects are yet unexhausted, and + which have so modified the conditions of human existence as to make the + new reign virtually a new epoch. As to the real benefit of these immense + changes, opinion is somewhat divided; but the majority would doubtless + vote in their favour. The first railway in England, that between Liverpool + and Manchester, had been opened in 1830, the day of its opening being made + darkly memorable by the accident fatal to Mr. Huskisson, as though the new + era must be inaugurated by a sacrifice. Three years later there was but + this one railway in England, and one, seven miles long, in Scotland. But + in 1837 the Liverpool and Birmingham line was opened; in 1838 the London + and Birmingham and the Liverpool and Preston lines, and an Act was passed + for transmitting the mails by rail; in 1839 there was the opening of the + London and Croydon line. The ball was set fairly rolling, and the + supersession of ancient modes of communication was a question of time + merely. The advance of the new system was much accelerated at the outset + by the fact that railway enterprise became the favourite field for + speculation, men being attracted by the novelty and tempted by exaggerated + prospects of profit; and the mania was followed, like other manias, with + results largely disastrous to the speculators and to commerce. But through + years of good fortune and of bad fortune the iron network has continued to + spread itself, until all the land lies embraced in its ramifications; and + it is spreading still, like some strange organism the one condition of + whose life is reproduction, knitting the greatest centres of commerce with + the loneliest and remotest villages that were wont to lie far out of the + travelled ways of men, and bringing <i>Ultima Thule</i> into touch with + London. <br /> <a name="ILL009" id="ILL009"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/009 George Stephenson.jpg"> <img + src="images/009 George Stephenson.jpg" alt="George Stephenson" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + George Stephenson + </h4> + <p> + Meanwhile the steam service by sea has advanced almost with that by land. + In 1838 three steamships crossed the Atlantic between this country and New + York, the <i>Great Western</i>, sailing from Bristol, and <i>Sirius</i>, + from Cork, distinguished themselves by the short passages they made,—of + fifteen days in the first case, and seventeen days in the second,—and + by their using steam power <i>alone</i> to effect the transit, an + experiment that had not been risked before. It was now proved feasible, + and in a year or two there was set on foot that regular steam + communication between the New World and the Old, which ever since has + continued to draw them into always closer connection, as the steamers, + like swift-darting shuttles, weave their multiplying magic lines across + the liquid plain between. + </p> + <p> + The telegraph wires that run beside road and rail, doing the office of + nerves in transmitting intelligence with thrilling quickness from the + extremities to the head and from the head to the extremities of our State, + are now so familiar an object, and their operations, such mere matters of + every day, that we do not often recall how utterly unfamiliar they were + sixty years ago, when Wheatstone and Cooke on this side the Atlantic, and + Morse on the other, were devising their methods for giving signals and + sounding alarms in distant places by means of electric currents + transmitted through metallic circuits. Submarine telegraphy lay undreamed + of in the future, land telegraphy was but just gaining hearing as a + practicable improvement, when the crown was set on Her Majesty's head amid + all that pomp and ceremony at Westminster. A modern English imagination is + quite unequal to the task of realising the manifold hindrances that beset + human intercourse at that day, when a journey by coach between places as + important and as little remote from each other as Leeds and Newcastle + occupied sixteen mortal hours, with changes of horses and stoppages for + meals on the road, and when letters, unless forwarded by an "express" + messenger at heavy cost, tarried longer on the way than even did + passengers; while some prudent dwellers in the country deemed it well to + set their affairs in order and make their wills before embarking on the + untried perils of a journey up to town. These days are well within the + memory of many yet living; but if the newer generations that have arisen + during the present reign would understand what it is to be hampered in + their movements and their correspondence as were their fathers, they must + seek the remoter and more savage quarters of Europe, the less travelled + portions of America or of half-explored Australia; they must plunge into + Asian or African wilds, untouched by civilisation, where as yet there runs + not the iron horse, worker of greater marvels than the wizard steeds of + fairy fable, that could, transport a single favoured rider over wide + distances in little time. The subjugated, serviceable nature-power Steam, + with its fellow-servant the tamed and tutored Lightning, has wonderfully + contracted distance during these fifty years, making the earth, once so + vast to human imagination, appear as a globe shrunken to a tenth of its + ancient size, and bringing nations divided by half the surface of that + globe almost within sound of each other's speech. <br /> <a name="ILL010" + id="ILL010"></a> <br /> <a href="images/010 Wheatstone.jpg"> <img + src="images/010 Wheatstone.jpg" alt="Wheatstone" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Wheatstone + </h4> + <p> + That there is damage as well as profit in all these increased facilities + of intercourse must be apparent, since there is evil as well as good in + the human world, and increased freedom of communication implies freer + communication of the evil as of the good. But we may well hope that the + cause of true upward progress will be most served by the vast inevitable + changes which, as they draw all peoples nearer together, must deepen and + strengthen the sense of human brotherhood, and, as they bring the deeds of + all within the knowledge of all, must consume by an intolerable blaze of + light the once secret iniquities and oppressions abhorrent to the + universal conscience of mankind. The public conscience in these realms at + least is better informed and more sensitive than it was in the year of + William IV's death and of Victoria's accession. <br /> <br /> <br /> <a + name="2"></a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + CHAPTER II<br /> <br /> STORM AND SUNSHINE. + </h3> + <p> + <a name="ILL011" id="ILL011"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/011 St James's Palace.jpg" alt="St. James's Palace" /> + </p> + <h4> + St. James's Palace + </h4> + <p> + The beneficent changes we have briefly described were but just + inaugurated, and their possible power for good was as yet hardly divined, + when the young Queen entered into that marriage which we may well deem the + happiest action of her life, and the most fruitful of good to her people, + looking to the extraordinary character of the husband of her choice, and + to the unobtrusive but always advantageous influence which his great and + wise spirit exercised on our national life. + </p> + <p> + The marriage had been anxiously desired, and the way for it judiciously + prepared, but it was in no sense forced on either of the contracting + parties by their elders who so desired it. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, + second son of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the Queen's maternal + uncle, was nearly of an age with his royal cousin; he had already, young + as he was, given evidence of a rare superiority of nature; he had been + excellently trained; and there is no doubt that Leopold, king of the + Belgians, his uncle, and the Queen's, did most earnestly desire to see the + young heiress of the British throne, for whom he had a peculiar + tenderness, united to the one person whose position and whose character + combined to point him out as the fit partner for her high and difficult + destinies. What tact, what patience, and what power of self-suppression + the Queen of England's husband would need to exercise, no one could better + judge than Leopold, the widowed husband of Princess Charlotte; no one + could more fully have exemplified these qualities than the prince in whom + Leopold's penetration divined them. + </p> + <p> + The cousins had already met, in 1836, when their mutual attraction had + been sufficiently strong; and in 1839, when Prince Albert, with his elder + brother Ernest, was again visiting England, the impression already + produced became ineffaceably deep. The Queen, whom her great rank + compelled to take the initiative, was not very long in making up her mind + when and how to act. Her favoured suitor himself, writing to a dear + relative, relates how she performed the trying task, inviting him to + render her intensely happy by making "the <i>sacrifice</i> of sharing her + life with her, for she said she looked on it as a sacrifice. The joyous + openness with which she told me this enchanted me, and I was quite carried + away by it." This was on October 15th; nearly six weeks after, on November + 23rd, she made to her assembled Privy Council the formal declaration of + her intended marriage. There is something particularly touching in even + the driest description of this scene; the betrothed bride wearing a simple + morning dress, having on her arm a bracelet containing Prince Albert's + portrait, which helped to give her courage; her voice, as she read the + declaration clear, sweet, and penetrating as ever, but her hands trembling + so excessively that it was surprising she could read the paper she held. + It was a trying task, but not so difficult as that which had devolved on + her a short time before, when, in virtue of her sovereign rank, she had + first to speak the words of fate that bound her to her suitor. <br /> <a + name="ILL012" id="ILL012"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/012 Prince Albert.jpg" alt="Prince Albert" /> + </p> + <h4> + Prince Albert + </h4> + <p> + Endowed with every charm of person, mind, and manner that can win and keep + affection, Prince Albert was able, in marrying the Queen, who loved him + and whom he loved, to secure for her a happiness rare in any rank, rarest + of all on the cold heights of royalty. This was not all; he was the worthy + partner of her greatness. Himself highly cultivated in every sense, he + watched with keenest interest over the advance of all cultivation in the + land of his adoption, and identified himself with every movement to + improve its condition. His was the soul of a statesman—wide, lofty, + far-seeing, patient; surveying all great things, disdaining no small + things, but with tireless industry pursuing after all necessary knowledge. + Add to these intellectual excellences the moral graces of ideal purity of + life, chivalrous faithfulness of heart, magnanimous self-suppression, and + fervent piety, and we have a slight outline of a character which, in the + order of Providence, acted very strongly and with a still living force on + the destinies of nineteenth-century England. The Queen had good reasons + for the feeling of "confidence and comfort" that shone in the glance she + turned on her bridegroom as they walked away, man and wife at last, from + the altar of the Chapel Royal, on February 10th, 1840. The union she then + entered into immeasurably enhanced her popularity, and strengthened her + position as surely as it expanded her nature. Not many years elapsed + before Sir Robert Peel could tell her that, in spite of the inroads of + democracy, the monarchy had never been safer, nor had any sovereign been + so beloved, because "the Queen's domestic life was so happy, and its + example so good." Only the Searcher of hearts knoweth how great has been + the holy power of a pure, fair, and noble example constantly shining in + the high places of the land. <br /> <a name="ILL013" id="ILL013"></a> <br /> + <a href="images/013 The Queen in her Wedding Dress.jpg"> <img + src="images/013 The Queen in her Wedding Dress.jpg" + alt="The Queen in her Wedding-Dress" width="35%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + The Queen in her Wedding-Dress<br />(After the Picture by Drummond) + </h4> + <p> + It was hinted by the would-be wise, in the early days of Her Majesty's + married life, that it would be idle to look for the royally maternal + feeling of an Elizabeth towards her people in a wedded constitutional + sovereign. The judgment was a mistake. The formal limitations of our + Queen's prerogative, sedulously as she has respected them, have never + destroyed her sense of responsibility; wifehood and motherhood have not + contracted her sympathies, but have deepened and widened them. The very + sorrows of her domestic life have knit her in fellowship with other + mourners. No great calamity can befall her humblest subjects, and she hear + of it, but there comes the answering flash of tender pity. She is more + truly the mother of her people, having walked on a level with them, and + with "Love, who is of the valley," than if she had chosen to dwell alone + and aloof. <br /> <a name="ILL014" id="ILL014"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/014 Sir Robert Peel.jpg"> <img + src="images/014 Sir Robert Peel.jpg" alt="Sir Robert Peel" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Sir Robert Peel + </h4> + <p> + For some years after her marriage the Queen's private life shows like a + little isle of brightness in the midst of a stormy sea. Within and without + our borders there was small prospect of settled peace at the very time of + that marriage. We have said that Lord Melbourne was still Premier; but he + and his Ministry had resigned office in the previous May, and had only + come back to it in consequence of a curious misunderstanding known as "the + Bedchamber difficulty." Sir Robert Peel, who was summoned to form a + Ministry on Melbourne's defeat and resignation, had asked from Her Majesty + the dismissal of two ladies of her household, the wives of prominent + members of the departing Whig Government; but his request conveyed to her + mind the sense that he designed to deprive her of all her actual + attendants, and against this imagined proposal she set herself + energetically. "She could not consent to a course which she conceived to + be contrary to usage, and which was repugnant to her feelings." Peel on + his part remained firm in his opinion as to the real necessity for the + change which he had advocated. From the deadlock produced by mere + misunderstanding there seemed at the time only one way of escaping; the + defeated Whig Government returned to office. But Ministers who resumed + power only because, "as gentlemen," they felt bound to do so, had little + chance of retaining it. In September 1841, Lord Melbourne was superseded + in the premiership by Sir Robert Peel, and then gave a final proof how + single-minded was his loyal devotion by advising the new Prime Minister as + to the tone and style likely to commend him to their royal mistress—a + tone of clear straightforwardness. "The Queen," said Melbourne—who + knew of what he was speaking, if any statesman then did—"is not + conceited; she is aware there are many things she cannot understand, and + likes them explained to her elementarily, not at length and in detail, but + shortly and clearly." The counsel was given and was accepted with equal + good feeling, such as was honourable to all concerned; and the Sovereign + learned, as years went on, to repose a singular confidence in the Minister + with whom her first relations had been so unpropitious, but whose real + honesty, ability, and loyalty soon approved themselves to her clear + perceptions, which no prejudice has long been able to obscure. + </p> + <p> + We are told that in later years Her Majesty referred to the disagreeable + incident we have just related as one that could not have occurred, if she + had had beside her Prince Albert "to talk to and employ in explaining + matters," while she refused the suggestion that her impulsive resistance + had been advised by any one about her. "It was entirely my own foolishness + <a id="footnotetag3" name="footnotetag3"></a><a href="#footnote3">[3]</a>," + she is said to have added—words breathing that perfect simplicity of + candour which has always been one of her most strongly marked + characteristics. + </p> + <p> + Though the matter caused a great sensation at the time, and gave rise to + some dismal prophesyings, it was of no permanent importance, and is + chiefly noted here because it throws a strong light on Her Majesty's need + of such an ever-present aid as she had now secured in the husband wise + beyond his years, who well understood his constitutional position, and was + resolute to keep within it, avoiding entanglement with any party, and + fulfilling with equal impartiality and ability the duties of private + secretary to his Sovereign-wife. + </p> + <p> + The Melbourne Ministry had had to contend with difficulties sufficiently + serious, and of these the grimmest and greatest remained still unsettled. + At the outset of the reign a rebellion in Canada had required strong + repression; and we had taken the first step on a bad road by entering into + those disputes as to our right to force the opium traffic on China, which + soon involved us in a disastrously successful war with that country. On + the other hand, our Indian Government had begun an un-called-for + interference with the affairs of Afghanistan, which, successful at first, + resulted in a series of humiliating reverses to our arms, culminating in + one of the most terrible disasters that have ever befallen a British force—the + wholesale massacre of General Elphinstone's defeated and retreating army + on its passage through the terrible mountain gorge known as the Pass of + Koord Cabul. It was on January 13th, 1842, that the single survivor of + this massacre appeared, a half-fainting man, drooping over the neck of his + wearied pony, before the fort of Jellalabad, which General Sale still held + for the English. He only was "escaped alone" to tell the hideous tale. The + ill-advised and ill-managed enterprise which thus terminated had extended + over more than three years, had cost us many noble lives, in particular + that of the much-lamented Alexander Burnes, had condemned many English + women and children to a long and cruel captivity among the savage foe, and + had absolutely failed as to the object for which it was undertaken—the + instalment of Shah Soojah, a mere British tool, as ruler of Afghanistan, + in place of the chief desired by the Afghan people, Dost Mahomed. When the + disasters to our arms had been retrieved, as retrieved they were with + exemplary promptness, and when the surviving prisoners were redeemed from + their hard captivity, it was deemed sound policy for us to attempt no + longer to "force a sovereign on a reluctant people," and to remain content + with that limit which "nature appears to have assigned" to our Indian + empire on its north-western border. Later adventures in the same field + have not resulted so happily as to prove that these views were incorrect. + Our prestige was seriously damaged in Hindostan by this first Afghan war, + and was only partially re-established in the campaign against the Sikhs + several years later, despite the dramatic grandeur of that "piece of + Indian history" which resulted in our annexation of the Punjaub in 1846—a + solid advantage balanced by the unpleasant fact that English soldiers had + been proved not invincible by natives. + </p> + <p> + It will thus appear that there was not too much that was glorious or + encouraging in our external affairs in these early years; but the internal + condition of the country was never less reassuring. The general discontent + of the English lower orders was taking shape as Chartism—a movement + which could not have arisen but for the fierce suspicion with which the + working classes had learnt to regard those who seemed their superiors in + wealth, in rank, or in political power, and which the higher orders + retaliated in dislike and distrust of the labouring population, whom they + considered as seditious enemies of order and property. The demon of class + hatred was never more alive and busy than in the decade which terminated + in 1848. + </p> + <p> + "The Charter," which was the watchword of hope to so many, and the very + war-note of discord to many more, comprised six points, of which some at + least were sufficiently absurd, while others have virtually passed into + law, quietly and naturally, in due course of time; and if the universal + Age of Gold which ignorant Chartists looked for has not ensued, at least + the anarchy and ruin which their opponents associated with the dreaded + scheme are equally non-existent. So fast has the time moved that there is + now a little difficulty in understanding the passionate hopes with which + the Charter was associated on the one side, and the panic which it + inspired on the other; and there is much to move wondering compassion in + the profound ignorance which those hopes betrayed, and the not inferior + misery amid which they were cherished. Few persons are now so credulous as + to expect that annual Parliaments or stipendiary members would insure the + universal reign of peace and justice; the people have already found that + vote by ballot and suffrage all but universal have neither equalised + wealth nor abrogated greed and iniquity; and though there be some dreamers + in our midst to-day who look for wonderful transformations of society to + follow on possible reforms, there is not even in these dreamy schemes the + same amazing disproportion of means to be employed and end to be attained + as characterised the Chartist delusion. <br /> <a name="ILL015" id="ILL015"></a> + <br /> <a href="images/015 Daniel O'Connell.jpg"> <img + src="images/015 Daniel O'Connell.jpg" alt="Daniel O'Connell" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Daniel O'Connell + </h4> + <p> + In Ireland men were reposing unbounded faith in another sort of political + panacea for every personal and social evil—the Repeal of the Union + with England, advocated by Daniel O'Connell, with all the power of his + passionate Celtic eloquence, and supported by all his extraordinary + personal influence. Apparently he hoped to carry this agitation to the + same triumphant issue as that for Catholic emancipation, in which he had + taken a conspicuous part; but the new movement did not, like the old one, + appeal immediately and plausibly to the English sense of fair play and + natural justice. A competent and not unfriendly observer has remarked that + O'Connell's "theory and policy were that Ireland was to be saved by a + dictatorship entrusted to himself." Whether any salvation for the unhappy + land did lie in such a dictatorship was a point on which opinion might + well be divided. English opinion was massively hostile to it; but for + years all the political enthusiasm of Ireland centred in O'Connell and the + cause he upheld. The country might be on the brink of ruin and starvation, + but the peril seemed forgotten while the dream lasted. The agitator was + wont to refer to the Queen in terms of extravagant loyalty, and it would + seem that the feeling was largely shared by his followers. However futile + and vainglorious his scheme and methods may appear, we must not deny to + him a distinction, rare indeed among Irish agitators, of having steadily + disclaimed violence and advocated orderly and peaceable proceedings. He + thought his cause would be injured, and not advanced, by such outrages as + before and since his day have too often disgraced party warfare in + Ireland. His favourite maxim was that "the man who commits a crime gives + strength to the enemy." This opinion was not heartily endorsed by all his + followers. When it became clear that his dislike of physical force was + real, when he did not defy the Government, at last stirred into hostile + action by the demonstrations he organised, there was an end of his power + over the fiercer spirits whom he had roused against the rule of "the + Saxon"—luckless phrase with which he had enriched the Anglo-Irish + controversy, and misleading as luckless. O'Connell died, a broken and + disappointed man, on his way to Rome in 1847; but the spirit he had raised + and could not rule did not die with him, and the younger, more turbulent + leaders, who had outbid him for popular approval, continued their + anti-English warfare with growing zeal until the year of fate 1848. + </p> + <p> + Even the Principality of Wales had its own peculiar form of agitation, + sometimes accompanied by outrage, during these wild opening years. The + farmers and labourers in Wales were unprosperous and poor, and in the + season of their adversity they found turnpikes and tolls multiplying on + their public roads. They resented what appeared a cruel imposition with + wrathful impatience, and ere long gave expression to their anger in wild + deeds. A text of Scripture suggested to them a fantastic form of riot. + They found that it was said of old to Rebecca, "Let thy seed possess the + gate of those which hate them," and ere long "Rebecca and her children," + men masking in women's clothes, made fierce war by night on the "gates" + they detested, destroying the turnpikes and driving out their keepers. + These raids were not always bloodless. The Government succeeded in + repressing the rioting, and then, finding that a real grievance had caused + it, did away with the oppressive tolls, and dealt not too hardly with the + captured offenders; leniency which soon restored Wales to tranquillity. + <br /> <a name="ILL016" id="ILL016"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/016 Richard Cobden.jpg"> <img + src="images/016 Richard Cobden.jpg" alt="Richard Cobden" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Richard Cobden + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <a name="ILL017" id="ILL017"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/017 John Bright.jpg"> <img src="images/017 John Bright.jpg" + alt="John Bright" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + John Bright + </h4> + <p> + A peaceful, strictly constitutional, and finally successful agitation ran + its steady course in England for several years contemporaneously with + those we have already enumerated. The Anti-Corn-Law League, with which the + names of Cobden and Bright are united as closely as those two + distinguished men were united in friendship, had in 1838 found a centre + eminently favourable to its operations in Manchester. Its leaders were + able, well-informed, and upright men, profoundly convinced that their + cause was just, and that the welfare of the people was involved in their + success or failure. They were men of the middle class, acquainted + intimately with the needs and doings of the trading community to which + they belonged, and therefore at once better qualified to argue on + questions affecting commerce, and less directly interested in the + prosperity of agriculture, than the more aristocratic leaders of the + nation. Both persuasive and successful speakers, one of them supremely + eloquent, they were able to interest even the lowest populace in questions + of political economy, and to make Free Trade in Corn the idol of popular + passion. Their mode of agitation was eminently reasonable and wise; but it + <i>was</i> an agitation, exciting wild enthusiasm and fierce opposition, + and must be reckoned not among the forces tending to quiet, but among + those that aroused anxious care in the first nine years of the reign. And + it was a terrible calamity that at last placed victory within their grasp. + The blight on the potato first showed itself in 1845—a new, + undreamed-of disaster, probably owing to the long succession of + unfavourable seasons. And the potato blight meant almost certainly famine + in Ireland, where perhaps three-fourths of the population had no food but + this root. The food supply of a whole nation seemed on the point of being + cut off. A loud demand was made for "the opening of the ports." By + existing laws the ports admitted foreign grain tinder import duties + varying in severity inversely with the fluctuating price of home-grown + grain; thus a certain high level in the cost of corn was artificially + maintained. These regulations, though framed for the protection of the + native producer, did not bear so heavily on the consumer as the law of + 1815 which they replaced; and the principle represented by them had a + large following in the country. But now the argument from famine proved + potent to decide the wavering convictions of some who had long been + identified with the cause of Protection. The champions of Free Trade were + sure of triumph when Sir Robert Peel became one of their converts; and the + Corn Bill which he carried in the June of 1846, granting with some little + reserve and delay the reforms which the Anti-Corn-Law League had been + formed to secure, brought that powerful association to a quiet end. But + the threatening Irish famine and the growing Irish disturbances remained, + to embarrass the Ministry of Lord John Russell, which came into power + within less than a week of that great success of the Tory Minister, + defeated on a question of Irish polity on the very day when his Corn Bill + received the assent of the House of Lords. <br /> <a name="ILL018" + id="ILL018"></a> <br /> <img src="images/018 Lord John Russell.jpg" + alt="Lord John Russell" /> + </p> + <h4> + Lord John Russell + </h4> + <p> + We must not omit, as in passing we chronicle this singular fortune of a + great Minister, to notice the grief with which Her Majesty viewed this + turn of events. Amid all the anxiety of the period, amid her distress at + the cruel sufferings of her servants in India, in Britain, in Ireland, and + her care for their relief, she had had two sources of consolation: the + pure and simple bliss of her home-life, and the assistance of two most + valued counsellors—her husband and her Prime Minister. One was + inseparably at her side, but one must now leave it; and she and the Prince + met their inevitable loss with the dignified outward acquiescence that was + fitting, but with sorrow not less real. The Queen would have bestowed on + Peel as distinguished an honour as she could confer—the Order of the + Garter; Peel deemed it best to decline it gratefully. "He was from the + people and of the people," and wished so to remain, content if his Queen + could say, "You have been a faithful servant, and have done your duty to + the country and to myself." + </p> + <p> + In hapless Ireland, torn by agitation and scourged by pestilence and + famine, the general misery had reached a point where no fiscal measures, + however wise, could at once alleviate it. The potato famine held on its + dreadful way, and the darkest moment of Irish history seemed reached in + the year when one hundred and seventy thousand persons perished in that + island by hunger or hunger-bred fever. The new plague affected Great + Britain also; but its suffering was completely overshadowed by the + enormous bulk of Irish woe, which the utmost lavishness of charity seemed + scarcely to lessen. That there should be turbulence and even violence + accompanying all this wretchedness was no way surprising; but in most + men's minds the wretchedness held the larger place, and deservedly so, for + the sedition, when ripe enough, was dealt with sharply, though not + mercilessly, in such a way that ere long all reasonable dread of a civil + war being added to the other horrors, had passed away; and the country had + leisure for such recovery as was possible to a land so desolate. <br /> + <a name="ILL019" id="ILL019"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/019 Thomas Chalmers.jpg" alt="Thomas Chalmers" /> + </p> + <h4> + Thomas Chalmers + </h4> + <p> + There was contemporaneous distress enough and to spare in Great Britain: + failures in Lancashire alone to the amount of £16,000,000; failures + equally heavy in Birmingham, Glasgow, and other great towns; capital was + absorbed by the mad speculations in railway shares; and even Heaven's gift + of an abundant harvest, by at once lowering the price of corn, helped to + depress commerce. Many banks stopped payment, and even the Bank of England + seemed imperilled, saving itself only by adopting a bold line of policy + advised by Government. At the same time, the Chartist movement was + gathering the strength which was to expend itself in the futile + demonstrations of 1848. <br /> <a name="ILL020" id="ILL020"></a> <br /> + <img src="images/020 John Henry Newman.jpg" alt="John Henry Newman" /> + </p> + <h4> + John Henry Newman<br />(From a photograph by Mr. H. J. Whitlock, + Birmingham) + </h4> + <p> + But as if it were not enough for every department of political or + commercial life to be so seriously affected, there was now arising within + the English National Church itself a singular movement, destined to affect + the religious history of the land as powerfully, if not as beneficially, + as did the Evangelical revival of the last century; and the National Kirk + of Scotland, after long and stern contention on the crucial point of civil + control in things spiritual, was ready for that rending in twain from + which arose the Free Kirk; while other religious bodies were torn by the + same keen spirit of strife, the same revolt against ancient order, as that + which was distracting the world of politics. The bitterness of the + disruption in Scotland is well-nigh exhausted, though the controversy + enlisted at the time all the fervid power of a Chalmers; men honour the + memory of the champions, while hoping to see the once sharp differences + composed for ever. But the "Catholic Revival," initiated under the + leadership of Newman, Pusey, and Keble, has proved to be no transient + disturbance: and no figure has in relation to the Church history of the + half-century the same portentous importance as that of John Henry Newman, + whose powerful magnetism, as it attracted or repelled, drew men towards + Romanism or drove them towards Rationalism, his logical art, made more + impressive by the noble eloquence with which he sometimes adorned it, + seeming to leave those who came under his spell no choice between the two + extremes. When he finally decided on withdrawing himself from the Anglican + and giving in his adhesion to the Roman communion, he set an example that + has not yet ceased to be imitated, to the incalculable damage of the + English Establishment. Happily the massive Nonconformity of the country + was hardly touched either by his influence or his example. + </p> + <p> + It is pleasant to turn from scenes of doubt and discord, of strife and + sorrow, to that bright domestic life which was now vouchsafed to the + Sovereign, as if in direct compensation for the storms that raved and beat + outside her home—a home now brightened by the presence of five + joyous, healthy children. It is a charming picture of the royal pair and + of the manner of life in the palace—styled by one foreigner "the one + really pleasant, comfortable English house, in which one feels at one's + ease "—that is given us by the finely discerning Mendelssohn, + invited by the Prince to "come and try his organ" before leaving England + in 1842, on which occasion the Queen joined her husband and his guest at + the instrument, enjoying and aiding in their musical performance, and + singing, "quite faultlessly and with charming feeling and expression," a + song written by the great master who was now paying a farewell visit, with + nothing of ceremony in it, to English royalty. With a few touches + Mendelssohn makes us see the delightful ease and comfort of this royal + interior, the Queen gathering up the sheets of music strewn by the wind + over the floor—the Prince cleverly managing the organ-stops so as to + suit the master while he played—the mighty rocking-horse and the two + birdcages beside the music-laden piano in the Queen's own sitting-room, + beautiful with pictures and richly-bound books—the pretty difficulty + about her finding some of Mendelssohn's own songs to sing to him, since + her music was packed up and taken away to Claremont—her naïve + confession that she had been "so frightened" at singing before the master,—all + are chronicled with not less zest and affection than the graceful gift of + a valuable ring "as a remembrance" to the artist from the Queen, through + Prince Albert. It is a much more pleasing impression that we thus obtain + than can be given by details of State ceremonial and visits from other + sovereigns. Of these last there was no lack, and the princely visitors + were entertained with all due pomp and splendour; but neither on account + of these costly entertainments nor on behalf of the royal children did the + Sovereign ask the nation for so much as a shilling, the Civil List + sufficing for every unlooked-for outlay, now that Prince Albert, by dint + of persevering effort, had succeeded in putting the arrangements of the + royal household on a satisfactory footing, sweeping away a vast number of + time-honoured, thriftless expenses, and rendering a wise and generous + economy possible. <br /> <a name="ILL021" id="ILL021"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/021 Balmoral.jpg" alt="Balmoral" /> + </p> + <h4> + Balmoral + </h4> + <p> + Formerly the great officers of the Crown were charged with the oversight + of the commonest domestic business of the palace. Being non-resident, + these overseers did no overseeing, and the actual servants were + practically masterless. Hence arose numberless vexations and extravagant + hindrances. In 1843 this objectionable form of the division of labour was + brought to an end, and one Master of the household who did his work + replaced the many officials who, by a fiction of etiquette, had been + formerly supposed to do everything while they did and could do nothing. + The long-needed reform could not but be pleasing to the Queen, being quite + in harmony with the upright principles that had always ruled her conduct, + she having begun her reign by paying off the debts of her dead father—debts + contracted not in her lifetime nor on her account, and which a spirit less + purely honourable might therefore have declined to recognise. <br /> <a + name="ILL044" id="ILL044"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/044 Osborne House.jpg" alt="Osborne House" /> + </p> + <h4> + Osborne House + </h4> + <p> + Thanks to the Prince's able management, the royal pair found it in their + power to purchase for themselves the estate of Osborne, in the Isle of + Wight—a charming retreat all their own, which they could adorn for + their delight with no thought of the thronging public; where the Prince + could farm and build and garden to his heart's content, and all could + escape from the stately restraints of their burdensome rank, and from "the + bitterness people create for themselves in London." Before very long they + found for themselves that Highland holiday home of Balmoral which was to + be so peculiarly dear, and in which Her Majesty—whose first visit to + the <i>then</i> discontented Scotland was deemed quite a risky experiment—was + so completely to win for herself the admiring love of her Scottish + subjects. + </p> + <p> + At Balmoral Mr. Greville saw them some little time after their acquisition + of the place, and witnesses to the "simplicity and ease" with which they + lived, to the gay good humour that pervaded their circle—"the Queen + running in and out of the house all day long, often going out alone, + walking into the cottages, sitting down and chatting with the old women," + the Prince free from trammels of etiquette, showing what native charm of + manner and what high, cultivated intelligence were really his. The + impression is identical with that conveyed by Her Majesty's published + Journal of that Highland life; and, though lacking the many graceful + details of that record, the testimony has its own value. Happy indeed was + the Sovereign for whom the black cloud of those years showed such a silver + lining! Other potentates were less happy, both as regarded their private + blessings and their public fortunes. + </p> + <p> + It would be agreeable to English feelings, but not altogether consonant + with historic truth, if we could leave unnoticed the scandalous attempts + on the Queen's life which marked the earliest period of her reign and have + been renewed in later days. The first attacks were by far of the most + alarming character, but Her Majesty, whose escape on one occasion seemed + due only to her husband's prompt action, never betrayed any agitation or + alarm; and her dauntless bearing, and the care for others which she + manifested by dispensing with the presence of her usual lady attendants + when she anticipated one of these assaults, immensely increased the + already high esteem in which her people held her. The first assailant, a + half-crazy lad of low station named Oxford, was shut up in a lunatic + asylum. For the second, a man named Francis, the same plea could not be + urged; but the death-sentence he had incurred was commuted to + transportation for life. Almost immediately a deformed lad called Bean + followed the example of Francis. Her Majesty, who had been very earnest to + save the life of the miserable beings attacking her, desired an alteration + in the law as to such assaults; and their penalty was fixed at seven + years' transportation, or imprisonment not exceeding three years, to which + the court was empowered to add a moderate number of whippings—punishments + having no heroic fascination about them, like that which for heated and + shallow brains invested the hideous doom of "traitors." The expedient + proved in a measure successful, none of the later assaults, discreditable + as they are, betraying a really murderous intention. It has been remarked + as a noteworthy circumstance that popular English monarchs have been more + exposed to such dangers than others who were cordially disliked. It is not + hatred that has prompted these assassins so much as imbecile vanity and + the passion for notoriety, misleading an obscure coxcomb to think + </p> + <blockquote> + <blockquote> + <p> + + "His + glory would be great<br /> According to <i>her</i> greatness whom he + quenched." + </p> + </blockquote> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <a name="3"></a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + CHAPTER III<br /> <br /> FRANCE AND ENGLAND + </h3> + <p> + <a name="ILL022" id="ILL022"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/022 Buckingham Palace.jpg" alt="Buckingham Palace" /> + </p> + <h4> + Buckingham Palace + </h4> + <p> + It is necessary now to look at the relations of our Government with other + nations, and in particular with France, whose fortunes just at this time + had a clearly traceable effect on our own. + </p> + <p> + For several years the Court of England had been on terms of unprecedented + cordiality with the French Court. The Queen had personally visited King + Louis Philippe at the Château d'Eu—an event which we must go + back as far as the days of Henry VIII to parallel—and had contracted + a warm friendship for certain members of his family, in particular for the + Queen, Marie Amélie, for the widowed Duchess of Orleans, a maternal + cousin of Prince Albert, and for the perfect Louise, the truthful, + unselfish second wife of Leopold, King of the Belgians, and daughter of + the King of the French. It was a rude shock to all the warm feelings which + our Queen, herself transparently honest, had learnt to cherish for her + royal friends when the French King and his Minister, Guizot, entered into + that fatal intrigue of theirs, "the Spanish marriages." Isabella, the + young Queen of Spain, and her sister and heiress presumptive, Louisa, were + yet unmarried at the time of the visit to the Château d'Eu; and + about that time an undertaking was given by the French to the English + Government that the Infanta Louisa should not marry a French prince until + her sister, the actual Queen, "should be married and have children." The + possible union of the crowns of France and Spain was known for a dream of + French ambition, and was equally well known to be an object of dislike and + dread to other European Powers. The engagement which the French King had + now given seemed therefore well calculated to disarm suspicion and promote + peace; but the one was reawakened and the other endangered when it became + known that he had so used his power over the Spanish court as to procure + that the royal sisters of Spain should be married on one day—Isabella, + the Queen, to the most unfit and uncongenial of all the possible + candidates for her hand; Louisa to King Louis Philippe's son, the Duke of + Montpensier. The transaction on the face of it was far from respectable, + since the credit and happiness of the young Spanish Queen seemed to have + hardly entered into the consideration of those who arranged for her the <i>mariage + de convenance</i> into which she was led blindfold; but when regarded as a + violation of good faith it was additionally displeasing. Queen Victoria, + to whom the scheme was imparted only when it was ripe for execution, + through her personal friend Louise, Queen of the Belgians, replied to the + communication in a tone of earnest, dignified remonstrance; but apparently + the King was now too thoroughly committed to his scheme to be deterred by + any reasoning or reproaches, and the tragical farce was played out. It had + no good results for France; England was chilled and alienated, but the + Spanish crown never devolved on the Duchess of Montpensier. Within two + little years from her marriage that princess and all the French royal + family fled from France, so hastily that they had scarcely money enough to + provide for their journey, and appeared in England as fugitives, to be + aided and protected by the Queen, who forgot all political resentment, and + remembered only her personal regard for these fallen princes. + </p> + <p> + The overthrow of the Orleans dynasty in 1848 was a complete surprise, and + men have never ceased to see something disgraceful in its amazing + suddenness. Here was a great king, respected for wisdom and daring, and + supposed to understand at every point the character of the land he ruled, + his power appearing unshaken, while it was known to be backed with an army + one hundred thousand strong. And almost without warning a whirlwind of + insurrection against this solid power and this able ruler broke out, and + in a few wild hours swept the whole fabric into chaos. Nothing caused more + surprise at the moment than the extreme bitterness of animosity which the + insurgents manifested towards the king's person, unless it were the + tameness with which he submitted to his fate and the precipitancy of his + flight. There was something rotten in the state of things, men said, which + could thus dissolve, crushed like a swollen fungus by a casual foot. And + indeed, whether with perfect justice or not, Louis Philippe's + Administration had come to be deemed corrupt some time ere his fall. The + free-spoken Parisians had openly flouted it as such: witness a mock + advertisement placarded in the streets: "<i>A nettoyer, deux Chambres et + une Cour</i>": "Two <i>Chambers</i> and a <i>Court</i> to clean." A French + Government that had been crafty, but not crafty enough to conceal the + fact, that was rather contemned for plotting than dreaded for unscrupulous + energy, was already in peril. The still unsubdued revolutionary spirit, + working under the smooth surface of French society, was the element which + accomplished the destruction of this discredited Government. + </p> + <p> + The outbreak in France acted like a spark in a powder magazine; ere long + great part of Europe was shaken by the second great revolutionary + upheaval, when potentates seemed falling and ancient dynasties crumbling + on all sides—a period of eager hope to many, followed by despair + when the reaction set in, accompanied in too many places by repressive + measures of pitiless severity. The contemptuous feeling with which many + Englishmen were wont to view such Continental troubles is well embodied in + the lines which Tennyson put into the mouth of one of his characters, + speaking of France: + </p> + <blockquote> + <blockquote> + <p> + "Yonder, whiff! there comes a sudden heat,<br /> The gravest citizen + seems to lose his head,<br /> The king is scared, the soldier will not + fight.<br /> The little boys begin to shoot and stab,<br /> A kingdom + topples over with a shriek<br /> Like an old woman, and down rolls the + world<br /> In mock-heroics—<br /> Revolts, republics, + revolutions, most<br /> No graver than a schoolboy's barring out;<br /> + Too comic for the solemn things they are,<br /> Too solemn for the + comic touches in them."<br /> + </p> + </blockquote> + </blockquote> + <p> + In this wild year 1848, which saw Revolution running riot on the + Continent, England too had its share of troubles not less painfully + ridiculous; the insurrection headed by Smith O'Brien, a chief of the + "Young Ireland" party, coming to an inglorious end in the affray that took + place at "the widow McCormick's cabbage-garden, Ballingarry," in the month + of July; the greatly dreaded Chartist demonstration at Kennington Common + on April 10th by its conspicuous failure having done much to damp the + hopes and spirits of the party of disorder generally. + </p> + <p> + It would be easy now to laugh at the frustrated designs of the Chartist + leaders and at the sort of panic they aroused in London: the vast + procession, which was to have marched in military order to overawe + Parliament, resolving itself into a confused rabble easily dispersed by + the police, and the monster petition, that should have numbered six + million signatures, transported piecemeal to the House, and there found to + have but two million names appended, many fictitious; the Chartist leader, + completely cowed, thanking the Home Office for its lenient treatment; or, + on the other hand, London and its peaceful inhabitants, distracted with + wild rumours of combat and bloodshed, apprehending a repetition of + Parisian madnesses, and unaware how thoroughly the Duke of Wellington, + entrusted with the defence of the capital and its important buildings, had + carried out all needful arrangements. The two hundred thousand special + constables sworn in to aid in maintaining law and order on that day were + visible enough, and had their utility in conveying a certain impression of + safety; the troops whom the veteran commander held in readiness were kept + out of sight till wanted. These rebellious spirits imagining themselves + formidable and free, when caught in an invisible iron network—these + terrified citizens, protected all unconsciously to themselves against the + impotent foe whom they dreaded—might furnish food for mirth if we + did not remember the real, deep, and widespread misery which found + inarticulate but piteous expression in the movement now coming to + confusion under the firm assertion of necessary authority. The + disturbances must needs be quieted; but hitherto it has been the glory of + our Victorian statesmen to have understood that the grievances which + caused them must also be dealt with. Now that all which could be deemed + wise and good in Chartist demands has been conceded, orderly and quietly, + the name "Chartism" has utterly lost its dread significance. <br /> <a + name="ILL023" id="ILL023"></a> <br /> <a href="images/023 Napoleon III.jpg"> + <img src="images/023 Napoleon III.jpg" alt="Napoleon III" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Napoleon III + </h4> + <p> + No cruelly vindictive measures of reprisal followed the collapse of the + agitation; none indeed were needed. The revolutionary epidemic, which had + spread hitherward from France, found our body politic in too sound a + condition, and could not fasten on it; and the subsequent convulsions + which shook our great neighbour hardly called forth an answering thrill in + England. The strange transactions of December 1851, by means of which + Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, Prince-President of the new French republic, + succeeded in overthrowing that republic and replacing it by an empire of + which he was the head, did indeed excite displeasure and distrust in many + minds; and though it was believed that his high-handed proceedings had + averted much disorder, the English Government was not prepared at once to + accept all the proffered explanations of French diplomacy; but the then + foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, by the rash proclamation of his + individual approval, committed the Ministry of which he was one to a + recognition of the <i>de facto</i> Monarch of France. This step was but + the last of many instances in which Palmerston had acted without due + reference to the premier's or the Sovereign's opinion—a course of + conduct which had justly displeased the Queen, and had drawn from her + grave and pointed remonstrances. The final transgression led to his + resignation; but its effects on our relations with France remained. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile the Emperor's consistent and probably sincere display of + goodwill towards England, the apparent complacency with which the French + nation acquiesced in his rule, and the outward prosperity accompanying it, + did their natural work in conciliating approval, and in making men willing + to forget the obscure and tortuous steps by which he had climbed to power. + One day he and France were to pay for these things; but meanwhile he was a + popular ruler, accepted and approved by the nation he governed, anxious + for its prosperity, and earnest in keeping it friendly with Great Britain, + which he had found a hospitable home in the days of his obscurity, which + was again to offer an asylum to him in a day of utter disaster and + overthrow, and where his life, chequered by vicissitudes stranger than any + known to romance, was to come to a quiet close. It has been the singular + fortune of Her Majesty to receive into the sacred shelter of her realm two + dethroned monarchs, two fallen fortunes, two dynasties cast out from + sovereign power, while her own throne, "broad-based upon her people's + will, and compassed by the inviolate sea," has stood firm and unshaken, + even by a breath. And it has been her special honour to cherish with + affection, even warmer in their adversity, the friends who had gained her + regard when their prosperity seemed as bright and their great position as + assured as her own. Visiting the Emperor Napoleon in his splendid capital, + féted and welcomed by him and his Empress with every flattering + form of honour that his ingenuity could devise or his power enable him to + show, she did not forget the Orleans family and their calamities, but + frankly urged on her host the injustice of the confiscations with which he + had requited the supposed hostility of those princes, and endeavoured to + persuade him to milder measures. She visited in his company the tomb of + the lamented Duke of Orleans; and her first care on returning to England + was to show some kindly attention to the discrowned royalties who were now + her guests. In the same spirit, in after years, she extended a friendly + hand to the exiled Empress Eugénie, escaping from new revolutionary + perils to English safety, and altogether declined to consider her personal + regard for the lady, whose attractions had deservedly gained it in + brighter days, as being in any sense complicated with matters political. + The resolute loyalty with which she at once maintained her private + friendships and kept them entirely apart from her public action compelled + toleration from the persons most inclined to take umbrage at it. + </p> + <p> + An instance of successful and courageous enterprise on Her Majesty's part + may well close this brief notice of the internal and external convulsions + which for a time shook, though they did not shatter, the peace of our + realm. In the late summer of 1849 a royal visit to Ireland, now just + reviving from its misery, was planned and carried out with complete + success; the wild Irish enthusiasm blazed up into raptures of a loyal + welcome, and the Sovereign, who played her part with all the graceful + perfection that her compassionate heart and quick intelligence suggested, + was delighted with the little tour, from which those who shared in it + prophesied "permanent good" for Ireland. At least it had a healing, + beneficial effect at the moment; and perhaps more could not have been + reasonably hoped. Later royal visits to the sister isle have been less + conspicuous, but all fairly successful. <br /> <br /> <br /> <a name="4"></a> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + CHAPTER IV<br /> <br /> THE CRIMEAN WAR + </h3> + <p> + <a name="ILL024" id="ILL024"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/024 The Crystal Palace 1851.jpg" alt="The Crystal Palace, 1851" /> + </p> + <h4> + The Crystal Palace, 1851 + </h4> + <p> + The "Exhibition year," 1851, appears to our backward gaze almost like a + short day of splendid summer interposed between two stormy seasons; but at + the time men were more inclined to regard it as the first of a long series + of halcyon days. Indeed, the unexampled number and success of the various + efforts to redress injury and reform abuses, which had signalised the new + reign, might almost justify those sanguine spirits, who now wrote and + spoke as though wars and oppression were well on their way to the limbo of + ancient barbarisms, and who looked to unfettered commerce as the + peace-making civiliser, under whose influence the golden age—in more + senses than one might revisit the earth. <br /> <a name="ILL025" id="ILL025"></a> + <br /> <a href="images/025 Lord Ashley.jpg"> <img + src="images/025 Lord Ashley.jpg" alt="Lord Ashley" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Lord Ashley + </h4> + <p> + We have already referred to certain of the new transforming forces whose + action tended to heighten such hopes; there are two reforms as yet unnamed + by us, distinguishing these early years, which are particularly + significant; though one at least was stoutly opposed by a special class of + reformers. We refer to the legislation dealing with mines and factories + and those employed therein, with which is inseparably connected the + venerable name of the late Lord Shaftesbury; and to the abolition of + duelling in the army, secured by the untiring efforts of Prince Albert, + who had enlisted on his side the immense influence of the Duke of + Wellington. + </p> + <p> + That peculiar modern survival of the ancient trial by combat, the duel, + was still blocking the way of English civilisation when Her Majesty + assumed the sceptre. A palpable anachronism, it yet seemed impossible to + make men act on their knowledge of its antiquated and barbarous character; + legislation was fruitless of good against a practice consecrated by false + sentiment and false ideas of honour; but when dislodged from its chief + stronghold, the army, it became quickly discredited everywhere, with the + happy result noted by a contemporary historian, that <i>now</i> "a duel in + England would seem as absurd and barbarous as an ordeal by touch or a + witch-burning." Militarism, that mischievous counterfeit of true soldierly + spirit, could not thrive where the duel was discountenanced; and the + friends of peace might rejoice with reason. + </p> + <p> + But those peaceful agitators, the sagacious, energetic Cobden and his + allies, resented rather sharply the interference of the Lord Ashley of + that day with the "natural laws" of the labour market—laws to whose + operation some of the party attributed the cruelly excessive hours of work + in factories, and the indiscriminate employment of all kinds of labour, + even that of the merest infants. Undeterred by these objections, convinced + that no law which sanctioned and promoted cruelty did so with true + authority, Lord Ashley persisted in the struggle on which he had entered + 1833; in 1842 he scored his first great success in the passing of an Act + that put an end to the employment of women and children in mines and + collieries; in 1844 the Government carried their Factories Act, which + lessened and limited the hours of children's factory labour, and made + other provisions for their benefit. It was not all that he had striven + for, but it was much; he accepted the compromise, but did not slacken in + his efforts still further to improve the condition of the children. His + career of steady benevolence far outstretched this early period of battle + and endurance; but already his example and achievement were fruitful of + good, and his fellow-labourers were numerous. Nothing succeeds like + success: people had sneered at the mania for futile legislation that + possessed the "humanity-monger" who so embarrassed party leaders with his + crusade on behalf of mere mercy and justice; they now approved the + practical philanthropist who had taken away a great reproach from his + nation, and glorified the age in which they lived because of its special + humaneness, while they exulted not less in the brightening prospects of + the country. Sedition overcome, law and order triumphant, the throne + standing firm, prosperity returning—all ministered to pride and + hope. + </p> + <p> + In 1850 there had been some painful incidents; the death by an unhappy + accident of Sir Robert Peel, and the turbulent excitement of what are + known as the "No Popery" disturbances, being the most notable: and of + these again incomparably the most important was the untimely loss to the + country of the great and honest statesman who might otherwise have + rendered still more conspicuous services to the Sovereign and the empire. + The sudden violent outburst of popular feeling, provoked by a piece of + rash assumption on the part of the reigning Pope, was significant, indeed, + as evidencing how little alteration the "Catholic revival" had worked in + the temper of the nation at large; otherwise its historic importance is + small. At the time, however, the current of agitation ran strongly, and + swept into immediate oblivion an event which three years before would have + had a European importance—the 'death of Louis Philippe, whose + strangely chequered life came to an end in the old palace of Claremont, + just before the "papal aggressions"—rash, impolitic, and + mischievous, as competent observers pronounced it, but powerless to injure + English Protestantism—had thrown all the country into a ferment, + which took some months to subside. We are told that Her Majesty, though + naturally interested by this affair, was more alive to the quarter where + the real peril lay than were some of her subjects; but in the universal + distress caused by the death of Peel none joined more truly, none deplored + that loss more deeply, than the Sovereign, who would willingly have shown + her value for the true servant she had lost by conferring a peerage on his + widow—an honour which Lady Peel, faithful to the wishes and sharing + the feeling of her husband, felt it necessary to decline. <br /> <a + name="ILL026" id="ILL026"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/026 Earl of Derby.jpg" alt="Earl of Derby" /> + </p> + <h4> + Earl of Derby + </h4> + <p> + Amid these agitations, inferior far to many that had preceded them, the + year 1850 ran out, and 1851 opened—the year in which Prince Albert's + long-pursued project of a great International Exhibition of Arts and + Industries was at last successfully carried out. The idea, as expounded by + himself at a banquet given by the Lord Mayor, was large and noble. "It was + to give the world a true test, a living picture, of the point of + industrial development at which the whole of mankind had arrived, and a + new starting-point from which all nations would be able to direct their + further exertions." The magnificent success, unflawed by any vexatious or + dangerous incident, with which the idea was carried out, had made it + almost impossible for us to understand the opposition with which the plan + was greeted, the ridicule that was heaped upon it, the foolish fears which + it inspired; while the many similar Exhibitions in this and other + countries that have followed and emulated, but never altogether equalled, + the first, have made us somewhat oblivious of the fact that the scheme + when first propounded was an absolute novelty. It was a fascination, a + wonder, a delight; it aroused enthusiasm that will never be rekindled on a + like occasion. + </p> + <p> + Paxton's fairy palace of glass and iron, erected in Hyde Park, and + canopying in its glittering spaces the untouched, majestic elms of that + national pleasure-ground as well as the varied treasures of industrial and + artistic achievement brought from every quarter of the globe, divided the + charmed astonishment of foreign spectators with the absolute orderliness + of the myriads who thronged it and crowded all its approaches on the great + opening day. Perhaps on that day the Queen touched the summit of her rare + happiness. It was the 1st of May—her own month—and the + birthday of her youngest son, the godchild and namesake of the great Duke. + She stood, the most justly popular and beloved of living monarchy, amid + thousands of her rejoicing subjects, encompassed with loving friends and + happy children, at the side of the beloved husband whose plan was now + triumphantly realised; and she spoke the words which inaugurated that + triumph and invited the world to gaze on it. + </p> + <p> + "The sight was magical," she says, "so vast, so glorious, so + touching...God bless my dearest Albert! God bless my dearest country, + which has shown itself so great to-day! One felt so grateful to the great + God, Who seemed to pervade all and to bless all. The only event it in the + slightest degree reminded me of was the coronation, but this day's + festival was a thousand times superior. In fact, it is unique, and can + bear no comparison, from its peculiar beauty and combination of such + striking and different objects. I mean the slight resemblance only as to + its solemnity; the enthusiasm and cheering, too, were much more touching, + for in a church naturally all is silent." + </p> + <p> + The Exhibition remained open from the 1st of May to the 11th of October, + continuing during all those months to attract many thousands of visitors. + It had charmed the world by the splendid embodiment of peace and peaceful + industries which it presented, and men willingly took this festival as a + sign bespeaking a yet longer reign of world-tranquillity. It proved to be + only a sort of rainbow, shining in the black front of approaching tempest. + When 1854 opened, the third year from the Exhibition year, we were already + committed to war with Russia; and the forty years' peace with Europe, + finally won at Waterloo, was over and gone. <br /> <a name="ILL027" + id="ILL027"></a> <br /> <a href="images/027 Duke of Wellington.jpg"> <img + src="images/027 Duke of Wellington.jpg" alt="Duke of Wellington" + width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Duke of Wellington + </h4> + <p> + In the interval another great spirit had passed away. The Duke of + Wellington died, very quietly and with little warning, at Walmer Castle, + on the 14th of September, 1852, "full of years and honours." He was in his + eighty-fourth year, and during the whole reign of Queen Victoria he had + occupied such a position as no English subject had ever held before. At + one time, before that reign began, his political action had made him + extraordinarily unpopular, in despite of the splendid military services + which no one could deny; now he was the very idol of the nation, and at + the same time was treated with the utmost respect and reverent affection + by the Sovereign—two distinctions how seldom either attained or + merited by one person! But in Wellington's case there is no doubt that the + popular adoration and the royal regard were worthily bestowed and well + earned. He had never seemed stirred by the popular odium, he never seemed + to prize the popular praise, which he received; it was not for praise that + he had worked, but for simple duty; and his experience of the fickleness + of public favour might make him something scornful of it. To the honours + which his Sovereign delighted to shower on him—honours perhaps never + before bestowed on a subject by a monarch—he <i>was</i> sensitive. + The Queen to him was the noblest personification of the country whose good + had ever been, not only the first, but the only object of his public + action: and with this patriotic loyalty there mingled something of a + personal feeling, more akin to romance in its paternal tenderness than + seemed consistent with the granite-hewn strength and sternness of his + general character. A thorough soldier, with a soldier's contempt for + fine-spun diplomacy, he had been led into many a blunder when acting as a + chief of party and of State; but his absolute single-minded honesty had + more than redeemed such errors; "integrity and uprightness had preserved + him," and through him the land and its rulers, amid difficulties where the + finest statecraft might have made shipwreck of all. + </p> + <p> + He had his human failings; yet the moral grandeur of his whole career cast + such faults into the shade, and justified entirely the universal grief at + his not untimely death. The Queen deplored him as "our immortal hero"—a + servant of the Crown "devoted, loyal, and faithful" beyond all example; + the nation endeavoured by a funeral of unprecedented sumptuousness to show + its sense of loss; the poet laureate devoted to his memory a majestic Ode, + hardly surpassed by any in the language for its stately, mournful music, + and finely faithful in its characterisation of the dead hero— + </p> + <blockquote> + <blockquote> + <p> + + "The man of long-enduring blood,<br /> The statesman-warrior, moderate, + resolute,<br /> Whole in himself, a common good;...<br /> ...The man of + amplest influence,<br /> Yet clearest of ambitious crime,<br /> Our + greatest yet with least pretence,<br /> Great in council and great in + war,<br /> Foremost captain of his time,<br /> Rich in saving + common-sense.<br /> And, as the greatest only are.<br /> In his + simplicity sublime;...<br /> Who never sold the truth to serve the + hour,<br /> Nor paltered with Eternal God for power;<br /> Who let the + turbid streams of rumour flow<br /> Through either babbling world of + high and low;<br /> Whose life was work, whose language rife<br /> With + rugged maxims hewn from life;<br /> Who never spoke against a foe;<br /> + Whose eighty winters freeze with one rebuke<br /> All great + self-seekers trampling on the right:<br /> Truth-teller was our + England's Alfred named;<br /> Truth-lover was our English Duke;<br /> + Whatever record leap to light<br /> He never shall be shamed."<br /> + </p> + </blockquote> + </blockquote> + <p> + When, within so short a period after Wellington's death, the nation once + more found itself drawn into a European war, there were many whose regret + for his removal was quickened into greater keenness. "Had we but the Duke + to lead our armies!" was the common cry; but even <i>his</i> military + genius might have found itself disastrously fettered, had he occupied the + position which his ancient subordinate and comrade, Lord Raglan, was made + to assume. It may be doubted if Wellington could have been induced to + assume it. + </p> + <p> + Whether there ever would have been a Crimean war if no special + friendliness had existed between France and England may be fair matter for + speculation. The quarrel issuing in that war was indeed begun by France; + but it would have been difficult for England to take no part in it. The + apple of discord was supplied by a long-standing dispute between the Greek + and Latin Churches as to the Holy Places situated in Palestine—a + dispute in which France posed as the champion of the Latin and Russia of + the Greek right to the guardianship of the various shrines. The claim of + France was based on a treaty between Francis I and the then Sultan, and + related to the Holy Places merely; the Russian claim, founded on a treaty + between Turkey and Catherine II, was far wider, and embraced a + protectorate over all Christians of the Greek Church in Turkey, and + therefore over a great majority of the Sultan's European subjects. Such a + construction of the treaty in question, however, had always been refused + by England whenever Russia had stated it; and its assertion at this moment + bore an ominous aspect in conjunction with the views which the reigning + Czar Nicholas had made very plain to English statesmen, both when he + visited England in 1844 and subsequently to that visit. To use his own + well-known phrase, he regarded Turkey as "a sick man"—a death-doomed + man, indeed—and hoped to be the sick man's principal heir. He had + confidently reckoned on English co-operation when the Turkish empire + should at last be dismembered; he was now to find, not only that + co-operation would be withheld, but that strong opposition would be + offered to the execution of the plan, for which it had seemed that a + favourable moment was presenting itself. The delusion under which he had + acted was one that should have been dispelled by plain English speech long + before; but now that he found it to be a delusion, he did not recede from + his demands upon the Porte: he rather multiplied them. The upshot of all + this was war, in spite of protracted diplomatic endeavours to the + contrary; and into that war French and English went side by side. Once + before they had done so, when Philip Augustus and Richard Coeur de Lion + united their forces to wrest the Holy Places from the Saracens; that + enterprise had been disgraced by particularly ugly scandals from which + this was free; but in respect to glory of generalship, or permanent + results secured, the Crimean campaign has little pre-eminence over the + Fourth Crusade. + </p> + <p> + Recent disclosures, which have shown that Lord Aberdeen's Ministry was not + rightly reproached with "drifting" idly and recklessly into this + disastrous contest, have also helped to clear the English commander's + memory from the slur of inefficiency so liberally flung on him at the + time, while it has been shown that his action was seriously hampered by + the French generals with whom he had to co-operate. From whatever cause, + such glory as was gained in the Crimea belongs more to the rank and file + of the allied armies than to those highest in command. The first success + won on the heights of the Alma was not followed up; the Charge of the Six + Hundred, which has made memorable for ever the Russian repulse at + Balaklava, was a splendid mistake, valuable chiefly for the + spirit-stirring example it has bequeathed to future generations of English + soldiers, for its illustration of death-defying, disciplined courage; the + great fight at Inkerman was only converted from a calamitous surprise into + a victory by sheer obstinate valour, not by able strategy; and the + operations that after Lord Raglan's death brought the unreasonably + protracted siege of Sebastopol to a close did but evince afresh how grand + were the soldierly qualities of both French and English, and how + indifferently they were generalled. + </p> + <p> + If the allies came out of the conflict with no great glory, they had such + satisfaction as could be derived from the severer losses and the + discomfiture at all points of the foe. The disasters of the war had been + fatal to the Czar Nicholas, who died on March 2nd, 1855, from pulmonary + apoplexy—an attack to which he had laid himself open, it was said, + in melancholy recklessness of his health. His was a striking personality, + which had much more impressed English imaginations than that of Czar or + Czarina since the time of Peter the Great; and the Queen herself had + regarded the autocrat, whose great power made him so lonely, with an + interest not untouched with compassion at the remote period when he had + visited her Court and had talked with her statesmen about the imminent + decay of Turkey. At that time the austere majesty of his aspect, seen amid + the finer and softer lineaments of British courtiers, had been likened to + the half-savage grandeur of an emperor of old Rome who should have been + born a Thracian peasant. It proved that the contrast had gone much deeper + than outward appearance, and that his views and principles had been as + opposed to those of the English leaders, and as impossible of + participation by such men as though he had been an imperfectly civilised + contemporary of Constantine the Great. Since then he had succeeded in + making himself more heartily hated, by the bulk of the English nation, + than any sovereign since Napoleon I; for the war, into which the + Government had entered reluctantly, was regarded by the people with great + enthusiasm, and the foe was proportionately detested. + </p> + <p> + Many anticipated that the death of the Czar would herald in a triumphant + peace; but in point of fact, peace was not signed until the March of 1856. + Its terms satisfied the diplomatists both of France and England; they + would probably have been less complacent could they have foreseen the day + when this hard-won treaty would be torn up by the Power they seemed to be + binding hand and foot with sworn obligations of perdurable toughness; + least of all would that foresight have been agreeable to Lord Palmerston, + Premier of England when the peace was signed, and quite at one with the + mass of the people of England in their deep dislike and distrust of Russia + and its rulers. + </p> + <p> + The political advantages which can be clearly traced to this war are not + many. Privateers are no longer allowed to prey on the commerce of + belligerent nations, and neutral commerce in all articles not contraband + of war must be respected, while no blockade must be regarded unless + efficiently and thoroughly maintained. Such were the principles with which + the plenipotentiaries who signed the Treaty of Paris in 1856 enriched the + code of international law; and these principles, which are in force still, + alone remain of the advantages supposed to have been secured by all the + misery and all the expenditure of the Crimean enterprise. <br /> <a + name="ILL028" id="ILL028"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/028 Florence Nightingale.jpg"> <img + src="images/028 Florence Nightingale.jpg" alt="Florence Nightingale" + width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Florence Nightingale + </h4> + <p> + But other benefits, not of a political nature, arose out of the hideous + mismanagement which had disgraced the earlier stages of the war. It is a + very lamentable fact that of the 24,000 good Englishmen who left their + bones in the Crimea, scarce 5,000 had fallen in fair fight or died of + wounds received therein. Bad and deficient food, insufficient shelter and + clothing, utter disorganisation and confusion in the hospital department, + accounted for the rest. These evils, when exposed in the English + newspapers, called forth a cry of shame and wrath from all the nation, and + stirred noble men and women into the endeavour to mitigate at least the + sufferings of the unhappy wounded. Miss Florence Nightingale, the daughter + of a wealthy English gentleman, was known to take a deep and well-informed + interest in hospital management; and this lady was induced to superintend + personally the nursing of the wounded in our military hospitals in the + East. Entrusted with plenary powers over the nurses, and accompanied by a + trained staff of lady assistants, she went out to wrestle with and + overcome the crying evils which too truly existed, and which were the + despair of the army doctors. Her success in this noble work, magnificently + complete as it was, did indeed "multiply the good," as Sidney Herbert had + foretold: we may hope it will continue so to multiply it "to all time." + The horrors of war have been mitigated to an incalculable extent by the + exertions of the noble men and women who, following in the path first + trodden by the Crimean heroines, formed the Geneva Convention, and have + borne the Red Cross, its most sacred badge, on many a bloody field, in + many a scene of terrible suffering—suffering touched with gleams of + human pity and human gratitude; for the courageous tenderness of many a + soft-handed and lion-hearted nursing sister, since the days of Florence + Nightingale, has aroused the same half-adoring thankfulness which made + helpless soldiers turn to kiss that lady's shadow, thrown by her lamp on + the hospital wall. + </p> + <p> + The horrors thus mitigated have become more than ever repugnant to the + educated perception of Christendom, because of the merciful devotion + which, ever toiling to lessen them, keeps them before the world's eye. In + every great war that has shaken the civilised world since the strife in + the Crimea broke out, the ambulance, its patients, its attendants, have + always been in the foreground of the picture. Never have the inseparable + miseries of warfare been so well understood and so widely realised, thanks + in part to that new literary force of the Victorian age, the <i>war + correspondent</i>, and chiefly, perhaps, to the new position henceforth + assumed by the military medical and hospital service. To the same source + we may fairly attribute the great improvements wrought in the whole + conduct of that distinctively Christian charity, unknown to heathenism, + the hospital system: the opening of a new field of usefulness to educated + and devoted women of good position, as nurses in hospitals and out; and + the vast increase of public interest in and public support of such + agencies. Even the Female Medical Mission, now rising into such importance + in the jealous lands of the East, may be traced not very indirectly to the + same cause. + </p> + <p> + The Queen, whose enthusiasm for her beloved army and navy was very + earnest, and frankly shown, who had suffered with their sufferings and + exulted in their exploits, followed with a keen, personal, unfaltering + interest the efforts made for their relief. "Tell these poor, noble + wounded and sick men that <i>no one</i> takes a warmer interest, or feels + more for their sufferings, or admires their courage and heroism more than + their Queen. So does the Prince," was the impulsive, heart-warm message + which Her Majesty sent for transmission through Miss Nightingale to her + soldier-patients. Her deeds proved that these words were words of truth. + Not content with subscribing largely to the fund raised on behalf of those + left orphaned and widowed by the war, she took part in the work of + providing fitting clothing for the men exposed to all the terrors of a + Russian winter; and her daughters, enlisted to aid in this pious work, + began that career of beneficence which two of them were to pursue + afterwards to such good purpose, amid the ravages of wars whose colossal + awfulness dwarfed the Crimean campaign in the memories of men. + </p> + <p> + Many of the injured being invalided home while the war was in progress, + Her Majesty embraced the opportunity to testify her sympathy and + admiration, giving to them in public with her own hands the medals for + service rendered at Alma, at Balaklava, and at Inkerman. It would not be + easy to say whether the Sovereign or the soldiers were more deeply moved + on this occasion. Conspicuous among the maimed and feeble heroes was the + gallant young Sir Thomas Troubridge, who, lamed in both feet by a Russian + shot at Inkerman, had remained at his post, giving his orders, while the + fight endured, since there was none to fill his place. He appeared now, + crippled for life, but declared himself "amply repaid for everything," + while the Queen decorated him, and told him he should be one of her + aides-de-camp. Her own high courage and resolute sense of duty moved her + with special sympathy for heroism like this; and she obeyed the natural + dictates of her heart in conspicuously rewarding it. With a similar + impulse, on the return of the army, she made a welcoming visit to the sick + and wounded at Chatham, and testified the liveliest appreciation of the + humane services of Miss Nightingale, to whom a jewel specially designed by + the Prince was presented, in grateful recognition of her inestimable work. + The new decoration of the Victoria Cross, given "for valour" conspicuously + shown in deeds of self-devotion in war time, further proved how keenly the + Queen and her consort appreciated soldierly virtue. It was the Prince who + first proposed that such a badge of merit should be introduced, the Queen + who warmly accepted the idea, and in person bestowed the Cross on its + first wearers, thereby giving it an unpurchasable value. <br /> <br /> <br /> + <a name="5"></a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + CHAPTER V<br /> <br /> INDIA + </h3> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p> + Lord Aberdeen, who did not hope very great things from the war which had + initiated during his Ministry, had yet deemed it possible that Eastern + Europe might reap from it the benefit of a quarter of a century's peace. + He was curiously near the mark in this estimate; but neither he nor any + other English statesman was unwary enough to risk such a prophecy as to + the general tranquillity of the Continent. In fact, the peace of Europe, + broken in 1853, has been unstable enough ever since, and from time to time + tremendous wars have shaken it. Into none of these, however, has Great + Britain been again entrapped, though the sympathies of its people have + often been warmly enlisted on this side and that. A war with China, which + began in 1857, and cannot be said to have ended till 1860, though in the + interim a treaty was signed which secured just a year's cessation of + hostilities, was the most important undertaking in which the allied forces + of France and England took part after the Crimea. In this war the allies + were victorious, as at that date any European Power was tolerably certain + to be in a serious contest with China. The closing act of the conflict—the + destruction of the Summer Palace at Pekin, in retaliation for the + treacherous murder of several French and English prisoners of distinction—was + severely blamed at the time, but defended on the ground that only in this + way could any effectual punishment of the offence be obtained. That act of + vengeance and the war which it closed have an interest of their own in + connection with the late General Gordon, who now entered on that course of + extraordinary achievement which lacks a parallel in this century, and + which began, in the interests of Chinese civilisation, shortly after he + had taken a subordinate officer's part in the work of destruction at + Pekin. + </p> + <p> + From this date England did not commit itself to any of the singular series + of enterprises which our good ally, the French Emperor, set on foot. A + feeling of distrust towards that potentate was invading the minds of the + very Englishmen who had most cordially hailed his successes and met his + advances. "The Emperor's mind is as full of schemes as a warren is full of + rabbits, and, like rabbits, his schemes go to ground for the moment to + avoid notice or antagonism," were the strong words of Lord Palmerston in a + confidential letter of 1860; and when he could thus think and write, small + wonder if calmer and more unprejudiced minds saw need for standing on + their guard. Amid all the flattering demonstrations of friendship of which + the French court had been lavish, and which had been gracefully + reciprocated by English royality, the Prince Consort had retained an + undisturbed perception of much that was not quite satisfactory in the + qualifications of the despotic chief of the French State for his difficult + post. Thus it is without surprise that we find the Queen writing in 1859, + as to a plan suggested by the Emperor: "The whole scheme is the + often-attempted one, that England should take the chestnuts from the fire, + and assume the responsibility of making proposals which, if they lead to + war, we should be in honour bound to support by arms." The Emperor had + once said of Louis Philippe, that he had fallen "because he was not + sincere with England"; it looked now as though he were steering full on + the same rock, for his own sincerity was flawed by dangerous reservations. + </p> + <p> + England remained an interested spectator, but a spectator only, while the + French ruler played that curiously calculated game of his, which did so + much towards insuring the independence of Italy and its consolidation into + one free monarchy. It was no disinterested game, as the cession of Nice + and Savoy to France by Piedmont would alone have proved. It was daring to + the point of rashness; for as a French general of high rank said, there + needed but the slightest check to the French arms, and "it was all up with + the dynasty!" Yet the "idea" which furnished the professed motive for the + Emperor's warlike action was one dear to English sympathies, and many an + English heart rejoiced in the solid good secured for Italy, though without + our national co-operation. There was a proud compensating satisfaction in + the knowledge that, when a crisis of unexampled and terrible importance + had come in our own affairs, England had perforce dealt with it + single-handed and with supreme success. + </p> + <p> + Those who can remember the fearful summer of 1857 can hardly recall its + wild events without some recurrence of the thrill of horror that ran + through the land, as week after week the Indian news of mutiny and + massacre reached us. It was a surprise to the country at large, more than + to the authorities, who were informed already that a spirit of + disaffection had been at work among our native troops in Bengal, and that + there was good reason to believe in the existence of a conspiracy for + sapping the allegiance of these troops. Later events have left little + doubt that such a conspiracy did exist, and that its aim was the total + subversion of British power. Our advance in Hindostan had been rapid, the + changes following on it many, and not always such as the Oriental mind + could understand or approve. Early in the reign, in 1847, an energetic + Governor-General, Lord Dalhousie, went out to India, who introduced + railways, telegraphs, and cheap postage, set on foot a system of native + education, and vigorously fought the ancient iniquities of suttee, + thuggee, and child-murder. Perhaps his aggressive energy worked too fast, + too fierily; perhaps his peremptory reforms, not less than his high-handed + annexations of the Punjaub, Oude, and other native States, awakened + suspicion in the mind of the Hindoo, bound as he was by the immemorial + fetters of caste, and dreading with a shuddering horror innovations that + might interfere with its distinctions; for to lose caste was to be + outlawed among men and accursed in the sight of God. <br /> <a name="ILL029" + id="ILL029"></a> <br /> <a href="images/029 Lord Canning.jpg"> <img + src="images/029 Lord Canning.jpg" alt="Lord Canning" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Lord Canning + </h4> + <p> + Lord Canning, the successor of Lord Dalhousie, entered on his + governor-generalship at a moment full of "unsuspected peril"; for the + disaffected in Hindostan had so misread the signs of the times as to + believe that England's sun was stooping towards its setting, and that the + hour had come in which a successful blow could be struck, against the + foreign domination of a people alien in faith as in blood from Mohammedan + and Buddhist and Brahmin, and apt to treat all alike with the scorn of + superiority. A trivial incident, which was held no trifle by the + distrustful Sepoys, proved to be the spark that kindled a vast explosion. + The cartridges supplied for use with the Enfield rifle, introduced into + India in 1856, were greased; and the end would have to be bitten off when + the cartridge was used. A report was busily circulated among the troops + that the grease used was cow's fat and hog's lard, and that these + substances were employed in pursuance of a deep-laid design to deprive + every soldier of his caste by compelling him to taste these defiling + things. Such compulsion would hardly have been less odious to a Mussulman + than to a Hindoo; for swineflesh is abominable to the one, and the cow a + sacred animal to the other. Whoever devised this falsehood intended to + imply a subtle intention on the part of England to overthrow the native + religions, which it was hoped the maddened soldiery would rise to resist. + The mischief worked as was desired. In vain the obnoxious cartridges were + withdrawn from use; in vain the Governor-General issued a proclamation + warning the army of Bengal against the falsehoods that were being + circulated. Mysterious signals, little cakes of unleavened bread called <i>chupatties</i>, + were being distributed, as the spring of 1857 went on, throughout the + native villages under British rule, doing the office of the <i>Fiery Cross</i> + among the Scotch Highlanders of an earlier day; and in May the great + Mutiny broke out. + </p> + <p> + Some of the Bengal cavalry at Meerut had been imprisoned for refusing to + use their cartridges; their comrades rose in rebellion, fired on their + officers, released the prisoners, and murdered some Europeans. The British + troops rallied and repulsed the mutineers, who fled to Delhi, unhappily + reached it in safety, and required and obtained the protection of the + feeble old King, the last of the Moguls, there residing. Him they + proclaimed their Emperor, and avowed the intention of restoring his + dynasty to its ancient supremacy. The native troops in the city and its + environs at once prepared to join them; and thus from a mere mutiny, such + as had occurred once and again before, the rising assumed the character of + a vast revolutionary war. For a moment it seemed that our hard-won + supremacy in the East was disappearing in a sea of blood. The foe were + numerous, fanatical, and ruthless; we ourselves had trained and + disciplined them for war; the sympathies of their countrymen were very + largely with them. Yet, with incredible effort and heroism more than + mortal, the small and scattered forces of England again snatched the + mastery from the hands of the overwhelming numbers arrayed against them. + <br /> <a name="ILL030" id="ILL030"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/030 Sir Colin Campbell.jpg"> <img + src="images/030 Sir Colin Campbell.jpg" alt="Sir Colin Campbell" + width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Sir Colin Campbell + </h4> + <p> + One name has obtained an immortality of infamy in connection with this + struggle—that of the Nana Sahib, who by his hideous treachery at + Cawnpore took revenge on confiding Englishmen and women for certain wrongs + inflicted on him in regard to the inheritance of his adopted father by the + last Governor-General. But many other names have been crowned with + deathless honour, the just reward of unsurpassed achievement, of supreme + fidelity and valour, at a crisis under which feeble natures would have + fainted and fallen. Of these are Lord Canning himself, the noble brothers + John and Henry Lawrence, the Generals Havelock, Outram, and Campbell, and + others whom space forbids us even to name. + </p> + <p> + The Governor-General remained calm, resolute, and intrepid amidst the + panic and the rage which shook Calcutta when the first appalling news of + the Mutiny broke upon it. He disdained the cruel counsels of fear, and + steadily refused to confound the innocent with the guilty among the + natives; but he knew where to strike, and when, and how. On his own + responsibility he stayed the British troops on their way to the scene of + war in China, and made them serve the graver, more immediate need of + India, doing it with the concurrence of Lord Elgin, the envoy responsible + for the Chinese business; and he poured his forces on Delhi, the heart of + the insurrection, resolving to make an end of it there before ever + reinforcement direct from England could come. After a difficult and + terrible siege, the place was carried by storm on September 20th, 1857—an + achievement that cost many noble lives, and chief among them that of the + gallant Nicholson, a soldier whose mind and character seem to have made on + all who knew him an impression as of supernatural grandeur. + </p> + <p> + Five days later General Havelock and his little band of heroes—some + one thousand Englishmen who had marched with him from Allahabad, + recaptured by Neill for England, and on to ghastly Cawnpore—arrived + at Lucknow, and relieved the slender British force which since May had + been holding the Residency against the fierce and ever-renewed assaults of + the thousands of rebels who poured themselves upon it. He came in time to + save many a brave life that should yet do good service; but the noblest + Englishman of them all, the gentle, dauntless, chivalrous Sir Henry + Lawrence, Governor of Oude, had died from wounds inflicted by a rebel + shell many weeks before, and lay buried in the stronghold for whose safe + keeping he had continued to provide in the hour and article of death. His + spirit, however, seemed yet to actuate the survivors. Havelock's march had + been one succession of victories won against enormous odds, and half + miraculous; but even he could work no miracle, and his troops might merely + have shared a tragic fate with the long-tried defenders of Lucknow, but + for the timely arrival of Sir Colin Campbell with five thousand men more, + to relieve in his turn the relieving force and place all the Europeans in + Lucknow in real safety. The news was received in England with a delight + that was mingled with mourning for the heroic and saintly Havelock, who + sank and died on November 24th. A soldier whose military genius had passed + unrecognised and almost unemployed while men far his inferiors were high + in command, he had so more than profited by the opportunity for doing good + service when it came, that in a few months his name had become one of the + dearest in every English home, a glory and a joy for ever. It is rarely + that a career so obscured by adverse fortune through all its course blazes + into such sunset splendour just at the last hour of life's day. <br /> <a + name="ILL031" id="ILL031"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/031 Henry Havelock.jpg" alt="Henry Havelock" /> + </p> + <h4> + Henry Havelock + </h4> + <p> + Those months which made the fame of Havelock had been filled with crime + and horror. The first reports of Sepoy outrages which circulated in + England were undoubtedly exaggerated, but enough remains of sickening + truth as to the cruelties endured by English women and children at the + hand of the mutineers to account for the fury which filled the breasts of + their avenging countrymen, and seemed to lend them supernatural strength + and courage, and, alas! in some instances, to merge that courage in + ferocity. Delhi had been deeply guilty, when the mutineers seized it, in + respect of inhuman outrage on the helpless non-combatants; but the story + of Cawnpore is darker yet, and is still after all these years fresh in our + memories. A peculiar blackness of iniquity clings about it. That show of + amity with which the Nana Sahib responded to the summons of Sir Hugh + Wheeler, the hard-pressed commanding officer in the city, only that he + might act against him; those false promises by which the little garrison, + unconquerable by any force, was beguiled to give itself up to mere + butchery; the long captivity of the few scores of women and children who + survived the general slaughter, only, after many dreary days of painful + suspense, to be murdered in their prison-house as Havelock drew near the + gates of Cawnpore: all these circumstances of especial horror made men + regard their chief instigator rather as one of the lower fiends + masquerading in human guise than as a fellow-creature moved by any motives + common to men. It was perhaps well for the fair fame of Englishmen that + the Nana never fell into their hands, but saved himself by flight before + the soldiers of Havelock had looked into the slaughter-house all strewn + with relics of his victims and grimly marked with signs of murder, or had + gazed shuddering at the dreadful well choked up with the corpses of their + countrywomen. It required more than common courage, justice, and humanity, + to withstand the wild demand for mere indiscriminating revenge which these + things called forth. Happily those highest in power did possess these rare + qualities. Lord Canning earned for himself the nickname of "Clemency + Canning" by his perfect resoluteness to hold the balance of justice even, + and unweighted by the mad passion of the hour. Sir John (afterwards Lord) + Lawrence, the Chief Commissioner of the Punjaub, who, with his able + subordinates, had saved that province at the very outset, and thereby in + truth saved India, was equally firm in mercy and in justice. The Queen + herself, who had very early appreciated the gravity of the situation and + promoted to the extent of her power the speedy sending of aid and + reinforcement from England, thoroughly endorsed the wise and clement + policy of the Governor-General. Replying to a letter of Lord Canning's + which deplored "the rabid and indiscriminate vindictiveness abroad," Her + Majesty wrote these words, which we will give ourselves the pleasure to + quote entire:— <br /><br /><br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p> + Lord Canning will easily believe how + entirely the Queen shares his feelings of sorrow and indignation at the + unchristian spirit, shown, alas! also to a great extent here by the + public, towards Indians in general, and towards Sepoys <i>without + discrimination!</i> It is, however, not likely to last, and comes from + the horror produced by the unspeakable atrocities perpetrated against + the innocent women and children, which make one's blood run cold and + one's heart bleed! For the perpetrators of these awful horrors no + punishment can be severe enough; and sad as it is, <i>stern</i> justice + must be dealt out to all the guilty.<br /> <br /> + But to the nation at large, to the peaceable inhabitants, to the many + kind and friendly natives who have assisted us, sheltered the fugitive, + and been faithful and true, there should be shown the greatest kindness. + They should know that there is no hatred to a brown skin—none; but + the greatest wish on their Queen's part to see them happy, contented, + and flourishing. + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <a name="ILL032" id="ILL032"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/032 Sir John Lawrence.jpg"> <img + src="images/032 Sir John Lawrence.jpg" alt="Sir John Lawrence" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Sir John Lawrence + </h4> + <p> + These words well became the sovereign who, by serious and cogent argument, + had succeeded in inducing her Ministers to strike strongly and quickly on + the side of law and order, they having been at first inclined to adopt a + "step-by-step" policy as to sending out aid, which would not have been + very grateful to the hard-pressed authorities in India; while the Queen + and the Prince shared Lord Canning's opinion, that "nothing but a long + continued manifestation of England's might before the eyes of the whole + Indian empire, evinced by the presence of such an English force as should + make the thought of opposition hopeless, would re-establish confidence in + her strength." + </p> + <p> + The necessary manifestation of strength was made; the reputation of + England—so rudely shaken, not only in the opinion of ignorant + Hindoos, but in that of her European rivals—was re-established + fully, and indeed gained by the power she had shown to cope with an + unparalleled emergency. The counsels of vengeance were set aside, in spite + of the obloquy which for a time was heaped on the true wisdom which + rejected them. We did not "dethrone Christ to set up Moloch"; had we been + guilty of that sanguinary folly, England and India might yet be ruing that + year's doing. On the contrary, certain changes which did ensue in direct + consequence of the Mutiny were productive of undoubted good. + </p> + <p> + It was recognised that the "fiction of rule by a trading company" in India + must now be swept away; one of the very earliest effects of the outbreak + had been to open men's eyes to the weak and sore places of that system. In + 1858 an "Act for the better Government of India" was passed, which + transferred to Her Majesty all the territories formerly governed by the + East India Company, and provided that all the powers it had once wielded + should now be exercised in her name, and that its military and naval + forces should henceforth be deemed her forces. The new Secretary of State + for India, with an assistant council of fifteen members, was entrusted + with the care of Indian interests here; the Viceroy, or Governor-General, + also assisted by a council, was to be supreme in India itself. The first + viceroy who represented the majesty of England to the Queen's Indian + subjects was the statesman who had safely steered us through the imminent, + deadly peril of the Mutiny, and whom right feeling and sound policy alike + designated as the only fit wearer of this honour. Under the new regime + race and class prejudices have softened, education is spreading swiftly, + native oppression is becoming more difficult, as improved communications + bring the light of day into the remoter districts of the immense + peninsula. The public mind of England has never quite relapsed into its + former scornful indifference to the welfare of India; rather, that welfare + has been regarded with much keener interest, and the nation has become + increasingly alive to its duty with regard to that mighty dependency, now + one in allegiance with ourselves. There was much of happy omen in the + reception accorded by loyal Hindoos to the Queen's proclamation when it + reached them in 1858. While the mass of the people gladly hailed the rule + of the "Empress," by whom they believed the Company "had been hanged for + great offences," there were individuals who were intelligent enough to + recognise with delight that noble character of "humanity, mercy, and + justice," which was impressed by the Queen's own agency on the + proclamation issued in her name. We may say that the joy with which such + persons accepted the new reign has been justified by events, and that the + same great principles have continued to guide all Her Majesty's own action + with regard to India, and also that of her ablest representatives there. + </p> + <p> + We may not leave out of account, in reckoning the loss and gain of that + tremendous year, the extraordinary examples of heroism called forth by its + trials, which have made our annals richer, and have set the ideal of + English nobleness higher. The amazing achievements and the swiftly + following death of the gallant Havelock did not indeed eclipse in men's + minds the equal patriotism and success of his noble fellows, but the + tragic completeness of his story and the antique grandeur of his character + made him specially dear to his countrymen; and the fact that he was + already in his grave while the Queen and Parliament were busy in assigning + to him the honours and rewards which his sixty years of life had hitherto + lacked, added something like remorse to the national feeling for him. But + the heart of the people swelled high with a worthy pride as we dwelt on + his name and those of the Lawrences, the Neills, the Outrams, the + Campbells, and felt that all our heroes had not died with Wellington. + </p> + <p> + Other anxieties and misfortunes had not been lacking while the fate of + British India still hung in the balance. The attitude of some European + Powers, whom the breaking forth of the Mutiny had encouraged in the idea + that England's power was waning, was full of menace, especially in view of + what the Prince Consort justly called "our pitiable state of + unpreparedness" for resisting attack. Prompted by him, the Queen caused + close inquiry to be made into the state of our home defences and of the + navy—the first step towards remedying the deficiencies therein + existing. Also a "cold wave" seemed to be passing over the commercial + community in England; the year 1857 being marked by very great financial + depression, which affected more or less every department of our + industries. In connection with this calamity, however, there was at least + one hopeful feature: the very different temper which the working classes, + then, as always, the greatest sufferers by such depression, manifested in + the time of trial. They showed themselves patient and loyal, able to + understand that their employers too had evils to endure and difficulties + to surmount; they no longer held all who were their superiors in station + for their natural enemies: a happy change, testifying to the good worked + by the new, beneficent spirit of legislation and reform. + </p> + <p> + It is under the date of this year that we find Mr. Greville, on the + authority of Lord Clarendon, thus describing the very thorough and + "eminently useful" manner in which the Queen, assisted by the Prince, was + exercising her high functions:— + </p> + <p> + "She held each Minister to the discharge of his duty and his + responsibility to her, and constantly desired to be furnished with + accurate and detailed information about all important matters, keeping a + record of all the reports that were made to her, and constantly referring + to them; <i>e.g.</i>, she would desire to know what the state of the navy + was, and what ships were in readiness for active service, and generally + the state of each, ordering returns to be submitted to her from all the + arsenals and dockyards, and again, weeks or months afterwards, referring + to these returns, and desiring to have everything relating to them + explained and accounted for, and so throughout every department....This is + what none of her predecessors ever did, and it is, in fact, the act of + Prince Albert." + </p> + <p> + We turn from this picture of the Sovereign's habitual occupations to her + public life, and we find it never more full of apparently absorbing + excitements—splendid hospitalities exchanged with other Powers, + especially with Imperial France, alternating with messages of + encouragement, full of cordiality and grace, to her successful + commander-in-chief in India, Sir Colin Campbell, with plans for the + conspicuous rewarding of the Indian heroes at large, with public visits to + various great English towns, and with preparations for the impending + marriage of the Princess Royal; and we realise forcibly that even in those + sunny days, when the Queen was surrounded with her unbroken family of nine + blooming and promising children, and still had at her right hand the + invaluable counsellor by whose aid England was governed with a wisdom and + energy all but unprecedented, her position was so far from a sinecure that + no subject who had his daily bread to gain by his wits could have worked + much harder. <br /> <br /> <br /> <a name="6"></a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + CHAPTER VI<br /> <br /> THE BEGINNINGS OF SORROWS + </h3> + <p> + <a name="ILL033" id="ILL033"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/033 Windsor Castle.jpg" alt="Windsor Castle" /> + </p> + <h4> + Windsor Castle + </h4> + <p> + It has been the Queen's good fortune to see her own true-love match + happily repeated in the marriages of her children. One would almost say + that the conspicuous success of that union, the blessing that it brought + with it to the nation, had set a new fashion to royalty. There is quite a + romantic charm about the first marriage which broke the royal home-circle + of England—that of the Queen's eldest child and namesake, Victoria, + Princess Royal, with Prince Frederick William, eldest son of the then + Prince of Prussia, whose exaltation to the imperial throne of Germany lay + dimly and afar—if not altogether undreamed of by some prophetic + spirits—in the future. The bride and bridegroom had first met, when + the youth was but nineteen and the maiden only ten, at the great Peace + Festival, the opening of the first Exhibition. Already the charming grace + and rare intelligence of the Princess had attracted attention; and it is + on record that at this early period some inkling of a possible attraction + between the two had entered one observer's mind, who also notes that the + young Prince, greatly interested by all he saw of free England and its + rulers, was above all taken with the "perfect domestic happiness which he + found pervading the heart, and core, and focus of the greatest empire in + the world." Four years later the Prince was again visiting England, a + guest of the royal family in its Scottish retreat of Balmoral, where they + had just been celebrating with beacon fires and Highland mirth and music + the glad news of the fall of Sebastopol. He had the full consent of his + own family for his wooing, but the parents of his lady would have had him + keep silence at least till the fifteen-year-old maiden should be + confirmed. The ease and unconstraint of that mountain home-life, however, + were not very favourable to reserve and reticence; a spray of white + heather, offered and received as the national emblem of good fortune, was + made the flower symbol of something more, and words were spoken that + effectually bound the two young hearts, though the formal betrothal was + deferred until some time after the Princess, in the following March, had + received the rite of Confirmation; and "the actual marriage," said the + Prince Consort, "cannot be thought of till the seventeenth birthday is + past." "The secret must be kept <i>tant bien que mal</i>," he had written, + well knowing that it would be a good deal of an open secret. <br /> <a + name="ILL034" id="ILL034"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/034 Prince Frederick William.jpg"> <img + src="images/034 Prince Frederick William.jpg" + alt="Prince Frederick William" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Prince Frederick William + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <a name="ILL035" id="ILL035"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/035 Princess Royal.jpg"> <img + src="images/035 Princess Royal.jpg" alt="Princess Royal" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Princess Royal + </h4> + <p> + The engagement was publicly announced in May, 1857, and though, when first + rumoured, it had been coldly looked on by the English public, now it was + accepted with great cordiality. The Prince was openly associated with the + royal family; he and his future bride appeared as sponsors at the + christening of our youngest Princess, Beatrice; he rode with the Prince + Consort beside the Queen when she made the first distribution of the + Victoria Cross, and was a prominent and heartily welcomed member of the + royal group which visited the Art Treasures Exhibition of Manchester. The + marriage, which was in preparation all through the grim days of 1857, was + celebrated with due splendour on January 25th, 1858, and awakened a + universal interest which was not even surpassed when, five years later, + the heir to the throne was wedded. "Down to the humblest cottage," said + the Prince Consort, "the marriage has been regarded as a family affair." + And not only this splendid and entirely successful match, but every joy or + woe that has befallen the highest family in the land, has been felt as "a + family affair" by thousands of the lowly. This is the peculiar glory of + the present reign. + </p> + <p> + Happy and auspicious as this marriage was, it was nevertheless the first + interruption to the pure home bliss that hitherto had filled "the heart of + the greatest empire in the world." The Princess Royal, with her "man's + head and child's heart," had been the dear companion of the father whose + fine qualities she inherited, and had largely shared in his great + thoughts. Nor was she less dear to her mother, who had sedulously watched + over the "darling flower," admiring and approving her "touching and + delightful" filial worship of the Prince Consort, and who followed with + longing affection every movement of the dear child now removed from her + sheltering care, and making her own way and place in a new world. There + she has indeed proved herself, as she pledged herself to do, "worthy to be + her mother's child," following her parents in the path of true + philanthropy and gentle human care for the suffering and the lowly. So far + the ancient prophecy has been well fulfilled which promised good fortune + to Prussia and its rulers when the heir of the reigning house should wed a + princess from sea-girt Britain. But the wedding so propitious for Germany + seemed almost the beginning of sorrows for English royalty. Other + betrothals and marriages of the princes and princesses ensued; but the + still lamented death of the Prince Consort intervened before one of those + betrothals culminated in marriage. <br /> <a name="ILL036" id="ILL036"></a> + <br /> <img src="images/036 Charles Kingsley.jpg" alt="Charles Kingsley" /> + </p> + <h4> + Charles Kingsley<br /> (From a Photograph by Elliott & Fry) + </h4> + <p> + Another event which may be called domestic belongs to the year following + this marriage—the coming of age of the Prince of Wales, fixed, + according to English use and wont, when the heir of the crown completes + his eighteenth year. Every educational advantage that wisdom or tenderness + could suggest had been secured for the Prince. We may note in passing that + one of his instructors was the Rev. Charles Kingsley, whom Prince Albert + had engaged to deliver a series of lectures on history to his son. This + honour, as well as that of his appointment as one of Her Majesty's + chaplains, was largely due to royal recognition of the practical + Christianity, so contagious in its fervour, which distinguished Mr. + Kingsley, not less than his great gifts; of his eagerness "to help in + lifting the great masses of the people out of the slough of ignorance and + all its attendant suffering and vice"—an object peculiarly dear to + the Queen and to the Prince, as had been consistently shown on every + opportunity. + </p> + <p> + When the time came that the youth so carefully trained should be + emancipated from parental control, it was announced to him by the Queen in + a letter characterised by Mr. Greville or his informant as "one of the + most admirable ever penned. She tells him," continues the diarist, "that + he may have thought the rule they adopted for his education a severe one, + but that his welfare was their only object; and well knowing to what + seductions of flattery he would eventually be exposed, they wished to + prepare and strengthen his mind against them; that he was now to consider + himself his own master, and that they should never intrude any advice upon + him, although always ready to give it him whenever he thought fit to seek + it. It was a very long letter, all in that tone; and it seems to have made + a profound impression on the Prince.... The effect it produced is a proof + of the wisdom that dictated its composition." + </p> + <p> + We have chosen this as a true typical instance of the blended prudence and + tenderness that have marked the relations between our Sovereign and her + children. Aware what a power for good or evil the characters of those + children must have on the fortunes of very many others, she and her + husband sedulously surrounded them with every happy and healthy influence, + never forgetting the supreme need of due employment for their energies. + "Without a vocation," said the Prince Consort, "man is incapable of + complete development and real happiness": his sons have all had their + vocation. + </p> + <p> + It was the same period, marked by these domestic passages of mingled joy + and sorrow, that became memorable in another way, through the various + troublous incidents which gave an extraordinary impetus to our national + Volunteer movement, which were not remotely connected with the War of + Italian Independence, and for a short time overthrew the popular Ministry + of Lord Palmerston, who was replaced in office by Lord Derby. The futile + plot of Felice Orsini, an Italian exile and patriot, against the life of + Louis Napoleon, provoked great anger among the Imperialists of France + against England, the former asylum of Orsini. A series of violent + addresses from the French army, denouncing Great Britain as a mere harbour + of assassins, did but give a more exaggerated form to the representations + of French diplomacy, urging the amendment of our law, which appeared + incompetent to touch murderous conspirators within our borders so long as + their plots regarded only foreign Powers. The tone of France was deemed + insolent and threatening; Lord Palmerston, who, in apparent deference to + it, introduced a rather inefficient measure against conspiracy to murder, + fell at once to the nadir of unpopularity, and soon had no choice but to + resign; and the Volunteer movement in England—which had been begun + in 1852, owing to the sinister changes that then took place in the French + Government—now at once assumed the much more important character it + has never since lost. The immense popularity of this movement and its + rapid spread formed a significant reply to the insensate calls for + vengeance on England which had risen from the French army, and which + seemed worthy of attention in view of the vast increase now made in the + naval strength of France, and of other preparations indicating that the + Emperor meditated a great military enterprise. That enterprise proved to + be the war with Austria which did so much for Italy, and which some + observers were disposed to connect with the plot of Orsini—a rough + reminder to the Emperor, they said, that he was trifling with the cause of + Italian unity, to which he was secretly pledged. But Englishmen were slow + to believe in such designs on the part of the French ruler. "How should a + despot set men free?" was their thought, interpreted for them vigorously + enough by an anonymous poet of the day; and they enrolled themselves in + great numbers for national defence. With this movement there might be some + evils mixed, but its purely defensive and manly character entitles it on + the whole to be reckoned among the better influences of the day. <br /> + <a name="ILL037" id="ILL037"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/037 Lord Palmerston.jpg" alt="Lord Palmerston" /> + </p> + <h4> + Lord Palmerston + </h4> + <p> + Palmerston's discredit with his countrymen was of short duration, as was + his exile from office; he was Premier again in the June of 1859, and was + thenceforth "Prime Minister for life." His popularity, which had been for + some time increasing, remained now quite unshaken until his death in 1865. + Before Lord Derby's Government fell, however, a reform had been carried + which could not but have been extremely grateful to Mr. Disraeli, then the + Ministerial leader of the House of Commons. The last trace of the + disabilities under which the Jews in England had laboured for many + generations was now removed, and the Baron Lionel de Rothschild was able + quietly to take his seat as one of the members for the City of London. The + disabilities in question had never interfered with the ambition or the + success of Mr. Disraeli, who at a very early age had become a member of + the Christian Church. But his sympathies had never been alienated from the + own people, with whom indeed he had always proudly identified himself by + bold assertion of their manifold superiority. There are still, + undoubtedly, persons in this country whose convictions lead them to think + it anything but a wholesome change which has admitted among our + legislators men, however able and worthy, who disclaim the name of <i>Christian</i>. + But the change was brought about by the conviction, which has steadily + deepened among us, that oppression of those of a different faith from our + own, either by direct severities or by the withholding of civil rights, is + a singularly poor weapon of conversion, and that the adversaries of + Christianity are more likely to be conciliated by being dealt with in a + Christlike spirit; further, that religious opinion may not be treated as a + crime, without violation of God's justice. On the point as to the claim of + <i>irreligious</i> opinion to similar consideration, the national feeling + cannot be called equally unanimous. In the case of the English Jews, it + may be said that the tolerant and equal conduct adopted towards them has + been well requited; the ancient people of God are not here, as in lands + where they are trampled and trodden down, an offence and a trouble, the + cause of repeated violent disturbance and the object of a frenzied hate, + always deeply hurtful to those who entertain it. + </p> + <p> + Other changes and other incidents that now occurred engrossed a greater + share of the public attention than this measure of relief. The rapid march + of events in Italy had been watched with eager interest, divided partly by + certain ugly outbreaks of Turkish fanaticism in Syria, and by our + proceedings in the Ionian islands, which finally resulted in the quiet + transfer of those isles to the kingdom of Greece. The commercial treaty + with France effected, through the agency of Mr. Cobden, on Free Trade + lines, and Mr. Gladstone's memorable success in carrying the repeal of the + paper duty, and thereby immensely facilitating journalistic enterprise, + were hailed with great delight as beneficial and truly progressive + measures. But events of a more gigantic character now took place, which at + the moment affected our prosperity more directly than any fiscal reform, + and appealed more powerfully to us than the savagery of our Turkish <i>protégés</i> + or even than the union of Italy under Victor Emmanuel into one free and + friendly State. The long-smouldering dissensions between the Northern and + Southern States of the American Union at last broke into flame, and war + was declared between them, in 1861. + </p> + <p> + The burning question of slavery was undoubtedly at the bottom of this + contest, which has been truly described as a struggle for life between the + "peculiar institution" and the principles of modern society. The nobler + and more enthusiastic spirits in the Northern States beheld in it a strife + between Michael and Satan, the Spirit of Darkness hurling himself against + the Spirit of Light in a vain and presumptuous hope to overpower him; and + their irritation was great when an eminent English man of letters was + found describing it scornfully as "the burning of a dirty chimney," and + when English opinion, speaking through very many journalists and public + men, appeared half hostile to the Northern cause. Indeed, it might have + been thought that opinion in England—England, which at a great cost + had freed its own slaves, and which had never ceased by word and deed to + attack slavery and the slave-trade—would not have faltered for a + moment as to the party it would favour, but would have declared itself + massively against the slave-holding South. But the contest at its outset + was made to wear so doubtful an aspect that it was possible, unhappily + possible, for many Englishmen of distinction to close their eyes to the + great evils championed by the Southern troops. The war was not avowedly + made by the North for the suppression of slavery, but to prevent the + Southern States from withdrawing themselves from the Union: the + Southerners on their side claimed a constitutional right so to withdraw if + it pleased them, and denounced the attempt to retain them forcibly as a + tyranny. <br /> <a name="ILL038" id="ILL038"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/038 Abraham Lincoln and his Son.jpg"> <img + src="images/038 Abraham Lincoln and his Son.jpg" + alt="Abraham Lincoln and his Son" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Abraham Lincoln and his son + </h4> + <p> + This false colouring at first given to the contest had mischievous + results. English feeling was embittered by the great distress in our + manufacturing districts, directly caused up the action of the Northern + States in blockading the Southern ports, and thus cutting off our supply + of raw material in the shape of cotton. On its side the North, which had + calculated securely on English sympathy and respect, and was profoundly + irritated by the many displays of a contrary feeling; and the exasperation + on both sides more than once reached a point which made war appear almost + inevitable—a war above all others to be deprecated. First came the + affair of the <i>Trent</i>—the English mail-steamer from which two + Southern envoys were carried off by an American naval commander, in + contempt of the protection of the British flag. The action was technically + illegal, and on the demand of the English Government its illegality was + acknowledged, and the captives were restored; but the warlike and + threatening tone of England on this occasion was bitterly resented at the + North, and this resentment was greatly increased when it became known that + various armed cruisers, in particular the notorious <i>Alabama</i>, + designed to prey on the Northern commerce, were being built and fitted by + English shipbuilders in English dockyards under the direction of the + Southern foe, while the English Government could not decide if it were + legally competent for Her Majesty's Ministers to interfere and detain such + vessels. The tardy action at last taken just prevented the breaking out of + hostilities. Out of these unfortunate transactions a certain good was to + ensue at a date not far distant, when, after the restoration of peace, + America and England, disputing as to the compensation due from one to the + other for injuries sustained in this matter, gave to the world the great + example of two nations submitting a point so grave to peaceful + arbitration, instead of calling in the sword to make an end of it—an + example more nearly pointing to the possible extinction of war than any + other event of the world's history. + </p> + <p> + Yet another hopeful feature may be noted in connection with this time of + trouble. While the Secession war lasted, "the cotton famine" had full sway + in Lancashire; unwonted and unwelcome light and stillness replaced the dun + clouds of smoke and the busy hum that used to tell of fruitful, well-paid + industry; and the patient people, haggard and pale but sadly submissive, + were kept, and just kept, from starving by the incessant charitable effort + of their countrymen. Never had the attitude of the suffering working + classes shown such genuine nobility; they understood that the calamity + which lay heavy on them was not brought about by the careless and selfish + tyranny of their worldly superiors, but came in the order of God's + providence; and their conduct at this crisis proved that an immense + advance had been made in kindliness between class and class, and in true + intelligence and appreciation of the difficulties proper to each. It was + significant of this new temper that when at last peace returned, bringing + some gleam of returning prosperity, the workers, who greeted with joyful + tears the first bales of cotton that arrived, fell on their knees around + the hopeful things and sang hymns of thanksgiving to the Author of all + good. + </p> + <p> + Such were the fruits of that new policy of care and consideration for the + toilers and the lowly which had increasingly marked the new epoch, and + which had been sedulously promoted by the Queen, in association with her + large-thoughted and well-judging husband. + </p> + <p> + It was in the midst of the troubles which we have just attempted to recall + that a new and greater calamity came upon us, affecting the royal family + indeed with the sharpest distress, but hardly less felt, even at the + moment, by the nation. + </p> + <p> + The year 1861 had already been darkened for Her Majesty by the death in + the month of March, of her mother, the Duchess of Kent, to whose wise + guardianship of the Queen's youth the nation owed so much, and who had + ever commanded the faithful affection of this her youngest but greatest + child, and of all her descendants. This death was the first stroke of real + personal calamity to the Queen; it was destined to be followed by another + bereavement, even severer in its nature, before the year had closed. The + Prince Consort's health, though generally good, was not robust, and signs + had not been wanting that his incessant toils were beginning to tell upon + him. There had been illnesses, transitory indeed, but too significant of + "overwork of brain and body." In addition to personal griefs, such as the + death of the Duchess of Kent and of a beloved young Coburg prince and + kinsman, the King of Portugal, which had been severely felt, there were + the unhappy complications arising out of "the affair of the <i>Trent</i>," + which the Prince's statesmanlike wisdom had helped to bring to a peaceful + and honourable conclusion. That wisdom, unhappily, was no longer at the + service of England when a series of negligences and ignorances on the part + of England's statesmen had landed us in the <i>Alabama</i> difficulty. + </p> + <p> + All these agitations had told upon a frame which was rather harmoniously + and finely than vigorously constituted. "If I had an illness," he had been + known to say, "I am sure I should not struggle for life. I have no + tenacity of life." And in the November of 1861 an illness came against + which he was not able to struggle, but which took all the country by + surprise when, on December 14th, it terminated in death. Very many had + hardly been aware that there was danger until the midnight tolling of the + great bell of St. Paul's startled men with an instant foreboding of + disaster. <i>What</i> disaster it was that was thus knelled forth they + knew not, and could hardly believe the tidings when given in articulate + words. + </p> + <p> + At first it had been said, the Prince had a feverish cold; presently the + bulletin announced "fever, unattended with unfavourable symptoms." It was + gastric fever, and before long there <i>were</i> unfavourable symptoms—pallid + changes in the aspect, hurried breathing, wandering senses—all noted + with heart-breaking anxiety by the loving nurses, the Queen and Princess + Alice—the daughter so tender and beloved, the "dear little wife," + the "good little wife," whose ministerings were so comfortable to the + sufferer overwearied with the great burden of life. He was released from + it at ten minutes to eleven on the night of Saturday, December 14th; and + there fell on her to whom his last conscious look had been turned, his + last caress given, a burden of woe almost unspeakable, and for which the + heart of the nation throbbed with well-nigh unbearable sympathy. Seldom + has the personal grief of a sovereign been so keenly shared by subjects. + Indeed, they had cause to lament; the removal of the Prince Consort, just + when his faculties seemed ripest and his influence most assured, left a + blank in the councils of the nation which has never been filled up. "We + have buried our <i>king</i>" said Mr. Disraeli, regretting profoundly this + national loss; but for once the English people forgot the public + deprivation in compassionating her who was left more conspicuously lonely, + more heavily burdened, than even the poor bereaved colliers' wives in the + North for whom <i>her</i> compassion was so quick and so sharply + sympathetic. Something remorseful mingled then, and may mingle now, with + the affection felt for this lost benefactor, who had not only been + somewhat jealously eyed by certain classes on his first coming, but who + had suffered much silently from misunderstanding and also from deliberate + misrepresentation, and only by patient continuance in well-doing had at + last won the favour which was his rightful due. + </p> + <blockquote> + <blockquote> + <p> + "That which we have we prize not to the worth<br /> While we enjoy it; + but being lacked and lost,<br /> Why, then we rack the value, then we + find<br /> The virtue that possession would not show us<br /> While it + was ours."<br /> + </p> + </blockquote> + </blockquote> + <p> + A peculiar tenderness was ever after cherished for Princess Alice, who in + this dark hour rose up to be her mother's comforter, endeavouring in every + way possible to save her all trouble—"all communications from the + Ministers and household passed through the Princess's hands to the Queen, + then bowed down with grief.... It was the very intimate intercourse with + the sorrowing Queen at that time which called forth in Princess Alice that + keen interest and understanding in politics for which she was afterwards + so distinguished. The gay, bright girl suddenly developed into a wise, + far-seeing woman, living only for others." <br /> <a name="ILL039" + id="ILL039"></a> <br /> <img src="images/039 Princess Alice.jpg" + alt="Princess Alice" /> + </p> + <h4> + Princess Alice + </h4> + <p> + This ministering angel in the house of mourning had been already + betrothed, with her parents' full approval, to Prince Louis of Hesse; and + to him she was married on July 1st, 1862, at Osborne, very quietly, as + befitted the mournful circumstance of the royal family. Many a heartfelt + wish for her happiness followed "England's England-loving daughter" to her + foreign home, where she led a beautiful, useful life, treading in her + father's footsteps, and continually cherished by the love of her mother; + and the peculiarly touching manner of her death, a sort of martyrdom to + sweet domestic affections, again stirred the heart of her own people to + mournful admiration. A cottager's wife might have died as Princess Alice + died, through breathing in the poison of diphtheria as she hung, a + constant, loving nurse, over the pillows of her suffering husband and + children. This beautiful <i>homeliness</i> that has marked the lives of + our Sovereign and her children has been of inestimable value, raising + simple human virtues to their proper pre-eminence before the eyes of the + English people of to-day, who are very materially, if often unconsciously, + swayed by the example set them in high places. + </p> + <p> + In the May after Prince Consort's death the second International + Exhibition was opened, amid sad memories of the first, so joyful in every + way, and a certain sense of discouragement because the golden days of + universal peace seemed farther off than ten years before. + </p> + <blockquote> + <blockquote> + <p> + "Is the goal so far away?<br /> Far, how far no tongue can say;<br /> + Let us dream our dream to-day."<br /> + </p> + </blockquote> + </blockquote> + <p> + Far indeed it seemed, with the fratricidal contest raging in America, and + shutting out all contributions to this World's Fair from the United + States. <br /> <a name="ILL040" id="ILL040"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/040 The Mausoleum.jpg" alt="The Mausoleum" /> + </p> + <h4> + The Mausoleum + </h4> + <p> + The Queen had betaken herself that May to her Highland home, whose joy + seemed dead, and where her melancholy pleased itself in the erection of a + memorial cairn to the Prince on Craig Lorigan, after she had returned from + Princess Alice's wedding. But in May she had sent for Dr. Norman Macleod, + who was not only distinguished as one of her own chaplains, but was also a + friend already endeared to the Prince and herself; and she found comfort + in the counsels of that faithful minister and loyal man, who has left some + slight record of her words. "She said she never shut her eyes to trials, + but liked to look them in the face; she would never shrink from duty, but + all was at present done mechanically; her highest ideas of purity and love + were obtained from the Prince, and God could not be displeased with her + love.... There was nothing morbid in her grief.... She said that the + Prince always believed he was to die soon, and that he often told her that + he had never any fear of death." It seemed that in this persuasion the + Prince had made haste to live up to the duties of his difficult station to + the very utmost, and "being made perfect in a short time fulfilled a long + time <a id="footnotetag4" name="footnotetag4"></a><a href="#footnote4">[4]</a>." + </p> + <p> + "The more I learn about the Prince Consort," continues Dr. Macleod, "the + more I agree with what the Queen said to me about him: 'that he really did + not seem to comprehend a selfish character, or what selfishness was.' And + on whatever day his public life is revealed to the world, I feel certain + this will be recognised." <br /> <a name="ILL041" id="ILL041"></a> <br /> + <img src="images/041 Dr Norman Macleod.jpg" alt="Dr Norman Macleod" /> + </p> + <h4> + Dr. Norman Macleod + </h4> + <p> + The Queen, by revealing to the world, with a kind of holy boldness, what + the Prince's public and private life was, has justified this confidence of + her faithful friend. + </p> + <p> + Early in 1863, Dr. Macleod was led by the Queen into the mausoleum she had + caused to be raised for her husband's last resting-place. Calm and quiet + she stood and looked on the beautiful sculptured image of him she had + lost: having "that within which passeth show," her grief was tranquil. + "She is so true, so genuine, I wonder not at her sorrow; it but expresses + the greatest loss that a sovereign and wife could sustain," said the + deeply moved spectator. + </p> + <p> + An event was close at hand which was to mingle a little joy in the bitter + cup so long pressed to our Sovereign's lips. The Prince of Wales had + formed an attachment to the Princess Alexandra of Denmark, a singularly + winning and lovely lady, whose popularity, ever since her sweet face first + shone on the surging crowds that shouted her welcome into London, has + seemed always at flood-tide. Faithful to her experience and convictions, + the Queen smiled gladly on the marriage of affection between this gentle + princess and the heir to the throne, and was present as a spectator, + though still wearing her sombre weeds, at the splendid show of her son's + wedding on March 10th, 1863. "Two things have struck me much," writes Dr. + Macleod, from whose Journal we again quote: "one was the whole of the + royal princesses weeping, though concealing their tears with their + bouquets, as they saw their brother, who was to them but their 'Bertie' + and their dear father's son, standing alone waiting for his bride. The + other was the Queen's expression as she raised her eyes to heaven while + her husband's <i>Chorale</i> was sung. She seemed to be with him alone + before the throne of God." <br /> <a name="ILL042" id="ILL042"></a> <br /> + <img src="images/042 Prince of Wales.jpg" alt="Prince of Wales" /> + </p> + <h4> + Prince of Wales<br /> (From a Photograph by W. & D. Downey, Ebury + Street, W) + </h4> + <p> + "No possible favour can the Queen grant me, or honour bestow," said the + manly writer of these words, "beyond what the poor can give the poor—her + friendship." It is rarely that one sitting amid "the fierce light that + beats upon the throne" has been able to enjoy the simple bliss of true, + disinterested friendship with those of kindred soul but inferior station. + Such rare fortune, however, has been the Queen's; and it is worthy of note + that her special regard has been won by persons distinguished not less by + loftiness and purity of character than by mental power or personal charm. + She has not escaped the frequent penalty of strong affection, that of + being bereaved of its objects. She has outlived earlier and later friends + alike—Lady Augusta Stanley and her husband, the beloved Dean of + Westminster; the good and beautiful Duchess of Sutherland; the two eminent + Scotchmen, Principal Tulloch and Dr. Macleod himself; and the Archbishop + of Canterbury, Dr. Tait, with his charming wife. To these might be added, + among the more eminent objects of her regard, the late poet laureate, who + shared with Macaulay the once unique privilege of having been raised to + the peerage more for transcendent ability than for any other motive—a + distinction that never would have been so bestowed by our early Hanoverian + kings, and which offers a marked contrast to the sort of patronage with + which later sovereigns have distinguished the great writers of their time. + A new spirit rules now; of this no better evidence could be given than + this recently published testimony to the relations between Queen and poet: + "Mrs. Tennyson told us that the poet laureate likes and admires the Queen + personally very much, and enjoys conversation with her. Mrs. Tennyson + generally goes too, and says the Queen's manner towards him is childlike + and charming, and they both give their opinions freely, even when those + differ from the Queen's, which she takes with perfect good humour, and is + very animated herself <a id="footnotetag5" name="footnotetag5"></a><a + href="#footnote5">[5]</a>." <br /> <a name="ILL043" id="ILL043"></a> <br /> + <img src="images/043 Princess of Wales.jpg" alt="Princess of Wales" /> + </p> + <h4> + Princess of Wales<br /> (From a Photograph by Walery) + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <a name="7"></a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + CHAPTER VII<br /> <br /> CHANGES GOOD AND EVIL + </h3> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p> + With the death of Lord Palmerston in 1865, a sort of truce in the strife + of parties, which his supremacy had secured, came to an end. That + supremacy had been imperilled for a moment when the Government declined to + make an armed intervention in the struggle between Denmark and the German + Powers in 1864. Such an intervention would have been very popular with the + English people, who could hardly know that "all Germany would rise as one + man" to repel it if it were risked. But the English Premier's rare command + of his audience in Parliament enabled him to overcome even this + difficulty; and the gigantic series of contests on the Continent which + resulted in the consolidation of the German empire, the complete + liberation of Italy, the overthrow of Imperialism in France and of the + temporal power of the Pope even in Rome itself, went on its way without + our interference also, which would hardly have been the case had we + intermeddled in the ill-understood contention between Denmark and its + adversaries as to the Schleswig-Holstein succession. <br /> <a name="ILL045" + id="ILL045"></a> <br /> <a href="images/045 Sir Robert Napier.jpg"> <img + src="images/045 Sir Robert Napier.jpg" alt="Sir Robert Napier" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Sir Robert Napier + </h4> + <p> + That strange crime, the murder of President Lincoln, in America just when + the long contest between North and South had ended and the cause of true + freedom had triumphed, was actually fruitful of good as regarded this + country and the United States. A cry of horror went up from all England at + the news of that "most accursed assassination," which seemed at the moment + to brand the losing cause, whose partisan was guilty of it, with the very + mark of Cain. Expressions of sympathy with the outraged country and of + admiring regret for its murdered head were lavished by every respectable + organ of opinion; while the Queen, by writing in personal sympathy, as one + widow to another, to the bereaved wife of Lincoln, made herself, as she + has often done, the mouthpiece of her people's best feeling. Again and + again has it been manifested that America and England are in more cordial + relations with each other since the tremendous civil war than before it. + It is no matter of statecraft, but a better understanding between two + great English-speaking peoples, drawn into closer fellowship by far more + easy communication than of old. + </p> + <p> + A little war with Ashantee, not too successful, a difficulty with Japan, + some more serious troubles with New Zealand, exhaust the list of the + warlike enterprises of England in the last years of Palmerston. In a year + or two after his death we were engaged in a brief and entirely successful + campaign against the barbaric King Theodore of Abyssinia, "a compound of + savage virtue and more than savage ambition and cruelty," who, imagining + himself wronged and slighted by England, had seized a number of British + subjects, held them in hard captivity, and treated them with such + capricious cruelty as made it very manifest that their lives were not + worth an hour's purchase. It fell to the Ministry of Mr. Disraeli, Premier + on the resignation of his colleague Lord Derby, who had displaced Earl + Russell in that office, to bring this strange potentate to reason by force + of arms. Under Sir Robert Napier's management the work was done with + remarkable precision; no English life was lost; and but few of our + soldiers were wounded; Magdala, the mountain eyrie of King Theodore, was + stormed and destroyed, and the captives, having been surrendered under + dread of the British arms, were restored to freedom and safety. The honour + of our land, imperilled by the oppression of our subjects was triumphantly + vindicated; other good was not achieved. Theodore, unwilling to survive + defeat, was found dead by his own hand when Magdala was carried, and he + was afterwards succeeded on the Abyssinian throne by a chief who had more + than all his predecessor's vices and none of his virtues. For this + well-managed campaign Sir Robert Napier was raised to the peerage as Lord + Napier of Magdala. The swift success, the brilliant promptitude, of his + achievement are almost painful to recall to-day, in face of another + enterprise for the rescue of a British subject, conducted by a commander + not less able and resolute, at the head of troops as daring and as + enthusiastic, which was turned into a conspicuous failure by unhappy + delayings on the part of the civil authorities, in the fatal winter of + 1884-5. <br /> <a name="ILL046" id="ILL046"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/046 Mr Gladstone.jpg"> <img src="images/046 Mr Gladstone.jpg" + alt="Mr. Gladstone" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Mr. Gladstone + </h4> + <p> + Turning our eyes from foreign matters to the internal affairs of the + United Kingdom, we see two great leaders, Mr. Disraeli and Mr. Gladstone—whose + "long Parliamentary duel" had begun early in the fifties of this century—outbidding + each other by turns for the public favour, and each in his different way + ministering to the popular craving for reform. With Mr. Disraeli's first + appearance as leader of the house of Commons, this rivalry entered on its + most noticeable stage; it only really ceased with the life of the + brilliant, versatile, and daring <i>litterateur</i> and statesman who died + as Earl Beaconsfield, not very long after his last tenure of office + expired in 1880. In 1867 Mr. Disraeli, as Leader of the Lower House, + carried a measure for the reform of the franchise in England, and the year + following similar measures with regard to Ireland and Scotland. In 1869 it + was Mr. Gladstone's turn, and he introduced and carried two remarkable + Bills—one for the disestablishment of the Irish Church, and one for + the amendment of land tenure in Ireland, the latter passing into law in + August, 1870. It had long been felt as a bitter grievance by the mass of + Irishmen that the Church established in their country should be one which + did not command the allegiance of one-sixth of its people and though + opinion in England was sharply divided as to the question of Irish + disestablishment, the majority of Englishmen undoubtedly considered the + grievance to be something more than a sentimental one, and deserving of + removal. Another startling measure of reform was the abolition of purchase + in the army, carried in the face of a reluctant House of Lords by means of + a sudden exercise of royal prerogative under advice of the Government; the + Premier announcing "that as the system of purchase was the creation of + royal regulation, he had advised the Queen to take the decisive step of + cancelling the royal warrant which made purchase legal"—a step + which, however singular, was undoubtedly legal, as was proved by abundant + evidence. + </p> + <p> + A measure which may not improbably prove to have affected the fortunes of + this country more extensively than any of those already enumerated was the + Education Bill introduced by Mr. Forster in 1870, and designed to secure + public elementary education for even the humblest classes throughout + England and Wales. Hitherto the teaching of the destitute poor had been + largely left to private charity or piety, and in the crowded towns it had + been much neglected, with the great exception of the work done in Ragged + Schools—those gallant efforts made by unpaid Christian zeal to cope + with the multitudinous ignorance and misery of our overgrown cities. It + was very slowly that the national conscience was aroused to the peril and + sin of allowing the masses to grow up in heathen ignorance; but at last + the English State shook off its sluggish indifference to the instruction + of its poor, and became as active as it had been supine. Mr. Forster's + Bill is the measure which indicates this turning of the tide. We do not + propose now to discuss the provisions of this Act, which were sharply + canvassed at the time, and which certainly have not worked without + friction; but we may say that the stimulus then given to educational + activity, if judged by subsequent results, must be acknowledged to have + been advantageous. The system of schools under the charge of various + religious bodies, which existed before the Education Act, has not been + superseded; that indeed would have been a deep misfortune, for it is more + needed than ever; the masses of the population have been, to an + appreciable extent, reached and instructed; and we shall not much err in + connecting as cause and effect the wider instruction with the diminution + of pauperism and crime which the statistics of recent years reveal. + </p> + <p> + The same member who honoured himself and benefited his country by this + great effort to promote the advance of the "angel Knowledge" also + introduced, in 1871, the Ballot Bill, designed to do away with all the + violence and corruption that had long disgraced Parliamentary elections in + this free land, and that showed no symptom of a tendency to reform + themselves. The new system of secret voting which was now adopted has + required, it is true, to be further purified by the recent Corrupt + Practices Bill and its stringent provisions; but no one, whose memory is + long enough to recall the tumultuous and discreditable scenes attendant on + elections under the old system, will be inclined to deny that much that + was flagrantly disgraceful as well as dishonest has been swept away by the + reforming energy of our own day. + </p> + <p> + It is to the same period, made memorable by these internal reforms, that + we have to refer the final settlement of the long-standing controversy + between Great Britain and the United States as to the <i>Alabama</i> + claims. We have already referred to these claims and the peaceful though + very costly manner of their adjustment. That the award on the whole should + go against us was not very grateful to the English people; but when the + natural irritation of the hour had time to subside, the substantial + justice of the decision was little disputed. While England was thus busied + in strengthening her walls and making straight her ways, her great + neighbour and rival was passing through a very furnace of misery. The + colossal-seeming Empire, whose head was rather of strangely mingled + Corinthian metal than of fine gold, and whose iron feet were mixed with + miry clay, was tottering to its overthrow, and fell in the wild days of + 1870 with a world-awakening crash. Again it was a dispute concerning the + throne of Spain which precipitated the fall of a French sovereign. It + would seem as if interference with the affairs of its Southern neighbour + was ever to be ominous of evil to France. The first great Napoleon had had + to rue such interference; it had been disastrous to Louis Philippe; now + Louis Napoleon, making the candidature of Leopold of Hohenzollern for the + Spanish crown a pretext for war with Prussia, forced on the strife which + was to dethrone himself, to cast down his dynasty, and to despoil France + of two fair provinces, Alsace and Lorraine, once taken from Germany, now + reconquered for United Germany. With that strife, which resulted in the + exaltation of the Prussian King, our Princess Royal's father-in-law, as + German Emperor, England had absolutely nothing to do, except to pity the + fallen and help the suffering as far as in her lay; but it awakened + profoundest interest, especially while the long siege of Paris dragged on + through the hard winter of 1870-71; hardly yet is the interest of the + subject exhausted. + </p> + <p> + A certain fleeting effect was produced in England by the erection of a New + Republic in France in place of the fallen Empire, while the family of the + defeated ruler—rejected by his realm more for lack of success than + for his bad government—escaped to the safety of this country from + the angry hatred of their own. A few people here began to talk + republicanism in public, and to commend the "logical superiority" of that + mode of government, oblivious of the fact that practical Britain prefers a + system, however illogical, that actually works well, to the most + beautifully reasoned but untested paper theory. But the wild excesses of + the Commune in Paris, outdoing in horror the sufferings of the siege, + quickly produced the same effect here that was wrought in the last century + by the French Reign of Terror, and English republicanism relapsed into the + dormant state from which it had only just awakened. The dangerous illness + that attacked the Prince of Wales in the last days of 1871, calling forth + such keen anxiety throughout the land that it seemed as if thousands of + families had a son lying in imminent peril of death, showed at once that + the nation was yet loyal to the core. True prayers were everywhere offered + up in sympathy with the mother, the sister, the wife, who watched at the + bedside of the heir to the throne; and when, on the very anniversary of + the Prince Consort's death, the life that had seemed ebbing away turned to + flow upward again; a sort of sob of relief rose from the heart of the + people, who rejoiced to be able, at a later day, to share with their Queen + her solemn act of thanksgiving for mercy shown, as she went with her + restored son, her son's wife, and her son's sons, to worship and give + praise in the great cathedral of St. Paul's. + </p> + <p> + Princess Alice, who had shared and softened the grief of her mother ten + years before, had been again at her side during all the protracted anxiety + of this winter, and had helped to nurse her brother. The Princess's + experience of nursing had been terribly increased during the awful wars, + when she had been incessantly busied in hospital organisation and work, + suffering from the sight of suffering as a sensitive nature must, but ever + toiling to lighten it; and she had come with her children to recover a + little strength in her mother's Highland home. Thus it was that she was + found at Sandringham when her brother's illness declared itself, + "fulfilling the same priceless offices" of affection as in her maiden + days, and endearing herself the more to the English people, who grieved + for her when, in the ensuing year, a mournful accident robbed her of one + darling child, and who felt it like a personal domestic loss when in 1878 + the beautiful life ended. Other royal marriages have from time to time + awakened public interest, and one, celebrated between the Princess Louise + and the Marquis of Lorne, heir of the dukedom of Argyll, had just preceded + the illness of the Prince and was regarded with much more attention + because no British subject since the days of George II's legislation as to + royal alliances had been deemed worthy of such honour. But not even the + more outwardly splendid match between the Queen's sailor son, Alfred, Duke + of Edinburgh, and the daughter of the Czar Alexander, could eclipse in + popularity the quiet marriage, overclouded with sorrow, and the tranquil, + hard-working life of the good and gifted lady who was to die the martyr of + her true motherly and wifely devotion. <br /> <a name="ILL047" id="ILL047"></a> + <br /> <img src="images/047 Lord Beaconsfield.jpg" alt="Lord Beaconsfield" /> + </p> + <h4> + Lord Beaconsfield + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <a name="ILL048" id="ILL048"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/048 Lord Salisbury.jpg"> <img + src="images/048 Lord Salisbury.jpg" alt="Lord Salisbury" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Lord Salisbury + </h4> + <p> + From these glimpses of the joys and troubles affecting the household that + is cherished in the heart of England, we return to the more stormy records + of our public doings. A sort of link between the two exists in the long + and very successful tour which the Prince of Wales, some time after his + restoration to health, made of the vast Indian dominions of the crown. + Extensive travels and wide acquaintance with the great world to which + Britain is bound by a thousand ties have entered largely into the royal + scheme of education for the future King. No princes of England in former + days have seen so much of other lands as the sons of Queen Victoria; and + this particular journey is understood to have had an excellent political + effect. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Gladstone's five years' lease of power, which had been signalised by + so many important changes, came to an end in 1874, just before the time + when Sir Garnet Wolseley, sent to bring the savage King of Ashantee to + reason, returned successful to England, having snatched a complete victory + "out of the very jaws of approaching sun and fever" on the pestilent West + Coast of Africa in the early days of 1874. The last Ministry of Mr. + Disraeli, who now assumed office, was marked by several noticeable events: + the proclamation of the Queen as "Empress of India," in formal definite + recognition of the new relation between little England and the gigantic, + many-peopled realm which through strange adventure has come directly under + our Sovereign's sway; the Russo-Turkish war, following on the evil doings + in Turkey known as the "Bulgarian atrocities," and terminating in a peace + signed at Berlin, with which the English Premier, now known as Lord + Beaconsfield, had very much to do; and the acquisition by England of the + 176,000 shares in the Suez Canal originally held by the Khedive of Egypt—a + transaction to which France, also largely interested in the Canal, was a + consenting party. To this period belong the distressful Afghan and Zulu + wars, the latter unhappily memorable by the tragic fate that befell the + young son of Louis Napoleon, a volunteer serving with the English army. + Deep sympathy was felt for his imperial mother, widowed since 1873, and + now bereaved of her only child; and by none was her sorrow more keenly + realised than by the Queen, who herself had to mourn the loss of the + beloved Princess Alice, the first of her children to follow her father + into the silent land. The death of the Prince Louis Napoleon at the hands + of savage Zulus was severely felt by the still strong Bonapartism of + France; but Englishmen, remembering the early melancholy death of the heir + of the first Napoleon, were struck by the fatal coincidence, while they + could honestly deplore the premature extinction of so much youth, + gallantry, and hope-fulness, cast away in our own ill-starred quarrel. + </p> + <p> + An agitation distinctly humanitarian and domestic had been going on during + the early years of this Ministry, which resulted in the passing of the + Merchant Shipping Bill, intended to remedy the many wrongs to which our + merchant seamen were subject, a measure almost entirely procured by the + fervent human sympathy and resoluteness of one member of Parliament, + Samuel Plimsoll; and other measures belonging to this period, and designed + to benefit the toilers of the land principally, were initiated by the + energy of the Home Secretary, Mr. Cross. But neither the imposing foreign + action of Lord Beaconsfield's Government, nor the domestic improvements + wrought during its period of power, could maintain it in public favour. + There was great and growing distress in the country; depression of trade, + severe winters, sunless summers, all produced suffering, and suffering + discontent. An appeal to the country, made in the spring of 1880, shifted + the Parliamentary majority from the Conservative to the Liberal side. Lord + Beaconsfield resigned, and Mr. Gladstone returned to power. + </p> + <p> + The history of the Gladstone Ministry does not come well within the scope + of this work. Certain very memorable events must be touched upon; there + are dark chapters of our national story, stains and blots on our great + name, which force themselves upon us. But to follow the Government through + its years of struggle with the ever-growing bulk of Irish difficulty, and + to track it through its various enactments designed still further to + improve the condition of the English people, would require a small volume + to itself. England still remembers the thrill, half fury, half anguish, + which ran through her at the tidings that the new Chief Secretary for + Ireland, charged with a message of peace and conciliation, had been + stabbed to death within twenty-four hours of his landing on that unhappy + shore. She cannot forego the deep instinctive feeling—so generally + manifested at the time of Lincoln's murder—that the lawless spilling + of life for any cause dishonours and discredits that cause; nor have + various subsequent efforts made to terrorise public opinion here been + differently judged. + </p> + <p> + But it was a far more cruel shock that was inflicted through the series of + ill-advised proceedings that brought about the great disaster of Khartoum. + Before we deal with these, we must glance at the African and Afghan + troubles, again breaking out and again quieted, the first by a peace with + the Boers of the Transvaal that awakened violent discussion not yet at an + end, and the second, after some successes of the British arms, by a + judicious arrangement designed to secure the neutrality of Afghanistan, + interposed by nature as a strong, all but insurmountable, barrier between + India and Central Asia. These transactions, the theme of sharp contention + at the time, were cast into the shade by events in which we were concerned + in Egypt, our newly acquired interests in the Suez Canal making that + country far more important to us than of yore. Its condition was very + wretched, its government at once feeble and oppressive, and, despite the + joint influence which France and England had acquired in Egyptian + councils, an armed rebellion broke out, under the leadership of Arabi + Pasha. France declining to act in this emergency, the troops and fleet of + England put down this revolt single-handed; and in their successes the + Queen's third son, Arthur, Duke of Connaught, took his part, under the + orders of Sir Garnet (afterwards Lord) Wolseley. There were again + rejoicings in Balmoral, where the Queen, with her soldierly son's young + wife beside her, was preparing to receive another bride—Princess + Helen of Waldeck, just wedded to our youngest Prince, Leopold, Duke of + Albany. + </p> + <p> + But this gleam of brightness was destined to be followed by darker + disaster far than that which seemed averted for the moment. A mightier + rebellion was arising in the Soudan, a vast tract of country annexed by + the ambition of Ismail, the former Khedive of Egypt, to be ill governed by + his officials and ravaged by the slave-trade. These evils were checked for + a few years by the strong hand of Charles George Gordon, already famous + through his achievements in China, and invested with unlimited power by + Ismail; but, that potentate being overthrown, the great Englishman left + his thankless post, no longer tenable by him. Then it seemed that chaos + had come again; and a bold and keen, though probably hypocritical, + dervish, self-styled the <i>Mahdi</i>, or Mohammedan Messiah, was able to + kindle new flames of revolt, which burned with the quenchless fury of + Oriental fanaticism. His Arab and negro soldiers made short work of the + poor Egyptian fellaheen sent to fight them, though these were under the + command of Englishmen. The army led by Hicks Pasha utterly vanished in the + deserts, as that of Cambyses did of old. The army under Baker Pasha did + not, indeed, disappear in the same mysterious manner, but it too was + routed with great slaughter. + </p> + <p> + The English Government, willing to avoid the vast task of crushing the + revolt, had counselled the abandonment of the Soudan, and the Khedive's + Ministers reluctantly acquiesced. But there were Egyptian garrisons + scattered throughout the Soudan which must not be abandoned with the + country. Above all, there was Khartoum, an important town at the junction + of the Blue and the White Nile, with a large European settlement and an + Egyptian garrison, all in pressing danger, loyal as yet, but full of just + apprehension. These troops, these officials, these women and children, who + only occupied their perilous position through the action of the Khedive's + Government, had a right to protection—a right acknowledged by Her + Majesty's Ministers; but they wished to avoid hostilities. General Graham, + left in command on the Red Sea littoral, was allowed to take action + against the Mahdi's lieutenant who was threatening Suakim, and who was + driven back with heavy loss; but he might not follow up the victory. <br /> + <a name="ILL049" id="ILL049"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/049 General Gordon.jpg"> <img + src="images/049 General Gordon.jpg" alt="General Gordon" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + General Gordon + </h4> + <p> + The English Government hoped to withdraw the garrisons in safety, without + force of arms. They had been for some time urging on the Khedive that the + marvellous influence which Gordon was known to have acquired in his old + province should now be utilised, and that to <i>him</i> should be + entrusted the herculean task of tranquillising the Soudan, by reinstating + its ancient dynasties of tribal chiefs and withdrawing all Egyptian and + European troops and officials. Their plan was at last accepted; then + Gordon, hitherto unacquainted, like the public at large, with the + Government designs, was informed of them and invited to carry them out. He + consented; and, with the chivalric promptitude which essentially belonged + to his character, he departed the same night on his perilous errand. + Passing through Cairo, he received plenary powers from the Khedive, and + went on almost alone to Khartoum, where he was received with an + overflowing enthusiasm. But, with all his eager haste, he was too late to + bring about the desired results by peaceful means. "He should have come a + year ago," muttered his native well-wishers. Week after week and month + after month, his position in Khartoum became more perilous; the Mahdi's + power waxed greater, and his hordes drew round the city, which long defied + them, while garrison after garrison fell into their hands elsewhere. It + was in vain that General Gordon urged the despatch of British troops, a + few hundred of whom would at one time have sufficed to turn the tide, and + insure success in his enterprise. They were still withheld; and he would + not secure his own safety by deserting the people whom his presence had + induced to stand out against the impostor and his hosts. The city endured + a long, cruel siege, and fell at last, reduced by hunger and treachery, + just as a tardily despatched British force was making its way to relieve + it—a force commanded by Lord Wolseley, who half a year before had + been protesting against the "indelible disgrace" of leaving Gordon to his + fate. He was not able even to bury his friend and comrade, slain by the + fanatic enemy when they broke into the city in the early morning of + January 26th, 1885. <br /> <a name="ILL050" id="ILL050"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/050 Duke of Albany.jpg" alt="Duke of Albany" /> + </p> + <h4> + Duke of Albany<br /> (From a Photograph by A. BASSANO, Bond Street, W) + </h4> + <p> + "I have done my best for the honour of our country," were the parting + words of the dead hero. His country felt itself profoundly dishonoured by + the manner in which it had lost this its famous son—a man + distinguished at once by commanding ability, unsullied honour, heroic + valour; a man full of tenderest beneficence towards his fellows, and of + utter devotion to his God; "the grandest figure," said an American + admirer, "that has crossed the disc of this planet for centuries." Him + England had fatally delayed to help, withheld by the dread of costly and + cruel warfare; and then just failed to save him by a war enormously costly + and cruelly fatal indeed. A general lamentation, blent with cries of + anger, rose up from the land. Her Majesty shared the common sorrow, as her + messages of sympathy to the surviving relations of Gordon testified. + Various charitable institutions, modelled on the lines which he had + followed in his work among the poor, rose to keep his memory green; and + thus the objects of his Christlike care during his life are now profiting + by the world-famous manner of his death. But there is still a deep feeling + that even time itself can hardly efface the stain that has been left on + our national fame. An English expedition, well commanded, full of ardour + and daring, sent to accomplish a specific object, and failing in that + object; its commander, entirely guiltless of blame, having to abandon the + scene of his triumphs to a savage, fanatic foe as was now the case—this + was evil enough; but that our beloved countryman, a true knight without + fear and without reproach, should have been betrayed to desertion and + death through his own magnanimity and our sluggishness, added a rankling, + poisonous sense of shame to our humiliation. That the same year saw + further electoral privileges extended to the humble classes in England, + beyond what even the last Reform Bill had conferred, which might prove of + advantage afterwards, but was an imperfect consolation at the time. + Another grief fell upon the Queen in this year in the early death of + Leopold, Duke of Albany, a Prince whose intellectual gifts were nearly + allied to those of his father, but on whom lifelong delicacy of health had + enforced a life of comparative quietude. His widowed bride and infant + children have ever since been cared for tenderly by his royal mother. + <br /> <a name="ILL051" id="ILL051"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/051 Duchess of Albany.jpg" alt="Duchess of Albany" /> + </p> + <h4> + Duchess of Albany<br /> (From a Photograph by A. BASSANO, Bond Street, W) + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <br /> <a name="8"></a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + CHAPTER VIII<br /> <br /> OUR COLONIES + </h3> + <p> + <a name="ILL052" id="ILL052"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/052 Sydney Heads.jpg" alt="Sydney Heads" /> + </p> + <h4> + Sydney Heads + </h4> + <p> + If now we turn our eyes a while from the foreign and domestic concerns of + Great Britain proper, and look to the Greater Britain beyond the seas, we + shall find that its progress has nowise lagged behind that of the mother + Isle. To Lord Durham, the remarkable man sent out in 1838 to deal with the + rebellion in Lower Canada, we owe the inauguration of a totally new scheme + of colonial policy, which has been crowned with success wherever it has + been introduced. It has succeeded in the vast Canadian Dominion, now + stretching from ocean to ocean, and embracing all British North America, + with the single exception of the Isle of Newfoundland. In 1867 this + Federation was first formed, uniting then only the two Canadas with New + Brunswick and Nova Scotia, under a constitution framed on Lord Durham's + plan, and providing for the management of common affairs by a central + Parliament, while each province should have its own local legislature, and + the executive be vested in the Crown, ruling through its Governor General. + It had been made competent for the other provinces of British North + America to join this Federation, if they should so will; and one after + another has joined it, with the one exception mentioned above, which may + or may not be permanent. The population of the Dominion has trebled, and + its revenues have increased twenty-fold, since its constitution was thus + settled. + </p> + <p> + The same system, it may be hoped, will equally succeed in that wonderful + Australasia where our colonists now have the shaping of their destinies in + their own hands, amid the yet unexplored amplitude of a land where "in the + softest and sweetest air, and in an unexhausted soil, the fable of Midas + is reversed; food does not turn to gold, but the gold with which the land + is teeming converts itself into farms and vineyards, into flocks and + herds, into crops of wild luxuriance, into cities whose recent origin is + concealed and compensated by trees and flowers." + </p> + <p> + In such terms does a recent eye-witness describe the splendid prosperity + attained within the last two or three decades by that Australia which our + fathers thought of chiefly as a kind of far-off rubbish-heap where they + could fling out the human garbage of England, to rot or redeem itself as + it might, well out of the way of society's fastidious nostril, and which + to our childhood was chiefly associated with the wild gold-fever and the + wreck and ruin which that fever too often wrought. The transportation + system, so far as Australia was concerned, came virtually to an end with + the discovery of gold in the region to which we had been shipping off our + criminals. The colonists had long been complaining of this system, which + at first sight had much to recommend it, as offering a fair chance of + reformation to the convict, and providing cheap labour for the land that + received him. But it was found, as a high official said, that convict + labour was far less valuable than the uncompelled work of honest freemen; + and the contagious vices which the criminal classes brought with them made + them little welcome. When to these drawbacks were added the difficulties + and dangers with which the presence of the convict element in the + population encumbered the new gold-mining industry, the question reached + the burning stage. The system was modified in 1853, and totally abolished + in 1857. Transports whose sentence were unexpired lingered out their time + in Tasmania, whence the aborigines have vanished under circumstances of + cruelty assuredly not mitigated by the presence of convicts in the island; + but Australia was henceforth free from the blight. + </p> + <p> + The political life of these colonies may be said to have begun in the same + year—1853—when the importation of criminals received its first + check. New South Wales, the eldest of the Australian provinces, received a + genuine constitution of its own; Victoria followed in 1856—Victoria, + which is not without its dreams of being one day "the chief State in a + federated Australia," an Australia that may then rank as "a second United + States of the Southern Hemisphere." Western Australia, South Australia, + Queensland, Tasmania, and New Zealand, one after another, attained the + same liberties; all have now representative governments, modelled on those + of the mother country, but inevitably without the aristocratic element. + Such an aristocracy as that of England is the natural growth of many + centuries and of circumstances hardly likely to be duplicated—a fact + which the Prince Consort once had occasion to lay very clearly before + Louis Napoleon, anxious to surround himself with a similar nobility, if + only he could manage it. But though the aristocratic element be lacking, + the patriotic passion and the sentiment of loyalty are abundantly present; + nor has the mother country any intellectual pre-eminence over her + colonies, drawn immeasurably nearer to her in thought and feeling as + communication has become rapid and easy. + </p> + <p> + There is something almost magical at first sight in the transformation + which the Australian colonies have undergone in a very limited space of + time; yet it is but the natural result of the untrammelled energy of a + race sovereignly fitted to "subdue the earth." It is curious to read how + in 1810 the convict settlement at Botany Bay—name of terror to + ignorant home criminals, shuddering at the long, dreadful voyage and the + imagined horrors of a savage country—was almost entirely nourished + on imported food, now that the vast flocks and herds of Australia and New + Zealand contribute no inconsiderable proportion of the food supply of + Britain. + </p> + <p> + The record of New Zealand is somewhat less brilliant than that of its + gigantic neighbour. This is due to somewhat less favourable circumstances, + to a nobler and less manageable race of aborigines; the land perhaps more + beautiful, is by the very character of its beauty less subduable. Its + political life is at least as old as that of the old Australian colony, + its constitution being granted about the same time; but this colony has + needed, what Australia has not, the armed interference of the Home + Government in its quarrels with the natives—a race once bold and + warlike, able to hold their own awhile even against the English soldiers, + gifted with eloquence, with a certain poetic imagination, and no + inconsiderable intelligence. It seemed, too, at one moment as if these + Maoris would become generally Christianised; but the kind of Christianity + which they saw exemplified in certain colonists, hungry for land and + little scrupulous as to the means by which they could gratify that hunger, + largely undid the good effected through the agency of missionaries, the + countrymen of these oppressors, whose evil deeds they were helpless to + hinder. A superstition that was nothing Christian laid hold of many who + had once been altogether persuaded to embrace the teachings of Jesus, and + the relapsed Maoris doubtless were guilty of savage excesses; yet the + original blame lay not chiefly with them; nor is it possible to regard + without deep pity the spectacle presented at the present day of "the + noblest of all the savage races with whom we have ever been brought in + contact, overcome by a worse enemy than sword and bullet, and corrupted + into sloth and ruin, ...ruined physically, demoralised in character, by + drink." Nobler than other aborigines, who have faded out before the + invasion of the white man, as they may be, their savage nobility has not + saved them from the common fate; they too have "learned our vices faster + than our virtues," aided by the speculative traders in alcoholic poison, + who have followed on the track of the colonist, and who, devil's + missionaries as they are, have counteracted too quickly the work of the + Christian evangelists who preceded them. + </p> + <p> + The extraordinary natural fertility of the country, whose volcanic nature + was very recently terribly demonstrated, is yet very far from being + utilised to the utmost, the population of the islands, not inferior in + extent to Great Britain, being yet a long way below that of London. + Probably this "desert treasure-house of agricultural wealth" may, under + wise self-government, yet rise to a position of magnificent importance. + </p> + <p> + Of all our colonies that in Southern Africa has the least reason to be + proud of its recent history, which has not been rendered any fairer by the + discovery of the great Diamond Fields, and the rush of all sorts and + conditions of men to profit thereby. Into the entangled history of our + doings in relation to Cape Colony—originally a Dutch settlement—and + all our varied and often disastrous dealings with the Dutch-descended + Boers and the native tribes in its neighbourhood, we cannot well enter. + Our missionary action has the glory of great achievement in Southern + Africa; of our political action it is best to say little. + </p> + <p> + A more encouraging scene is presented if we turn to the Fijian Isles, + whose natives, once a proverb of cannibal ferocity, have been humanised + and Christianised by untiring missionary effort, and by their own + free-will have passed under British domination and are ruled by a British + governor. The extraordinary change worked in the people of these isles, + characterised now, as even in their heathen days, by a certain bold + manliness, that hitherto has escaped the usual deterioration, is so great + and unmistakable that critics predisposed to unfriendliness do not try to + deny it. + </p> + <p> + In consequence of the immensely increased facilities of communication that + we now enjoy, our own great food-producing dependencies and the vast + corn-growing districts of other lands can pour their stores into our + market—a process much aided by the successive removal of so many + restrictions on commerce, and by the practical science which has overcome + so many difficulties connected with the transport of slain meat and other + perishable commodities. England seems not unlikely to become a wonderfully + cheap country to live in, unless some new turn of events interferes with + the processes which during the last two decades have so increased the + purchasing power of money that, as is confidently stated, fifteen + shillings will now buy what it needed twenty shillings to purchase twenty + years ago. To this result, as a matter of course, the enormous development + of our manufacturing and other industries has also contributed. + </p> + <p> + There is another side to the medal, and not so fair a one. The necessaries + of life are cheaper; wages are actually higher, when the greater value of + money is taken into account; more care is taken as to the housing of the + poor; the workers of the nation have more leisure, and spend not a little + of it in travelling, being now by far the most numerous patrons of the + railway; the altered style of the conveyances provided for them is a + sufficient testimony to their higher importance. All this is to the good; + so, too, is the diminution in losses by bankruptcy and in general + pauperism, the increasing thrift shown by the records of savings banks, + the lengthening of life, the falling off in crime, which is actually—not + proportionally—rarer than ten years ago, to go no further back. + </p> + <p> + Against this we have to set the facts that the terrible malady of insanity + is distinctly on the increase—whether due to mere physical causes, + to the high pressure at which modern society lives, or to the prevalent + scepticisms which leave many wretched men so little tranquillising hope or + faith, who shall say?—that all trades and professions are more or + less overcrowded; and that there is a terrible amount, not of pauperism, + but of hard-struggling poverty, massed up in the crowded, wretched, but + high-priced tenements of great towns, and maintaining a forlorn life by + such incessant, cruel labour as is not exacted from convicted criminals in + any English prison. London, where this kind of misery is inevitably at its + height, receives every week an accession of a thousand persons, who + doubtless, in a great majority of cases, simply help to glut the already + crowded labour market and still further lower the wages of the workers; + and the other great towns in like manner grow, while the rural population + remains stagnant or lessens. Agricultural distress, which helps to keep + the tide of emigration high, also accounts in part for this singular, + undesirable displacement of population; while recent testimony points to + the fact that the terribly unsanitary and inefficient housing of the rural + poor does much to drive the best and most laborious members of that class + away from the villages and fields which might otherwise be the homes of + happy and peaceful industry. For this form of evil, in town and country, + private greed—frequently shown by small proprietors, who have never + learnt that property has duties as well as rights—is very largely + responsible; for how many other of the evils we have to deplore is not the + greed of gain responsible? + </p> + <p> + The sins of the age are still much the same sins that the Laureate roughly + arraigned when the Crimean war broke our long peace; denouncing the race + for riches which turned men into "pickpockets, each hand lusting for all + that is not its own;" denouncing the cruel selfishness of rich and poor as + the vilest kind of civil war, being "underhand, not openly bearing the + sword." We had made the blessings of peace a curse, he told us, in those + days, "when only the ledger lived, and when only not all men lied; when + the poor were hovelled and hustled together, each sex, like swine; when + chalk and alum and plaster were sold to the poor for bread, and the spirit + of murder worked in the very means of life." Yet those very days saw the + uprising of a whole generation of noble servants of humanity, resolute to + tight and overcome the rampant evils that surrounded them. And though we + would avoid the error of praising our own epoch as though it alone were + humane, as though we only, "the latest seed of Time, have loved the people + well," and shown our love by deeds; though we would not deny that to-day + has its crying abuses as well as yesterday; yet it is hardly possible to + survey the broad course of our history during the past sixty years, and + not to perceive, amid all the cross-currents—false ambitions, false + pretences, mammon-worship, pitiless selfishness, sins of individuals, sins + of society, sins of the nation—an ever-widening and mastering stream + of beneficent energy, which has already wonderfully changed for the better + many of the conditions of existence, and which, since its flow shows no + signs of abating, we may hope to see spreading more widely, and bearing + down in its great flood the wrecks of many another oppression and + iniquity. <br /> <br /> <br /> <a name="9"></a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + CHAPTER IX<br /> <br /> INTELLECTUAL AND SPIRITUAL PROGRESS + </h3> + <p> + <a name="ILL053" id="ILL053"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/053 Robert Southey.jpg" alt="Robert Southey" /> + </p> + <h4> + Robert Southey + </h4> + <p> + "Man doth not live by bread alone." The enormous material progress of this + country during the last sixty years—imperfectly indicated by the + fact that during the last forty years the taxable income of the United + Kingdom has been considerably more than doubled—would be but a + barren theme of rejoicing, if there were signs among us of intellectual or + spiritual degeneracy. The great periods of English history have been + always fruitful in great thinkers and great writers, in religious and + mental activity. Endeavouring to judge our own period by this standard, + and making a swift survey of its achievements in literature, we do not + find it apparently inferior to the splendours of "great Elizabeth" or of + the Augustan age of Anne. Our fifth Queen-regnant, whose reign, longer + than that of any of her four predecessors, is also happier than that of + the greatest among them, can reckon among her subjects an even larger + number of men eminent in all departments of knowledge, though perhaps we + cannot boast one name quite equal to Newton in science, and though + assuredly neither this nor any modern nation has yet a second imaginative + writer whose throne may be set beside that of Shakespeare. <br /> <a + name="ILL054" id="ILL054"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/054 William Wordsworth.jpg" alt="William Wordsworth" /> + </p> + <h4> + William Wordsworth + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <a name="ILL055" id="ILL055"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/055 Alfred Tennyson.jpg" alt="William Wordsworth" /> + </p> + <h4> + Alfred Tennyson<br /> (From a Photograph by Elliott & Fry) + </h4> + <p> + We excel in quantity, indeed; for while, owing to the spread of education, + the number of readers has been greatly increased, the number of writers + has risen proportionately; the activity of the press has increased + tenfold. Journalism has become a far more formidable power in the land + than in the earlier years when, as our domestic annals plainly indicate, + the <i>Times</i> ruled as the Napoleon of newspapers. This result is + largely due to the removal of the duties formerly imposed both on the + journals themselves and on their essential paper material; and it would + indeed "dizzy the arithmetic of memory" should we try to enumerate the + varied periodicals that are far younger than Her Majesty's happy reign. Of + these a great number are excellent in both intention and execution, and + must be numbered among the educating, civilising, Christianising agencies + of the day. They are something more and higher than the "savoury literary + <i>entremets</i>" designed to please the fastidious taste of a cultured + and leisured class, which was the just description of our periodical + literature at large not so very long ago. The number of our imaginative + writers—poets and romancers, but especially the latter—has + been out of all proportion great. We give the place of honour, as is their + due, to the singers rather than to the story-tellers, the more readily + since the popular taste, it cannot be denied, chooses its favourites in + inverse order as a rule. <br /> <a name="ILL056" id="ILL056"></a> <br /> + <img src="images/056 Robert Browning.jpg" alt="Robert Browning" /> + </p> + <h4> + Robert Browning<br /> (From a Photograph by Elliott & Fry) + </h4> + <p> + When Her Majesty ascended the throne, one brilliant poetical constellation + was setting slowly, star by star. Keats and Shelley and Byron, none of + them much older than the century, had perished in their early prime + between 1820 and 1824; Scott had sunk under the storms of fortune in 1832; + the fitful glimmer of Coleridge's genius vanished in 1834, and a year + later "the gentle Elia" too was gone. Southey, who still held the + laureate-ship in 1837, had faded out of life in 1843, and was succeeded in + his once-despised office by William Wordsworth, who, with Rogers and Leigh + Hunt and Moore, lived far into the new reign, uniting the Georgian and the + Victorian school of writers. Thomas Hood, the poet of the poor and + oppressed, whose too short life ended in 1845, gives in his serious verse + such thrilling expression to the impassioned, indignant philanthropy, + which has actuated many workers and writers of our own period, that it is + not easy to reckon him with the older group. His song rings like that of + Charles Kingsley, poet, novelist, preacher, and "Christian socialist," who + did not publish his "Saint's Tragedy" till three years after Hood was + dead. + </p> + <p> + There has, indeed, been no break in the continuity of our great literary + history; while one splendid group was setting, another as illustrious was + rising. Tennyson, who on Wordsworth's death in 1850 received at Queen + Victoria's hand the "laurel greener from the brows of him that uttered + nothing base," had published his earliest two volumes of poems some years + before Her Majesty's accession; and of that rare poetic pair, the + Brownings, each had already given evidence of the great powers they + possessed, Robert Browning's tragedy of "Strafford" being produced on the + stage in 1837, while his future wife's translation of the "Prometheus + Bound" saw the light four years earlier. The Victorian period can boast no + greater poetic names than these, each of which is held in highest + reverence by its own special admirers. The patriotic fervour with which + Lord Tennyson has done almost all his laureate work, the lucid splendour + of his style, the perfect music of his rhythm, and the stinging sharpness + with which he has sometimes chastised contemporary sins, have all combined + to win for him a far wider popularity than even that accorded to the fine + lyrical passion of Mrs. Browning, or to the deep-thoughted and splendid, + but often perplexing and ruggedly phrased, dramatic and lyric utterances + of her husband. All three have honoured themselves and their country by a + majestic purity of moral and religious teaching—an excellence shared + by many of their contemporaries, whose powers would have won them a first + place in an age and country less fruitful of genius; but not so + conspicuous in some younger poets, later heirs of fame, whose lot it may + be to carry on the traditions of Victorian greatness into another reign. + </p> + <p> + There are not a few writers of our day whose excellent prose work has won + more of popular favour than their verse, which notwithstanding is of high + quality. Such was the "unsubduable old Roman," Walter Savage Landor, a + contemporary of Byron and Wordsworth, who long outlived them, dying in + 1864. Such—to bring two extremes together—are the critic and + poet Matthew Arnold, the poet and theologian John Henry Newman. Intimately + associated in our thought with the latter, who has enriched our devotional + poetry with one touching hymn, is Keble, the singer <i>par excellence</i> + of the "Catholic revival," and the most widely successful religious poet + of the age, though only very few of his hymns have reached the heart of + the people like the far more direct and fervent work of the Wesleys and + their compeers. He is even excelled in simplicity and passion, though not + in grace and tenderness, by two or three other workers in the same field, + who belong to our day, and whose verse is known more widely than their + names. + </p> + <p> + We have several women-poets who are only less beloved and less well known + than Mrs. Browning; but so far the greatest literary distinction gained by + the women of our age and country, notwithstanding the far wider and higher + educational advantages enjoyed by them to-day, has been won, as of yore, + in the field of prose fiction. More than a hundred years ago a veteran + novelist, whose humour and observation, something redeeming his + coarseness, have ranked him among classic English authors, referred + mischievously to the engrossing of "that branch of business" by female + writers, whose "ease, and spirit, and delicacy, and knowledge of the human + heart," have not, however, availed to redeem their names from oblivion. + For some of their nineteenth-century successors at least we may expect a + more enduring memory. + </p> + <p> + Numerous as are our poets, they are far outnumbered by the novelists, + whose works are poured forth every season with bewildering profusion; but + as story-tellers have always commanded a larger audience than grave + philosophers or historians, and as our singers deal as much in philosophy + as in narrative, perhaps in seeking for the cause of this overrunning + flood of fiction we need go no further than the immensely increased number + of readers—a view in which the records of some English public + libraries will bear us out. We may therefore be thankful that, on the + whole, such literature has been of a vastly purer and healthier character + than of yore, reflecting that higher and better tone of public feeling + which we may attribute, in part at least, to the influence of the "pure + court and serene life" of the Sovereign. <br /> <a name="ILL057" id="ILL057"></a> + <br /> <img src="images/057 Charles Dickens.jpg" alt="Charles Dickens" + width="40%" /> + </p> + <h4> + Charles Dickens<br /> (From a Photograph by Elliott & Fry) + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <a name="ILL058" id="ILL058"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/058 W M Thackeray.jpg" alt="W. M. Thackeray" /> + </p> + <h4> + W. M. Thackeray<br /> (From a Drawing by Samuel Lawrence) + </h4> + <p> + This nobler tone is not least perceptible in the eldest of the great + masters of fiction whom we can claim for our period—Dickens, who in + 1837 first won by his "Pickwick Papers" that astonishing popularity which + continued widening until his death; Thackeray, who in that year was + working more obscurely, having not yet found a congenial field in the + humorous chronicle that reflects for us so much of the Victorian age, for + <i>Punch</i> was not started till 1841, and Thackeray's first great + masterpiece of pathos and satire, "Vanity Fair," did not begin to appear + till five years later. Each of these writers in his own way held "the + mirror up" to English human nature, and showed "the very age and body of + the time his form and pressure," with manly boldness indeed, but with due + artistic reticence also; each knew how to be vivid without being vicious, + to be realistic without being revolting; and despite the sometimes + offensive caricature in which the one indulged, despite the seeming + cynicism of the other their influence must be pronounced healthy. + Thackeray did not, like Dickens, use his pen against particular glaring + abuses of the time, nor insist on the special virtues that bloom amid the + poor and lowly; but he attacked valiantly the crying sins of society in + all time—the mammon-worship and the mercilessness, the false + pretences and the fraud—and never failed to uphold for admiration + and imitation "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are + honourable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever thing are pure, + whatsoever things are lovely." And though both writers were sometimes hard + on the professors of religion, neither failed in reverence of tone when + religion itself was concerned. <br /> <a name="ILL059" id="ILL059"></a> + <br /> <img src="images/059 Charlotte Bronte.jpg" + alt="Charlotte Brontë" /> + </p> + <h4> + Charlotte Brontë + </h4> + <p> + The sudden death of both these men, in the very prime of life and in the + fulness of power, was keenly felt at the time: each had a world-wide fame, + and each awakened a blank, distressful sense of personal loss in his many + admirers as he was suddenly called away from incomplete work and faithful + friendship. Contemporary literature has not benefited by the removal of + these two men and the gradual diminishing of the influence they so + strongly exerted while yet they "stood up and spoke." The work of + Charlotte Brontë—produced under a fervent admiration for "the + satirist of Vanity Fair," whom she deemed "the first social regenerator of + his day"—is, with all its occasional morbidness of sensitive + feeling, far more bracing in moral tone, more inspiring in its scorn of + baseness and glorifying of goodness, than is the work of recent Positivist + emulators of the achievements of George Eliot. Some romances of this + school are vivid and highly finished pictures of human misery, unredeemed + by hope, and hardly brightened by occasional gleams of humour, of the + sardonic sort which may stir a mirthless smile, but never a laugh. Herein + they are far inferior to their model, whose melancholy philosophy is half + hidden from her readers by the delightful freshness and truth of her + "Dutch painter's" portraying of every-day humanity, by her delicately + skilful reproduction of its homely wit and harmless absurdity. Happily + neither these writers, nor the purveyors of mere sensation who cannot get + on without crime and mystery, exhaust the list of our romancers, many of + whom are altogether healthful, cheerful, and helpful; and it is no + unreasonable hope that these may increase and their gloomier rivals + decrease, or at least grow gayer and wiser. <br /> <a name="ILL060" + id="ILL060"></a> <br /> <a href="images/060 Lord Macaulay.jpg"> <img + src="images/060 Lord Macaulay.jpg" alt="Lord Macaulay" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Lord Macaulay + </h4> + <p> + There are many other great writers, working in other fields, whom we may + claim as belonging altogether or almost to the Victorian age. Within that + period lies almost entirely the brilliantly successful career of Macaulay, + essayist, poet, orator, and historian. For the last-named <i>rôle</i> + Macaulay seemed sovereignly fitted by his extraordinary faculty for + assimilating and retaining historical knowledge, and by the vividness of + imagination and mastery of words which enabled him to present his facts in + such attractive guise as made them fascinating far beyond romance. His + "History of England from the Accession of James II," whereof the first + volumes appeared in 1849, remains a colossal fragment; the fulness of + detail with which he adorned it, the grand scale on which he worked, + rendered its completion a task almost impossible for the longest lifetime; + and Macaulay died in his sixtieth year. Despite the defects of + partisanship and exaggeration freely and not quite unjustly charged upon + his great work, it remains a yet unequalled record of the period dealt + with, just as his stirring ballads, so seemingly easy of imitation in + their ringing, rolling numbers, hold their own against very able rivals + and are yet unequalled in our time. <br /> <a name="ILL061" id="ILL061"></a> + <br /> <a href="images/061 Thomas Carlyle.jpg"> <img + src="images/061 Thomas Carlyle.jpg" alt="Thomas Carlyle" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Thomas Carlyle + </h4> + <p> + Macaulay was not the first, and he is not the last, of our picturesque + historians. It was in 1837 that Carlyle, who four years before had + startled the English-reading public by his strangely worded, bewildering + "Sartor Resartus," brought out his astonishing "History of the French + Revolution"—a prose poem, an epic without a hero, revealing as by + "flashes of lightning" the ghastly tragedy and comedy of that tremendous + upheaval; and in 1845 he followed up the vein thus opened by his lifelike + study of "Oliver Cromwell," which was better received by his English + readers than the later "History of Friedrich II," marvel of careful + research and graphic reproduction though it be. To Carlyle therefore and + to Macaulay belongs the honour of having given a new and powerful impulse + to the study they adorned; dissimilar in other respects, they are alike in + their preference for and insistent use of original sources of information, + in their able employment of minute detail, and in the graphic touch and + artistic power which made history very differently attractive in their + hands from what it had ever been previously. Mr. Froude and Mr. Green may + be ranked as their followers in this latter respect; hardly so Mr. Freeman + or the philosophic Buckle, Grote, and Lecky, who by their style and method + belong more to the school of Hallam, however widely they may differ from + him or from each other in opinion. But in thoroughness of research and in + resolute following of the very truth through all mazes and veils that may + obscure it, one group of historians does not yield to the other. <br /> + <a name="ILL062" id="ILL062"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/062 William Whewell, DD.jpg"> <img + src="images/062 William Whewell, DD.jpg" alt="William Whewell, D.D." + width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + William Whewell, D.D. + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <a name="ILL063" id="ILL063"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/063 Sir David Brewster.jpg" alt="Sir David Brewster" /> + </p> + <h4> + Sir David Brewster + </h4> + <p> + And the same zealous passion for accuracy that has distinguished these and + less famous historians and biographers has shown itself in other fields of + intellectual endeavour. Our Queen in her desire "to get at the root and + reality of things" is entirely in harmony with the spirit of her age. In + scientific men we look for the ardent pursuit of difficult truth; and it + would be thankless to forget how numerous beyond precedent have been in + the Victorian period faithful workers in the field of science. Though some + of our <i>savants</i> in later years have injured their renown by straying + outside the sphere in which they are honoured and useful and speaking + unadvisedly on matters theological, this ought not to deter us from + acknowledging the value of true service rendered. The Queen's reign can + claim as its own such men as John Herschel, worthy son of an illustrious + father, Airy, Adams, and Maxwell, Whewell and Brewster and Faraday, Owen + and Buckland and Lyell, Murchison and Miller, Darwin and Tyndall and + Huxley, with Wheatstone, one of the three independent inventors of + telegraphy, and the Stephensons, father and son, to whose ability and + energy we are indebted for the origination and perfection of our method of + steam locomotion; it can boast such masters in philosophy as Hamilton and + Whately and John Stuart Mill, each a leader of many. It has also the rare + distinction of possessing one lady writer on science who has attained to + real eminence—eminence not likely soon to be surpassed by her + younger sister-rivals—the late Mrs. Mary Somerville, who united an + entirely feminine and gentle character to masculine powers of mind. <br /> + <a name="ILL064" id="ILL064"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/064 Sir James Y Simpson.jpg" alt="Sir James Simpson" /> + </p> + <h4> + Sir James Simpson + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <a name="ILL065" id="ILL065"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/065 Michael Faraday.jpg"> <img + src="images/065 Michael Faraday.jpg" alt="Michael Faraday" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Michael Faraday + </h4> + <p> + Only to catalogue the recent discoveries and inventions we owe to men of + science, from merciful anæsthetics to the latest applications of + electric power, would occupy more space than we ought here to give. All + honour to these servants of humanity! We rejoice to find among them many + who could unite the simplest childlike faith with a wide and grand mental + outlook; we exult not less to find in many Biblical students and + commentators the same patience, thoroughness, and resolute pursuit of the + very truth as that exemplified by the devotees of physical science. God's + Word is explored in our day—the same clay which has seen the great + work of the Revised Version of the Scriptures begun and completed—with + no less ardour than God's world. And what vast additions have been made to + our knowledge of this earth! We have seen Nineveh unburied, the North-West + Passage explored, and the mysterious Nile stream at last tracked to its + source. To compare a fifty-years-old map of Africa with one of the present + day will a little enable us to estimate the advances made in our + acquaintance with the Dark Continent alone; similar maps including the + Polar regions of North America will testify also to a large increase of + hard-won knowledge. <br /> <a name="ILL066" id="ILL066"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/066 David Livingstone.jpg" alt="David Livingstone" /> + </p> + <h4> + David Livingstone + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <a name="ILL067" id="ILL067"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/067 Sir John Franklin.jpg"> <img + src="images/067 Sir John Franklin.jpg" alt="Sir John Franklin" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Sir John Franklin + </h4> + <p> + Exploration—Arctic, African, Oriental and Occidental—has had + its heroic devotees, sometimes its martyrs. Witness Franklin, Burke and + Wills, and Livingstone. The long uncertainty overhanging the fate of the + gallant Franklin, after he and the expedition he commanded had vanished + into the darkness of Arctic winter in 1845, and the unfaltering + faithfulness with which his widow clung to the search for her lost + husband, form one of the most pathetic chapters of English story. The veil + was lifted at last and the secret of the North-West Passage, to which so + many lives had been sacrificed, was brought to light in the course of the + many efforts made to find the dead discoverer. As Franklin had disappeared + in the North, so Livingstone was long lost to sight in the wilds of + Africa, and hardly less feverish interest centred round the point, so long + disputed, of his being in life or in death—interest freshly awakened + when the remains of the heroic explorer, who had been found only to be + lost again, were brought home to be laid among the mighty dead of England. + The fervent Christian philanthropy of Livingstone endeared him yet more to + the national heart; and we may here note that very often, as in his case, + the missionary has served not only Christianity, as was his first and last + aim, but also geographical and ethnological science and colonial and + commercial development. We have briefly referred already to some of the + struggles, the sufferings, and the triumphs of missionary enterprise in + our day: to chronicle all its effort and achievement would be difficult, + for these have been world-wide, and often wonderfully successful. Nor has + much less success crowned other agencies for meeting the ever-increasing + need for religious knowledge, which multiply and grow in number and in + power. Witness, among many that might be named, the continuous development + of the Sunday School system and the immensely extended operations of the + unsectarian Bible Society. <br /> <a name="ILL068" id="ILL068"></a> <br /> + <a href="images/068 John Ruskin.jpg"> <img src="images/068 John Ruskin.jpg" + alt="John Ruskin" width="40%" /> </a> + </p> + <h4> + John Ruskin<br /> (From a Photograph by Elliott & Fry) + </h4> + <p> + Great advances have been made during this reign in English art and + art-criticism, and more particularly in the extension of real artistic + education to classes of the community who could hardly attain it before, + though it was perhaps more essential to them than to the wealthy and + leisurely who had previously monopolised it. The multiplication of Schools + of Design over the country, intended to promote the tasteful efficiency of + those engaged in textile manufactures and in our decorative and + constructive art generally, is one remarkable feature of the time, and the + sedulous cultivation of music by members of all classes of society is + another, hardly less hopeful. In all these efforts for the benefit and + elevation of the community the Prince Consort took deep and active + interest, and the royal family themselves, from Her Majesty downwards, + highly cultured and accomplished, have not failed to act in the same + spirit. But the history of English nineteenth-century art would be + incomplete indeed without reference to two powerful influences—the + rise and progress of the new art of photography, which has singularly + affected other branches of graphic work; and the career, hitherto + unexampled in our land, of the greatest art-critic of this, perhaps of + any, age—John Ruskin, the most eminent also of the many writers and + thinkers who have been swayed by the magic spell of Carlyle, whose fierce + and fervid genius, for good or for evil, told so strongly on his + contemporaries. Ruskin is yet more deeply imbued with his master's + philosophy than those other gifted and widely influential teachers, + Maurice and Kingsley; and yet perhaps he is more strongly and sturdily + independent in his individuality than either, while the unmatched English + of his prose style differs not less widely from the rugged strength of + Carlyle than from the mystical involution of Maurice and the vehement and, + as it were, breathless, yet vivid and poetic, utterance of Kingsley. When + every defect has been admitted that is chargeable against one or all of + this group of sincere and stalwart workers, it must be allowed that their + power on their countrymen has been largely wielded for good. Particularly + is this the case with Ruskin, whose influence has reached and ennobled + many a life that, from pressure of sordid circumstances, was in great need + of such help as his spirituality of tone, and deeply felt reverential + belief in the Giver of all good and Maker of all beauty, could afford. + <br /> <a name="ILL069" id="ILL069"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/069 Dean Stanley.jpg"> <img src="images/069 Dean Stanley.jpg" + alt="Dean Stanley" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Dean Stanley + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <a name="ILL070" id="ILL070"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/070 I was sick, and ye visited me.jpg"> <img + src="images/070 I was sick, and ye visited me.jpg" + alt=""I was sick, and ye visited me."" width="45%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + "I was sick, and ye visited me." + </h4> + <p> + We have preferred not to dwell on one department of literature which, like + every other, has received great additions during our period—that of + religious controversy. A large portion of such literature is in its very + nature ephemeral; and some of the disputes which have engaged the energies + even of our greatest masters in dialectics have not been in themselves of + supreme importance; but many points of doctrine and discipline have been + violently canvassed among professing Christians, and attacks of + long-sustained vigour and virulence have been made on almost every leading + article of the Christian creed by the avowed enemies or the only + half-hostile critics of the Church, which the champions of Scripture truth + have not been backward to repel. Amid all this confusion and strife of + assault and resistance one thing stands out clearly: Christianity and its + progress are more interesting to the national mind than ever before. It + has been well, too, that through all those fifty years a large-minded and + fervent but most unobtrusive and practical piety has been enthroned in the + highest places of the land—a piety which will escape the + condemnation of the King when He shall come in His glory, and say to many + false followers, "I was an hungred, and ye gave Me no meat; I was thirsty, + and ye gave Me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in; naked, + and ye clothed Me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited Me not." + </p> + <p> + These dread words are not for those who have cared as our Sovereign Lady + and her beloved ones have cared for the sick and the suffering and the + sad; who have bound up the heart-wounds of the widow and the orphan and + ministered to their earthly needs; who, like our lost Princess Alice and + her royal elder sister, have tended the victims of war, shrinking from no + ghastliness or repulsiveness, no horrors of the hospital where victor and + vanquished lay moaning in common misery; or, like their queenly mother, + have shed the sunshine of royal smiles and soothing words and helpful alms + upon the obscurer but hardly less pitiable patients who crowd our English + infirmaries. In her northern and southern "homes" of Osborne and Balmoral + the Queen, too, has been able to share a true, unsophisticated friendship + with her humble neighbours, to rejoice in their joys and lighten their + griefs with gentle, most efficient sympathy. It was of a Highland cottage + that Dr. Guthrie wrote that "within its walls the Queen had stood, with + her kind hands smoothing the thorns of a dying man's pillow. There, left + alone with him at her own request, she had sat by the bed of death—a + Queen ministering to the comfort of a saint." It was in a cottage at + Osborne that the same gentle and august almsgiver was found reading + comfortable Scripture words to a sick and aged peasant, quietly retiring + upon the entrance of the clerical visitant, that <i>his</i> message of + peace might be freely given, and thus allowing the sufferer to disclose to + the pastor that the lady in the widow's weeds was Victoria of England. + These are examples, which it would be easy to multiply, of that true + oneness of feeling between the lofty and the lowly which is the special, + the unique glory of Christ's kingdom. May our land never lack them; may + they multiply themselves to all time. + </p> + <p> + The best evidence of the truth of the Gospel is admittedly its unequalled + power of lifting up humanity to higher and yet higher levels. In many and + mighty instances of that power our age is not barren. And in despite of + the foes without and within that have wrought her woe—of the + Pharisaism that is a mask for fraud, of the mammon-worship cloaked as + respectability, of scepticism lightly mocking, of the bolder enmity of the + blasphemer—we cannot contemplate the story of Christianity + throughout our epoch, even in these islands and this empire, without + seeing that the advance of the Faith is real and constant, the advance of + the rising tide, and that her seeming defeats are but the deceptive reflux + of the ever-mounting waves. <br /> <br /> <br /> <a name="10"></a> <br /> + <br /> + </p> + <h3> + CHAPTER X<br /> <br /> PROGRESS OF THE EMPIRE FROM 1887 TO 1897 + </h3> + <p> + <a name="ILL071" id="ILL071"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/071 Duke of Connaught.jpg"> <img + src="images/071 Duke of Connaught.jpg" alt="Duke of Connaught" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Duke of Connaught + </h4> + <p> + Resuming our pen after an interval of ten years, we have thought it well, + not only to carry on our story of the Sovereign and her realm to the + latest attainable point, but also to give some account of the advance made + and the work accomplished by the Methodist Church, which, youngest of the + greater Nonconformist denominations, has acted more powerfully than any + other among them on the religious and social life, not only of the United + Kingdom and the Empire, but of the world. This account, very brief, but + giving details little known to outsiders, will form a valuable pendant to + the sketch of the general history of Victoria's England that we are now + about to continue. <br /> <a name="ILL072" id="ILL072"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/072 The Imperial Institute.jpg" alt="The Imperial Institute" /> + </p> + <h4> + The Imperial Institute + </h4> + <p> + Many thousands who rejoiced in the Queen's Jubilee of 1887 are glad to-day + that the close of the decade should find the beloved Lady of these isles, + true woman and true Queen, still living and reigning. + </p> + <p> + On September 23, 1896, Queen Victoria had reigned longer than any other + English monarch, and the desire was general for some immediate celebration + of the event; but, by the Queen's express wish, all recognition of the + fact was deferred until the sixtieth year should be fully completed, and + the nation prepared to celebrate the "Diamond Jubilee" on June 22, 1897, + with a fervour of loyalty that should far outshine that of the Jubilee + year of 1887. + </p> + <p> + In the personal history of our Queen during those ten years we may note + with reverent sympathy some events that must shadow the festival for her. + The calm and kindly course of her home-life has again been broken in upon + by bereavement. All seemed fair in the Jubilee year itself, and the Queen + was appearing more in public than had been her wont—laying the + foundations of the Imperial Institute; unveiling in Windsor Park a statue + of the Prince Consort, Jubilee gift of the women of England; taking part + in a magnificent naval review at Spithead. But a shadow was already + visible to some; and early in 1888 sinister rumours were afloat as to the + health of the Crown Prince of Germany, consort of the Queen's eldest + daughter. Too soon those rumours proved true. Even when the prince rode in + the splendid Jubilee procession, a commanding figure in his dazzling white + uniform, the cruel malady had fastened on him that was to slay him in less + than a year, proving fatal three months after the death of his aged father + had called him to fill the imperial throne. The nation followed the course + of this tragedy with a feverish interest never before excited by the lot + of any foreign potentate, and deeply sympathised with, the distress of the + Queen and of the bereaved empress. <br /> <a name="ILL073" id="ILL073"></a> + <br /> <a href="images/073 Duke of Clarence.jpg"> <img + src="images/073 Duke of Clarence.jpg" alt="Duke of Clarence" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Duke of Clarence<br /> (From a Photograph by Lafayette, Dublin) + </h4> + <p> + But the year 1892 held in store a blow yet more cruelly felt. The English + people were still rejoicing with the Queen over the betrothal of the Duke + of Clarence, eldest son of the Prince of Wales, to his kinswoman Princess + May of Teck, when the death of the bridegroom elect in January plunged + court and people into mourning. That the Queen was greatly touched by the + universal sympathy with her and hers was proved by the pathetic letter she + wrote to the nation, and by the frank reliance on their affection which + marked the second letter in which, eighteen months later, she asked them + to share her joy in the wedding of the Duke of York, now heir-presumptive, + to the bride-elect of his late brother. This union has been highly + popular, and the Queen's evident delight in the birth of the little Prince + Edward of York in June, 1894, touched the hearts of her subjects, who + remembered the deep sorrow of 1892. <br /> <a name="ILL074" id="ILL074"></a> + <br /> <a href="images/074 Duke of York.jpg"> <img + src="images/074 Duke of York.jpg" alt="Duke of York" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Duke of York<br /> (From a Photograph by Russell & Sons, Baker Street, + W) + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <a name="ILL075" id="ILL075"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/075 Duchess of York.jpg"> <img + src="images/075 Duchess of York.jpg" alt="Duchess of York" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Duchess of York<br /> (From a Photograph by Russell & Sons, Baker + Street, W) + </h4> + <p> + Once more they were called to grieve with her, when the husband of her + youngest daughter Beatrice, Prince Henry of Battenberg, who for years had + formed part of her immediate circle, died far from home and England, + having fallen a victim to fever ere he could distinguish himself, as he + had hoped, in our last expedition to Ashanti. The pathos of such a death + was deeply felt when the prince's remains were brought home and laid to + rest, in the presence of his widow and her royal mother, in the very + church at Whippingham that he had entered an ardent bridegroom. Not all + gloom, however, has been Her Majesty's domestic life in these recent + years; she has taken joy in the marriages of many of her descendants; and + the visits of her grandchildren—of whom one, Princess Alice of + Hesse, daughter of the well-beloved Alice of England, became Czarina of + Russia only the other day—are a source of keen interest to her. + <br /> <a name="ILL076" id="ILL076"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/076 Princess Henry of Battenberg.jpg"> <img + src="images/076 Princess Henry of Battenberg.jpg" + alt="Princess Henry of Battenberg" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Princess Henry of Battenberg<br /> (From a Photograph by Hughes & + Mullins, Ryde, Isle of Wight) + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <a name="ILL077" id="ILL077"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/077 Prince Henry of Battenberg.jpg"> <img + src="images/077 Prince Henry of Battenberg.jpg" + alt="Prince Henry of Battenberg" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Prince Henry of Battenberg<br /> (From a Photograph by Hughes & + Mullins, Ryde, Isle of Wight) + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <a name="ILL078" id="ILL078"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/078 The Czarina of Russia.jpg"> <img + src="images/078 The Czarina of Russia.jpg" alt="The Czarina of Russia" + width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + The Czarina of Russia + </h4> + <p> + But there is no selfish absorption in her own family affairs, no neglect + of essential duty. The Prince of Wales and "the Princess" relieve the + Queen of many irksome social functions; but she does not shun these when + it is clear to her that her people wish her to undertake them. Witness her + willingness to take part in the Jubilee Thanksgiving services and pageant, + despite the feebleness of her advanced age. + </p> + <p> + We need not dwell long on the rather stormy Parliamentary history of the + last decade, on the divisions and disappointments of the Irish Home Rule + party, once so powerful, or on the various attacks aimed at the Welsh and + Scottish Church establishments and at the principle of "hereditary + legislation" as embodied in the House of Lords. Some useful legislation + has been accomplished amid all the strife. We may instance the Act in 1888 + creating the new system of County Councils, the Parish Councils Act, the + Factory and Workshops Amendment Act, and the Education Act of 1891—measures + designed to protect the toiling millions from the evils of "sweating," and + to assure their children of practically free education. + </p> + <p> + Substantial good has been done, whether the reins of power have been held + by Mr. Gladstone or by Lord Salisbury—whose long tenure of office + expiring in 1892, the veteran statesman whom he had displaced again took + the helm—or by Lord Rosebery, in whose favour the great leader + finally withdrew in 1894 into private life, weary of the burden of State. + In 1897 we again see Lord Salisbury directing the destinies of the mighty + empire—a task of exceptional difficulty, now that the gravest + complications exist in Europe itself and in Africa. The horrors suffered + by the Armenian subjects of the Turk have called for intervention by the + great powers; but no sooner had Turkish reforms been promised in response + to the joint note of Great Britain, France, and Russia, than new troubles + began in Crete, its people rising in arms to shake off the Turkish yoke. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile our occupation of Egypt is compelling us to use armed force + against the wild, threatening dervishes in the Soudan, and well-grounded + uneasiness is felt as to the position and action of our countrymen in + Southeastern Africa in connexion with the Boer republic of the Transvaal. + The British South Africa Chartered Company, formed in 1889, adventurous + and ambitious, loomed large in men's eyes during 1896, when the historic + and disastrous raid of Dr. Jameson and his followers startled the + civilised world. The whole story of that enterprise is yet to unfold; but + it has added considerably to the embarrassments of the British government. + Hopes were entertained in 1890 that the British East Africa Company, by + the pressure it could put on the Sultan of Zanzibar, had secured the + cessation of the slave trade on the East African shore; these hopes are + not yet fulfilled, but it may be trusted that a step has been taken + towards the mitigation of the evil—the "open sore of the world." + </p> + <p> + If we turn to India, we see it in 1896-7 still in the grip of a cruel + famine, aggravated by an outbreak of the bubonic plague too well known to + our fathers, which, appearing three years ago at Hong-Kong, has committed + new ravages at Bombay. Government is making giant efforts to meet both + evils, and is aided by large free-will offerings of money, sent not only + from this country, but also from Canada. "Ten years ago such a + manifestation would have been unlikely. The sense of kinship is stronger, + the imperial sentiment has grown deeper, the feeling of responsibility has + broadened." Kinship with a starving race is felt and shown by the Empress + on her throne, and her subjects learn to follow her example. + </p> + <p> + But the sense of brotherhood seems somewhat deficient when we look at the + continual labour wars that mark the period in our own land. From the Hyde + Park riots of socialists and unemployed, in the end of 1887, to the + railway strikes of 1897, the story is one of strikes among all sorts and + conditions of workers, paralysing trade, and witnessing to strained + relations between labour and capital; the great London strike of dock + labourers, lasting five weeks, and keeping 2,500 men out of work, may yet + be keenly remembered. There seems an imperative need for the wide + diffusion of a true, practical Christianity among employers and employed; + some signs point to the growth of that healing spirit: and we may note + with delight that while never was there so much wealth and never such deep + poverty as during this period, never also were there so many religious and + charitable organisations at work for the relief of poverty and the + uplifting of the fallen; while not a few of the wealthy, and even one or + two millionaires, have shown by generous giving their painful sense of the + contrast between their own wealth and the destitution of others. + </p> + <p> + It has been a period of sharp religious disputes, and every religious and + benevolent institution is keenly criticised; but great good is being done + notwithstanding by devoted men and women. The centenary of the Baptist + Missionary Society, observed in 1892, recalled to mind the vast work + accomplished by missions since that pioneer society sent out the apostolic + "shoemaker" Carey, to labour in India, and reminds us of the great change + wrought in public opinion since he and his enterprise were so bitterly + attacked. The heroic missionary spirit is still alive, as is proved by the + readiness of new evangelists to step into the place of the missionaries to + China, cruelly murdered at Ku-Cheng in 1895 by heathen fanatics. + </p> + <p> + The immense development of our colonies during the reign has already been + noticed; some of them have made surprising advances during the last ten + years. In southern and eastern Africa British enterprise has done much to + develop the great natural wealth of the land; but the frequent troubles in + Matabeleland and the complications with the Transvaal since the discovery + of gold there may be regarded as counterbalancing the material advantages + secured. Ceylon has a happier record, having more than regained her + imperilled prosperity through the successful enterprise of her settlers in + cultivating the fine tea which has almost displaced China tea in the + British market, Ceylon exporting 100,000,000 lbs. in 1895 as against + 2,000,000 lbs. ten years previously. Canada also now takes rank as a great + maritime state, and the fortunes of Australia, though much shaken a few + years ago by a great financial crisis, are again brilliant; in the world + of social progress and democracy it is still the colonial marvel of our + times. <br /> <a name="ILL079" id="ILL079"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/079 H M Stanley.jpg"> <img src="images/079 H M Stanley.jpg" + alt="H. M. Stanley" width="40%" /> </a> + </p> + <h4> + H. M. Stanley + </h4> + <p> + The last census, taken in 1891, in Great Britain and Ireland showed a vast + increase of population, sixty-two towns in England and Wales returning + more than 50,000 inhabitants, and the total population of the United + Kingdom being 38,104,975. Alarmists warned us that, with the ratio of + increase shown, neither food nor place would soon be found for our people; + and a great impetus being given to emigration, our colonies benefited. But + despite such alarms, articles of luxury were in greater demand than ever, + the tobacco duty reaching in 1892 the sum of £10,135,666, half a + million, more than in the previous year; and the consumption of tea and + spirits increased in due proportion. The same year saw great improvements + in sanitation put into practice as the result of an alarm of cholera, that + plague ravaging Hamburg. <br /> <a name="ILL080" id="ILL080"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/080 Dr Fridtjof Nansen.jpg"> <img + src="images/080 Dr Fridtjof Nansen.jpg" alt="Dr. Fridtjof Nansen" + width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Dr. Fridtjof Nansen + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <a name="ILL081" id="ILL081"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/081 Miss Kingsley.jpg"> <img + src="images/081 Miss Kingsley.jpg" alt="Miss Kingsley" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Miss Kingsley + </h4> + <p> + Vast engineering works, of which the Manchester Ship Canal is the most + familiar instance, have been carried on. This great waterway, thirty-five + miles long, and placing an inland town in touch with the sea, was begun in + 1887 and finished in 1894. Numerous exhibitions, at home and abroad, have + stimulated industrial and æsthetic progress; and science has + continued to advance with bewildering rapidity, developing chiefly in + practical directions. The bacteriologist has unveiled much of the mystery + of disease, showing that seed-germs produce it; the photographer comes in + aid of surgery, for the discovery of the X or Röntgen rays, by the + German professor whose name is associated with them, now enables the + surgeon to discover foreign bodies lodged within the human frame, and to + decide with authority their position and the means of removing them. + Burial reforms, in the interests of health and economy, have been + introduced, and nursing, elevated into a science, has become an honourable + profession for cultured women. In 1894 that eminent <i>savant</i> Lord + Rayleigh brought before the British Association his discovery of a + hitherto unknown constituent in the atmosphere. The use of steam as a + motive power, almost contemporaneous with the Queen's reign, has bound our + land in a network of railways: now it is electricity which is being + utilised in the same sense, and to the telephone and the telegraph as + means of verbal communication is added the motorcar as a means of rapid + progression, 1896 seeing its use in streets sanctioned by Parliament. It + may not yet supersede the bicycle, which in ten years has greatly + increased in favour. Electric lighting, in the same period, has become + very general; and further adaptations of this mysterious force to man's + service are in the air. <br /> <a name="ILL082" id="ILL082"></a> <br /> + <img src="images/082 J M Barrie.jpg" alt="J. M. Barrie" /> + </p> + <h4> + J. M. Barrie + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <a name="ILL083" id="ILL083"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/083 Richard Jefferies.jpg" alt="Richard Jefferies" /> + </p> + <h4> + Richard Jefferies + </h4> + <p> + This is an age of great explorers. Stanley has succeeded to Livingstone, + Nansen to Franklin; but it has been only within comparatively recent years + that women have emulated men in penetrating to remote regions. Within the + decade we have seen Mrs. Bishop a veteran traveller, visiting south-west + Persia; Mrs. French Sheldon has shown how far beyond the beaten track a + woman's adventurous spirit may lead her; and Miss Mary Kingsley, a niece + of the late Charles Kingsley, has intrepidly explored the interior of + Africa, her scientific observations being welcomed by British <i>savants</i>. + In 1896 women, who had long sought the privilege, were permitted to + compete for the diploma of the Royal College of Surgeons, and in many + other walks of usefulness the barriers excluding women have been removed, + with benefit to all concerned. It is not other than natural that under the + reign of a noble woman there should arise women noble-minded as herself, + cherishing ideas of life and duty lofty as her own, and that their + greatest elevation of purpose should tent to raise the moral standard + among the men who work with them for the uplifting of their fellow + subjects. Such signs of the times may be noticed now, more evident than + even ten years ago. <br /> <a name="ILL086" id="ILL086"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/086 Professor Huxley.jpg"> <img + src="images/086 Professor Huxley.jpg" alt="Professor Huxley" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Professor Huxley<br /> (From a Photograph by the London Stereoscopic Co) + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <a name="ILL087" id="ILL087"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/087 Professor Tyndall.jpg"> <img + src="images/087 Professor Tyndall.jpg" alt="Professor Tyndall" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Professor Tyndall<br /> (From a Photograph by Alexander Bassano, Ltd) + </h4> + <p> + The educational progress of the last decade has been very great, + especially as regards the instruction of women; yet the period has not + been noticeably fruitful of literature in the highest sense. In the world + of fiction there is much that looks like degeneration; the lighter + magazines and serials have multiplied past computation, and form all the + reading of not a few persons. To counteract the unhealthy "modern novel" + has arisen the Scottish school, the "literature of the kailyard," as it + has been termed in scorn; yet a purer air breathes in the pages of J. M. + Barrie, "Ian Maclaren," and Crockett. Their many imitators are in some + danger of impairing the vogue of these masters, but still the tendency of + the school is wholesome. Other artists in fiction assume the part of + censors of society, and write of its doings with a bitterness that may or + may not profit; the unveiling of cancerous sores is of doubtful advantage + to health. <br /> <a name="ILL088" id="ILL088"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/088 C H Spurgeon.jpg" alt="C. H. Spurgeon" /> + </p> + <h4> + C. H. Spurgeon + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <a name="ILL089" id="ILL089"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/089 Dr Horatius Bonar.jpg" alt="Dr. Horatius Bonar" /> + </p> + <h4> + Dr. Horatius Bonar + </h4> + <p> + The death-roll from 1887 to 1897 is exceptionally heavy; in every + department of science, art, literary and religious life, the loss has been + great. Many musicians have been taken from us since the well-beloved Jenny + Lind Goldschmidt; Canon Sir E. A. Gore Ouseley, Sir G. Macfarren, + Principal of the Royal Academy of Music, Rubinstein, Carrodus, and others. + <br /> <a name="ILL084" id="ILL084"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/084 Rev J G Wood.jpg"> <img src="images/084 Rev J G Wood.jpg" + alt="Rev. J. G. Wood" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Rev. J. G. Wood + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <a name="ILL085" id="ILL085"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/085 Dean Church.jpg"> <img src="images/085 Dean Church.jpg" + alt="Dean Church" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Dean Church + </h4> + <p> + English letters have suffered by the removal of many whose services in one + way or another have been great: the prose-painter Richard Jefferies; the + pure and beneficent Mrs. Craik, better known as Miss Muloch; Matthew + Arnold, poet, educationalist, critic, whose verse should outlive his + criticisms; the noble astronomer Richard Proctor; Gustave Masson, the + careful biographer of Milton; Laurence Oliphant, gifted and eccentric + visionary; the naturalist J. G. Wood; the explorer and orientalist Burton; + the historians Kinglake, Froude, and Freeman; the great ecclesiastics + Bishop Lightfoot, Canon Liddon, Archbishop Magee of York, Dean Church, + Dean Plumptre, and the Cardinals Newman and Manning; Tennyson and + Browning, poets whose mantle has yet fallen on none; Huxley and Tyndall, + eminent in science; the justly popular preacher and writer Charles H. + Spurgeon; the orator and philanthropist John Bright, whose speeches + delight many in book-form; and Robert Louis Stevenson, novelist, essayist, + poet. To these we may add Eliza Cook and Martin Tapper, widely popular a + generation ago, and surviving into our own day; Lord Lytton, known as + "Owen Meredith," a literary artist, before he became viceroy of India and + British ambassador at Paris; and Professor Henry Drummond, dead since 1897 + began, and widely known by his "Natural Law in the Spiritual World." Even + so our list is far from complete. <br /> <a name="ILL090" id="ILL090"></a> + <br /> <a href="images/090 Sir J E Millais, PRA.jpg"> <img + src="images/090 Sir J E Millais, PRA.jpg" alt="J. E. Millais, P.R.A." + width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + J. E. Millais, P.R.A.<br /> (From a Photograph by Elliott & Fry) + </h4> + <p> + Of painters and sculptors we have lost since 1887 Frank Holl; Sir Edgar + Boehm, buried in St. Paul's by express wish of the Queen; Edwin Long; John + Pettie; Sir Noel Paton; Sir Frederick Leighton; and Sir J. E. Millais. The + last two illustrious painters were successively Presidents of the Royal + Academy, Millais, who followed Leighton in that office, surviving him but + a short time. Sir Frederick had been raised to the peerage as Lord + Leighton only a few days before he died, the patent arriving too late for + him to receive it. <br /> <a name="ILL091" id="ILL091"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/091 Sir Frederick Leighton, PRA.jpg"> <img + src="images/091 Sir Frederick Leighton, PRA.jpg" + alt="Sir Frederick Leighton, P.R.A." width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Sir Frederick Leighton, P.R.A.<br /> (From a Photograph by J. R. Mayall, + Piccadilly, W) + </h4> + <p> + The English world is the poorer for these many losses, some of which took + place under tragic circumstances; yet hope may well be cherished that + amongst us are those, not yet fully recognised, who will nobly fill the + places of the dead. Some hymn-writer may arise whose note will be as sweet + as that of the much loved singer, Dr. Horatius Bonar, some painter as + spiritual and powerful as Paton, some poet as grandly gifted as the late + laureate and his compeer Browning. We do not at once recognise our + greatest while they are with us; therefore we need not think despairingly + of our age because the good and the great pass away, and we see not their + place immediately filled. Nor, though there be great and crying evils in + our midst, need we tremble lest these should prevail, while there is so + much earnest and energetic endeavour to cope with and overcome them. <br /> + <br /> <br /> <a name="11"></a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + CHAPTER XI + </h3> + <p> + <b>PROGRESS OF WESLEYAN METHODISM<br /> UNDER QUEEN VICTORIA, 1837-1897 + <a id="footnotetag6" name="footnotetag6"></a><a href="#footnote6">[6]</a> + </b> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + Part I + </h3> + <p> + <a name="ILL092" id="ILL092"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/092 Wesley preaching on his father's tomb.jpg" + alt="Wesley preaching on his father's tomb" /> + </p> + <h4> + Wesley preaching on his father's tomb + </h4> + <p> + When the Queen ascended the throne Wesleyan Methodism in this country was + recovering from the effects of the agitation occasioned by Dr. Warren, who + had been expelled from its ministry; the erection of an organ in a Leeds + chapel had caused another small secession. But the Conference of 1837, + assembled in Leeds under the presidency of the Rev. Edmund Grindrod, with + the Rev. Robert Newton as secretary, had no reason to be discouraged. + Faithful to the loyal tradition of Methodism, it promptly attended to the + duty of congratulating the young Sovereign who had ascended the throne on + June 20, a few weeks before. + </p> + <p> + We may read in its Minutes of the vote in favour of an address, which + should assure the Queen of the sincere attachment cherished by her + Methodist subjects for her person and government, and of their fervent + prayers to Almighty God "for her personal happiness and the prosperity of + her reign." By a singular coincidence, it will probably be one of the + first acts of a Leeds Conference in 1897 to forward another address, + congratulating Her Majesty on the long and successful reign which has + realised these aspirations of unaffected devotion. The address of 1837 had + gracious acknowledgment, conveyed through Lord John Russell. <br /> <a + name="ILL093" id="ILL093"></a> <br /> <a + href="images/093 Group of Presidents 1.jpg"> <img + src="images/093 Group of Presidents 1.jpg" + alt="Group of Presidents Number One" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Group of Presidents Number One + </h4> + <p> + At this time Methodism had spread throughout the world. Its membership in + Great Britain and Ireland numbered 318,716; in foreign mission stations + 66,007; in Upper Canada 14,000; while the American Conferences had charge + of 650,678 members; thus the total for the world, exclusive of ministers, + was 1,049,401. + </p> + <p> + Of ministers there were 1,162 in the United Kingdom and 3,316 elsewhere. + It will be obvious that British and Irish Methodism even then formed a + body whose allegiance was highly valuable. + </p> + <p> + The 1837 Conference had to discuss the subject of the approaching + Centenary of Methodism, which had for years been anticipated with great + interest. With Mr. Butterworth—a Member of Parliament and a loyal + Methodist and generous supporter of our funds—originated the idea of + commemorating God's goodness in a fitting manner, not in a boastful + spirit; a committee which had been appointed reported to the next + Conference "that the primary object of the said celebration should be the + religious and devotional improvement of the centenary"; and that there + should also be "thank-offering to Almighty God" in money contributions for + some of the institutions of the Church. The Conference approved these + suggestions, and appointed a day of united prayer in January, 1839, "for + the outpouring of the Holy Spirit" on the Connexion during the year. <br /> + <a name="ILL094" id="ILL094"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/094 Centenary Meeting at Manchester.jpg" + alt="Centenary Meeting at Manchester" /> + </p> + <h4> + Centenary Meeting at Manchester + </h4> + <p> + There had been some difficulty in fixing the date of the birth of + Methodism; but 1739 was determined on, because then the first + class-meetings were held, the first chapel at Bristol was opened, the + first hymn-book published; then the United Societies were formed, then + field-preaching began, and then Whitefield, Charles Wesley, and others + held that historic lovefeast in Fetter Lane when the Holy Spirit came so + mightily on them that all were awed into silence, some sank down + insensible, and on recovering they sang with one voice their Te Deum of + reverent praise. + </p> + <p> + The centenary year being decided, a three days' convention of ministers + and laymen was held at Manchester to make the needful arrangements; its + proceedings were marked by a wonderful enthusiasm and liberality. + </p> + <p> + The Centenary Conference assembled at Liverpool in 1839. It could report + an increase of 13,000 members. On August 5 it suspended its ordinary + business for the centenary services—a prayer-meeting at six in the + morning being followed by sermons preached by the Rev. Thomas Jackson and + the President, the Rev. Theophilus Lessey. A few weeks later came the + festal day, October 25, morning prayer-meetings and special afternoon and + evening services being held throughout the country. Never had there been + such large gatherings for rejoicing and thanksgiving; there were + festivities for the poor and for the children of the day and Sunday + schools. These celebrations, in which the whole Methodist Church joined, + aroused the interest of the nation, and called forth appreciative + criticism from press and pulpit. <br /> <a name="ILL095" id="ILL095"></a> + <br /> <img src="images/095 Wesleyan Centenary Hall.jpg" + alt="Wesleyan Centenary Hall" /> + </p> + <h4> + Wesleyan Centenary Hall + </h4> + <p> + When the idea of this first great Thanksgiving Fund was originally + contemplated, the most hopeful only dared look for £10,000; but when + the accounts were closed the treasurers were in possession of £222,589, + one meeting at City Road having produced £10,000; and the effort was + made at a time of great commercial depression. This remarkable liberality + drew the attention of the Pope, who said in an encyclical that <i>the + heretics were putting to shame the offerings of the faithful</i>. + </p> + <p> + Not a few meetings took the form of lovefeasts, where generous giving + proved the reality of the religious experiences; for there has ever been + an intimate connexion between the fellowship and the finance of Methodism. + Part of the great sum raised went to the Theological Institution, part to + Foreign Missions; Wesleyan education was helped by a grant, £1,000 + were paid over to the British and Foreign Bible Society; and the laymen + desiring to help the worn-out ministers and their widows and children, + £16,000 were set aside to form the Auxiliary Fund for this purpose. + </p> + <p> + It was now that the Missionary Committee were enabled to secure the + Centenary Hall, the present headquarters of the Missionary Society. The + remaining sums were given to other useful purposes. + </p> + <p> + Methodism in 1839 in all its branches <a id="footnotetag7" + name="footnotetag7"></a><a href="#footnote7">[7]</a> reckoned more than + 1,400,000 members, with 6,080 itinerant preachers and 350 missionaries; + 50,000 pupils were instructed in the mission schools, and there were + upwards of 70,000 communicants and at least 200,000 hearers of the gospel + in Methodist mission chapels. In England alone the Wesleyan Methodists + owned 3,000 chapels, and had many other preaching places; there were 3,300 + Sunday schools, 341,000 scholars, and 4,000 local preachers. These + figures, when, compared with those given at the end of our sketch, will + furnish some idea of the numerical advance of Methodism throughout the + world during the Queen's reign. + </p> + <p> + The centenary celebrations marked the high flood-tide of spiritual + prosperity for many ensuing years, for a time of great trial followed. + Gladly would we forget the misunderstandings of our fathers; yet this + sketch would be incomplete without reference to unhappy occurrences which + caused the loss of 100,000 members, and allowance must be made for this + terrible loss in estimating the progress of Wesleyan Methodism. The + troubles began when certain anonymous productions, known as "Fly Sheets," + severely criticised the administration of Methodism and libellously + assailed the characters of leading ministers, especially Dr. Bunting, who + stood head and shoulders above all others in this Methodist war. He was + chosen President when only forty-one, and on three other occasions filled + the chair of the Conference. He became an authority on Methodist + government and policy. Dr. Gregory says, "As an administrator, he was + unapproached in sagacity, aptitude, personal influence, and + indefatigability... his character was spotless." He was a born commander. + The "Liverpool Minutes," describing the ideal Methodist preacher, are his + work. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Bunting volunteered to be tried by the Conference as to the anonymous + charges against him, but no one came forward with proofs to sustain them. + Three ministers, Messrs. Everett, Dunn, and Griffiths, supposed to be the + chief movers of this agitation, refused to be questioned on the matter, + and defying the Conference, were expelled. Thereafter the agitation was + kept up, and caused great disaffection in the Societies, resulting in the + loss we have referred to. The seceders called themselves "Reformers"; many + of them eventually joined similar bodies of seceders, forming with them + the "United Methodist Free Churches." These in 1857 reported a membership + of 41,000, less than half that which was lost to Wesleyan Methodism. But + now they may be congratulated on better success, the statistics for 1896 + showing, at home and abroad, a total of nearly 90,000 members, with 1,622 + chapels, 417 ministers, 3,448 local preachers, 1,350 Sunday schools, and + 203,712 scholars. It may be noted with pleasure that the leaders of the + movement outlived all hostility to the mother Church; one of them attended + the Ecumenical Conference of 1881, and took the sacrament with the other + delegates. + </p> + <p> + With great regret we speak of this painful disruption, now that so much + better feeling animates the various Methodist Churches. Practically there + is no difference of doctrine among them. It has been well said, "Our + articles of faith stand to-day precisely as in the last century, which + makes us think that, like Minerva from the brain of Jupiter, they were + born full-grown and heavily armoured." + </p> + <p> + An influential committee has been appointed to ascertain how concerted + action may be taken by the Methodist Churches; and the hope is cherished + that their suggestions may lead to the adoption of methods which will + prevent strife and friction and unworthy rivalry. The New Connexion and + Methodist Free Church Conferences also appointed a joint committee to + consider the same subject. The brotherly desire for spiritual fellowship + and mutual help and counsel thus indicated must be held as a very hopeful + token of something better than numerical advance. <br /> <a name="ILL096" + id="ILL096"></a> <br /> <a href="images/096 Group of Presidents 2.jpg"> + <img src="images/096 Group of Presidents 2.jpg" + alt="Group of Presidents Number Two" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Group of Presidents Number Two + </h4> + <p> + The bitter experiences through which the Church passed called attention to + the need for modification and expansion of Wesleyan Methodist polity. The + Conference of 1851 appointed a committee of ministers to consider the + question; 745 laymen were invited to join them. Their recommendations led + Conference to adopt resolutions defining the proper constitution of the + quarterly meeting, and to provide for special circuit meetings to re-try + cases of discipline, which had been brought before the leaders' meeting, + when there was reason to think that the verdict had been given in a + factious spirit. The chairman of the district, with twelve elected by the + quarterly meeting, formed a tribunal to re-try the case. From this + decision there was an appeal to the district synods, and also to the + Conference. Provision was made for the trial of trustees, so that every + justice should be done them. Local Church meetings were guaranteed the + right of appeal to Conference, and circuits were allowed to memorialise + Conference on Connexional subjects, within proper limits. The quarterly + meetings, having considered these resolutions, gave them a cordial + reception, and they were confirmed by the Conference of 1853. + </p> + <p> + No new rule is enforced by Conference until opportunity is given to bring + it before all the quarterly meetings, and it is not likely to become + Methodist law if the majority object. The enlarged district synods are an + additional safeguard for the privileges of the people. By ballot the + circuit quarterly meetings may now elect one, or in some cases two + gentlemen, who, with the circuit steward, shall represent the circuit in + the district synod. + </p> + <p> + In 1889, Conference sanctioned the formation of Methodist councils, + composed of ministers and laymen, to consult on matters pertaining to + Methodist institutions in the towns. Their decisions of course do not bind + any particular Society. + </p> + <p> + The disaffection so fruitful of suffering had been due to a suspicion that + men were retained in departmental offices when they no longer had the + confidence of the people. Now such officials are only elected for six + years, though eligible for re-election. One-sixth of the laymen on + Connexional committees retire yearly; they may be re-elected, but must + receive a four-fifths vote. Visitors may be present when the President is + inducted into office, and during the representative session, when also + reporters other than ministers are now allowed to take notes. + </p> + <p> + It was the year 1878 which witnessed that most important development of + Methodist economy, the introduction of lay representatives to take part + with ministers in the deliberations of Conference. This was no sudden + revolution; laymen had long had their share in the work of quarterly + meetings, district synods, and great Connexional committees; in 1861 they + were admitted to the Committees of Review, which arranged the business of + Conference; they sat in the nomination committee each year, and had power + to scrutinise, and even to alter, the lists of names for the various + committees. Now in natural sequence they were to be endowed with + legislative as well as consultative functions; it might be said they had + been educated to this end. + </p> + <p> + The committee appointed to consider the matter having done its work, the + report was submitted to the district synods and then to Conference. Long, + earnest, animated, but loving was the debate that ensued; the assembled + ministers, by a large majority, determined that the laity should + henceforth share in their deliberations on all questions not strictly + pastoral. + </p> + <p> + It was resolved that there should be a representative session of 240 + ministers and 240 laymen. The ministerial quota was to consist of + President and secretary, members of the Legal Hundred, assistant + secretary, chairmen of districts not members of the Hundred, and + representatives of the great departments; six ministers stationed in + foreign countries, but visiting England at the time; and the remainder + elected by their brethren in the district synods; the laymen to be elected + in the synods by laymen only. A small proportion at one Conference is + chosen to attend the next. + </p> + <p> + Such were the new arrangements that came into force in 1878, causing no + friction, since they secured "a maximum of adaptation with a minimum of + change"; there was no difficulty in deciding what business should belong + to either session of Conference. It is needless to dwell here on minor + alterations, introduced in the past, or contemplated for the future, as to + the order of the sessions; it may amply suffice us to remark that Wesleyan + Methodism, thanks to the modifications of its constitution which we have + briefly touched upon, is one of the most truly popular Church systems ever + devised. For, as the Pastoral Address of 1896 puts it, "Methodism gives + every class, every member, all the rights which can be reasonably claimed, + listens to every complaint, asserts no exclusive privilege, but insures + that all things are done 'decently and in order.'" + </p> + <p> + The great change just described, being the work of the ministers + themselves, and accomplished by them before there was any loud demand for + it, was effected with such moderation and discretion as not to entail the + loss of a single member or minister. This was justly held a cause for + great thankfulness; and it was determined to raise a thanksgiving fund for + the relief of the various departments. + </p> + <p> + Great central meetings, extending over two years (1878—1880), were + held throughout the country, and were characterised by enthusiasm and + wonderful generosity. At a time when the country was suffering almost + unheard of commercial depression, the sum of £297,500 was raised, to + be apportioned between Foreign Missions, the Extension of Methodism in + Great Britain, Education, Home Missions, Methodism in Scotland, the + Sunday-school Union, a new Theological College, the "Children's Home," the + Welsh and German chapels in London, a chapel at Oxford, the relief of + necessitous local preachers, and the promotion of temperance. The + missionary debt was paid, and the buildings for soldiers and sailors at + Malta and Aldershot were cleared of debt. + </p> + <p> + Such work could not be done if the circuits acted independently; but + united as they are, and forming one vast connexion, much which would + otherwise be impossible can be achieved by means of the great Connexional + funds. Of these funds not a few have been established since 1837; but the + most important among them, the Foreign Mission fund, can boast an earlier + origin. + </p> + <p> + Wesleyanism, indeed, is essentially missionary in spirit, her original aim + being to spread scriptural holiness throughout the world. "The world is my + parish," said Wesley though he himself could never visit the whole of that + parish, his followers have at least explored the greater part of it, + causing the darkness to flee before the radiance of the lamp of truth. + </p> + <p> + British Methodism has now missions in almost every quarter of the globe—in + Asia, in Africa, on the Continent of Europe, in the Western Hemisphere. + Her mission agencies include medical missions, hospitals, schools for the + blind, homes for lepers, orphanages, training and industrial schools, etc. + </p> + <p> + In Europe we have set on foot missions in countries that are nominally + Christian, where the people are too often the victims of ignorance, + wickedness, vice, scepticism, and superstition; France, Germany, Austria, + Italy, Spain, and Portugal have all been objects of our missionary + enterprise during the present reign, and in some instances conspicuous + success has been attained. Witness the good work still going on in Italy, + and the independent position attained by the <i>Conférence, Méthodiste + de France</i>. + </p> + <p> + In India, Ceylon, China, and Burma, our agents are working amongst races + in which they have to combat heathenism strong in its antiquity. The + progress is necessarily slow, but a point has been reached where great + success may be prophesied, as the result largely of the work of the + pioneers. The schools are turning out many who, if they do not all become + decided Christians, are intellectually convinced that Christianity is + right, and will put fewer difficulties in the way of their children than + they themselves had to contend with. This educational work prepares the + way for the gospel; observers declare that nearly all converts in Ceylon + have been trained in our schools. + </p> + <p> + The important missions in Southern and Western Africa must not be + forgotten, nor those in Honduras and the Bahamas. + </p> + <p> + The present policy throughout our actual mission-field is as far as + possible to raise up native agents. Probably the heathen lands will be won + for the great Captain of salvation by native soldiers; but for a long time + they will need officers trained in countries familiar for generations with + the blessings of the gospel. The number of our missionaries may be stated + at 400, more than half being native agents; there are 2,680 other mission + workers, 52,058 Church members; 84,113 children and young people having + instruction in the schools. But these figures would give a false idea of + the progress of the work if compared with the statistics of 1837; for <i>then</i> + our missions included vast regions that have now their own Conferences. + When the Queen ascended the throne Fiji was a nation of cannibals. Two + years before her accession our Missionary Society commenced operations in + those islands. John Hunt laboured with apostolic zeal, and died breathing + the prayer, "God, for Christ's sake, bless Fiji, save Fiji." The prayer is + already answered. All these islands have been won for Christ, and are + trophies of Wesleyan missionary toil. There are 3,100 native preachers + under the care of nine white missionaries; 1,322 chapels, 43,339 members + and catechumens, and more than 42,000 scholars. Fiji has become almost a + nation of Methodists. But it were vain to look for traces of this vast + achievement in the "Minutes of Conference" of 1896; for a special feature + of our missionary policy is the establishment of affiliated Conferences, + which in course of time become self-supporting. In 1883 all the branches + of the Canadian Methodists united to form one Canadian Conference. The + first French Conference met in 1852. In 1855 the Conference of Eastern + British America was formed. The same year the first Australian Conference + met, and took charge of the Missions in Fiji, the Friendly Isles, and New + Zealand. The first South African Conference met in 1882, and the two West + Indian Conferences in 1884. Although more or less independent of the + mother Conference, they still retain the characteristics of Methodism. A + distinct branch of Mission work, known as the Women's Auxiliary, has been + established, and sends forth ladies to engage in educational, zenana, and + medical work. They are doing good service in India, China, and other parts + of the world. In 1896 they expended more than £10,000. + </p> + <p> + The total expenditure last year (1896) was £124,700, incurred by our + own Mission work and by grants to the affiliated Conferences. It is + satisfactory to note that in the districts helped, including those covered + by these Conferences, an additional £185,000 was raised. We have + magnificent opportunities; and with full consecration of our people's + wealth there would be glorious successes in the future. Foreign Missions + have been the chief honour of Methodism, and it is to be hoped the same + affection for them will be maintained; for wherever Methodism is found + throughout the world, it is the result of mission work. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile there has been no sacrificing of home interests. Never were + greater efforts made by Methodism for the evangelisation of the masses in + Great Britain. The Home Mission Fund, first instituted in 1756, was + remodelled in 1856. Its business is to assist the dependent circuits in + maintaining the administration of the gospel, to provide means for + employing additional ministers, and to meet various contingencies with + which the circuits could not cope unassisted. Our needs as a Connexion + demand such a Contingent Fund. One-third of the amount raised by the + Juvenile Home and Foreign Missionary Association is devoted to Home + Missions. The income, which in 1837 was less than £10.000, is now + more than £36,000; an increase witnessing to a spirit of aggression + and enterprise in modern Methodism. This fund provides for the support of + the Connexional evangelists and district missionaries. + </p> + <p> + In the year 1882, under the head "Home Missions," there was a new and + important departure, by the appointment of the first "Connexional + evangelists," of whom there are now four; they have already been the means + of great blessing throughout the country, showing that the old gospel, + preached as in the old days, is still mighty to awaken and convert. + </p> + <p> + Under the direction of the Home Mission Committee, commissioners visit + certain districts, to give advice and discover the best methods for + improving the condition of Methodism where it appears to be low. + </p> + <p> + Special attention is given to the villages. The "Out-and-Out Band" + subscribed for four Gospel Mission vans, each carrying two evangelists, + and a large quantity of literature, to the villages; the evangelists in + charge conducting services in the village chapels and in the open air. The + sale of books and the voluntary contributions of the people help to defray + the expenses. This agency is now under the direction of the Home Mission + committee, and the gospel cars will be known as "Wesleyan Home Mission + Cars." + </p> + <p> + Another new movement, helpful to village Methodism, is the "Joyful News" + mission, originating with the Rev. Thomas Champness, who has been set free + from ordinary circuit work to manage it. He trains lay agents, for whose + services there is a great demand in villages where the people are too poor + to maintain additional ministers, and where the supply of local preachers + is deficient. Some of these agents are at work abroad. + </p> + <p> + The energetic Home Mission Committee has also set on foot missions where + Methodism was feeble. Nor are those forgotten who "go down to the sea in + ships, and do business in great waters." As far as means permit, efforts + are made for the spiritual benefit of our sailors in all the great ports + of the world; our soldiers, too, are equally cared for. Methodism has + always been interested in the army, in which some of Wesley's best + converts were found; yet there was no systematic work in it before 1839, + when an order by the commander-in-chief permitted every soldier to attend + the church of his choice. Some years afterwards, the Rev. Dr. Rule strove + hard to secure the recognition of the rights of Wesleyans, and after much + struggle the War Office recognised Wesleyan chaplains. The work and + position of Wesleyan Methodism are now thoroughly organised throughout the + world. The government allows a capitation grant for all declared + Wesleyans, and it amounts to a large sum of money every year. In 1896 + there were, including the Militia, 22,663 declared Wesleyans in the army + and 1,485 Church members. There are 28 Sailors' and Soldiers' Homes, + providing 432 beds, and these Homes have been established at a cost of + £35,000. In them are coffee bars, libraries, lecture halls, and, + what is most appreciated by Christian soldiers, rooms for private prayer. + The officiating ministers, who give the whole or part of their time to the + soldiers and their families, number 195. + </p> + <p> + There are many local preachers among the soldiers, and at least two have + left the ranks to become ministers. + </p> + <p> + On the Mission field, soldiers render valuable aid to the missionary in + building chapels, distributing tracts, and often teaching and preaching to + the natives and others. Thus, whilst helping to hold the empire for their + Queen, they are hastening on the day when all the kingdoms of the world + shall be the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. + </p> + <p> + This deeply interesting work in the Army and Royal Navy is appropriately + mentioned in connexion with our Home and Foreign Missions, both intimately + concerned in its maintenance and management. It is right to mention that + the Soldiers' and Sailors' Homes described are free to all members of + H.M.'s sea and land forces, irrespective of religious denomination. <br /> + <br /> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + Part II + </h3> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p> + One great event in Methodist history since 1837 now calls for notice—the + assembling of the first Oecumenical Conference in Wesley's Chapel, City + Road, London, in 1861. This idea was in strict keeping with the spirit + Wesley discovered when, five weeks before his death, he wrote to his + children in America: "See that you never give place to one thought of + separating from your brethren in Europe. Lose no opportunity of declaring + to all men that the Methodists are one people in all the world, and that + it is their full determination so to continue, + </p> + <blockquote> + <blockquote> + <p> + "'Though mountains rise, and oceans roll,<br /> + To sever us in vain.'"<br /> + </p> + </blockquote> + </blockquote> + <p> + The growing affection among Methodists of all branches made the idea of an + Oecumenical Conference practicable. <br /> <a name="ILL097" id="ILL097"></a> + <br /> <a href="images/097 Sir Charles Lycett.jpg"> <img + src="images/097 Sir Charles Lycett.jpg" alt="Sir Francis Lycett" + width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Sir Francis Lycett + </h4> + <p> + The suggestion took form at the Joint Conference of the Methodist + Episcopal Church of America in 1876. The American Methodists sent a + delegate to the British Conference, proposing a United Conference which + should demonstrate to the world the essential oneness in doctrine, spirit, + and principle of all the Churches which historically trace their origin to + John Wesley; such a manifestation, it was hoped, would strengthen and + perpetuate that unity. + </p> + <p> + Further, the Conference was to discover how to adjust our mission work so + as to prevent waste and friction; suggesting also modes and agencies for + the most successful work of evangelisation. Nor was this all; its + promoters trusted to gain light on the relation of universal Methodism to + education, civil government, other Christian bodies, and missionary + enterprise at large, and looked for a vast increase in spiritual power and + intelligent, enthusiastic activity among the various branches of + Methodism, whose gathering together might well draw "the attention of + scholars and reformers and thinkers to the whole Methodist history, work, + and mission," while a new impulse should be given to every good work, and + a more daring purpose of evangelisation kindled. The British Conference + pointed out the need of frankly recognising the not unimportant + differences amongst the various Methodist bodies, so as to rule out of + discussion any points which had a suggestion of past controversies. The + American Conference accepted this. <br /> <a name="ILL098" id="ILL098"></a> + <br /> <img + src="images/098 The Methodist Settlement, Bermondsey, London, SE.jpg" + alt="The Methodist Settlement, Bermondsey, London, S.E." /> + </p> + <h4> + The Methodist Settlement, Bermondsey, London, S.E. + </h4> + <p> + The smaller Methodist bodies being invited to join, the four hundred + delegates were sent up by the various branches of the Methodist Church as + nearly as possible in proportion to their numerical strength; seven + sections of British Methodism and thirteen from the United States and the + Mission fields, numbering probably twenty millions, were represented. It + was fitting that the first Oecumenical Conference should meet in City + Road, the cathedral of Methodism. Bishop Simpson preached the opening + sermon; the delegates then partook of the sacrament together, and Dr. + Osborn, President of the Conference, gave the opening address. The + Oecumenical Conference did not aim at determining any debated condition of + Church membership, or at defining any controverted doctrine, or settling + any question of ritual; it met for consultative, not legislative purposes. + As such, the gathering brought about the thing which is written: "Thy + watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they + sing... Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall + fear, and be enlarged." + </p> + <p> + By a happy coincidence, that largehearted son of Methodism, the late Sir + William M'Arthur, was then Lord Mayor of London, and he gave a + congratulatory welcome to the delegates at a magnificent reception in the + Mansion House. + </p> + <p> + The next important event in Methodist history during the Queen's reign is + the rise and progress of the great Wesleyan Missions in the towns—a + vast beneficent movement, in which some at least of the aspirations + cherished by the promoters of the first Oecumenical Conference appeared to + have been realised. + </p> + <p> + The tendency of our day is towards a steady flow of population from the + villages to the towns, especially to London. In 1837, there was only one + London district, covering a very wide area, and including six circuits, + whose total membership was only 11,460, after a hundred years of + Methodism. The various branches of the recently established London Mission + report more than a third of this number after less than ten years' labour. + <br /> <a name="ILL099" id="ILL099"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/099 Theological Institution, Richmond.jpg" + alt="Theological Institution, Richmond" /> + </p> + <h4> + Theological Institution, Richmond + </h4> + <p> + The success of London Methodism in late years is largely due to the + establishment of the Metropolitan Chapel Building fund in 1862. The late + Sir Francis Lycett gave £50,000, on condition that an equal amount + should be raised throughout the country, and that ten chapels, each + seating at least a thousand persons, should in ten years be built in the + metropolitan area. The noble challenge called forth a fit response. In his + will he left a large sum to the same fund, so the committee could offer an + additional £500 pounds to every chapel commenced before the end of + 1898, with a proportionate grant to smaller chapels; aid will also be + given by the committee in securing additional ministerial supply. Such + offers should stimulate chapel building for the two years. Already, since + the establishment of the fund, more than ninety chapels have been built in + London at a cost of £630,000, towards which the fund contributed in + grants and loans £213,000. Before 1862, there were only three + important chapels south of the Thames, and now there are thirty-seven. + During the last ten or twelve years unprecedented prosperity has been + shown, not only in chapel building, but in chapel filling, and the + establishment of successful missions. + </p> + <p> + In 1885 the earnest attention of the Churches was directed to "outcast + London." The deepest interest was aroused, especially in Methodist + circles; and that year great meetings were held in City Road, to initiate + a movement that should benefit London's outcasts. A large sum of money was + raised, and the London Mission formed. The West London Mission at St. + James's Hall, the East End branch, and the almost deserted chapel in + Clerkenwell became notable centres. Thus at one time efforts were put + forth to reach the rich, the artisans, and the outcasts. The success has + abundantly justified the enterprise. In addition to evangelistic work, the + missions make strenuous efforts to improve the social condition of the + people, for Methodism realises that she is called to minister not only to + the souls, but also to the bodies of men. Already, as a result of the + London Mission, a new, fully organised circuit has grown up; the West + London Mission alone reporting a membership which is one-tenth of the + whole membership of London in 1837. + </p> + <p> + The latest and most novel branch of the work is the "Bermondsey + Settlement," established six years ago in the poorest district of + south-east London. In this hall of residence live devoted workers who have + been trained in our universities or in our high-class schools, and who + spend their leisure in benefiting their poor neighbours by religious, + educational, and social effort. A home for women, in which about ten + ladies reside, is connected with the settlement, which is in special + connexion with Wesleyan schools throughout the country. The programme of + work is extensive, and in addition the settlement takes an increasing part + in local administration and philanthropy, many non-resident workers + assisting. <br /> <a name="ILL101" id="ILL101"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/101 Theological Institution, Didsbury.jpg" + alt="Theological Institution, Didsbury" /> + </p> + <h4> + Theological Institution, Didsbury + </h4> + <p> + To support the London Mission, appeal is made to Methodists throughout the + country and the world. The meetings held on its behalf in the provinces + have greatly blessed the people, stimulating them to fresh efforts in + their own localities. Similar agencies had previously been established in + various great trading centres, where the tendency is for the people who + can afford it to leave the towns and to live in the suburbs. Thus many + chapels have become almost deserted. The Conference decided that the best + method of filling these chapels would be to utilise them as Mission halls, + for aggressive evangelistic and social effort; which has been done with + surprising success in Manchester, Leeds, Hull, Birmingham, and many other + large towns. In Manchester there are from ten to twelve thousand people + reached by the Mission agencies, and already a new circuit has been + formed, the members of its Society having been gathered in from the army + of distress and destitution. It would be impossible here to enumerate the + thousand ways in which the Mission workers toil for the redemption of the + downfallen, or to tell half the tale of their success. But all this work + could not be so well carried on without the assistance of another + important department. The Wesleyan Chapel Building Committee, instituted + in 1818, was reconstituted in 1854; it meets monthly in Manchester to + dispose of grants and loans, to consider cases of erections, alterations, + purchases, and sales of Wesleyan trust property, and to afford advice in + difficult cases. It has also to see that all our trust property is duly + secured to the Connexion. The erection of the Central Hall in Manchester, + to be at once the headquarters of our Chapel Committee and of the great + Mission, marked a most important era in Methodist aggressive enterprise. + The income of the Chapel Fund from all sources last year was £9,115. + It was reported that the entire debt discharged or provided for during the + last forty-one years was £2,389,073, and the total debt remaining on + trust property is not more than £800,000; while £9,000,000 had + been expended on chapel buildings during the thirty years preceding 1893. + <br /> <a name="ILL102" id="ILL102"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/102 Theological Institution, Headingly.jpg" + alt="Theological Institution, Headingley" /> + </p> + <h4> + Theological Institution, Headingley + </h4> + <p> + The Extension of Methodism Fund was established in 1874, to supplement the + ordinary funds of the Connexion and the local resources of the people, by + aiding in the increase of chapel accommodation throughout the country, and + in the extension of Methodism by Home Mission and similar agencies. At + first the building of a thousand chapels was contemplated; but already + 1,796 cases have been helped, with grants and loans amounting to £122,999. + In 1867 a fund was started for the relief and extension of Methodism in + Scotland; a Chapel Fund for the North Wales District was instituted in + 1867, and for South Wales in 1873. There are now in Great Britain 10,000 + Wesleyan chapels, which will accommodate 2,156,209 hearers, more than four + times the number of members returned; for there is something misleading, + as far as the general public is concerned, in the published statistics of + Methodism, which take account of class-meeting membership only. Estimating + the other Methodist bodies at the same rate, Methodist chapels provide + accommodation for 3,000,000 people; so that the united Methodist Church in + this country is second only to the Established Church of England. + </p> + <p> + The Wesleyan Methodist Trust Assurance Company was established in 1872, + for the insurance of Methodist Trust property only. The Board of Trustees + for Chapel Purposes was formed in 1866, which undertakes to invest money + intended for the chapel trust and for Methodist objects. Seeing that there + are so many funds in Methodism, and that while some have a balance, others + might be obliged to borrow at a high rate of interest, it was suggested + that a Common Cash Fund should be established, making it possible for the + committees to borrow from and lend to one another, the borrowers paying + the ordinary bank rate of interest, and the profits being equally divided + among the funds. <br /> <a name="ILL103" id="ILL103"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/103 Theological Institution, Handsworth.jpg" + alt="Theological Institution, Handsworth" /> + </p> + <h4> + Theological Institution, Handsworth + </h4> + <p> + A passing reference must be made to another committee, instituted in 1803—the + Committee of Privileges and Exigency: and in 1845 an acting special + committee for cases of great emergency was formed. Between the sessions of + the Conference this committee often renders great service, safeguarding + Methodist interests when they would be endangered by proposed government + measures, or in any other way. At present it is engaged in trying to get + through Parliament several measures in the interests of Nonconformity + generally. + </p> + <p> + The subject of education drew the anxious attention of Wesley; his + followers were less alive to its importance, until just before the Queen + came to the throne. The training of the ministry was neglected, and the + young ministers had to educate themselves. Though Wesley approved the idea + of a seminary for his preachers, it was only three years before the + Queen's accession that the first Theological Institution was opened at + Hoxton. The Centenary Fund provided for one such institution at Richmond, + and another at Didsbury. The Headingley branch was opened in 1868, and the + Birmingham branch, built with part of the Thanksgiving Fund, in 1881. Our + ministers are now far better trained than were the old Methodist + preachers, and, taking them as a whole, they do not come short of their + predecessors in any necessary qualification for their work. <br /> <a + name="ILL104" id="ILL104"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/104 Kingswood School, Bath.jpg" alt="Kingswood School, Bath" /> + </p> + <h4> + Kingswood School, Bath + </h4> + <p> + Their culture must not be judged by the scantiness of their literary + production. The empress Catherine once said to a French <i>savant</i>, "My + dear philosopher, it is not so easy to write on human flesh as on paper." + Much more difficult is the task of our ministers, whose religious, social, + and financial work leaves them little of that learned leisure enjoyed by + Anglican divines, who by their masterly works have made the entire + Christian Church their debtor. But in the period we are reviewing, despite + the demands made on the time of the ministers, many have written that + which will not easily be forgotten. The Church that nurtured Dr. Moulton, + whose edition of Winer's "Greek Grammar" is a standard work, used by all + the greatest Greek New Testament scholars, need not be ashamed of her + learning. Dr. Moulton and Dr. Geden were on the revision committee which + undertook the fresh translation of the Old and New Testaments. Other + Wesleyan ministers have made their mark as commentators, apologists, + scholars, and scientists in the last few decades. The <i>Fernley Lectures</i> + have proved the ability of many Methodist preachers; we lack space to + refer to the many able writers who have ceased from their labours. + </p> + <p> + The <i>London Quarterly Review</i> has kept up the literary reputation of + Methodism: nor are we behind any Nonconformist Church in journalistic + matters. Two newspapers represent the varying shades of opinion in + Methodism, and give full scope to its expression. A high level of + excellence is seen in the publications of the Book Room, and our people + when supporting it are also helping important Connexional funds, to which + the profits are given. <br /> <a name="ILL105" id="ILL105"></a> <br /> + <img src="images/105 The North House, Leys School, Cambridge.jpg" + alt="The North House, Leys School, Cambridge" /> + </p> + <h4> + The North House, Leys School, Cambridge + </h4> + <p> + While increasing care has been taken with the training of the ministry, + lay education has not been neglected. Kingswood School, founded by Wesley, + continues, as in his day, to give excellent instruction to ministers' + sons. In 1837 a Methodist school, Wesley College, was opened at Sheffield, + and a few years later one at Taunton, well known as Queen's College. The + Leys School at Cambridge, under the head-mastership of Dr. Moulton, was + opened in 1874, and has shown "the possibility of reconciling Methodist + training with the breadth and freedom of English public school life." + There are in Ireland excellent colleges at Belfast and Dublin. + </p> + <p> + In 1875, a scheme for establishing middle-class schools was adopted, + resulting in the opening of such schools at Truro, Jersey, Bury St. + Edmunds, Woodhouse Grove, Congleton, Canterbury, Folkestone, Trowbridge, + Penzance, Camborne, and Queenswood; all report satisfactorily. + </p> + <p> + Elementary education, which has made such great progress during the + Queen's reign, engaged the anxious attention of our authorities long + before the initiation of the School Board system, under which the average + attendance in twenty-five years increased almost fourfold. Methodism has + been in the forefront of the long battle with ignorance. + </p> + <p> + The establishment of "week-day schools" in connexion with this great + Church owed its origin to the declaration of the Conference in 1833. that + "such institutions, placed under an efficient spiritual control, cannot + fail to promote those high and holy ends for which we exist as a religious + community." The object was to give the scholars "an education which might + begin in the infant school and end in heaven," thus subserving the lofty + aim of Methodism, "to fill the world with saints, and Paradise with + glorified spirits"; a more ambitious idea than that expressed by Huxley + when he said, "We want a great highway, along which the child of the + peasant as well as of the peer can climb to the highest seats of + learning." <br /> <a name="ILL106" id="ILL106"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/106 Queen's College, Taunton.jpg" + alt="Queen's College, Taunton" /> + </p> + <h4> + Queen's College, Taunton + </h4> + <p> + In 1836 the attention of the Conference was directed to education in + general, and especially to Wesleyan day schools; the Pastoral Address of + 1837, regretting that children had to be trained outside the Church or be + left untaught, expressed the hope that soon, in the larger circuits, + schools might be established which would give a scriptural and Wesleyan + education. Already some schools had been commenced; and the plan was + devised which has been the basis of all subsequent Methodist day-school + work. + </p> + <p> + In 1840 it was decided to spend the interest of the £5,000 given + from the Centenary Fund for the training of teachers, work which was at + first carried on at Glasgow. The determination of Conference to perfect + its plan of Wesleyan education was quickened when an unfair Education + Bill, not the last of its kind, was introduced into Parliament in 1843, + proposing to hand over the children in factory districts to the Church of + England. An Education Fund was established. Government, in 1847, offered + grants for the training of elementary school teachers; and in 1851 the + Westminster Training College was opened, with room for 130 men students. + In 1872, in response to an increased demand for Wesleyan teachers, a + separate college for mistresses was opened at Southlands, Battersea. + Already four thousand have been trained in these institutions. Many hold + positions in Board schools. In 1896 the number in Wesleyan and Board + schools was 2,400. + </p> + <p> + The system thus inaugurated met a great and real need, and under it + excellent work has been done on the lines laid down by the Department at + Whitehall; for, receiving State aid, the training colleges and all the + schools, like other similar denominational institutions on the same + footing, are inspected and in a measure controlled by the national + educational authority. In 1837 there were only 31 Wesleyan day schools; + to-day there are 753 school departments, and on their books 162,609 + scholars. But the introduction of free education has made it difficult for + the Methodist Church to maintain her schools, efficient though they be. + Since 1870, when school boards were introduced, the number of Wesleyan day + schools has only increased by 10, while 9,752 Board schools have arisen, + and the Church of England schools have increased from 9,331 to 16,517; the + Roman Catholic schools actually trebling in number and attendance. <br /> + <a name="ILL107" id="ILL107"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/107 Wesley College, Sheffield.jpg" + alt="Wesley College, Sheffield" /> + </p> + <h4> + Wesley College, Sheffield + </h4> + <p> + In view of these changed conditions, Conference has expressed itself + anxious for such a complete national system of education as might place a + Christian unsectarian school within reasonable distance of every family, + especially in rural districts, with "adequate representative public + management"; it has most earnestly deprecated the exclusion of the Bible, + and suitable religious instruction therefrom by the teachers, from the day + schools; but, so long as denominational schools form part of the national + system, it is resolved to maintain our schools and Training Colleges, in + full vigour. Difficulties, undreamed of sixty years ago, surround this + great question; but assuredly Methodism will be true to its trust and its + traditions. + </p> + <p> + The cost of Wesleyan schools last year was £215,634, and was met by + school fees, subscriptions, and a government grant of £185,780. The + Education Fund of 1896, amounting to £7,115, was spent on the + Training Colleges, grants to necessitous schools, etc. + </p> + <p> + Wesley approved of Sunday schools as means of giving religious instruction + to the children of the poor, and Hannah Ball at High Wycombe, a good + Methodist, and Silas Told, teaching at the Foundery, both anticipated the + work of Raikes by several years. In 1837 there were already 3,339 Sunday + schools, with 341,442 scholars. Today the schools number 7,147, the + officers and teachers 131,145, and there are in the schools 965,201 + children and young people. The formation in 1869 of the Circuit + Sunday-school Union, and in 1874 of the Connexional Sunday-school Union, + has done much for the schools, in providing suitable literature for + teachers and scholars, and in organising their work. An additional motive + to Scripture study is furnished by the "Religious Knowledge Examinations" + instituted by Conference; certificates, signed by the President, being + granted to teachers and scholars who succeed in passing the examinations. + In recognition of the value of so important a department of the Church, + adequate representation at the quarterly meetings is now accorded to the + Sunday schools. + </p> + <p> + It is not in our day only that the pastoral oversight of the young has + been deemed worthy of attention; the duty has always been enforced on + ministers; but in 1878 there were first formed junior Society classes, to + prepare children for full membership. There are now seventy-two thousand + in such classes. + </p> + <p> + In 1896 we note a new effort to bring young people into the kingdom, in + the foundation of the "Wesley Guild," of which the President of Conference + is the head, with four vice-presidents, two being laymen. The guild is "a + union of the young people of a congregation. Its keynote is comradeship, + and its aim is to encourage the young people of our Church in the highest + aims of life." The story of its origin may be briefly told. + </p> + <p> + The Rev. Charles H. Kelly introduced the subject in the London Methodist + Council, and then brought the matter before the Plymouth Conference of + 1895, dwelling on the desire existing to form a Wesley Guild that should + do for Britain what the Epworth League does for American Methodism, and + secure the best advantages not only of that league, but of the Boys' + Brigade, Bands of Hope, Christian Endeavour and Mutual Improvement + Societies, which it should federate. The Liverpool Conference of 1896 + therefore sanctioned the formation of the "Wesley Guild." Its three grades + of members include young people already attached to the Church, with + others not yet ripe for such identification, and "older people young in + heart," who all join in guild friendship, and aid in forming this + federation of the existing societies interesting to young people. + </p> + <p> + By periodical meetings, weekly if possible, for devotional, social, and + literary purposes, a healthy common life and beneficent activity are + stimulated, and the rising generation is happily and usefully drawn into + relation with the older Church workers, whom it aids by seeking out the + young, lonely, and unattached, and bringing them into the warm circle of + youthful fellowship. + </p> + <p> + Such in brief is the programme of the Guild, which may yet greatly enrich + the Church with which it is connected. + </p> + <p> + We turn now to one of the most notable changes in Methodism during the + Queen's reign—the wonderful advance in the temperance movement. + Wesley himself was an ardent temperance reformer, but his preachers were + slow to follow him. A few prominent men strove long to induce Conference + to institute a temperance branch of our work, and finally succeeded, their + efforts having effected a great change in opinion. For many years our + theological students, though not compelled thereto, have almost all been + pledged abstainers. 1873 saw Conference appoint a temperance committee "to + promote legislation for the more effectual control of the liquor traffic—and + in general for the suppression of intemperance." In 1879 a scheme was + sanctioned for the formation of Methodist Bands of Hope and Circuit + Temperance Unions; and a special Sunday, the last in November, is devoted + to considering "the appalling extent and dire result" of our national sin, + one of the greatest obstacles to that "spread of scriptural holiness" + which is the aim of the true Wesleyan Methodist, whose chosen Church, with + its manifold organisation, has unequalled facilities for temperance work. + In 1896 the report showed 1,374 temperance societies, with 80,000 members—figures + that do not include all the abstainers in Methodism; some societies have + no temperance association, and some Methodists are connected with other + than our own temperance work. The 4,393 Bands of Hope count 433,027 + members. <br /> <a name="ILL108" id="ILL108"></a> <br /> <img + src="images/108 Children's Home, Bolton.jpg" alt="Children's Home, Bolton" /> + </p> + <h4> + Children's Home, Bolton + </h4> + <p> + We have already spoken of the growth and development of social + philanthropic work in connexion with the great Methodist missions in + towns; there remains one most important movement in this direction to + notice—the establishment of the "Children's Home," which, begun in + 1869 by Dr. Stephenson, received Conference recognition in 1871. It has + now branches in London, Lancashire, Gravesend, Birmingham, and the Isle of + Man, and an emigration depot in Canada. Over 900 girls and boys are in + residence, while more than 2,900 have been sent forth well equipped for + the battle of life; some of them becoming ministers, local preachers, + Sunday-school workers, and in many ways most useful citizens. The + committee of management has the sanction of Conference. This "powerful arm + of Christian work" not only rescues helpless little ones from degradation + and misery; it undertakes the special training of the workers amongst the + children in industrial homes and orphanages; and hence has arisen the + institution in 1895 of the order of Methodist deaconesses, which is + recommended by Conference to Connexional sympathy and confidence, the + deaconesses rendering to our Church such services as the Sisters of Mercy + give to the Church of Rome. One example may suffice. A London + superintendent minister describes the work of one of the Sisters during + the past twelvemonth as "simply invaluable. She has visited the poor, + nursed the sick, held services in lodging-houses, met Society classes and + Bible-classes, gathered round her a godly band of mission-workers, and in + a hundred ways has promoted the interests of God's work." + </p> + <p> + Two events made 1891 memorable for Methodists, the centenary of Wesley's + death and its commemoration being the first. + </p> + <p> + The Conference decided that suitable memorial services should be held, and + an appeal made to Methodists everywhere for funds to improve Wesley's + Chapel and the graveyard containing his tomb. Universal interest was + aroused; all branches of Methodism were represented; the leading ministers + of Nonconformist Churches also shared in the services. Crowded and + enthusiastic congregations assembled in City Road when on Sunday, March 1, + the Rev. Charles H. Kelly, Ex-President, preached on "The Man, his + Teaching, and his Work," and when the Rev. Dr. Moulton delivered the + centenary sermon. On March 2, a statue of Wesley was unveiled—exactly + one hundred years after his death—Dean Farrar and Sir Henry H. + Fowler addressing the meeting. <br /> <a name="ILL109" id="ILL109"></a> + <br /> <img src="images/109 Westminster Training College.jpg" + alt="Westminster Training College" /> + </p> + <h4> + Westminster Training College + </h4> + <p> + The Allan Library, the gift of the late Thomas R. Allan, containing more + than 30,000 books and dissertations, was opened by the President; it has + since been enriched by gifts of modern books from the Fernley Trustees and + others, and a circulating library is now connected with it. Accessible on + easy terms to ministers and local preachers, and within the reach of many + others, this library should be a useful stimulus to the taste for study + among ministers and people. + </p> + <p> + The other event of the year was the meeting of the second Oecumenical + Conference in October, at Washington, in the country where Methodism + obtained great triumphs. The Conference lasted twelve days, like its + predecessor; the opening sermon, prepared by the Rev. William Arthur, was + read for him, Mr. Arthur's voice being too weak to be heard; and the + President of the United States gave a reception at the Executive Mansion, + and also visited the Conference. Many topics of deep interest were + discussed on this occasion, and not the least attractive subject was the + statistical report presented. The difficulty of estimating the actual + strength and influence of Methodism is very great. + </p> + <p> + In the present year the membership of the Wesleyan Methodists, for Great + Britain and Ireland, is estimated at 494,287; of other Methodist bodies in + the United Kingdom at 373,700; the affiliated Conferences of Wesleyan + Methodists in France, South Africa, the West Indies, and Australasia at + 212,849, being 1,942 for France, 62,812 for South Africa, 50,365 for the + two West Indian, and 97,730 for the Australasian Conferences. American + Methodism in all its branches, white and coloured, returns a membership of + 5,573,118, while the united Methodism of Canada shows 272,392, and the + foreign missions of British Wesleyan Methodism 52,058 members. These + figures, giving a total of 6,978,404 members, exclusive of the ministers, + estimated at 43,368, are sufficiently gratifying; yet they do not + represent the real strength of the Church at large, and give only a faint + idea of its influence. + </p> + <p> + The Oecumenical Report gave the number of Methodist "adherents" as + 24,899,421, intending, by the term <i>adherents</i>, those whose religious + home is the Methodist chapel, though their visits to it be irregular. For + the British Wesleyans the two millions of sittings were supposed to + represent the number of adherents (yet should all the occasional + worshippers wish to attend at once, it may be doubted if they could be + accommodated); for the other branches of Methodism in the United Kingdom, + four additional persons were reckoned to each member reported. The + statistics for Ireland and Canada were checked by the census returns. + Probably in the case of missions the adherents would be more than four + times the membership. Varying principles were adopted for the United + States, and the adherents reckoned at less than four times the members + reported. Should we to-day treat the returns of membership on the same + principle (Sunday scholars being now as then included in the term + "adherents "), we should find nearly thirty millions of persons in + immediate touch with Methodism and strongly bound to it. Compare these + figures with those of 1837, and we must exclaim, "What hath God wrought!" + </p> + <p> + Estimating the increase of British Methodism, we have to remember that the + population has almost doubled in the sixty years, while British Wesleyan + Methodism has not doubled; but the great losses occasioned by the + agitations must be taken into account, and also the curious fact that the + ratio of increase for Methodism at large, in the ten years between the two + Oecumenical Conferences, was thirty per cent—twice as great as the + increase of population in the countries represented; the Methodist Church + in Ireland actually increasing thirteen per cent, while the population of + the country was diminishing and the other Protestant Churches reported + loss. + </p> + <p> + If the increase in Great Britain be proportionally smaller, this need not + cause surprise, in view of that vast development of energy in the + Established Church which is really due to the reflex action of Methodism + itself; that Church, with all the old advantages of wealth and prestige + and connexion with the universities and grammar schools which she + possessed in the days of her comparative supine-ness, with her clergy roll + of 23,000, and her many voluntary workers, having in twenty-seven years + almost doubled the number of her elementary schools, largely attended by + Methodist children. But the indirect influence of Methodism is such as + cannot be represented in our returns; figures cannot show us the true + spiritual status of a Church. The total cost of the maintenance of our + work in all its branches can be estimated; and so able an authority as the + Rev. Dr. H. J. Pope stated it at from £1,500,000 to £1,750,000 + pounds annually, a sum more than equal to a dividend on fifty millions of + consols; but it is impossible to compute the profit to the human race from + that expenditure and the work it maintains. This may be said with + certainty, that other Churches have been greatly enriched thereby. We may + just refer to that remarkable religious movement, the Salvation Army, of + Methodist origin, though working on new lines; doing such work, social and + evangelistic, as Methodism has chosen for its own, and absorbing into its + ranks many of our own trained workers. "The Salvationists, taught by + Wesley," said the late Bishop of Durham, "have learned and taught to the + Church again the lost secret of the compulsion of human souls to the + Saviour." + </p> + <p> + "The Methodists themselves," says John Richard Green, "are the least + result of the Methodist revival"; the creation of "a large and powerful + and active sect," numbering many millions, extending over both + hemispheres, was, says Lecky, but one consequence of that revival, which + exercised "a large influence upon the Established Church, upon the amount + and distribution of the moral forces of the nation, and even upon its + political history"; an influence which continues, the sons of Methodism + taking their due part in local and imperial government. Eloquent tributes + to the work of Wesley are frequent to-day, the <i>Times</i>, in an article + on the centenary of his death, saying: "The Evangelical movement in the + Church of England was the direct result of his influence and example, and + since the movements and ideas which have moulded the Church of England + to-day could have found no fitting soil for their development if they had + not been preceded by the Evangelical movement, it is no paradox to say + that the Church of England to-day is what it is because John Wesley lived + and taught in the last century.... He remains the greatest, the most + potent, the most far-reaching spiritual influence which Anglo-Saxon + Christianity has felt since the days of the Reformation." So far the <i>Times</i>, + of him whom it styles "the restorer of the Church of England." Many + impartial writers, some being ardent friends of the English Church, have + also recognised a gracious overflow from Methodism which has blessed that + Church, the Nonconformist bodies, and the nation at large. If a man would + understand "the religious history of the last hundred years," that "most + important ecclesiastical fact of modern times," the rise and progress of + Methodism, must be studied in relation to the Anglican and the older + Nonconformist Churches, and the general "missionary interests of + Christianity": so we are taught by Dr. Stoughton, who has traced the + influence of Methodism in the general moral condition of the country and + the voluntary institutions of our age. The doctrines once almost peculiar + to Wesley and his followers—such as entire sanctification—are + now accepted and taught by many Churches, and the religious usages of + Methodism are imitated, watchnight services being held, and revival + mission services and prayer-meetings being conducted, in Anglican + churches; while the hymns of Charles Wesley, sung by all English-speaking + Protestants, and translated into many languages, enrich the devotional + life of the Christian world. + </p> + <p> + It was a fit tribute to the benefits which the English Church has derived + from the Methodist movement, when the memorial tablet to the brothers John + and Charles Wesley was unveiled in Westminster Abbey by the late Dean + Stanley, in 1872. + </p> + <p> + "The bracing breezes," said Dr. Stoughton, "came sweeping down from the + hills of Methodism on Baptist meadows as well as upon Independent fields." + We may give some few instances that will show what blessings have come to + Nonconformist Churches by the agency of Methodism. + </p> + <p> + A remarkable incident that occurred in 1872 was recorded in the <i>Wesleyan + Methodist Magazine</i>. Dr. Jobson had invited five eminent ministers to + meet the President of Conference at his house. After breakfast their + conversation quite naturally took the form of a lovefeast, all being + familiar with Methodist custom; when Dr. Allon, Dr. Raleigh, and Dr. + Stoughton all said they were converted in Methodist chapels, and began + Christian work as Methodists. Thomas Binney said that "the direct + instrumentality in his conversion was Wesleyan," and Dr. Fraser was + induced to enter the ministry by a Wesleyan lady. Charles H. Spurgeon was + converted through the instrumentality of a Primitive Methodist local + preacher; William Jay of Bath was converted at a Methodist service; John + Angell James caught fire among the Methodists; and Thomas Raffles was a + member of the Wesleyan Society; Dr. Parker began his ministrations as a + Methodist local preacher; while Dr. Dale has shown the indebtedness of + Nonconformity to Methodism. In France and Germany Methodist agency has + been one of the strongest forces in re-awakening the old Protestant + Churches; the services held by our Connexional evangelists send many + converts to swell the fellowship of Churches not our own. And the same + effects followed the great Methodist revival in America; out of 1,300 + converts, 800 joined the Presbyterian and other denominations. But while + calling attention to the spiritual wealth and the beneficent overflow of + Methodism, we would not be unmindful of the debt which Methodism owes to + other Churches, and in special of its obligations to those Anglican + divines of our day who have enriched the whole Church of Christ by their + scholarly contributions to sacred literature; and we would ascribe all the + praise of Methodist achievement to the almighty Author of good, whom the + spirit of ostentation and vain glorifying must displease, while it would + surely hinder His work. + </p> + <p> + The great desire of Methodism to-day—its great need, as Dr. Handles + expressed it in his presidential address—is "fulness of spiritual + life." If this be attained, the actual resources of the Church will amply + suffice to carry on its glorious future mission; it will not fail in its + primary duties of giving prominence to the spirituality of religion, of + maintaining strict fidelity to scriptural doctrine, of giving persevering + illustration of the fellowship of believers, nor in upholding the + expansion of home and foreign missions, nor in ceaseless efforts to + promote social advancement. "There is no rigid system of Church mechanism, + nor restraining dogma," to hinder missions. <br /> <a name="ILL110" + id="ILL110"></a> <br /> <a href="images/110 Group of Presidents 3.jpg"> + <img src="images/110 Group of Presidents 3.jpg" + alt="Group of Presidents Number Three" width="40%" /></a> + </p> + <h4> + Group of Presidents Number Three + </h4> + <p> + At present four-sevenths of the human race are in heathen darkness. To win + the world for Christ demands that Methodists should unite with all His + true soldiers. Wesley said: "We have strong reason to hope that the work + He hath begun He will carry on until the day of the Lord Jesus; that He + will never intermit this blessed work of His Spirit until He has fulfilled + all His promises, until He hath put a period to sin and misery, infirmity + and death, re-established universal holiness and happiness, and caused all + the inhabitants of the earth to sing, 'Alleluia: for the Lord God + omnipotent reigneth.'" If Methodism be faithful to her mission, this + prophecy may be fulfilled. + </p> + <p> + When the second temple was built, Haggai exhorted Zerubbabel and Joshua to + be strong, and all the people to be strong, and to work, for the Lord was + with them. Let Methodists be strong in God's strength, and work with the + consciousness that the Lord of hosts is with them, and they will insure + success to the great mission of their Church. + </p> + <p> + We will conclude with the last paragraph of the Rev. Charles H. Kelly's + sermon at the celebration of the centenary of Wesley's death in 1891. + </p> + <p> + "Surely the lesson to the Methodists of to-day is clear enough. Let us + cherish the memory of our forefathers, let us emulate their spirit, let us + cling to their God-given doctrines, let us cultivate, as they did, + communion with the Master and fellowship with each other. Let us aim to be + one, to do our duty. Let us strive to make our Church a greater power for + evangelism among the people of the earth than ever, let us look to the + Holy Spirit for the richer baptism of grace, and Methodism, so blest of + the Lord in the past, will yet be blest. Her mission is not accomplished, + her work is not done; long may she live and prosper. Peace be within her + walls, and prosperity within her palaces. For my brethren and companions' + sake, the faithful living and the sainted dead, I will now say, Peace be + within her; peace be within her." <br /> <br /> <br /> <a name="12"></a> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + CONCLUSION + </h3> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p> + The last days of the half-century are fleeting fast as we write, and we + are yet at peace with Europe, as when Victoria's reign began. How long + that peace shall last, who shall say? who can say how long it may be ere + the elements of internal discord that have threatened to wreck the + prosperity of the empire, shall be composed to a lasting peace, and leave + the nation free to follow its better destiny? But foes within and foes + without have many times assailed us in vain in past years; many times has + the political horizon been shadowed with clouds portending war and strife + no less gloomily than those which now darken it, and as yet the Crimean + war is the only war on which we have entered that can be called European; + many times have grave discontents broken our domestic peace, but wise + statesmanship has found a timely remedy. We need not, if we learn the + lessons of the past aright, fear greatly to confront the future. Not to us + the glory or the praise, but to a merciful overruling Providence, ever + raising up amongst us noble hearts in time, that we are found to-day + </p> + <blockquote> + <blockquote> + <p> + "A nation yet, the rulers and the ruled," + </p> + </blockquote> + </blockquote> + <p> + not quite bankrupt in heart or hope or faith, but possessing + </p> + <blockquote> + <blockquote> + <p> + "Some sense of duty, something of a faith,<br /> Some reverence for the + laws ourselves have made,<br /> Some patient force to change them when + we will;"<br /> + </p> + </blockquote> + </blockquote> + <p> + and we may justly acknowledge, in thankfulness not vainglorious, the + happier fate that has been ours above many another land, that may still be + ours, "if England to itself do rest but true." + </p> + <p> + We have seen during these sixty years the map of Europe remodelled to an + undreamed of extent. Fair Italy, though still possessing her fatal gift of + beauty, though still suffering many things, is no longer the prey of + foreign unloved rulers, but has become a nation, a mere "geographical + expression" no longer; Germany, whose many little princedoms were once a + favourite theme of British mockery, is now one great and formidable + empire; the power of Russia has, despite the Crimean check, continued to + expand, while desperate internal struggles have shaken that half-developed + people, proving fatal to the gentle successor of Nicholas, the emancipator + of the Russian serfs, and often threatening the life of <i>his</i> + successors; and the once formidable American slave-system has been swept + away, with appalling loss of human life; a second President of the United + States has fallen by the hand of an assassin; and new difficulties, scarce + inferior to those connected with slavery, have followed on its abolition. + Our record shows no calamity comparable to the greatest of these, if we + set aside the Indian horrors so terribly avenged at the moment, but by + their teaching resulting ultimately in good rather than evil. + </p> + <p> + Besides the furious strife and convulsion that have rent other lands, how + inconsiderable seem the disturbances that disfigure our home annals, how + peaceful the changes in our constitutional system, brought about orderly + in due form of law, how purely domestic the saddest events of our internal + history! We wept with our Sovereign in her early widowhood, a bereavement + to the people as well as to the Queen; we trembled with her when the + shadow of death hung over her eldest son, rejoicing with her when it + passed away; we shared her grief for two other of her children, inheritors + of the noble qualities of their father, and for the doom which took from + us one whom we had loved to call "our future king"; we deplored the other + bereavements which darkened her advancing years; we have lamented great + men taken from us, some, like the conqueror of Waterloo, "the great + world-victor's victor," in the fulness of age and honour, others with + their glorious work seemingly half done, their career of usefulness + mysteriously cut short; we have shuddered when the hateful terrorism, + traditional pest of Ireland through centuries of wrong and outrage, has + once and again lifted its head among ourselves; we have suffered—though + far less severely than other lands, even than some under our own rule—from + plague, pestilence, and famine, from dearth of work and food. But what are + these woes compared to those that other peoples have endured, when it has + been said to the sword, "Sword, go through the land," and the dread word + has been obeyed; when war has slain its thousands, and want its tens of + thousands; or when terrible convulsions of nature have shaken down cities, + and turned the fruitful land into a wilderness? + </p> + <p> + Events have moved fast since the already distant day when the Colonial and + Industrial Exhibition was ministering exultation to many a British heart + by its wonderful display of the various wealth of our distant domains and + their great industrial resources. We were even then tempted—as have + been nations that are no more—to pride ourselves on having reached + an unassailable height of grandeur. Since then our territory has expanded + and our wealth increased; but with them have increased the evils and the + dangers inseparable from great possessions, and the responsibilities + involved in them. We can only "rejoice with trembling" in this our second + year of Jubilee. Remembering with all gratitude how we have been spared + hitherto, and mindful of the perils that wait on power and prosperity, let + it be ours to offer such sacrifices of thanksgiving as can be pleasing to + the almighty Ruler of the ways of men, whom too often in pride of power, + in selfish satisfaction with our own achievements, we forget. + </p> + <p> + Many are the works of mercy, well pleasing in His sight, with which we can + associate ourselves, even in this favoured land, whose ever increasing + wealth is balanced by terrible poverty, and its affluence of intellectual + and spiritual light by grossest heathen darkness. Day by day, as our brief + account has shown, are increasing efforts put forth by our Christian men + and women to overcome these evils; and through such agencies our country + may yet be saved, and may not perish like other mighty empires, dragged + down by its own over-swollen greatness, and by neglect of the eternal + truth that "righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any + people." <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr class="narrow" /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Footnotes + </h2> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <p> + <a id="footnote1" name="footnote1"></a> <b>Footnote 1</b>: + </p> + <p class="footnote"> + <i>Life of Norman Macleod, D.D. vol. ii.</i> <br /><a href="#footnotetag1">(return)</a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <p> + <a id="footnote2" name="footnote2"></a> <b>Footnote 2</b>: + </p> + <p class="footnote"> + C. C. F. Greville: <i>A Journal of the Reign of Queen Victoria</i> <br /><a + href="#footnotetag2">(return)</a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <p> + <a id="footnote3" name="footnote3"></a> <b>Footnote 3</b>: + </p> + <p class="footnote"> + <i>Greville Memoirs</i>, Third Part, vol. i. <br /><a href="#footnotetag3">(return)</a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <p> + <a id="footnote4" name="footnote4"></a> <b>Footnote 4</b>: + </p> + <p class="footnote"> + Inscription on the cairn on Craig Lorigan <br /><a href="#footnotetag4">(return)</a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <p> + <a id="footnote5" name="footnote5"></a> <b>Footnote 5</b>: + </p> + <p class="footnote"> + <i>Anne Gilchrist: her Life and Writings</i>. London: 1887 <br /><a + href="#footnotetag5">(return)</a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <p> + <a id="footnote6" name="footnote6"></a> <b>Footnote 6</b>: + </p> + <p class="footnote"> + The writer desires to acknowledge special obligation to the Rev. J. + Wesley Davies for invaluable aid rendered by him in collecting and + arranging the material embodied in this chapter. <br /><a + href="#footnotetag6">(return)</a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <p> + <a id="footnote7" name="footnote7"></a> <b>Footnote 7</b>: + </p> + <p class="footnote"> + "Methodism in all its branches" must be understood of <i>all</i> bodies + bearing the name of Methodist, including the New Connexion and the + Primitive Methodists. The membership of Wesleyan Methodism alone + throughout the world, according to the <i>Minutes of Conference</i> for + 1839, was 1,112,519; and the total ministry, including 335 missionaries, + 4,957. <br /><a href="#footnotetag7">(return)</a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13103 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/13103-h/images/001 Queen Victoria.jpg b/13103-h/images/001 Queen Victoria.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..eeec855 --- /dev/null +++ b/13103-h/images/001 Queen Victoria.jpg diff --git a/13103-h/images/002 Claremont.jpg b/13103-h/images/002 Claremont.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8ff4a8e --- /dev/null +++ b/13103-h/images/002 Claremont.jpg diff --git a/13103-h/images/003 The Coronation of Queen Victoria.jpg b/13103-h/images/003 The Coronation of Queen Victoria.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1dc4b83 --- 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