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The Prince Of Wales At The Tomb Of Washington

The Prince Of Wales At The Tomb Of Washington image
Parent Issue
Day
23
Month
November
Year
1860
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

History records lew acenes more pregnant with instruction than the visit of bomago paid by tho Piinee of Wales to the. tomb of Washington. Eightyfive years ago tho man vvho ventured to predict that, before a contury ahould havo roiled by, tha heir to the British crown would pay a voluntary tribute oi reverenee to tha last resting place of the arc'n rebel wlio was tben bidding; bo!d defiance to our annie, would have been indebted to his condemnation as a raaniac for bis escnpe frora cond'gn punishment as a traitor. The despot and his myrmidons faneied, in those days, thatth world was madf for their exclusive enjayment, and thatit needed but an effort of their vvill to bend its destinies according to their selfish fancies. They might havo imngined that snme unexampled good fortune might have secured for thu remains of the insurgent general the a'ieltor of an unknown grave; could they have bad their way, his bones would havo bleaehed and rattled in chaina upon the taftiest gallows. How would the obstinate and wrong-heailed old monarch have greeted tho prophecy that his own greatgrandson would stand with uncovered head before the sarcophagus which tho mouldering dust of tho groat rebel has converted into a holy shrine ? What expressior.s of incredulous codteinpt would be have deenied strong enough to give utteratice to Kw feelingf any ooe bad dared to foretell tlmt the federal proyinces which had revolted against his rule would, almost in the spuco of a single generatinn, g;ow iuto a iiiighty nation, rivaling tho mother country in all tho nrta of peace '( To thu mon oí those compara ivaly recent times Huch presages would bave seomed maro díe raving; yet how brief a space ot time havu sutfieed to convert them nto more statemants of familiar trutha. Wben the noblest hero that has ever gpiung up among men buckled on the sword with vvh.ch ho had vowed to conquer his country' freedom, he took the fieid as a cbarapioD oí' a comparativoly foeble brotherhood of struggling colonias ; in the ordinary course of nature bis son might now be ulive, vet al ruiidy bas the emancipaled depenclency grown into the foramost of modern empire, and receivod as its guest the heir to the Eng'iah throne. Is there not in this encouragement for the faltoring patriota, whose hopes, long deforred, are clouded by that heart sickncss which is too often tho fororunner of despair ? All noble aspiratioas afterliberty may not be destined to receive equally speedy satisfaction ; but for thu persistent soldier of freedom the victory, though it :nay be slovv,is suro. The Pri ce of Wales, in botciitg before the tomb of Washington, mnkrs sient :onfessswn that the day of the aulocrats is at an endfor the man to whose ashes he does homage was thejimvg mcarnation of the trti'.h thai the wdl of the peojje s the only rïghtul source of power. We are quite conscious that snob outward manifostations of respeat for great principies are not ui way i folio wed by consistent action?. Kings havo before now proluded &trociüus crimes by solemn acts of devotion, jusl as Italian briganás teil their beads beforo they murder the to secure his pal try store of' gold But we venture to che.rish the hope that our youjig Prince wilt bring away with hun from the tpnt which derives from the presence of the dast f Washington a consccralion more subhtne than could have been covferred upon t by tcclcsiaslieal rituals, some enduring impresston, whose injlneite wdl bc perceptible throughaut nis future carecr. The soveroign of these kingdoms, it is true, is politically powerless, according to the tbeory of tho constitution ; but, pracsically, the woarer of the crown wiel dB a potent influence for good or ill. If England, under Victoria, hns witnessed a grovv'ii of social rnorality which places it in noble contrast with England under George the Fourth, the change, although attributa ble in gomo moasure, no doubt, to the spread of enlightenmont and march of human progress, is also to be ascribed in no slight dt'gree to tho fact that a öodfoaring and virtuous worasn sits upon tho throno wbioh was disgraced by a bloated libertine. Ia the same manner the popular sympatliies of the head of the State might legitimately exerciíe a wholesomoinüuenco upon the tondencies of our legisla tioii and approsiraatothe advent of that complete politica] equality without which thoro cannot exist but a shadow of freedom. The tour ff the Prince of Wales in the United Statis will have jlaced him in possesston of an unfuihng antidote to the monstrous fallacies with regard to the ejfeel of deinocmtic institutiotts which are clung to with so muc-'i perlinacity in ihe aristocratie circles in which those of Blood Roy al move. ílo has not onjy b d his own oye opened, but he haagained thu means of convinoiug tho iow honest noodio who cliná lo sucii opinions ihrough ignorailce, ti d ot silöocing the HOsi of crafty politicians wn;, knowing their rottenness, profesa thoin to serve their own sulüsh ende. He has been in i land uijoru Uie tvvo gra;d bugooars oj tne Engiish -iriHtocray - inuiiüood .uffragè and tho liallof - èiist in fiiil fperati ui, not as experimental novoltius, but as a triüd and appfovöd portion of tho elcctor.il orguuisauou. iio w,il be able, and, as an honorable Engiish gentleman, we trust he willbo willing, to bear liis to.stimony that tho bxtension ot the franchise does no: produce anuroliy, and that seorut vutiug doa ttüt luuU eitber to vybolesajo bribery or to utter politioal demoralization. Ho has dwelt in a ]-J.nd where nn State churcli lays violent hands on the money of coníf-ientious disHenterain order to swell tho incomes of ts ministors, but each man is lruo to give his voluntnrv support to the teachers of the creed which represents bis own convictions. If he be candid he he wil! own that ander such an organization reügion flourisbes in iuli vigor, and find no check to the full dvelopnient of its wholesome influentes on human conduct. A tory minister would find himself Rorely nonplussed with a king whose ruindhas been enlighlened by the fruits of hia own personal observaron. Moreover, the Prinoe of "Wales has acquired aonje good habita whieh he nevor would hnve learned at home, and, which, we trust, he will not be induced to lay aside when he returns to his native land. In be TInited States he has tningied on a footing of pertect equali ity with rnerchants, and bankers, and literary and professional mi;n. Can it be imagined for a moment that he wiil offer a gratuitous insult to his own countrymen of the same classes by intirnating to tbem that he doorns them unworthy of the intercourme whieh he has vouchsafed to their tranlantio cousins ? ye can easily imagine how refreshing it must have been toour lieir apparent to escape from the woarisome society of higli-born inanity and God hinjseli faóe to face with geniuine unsophisticated men; and we fervently trust that no lack of courage will induce him to hesi tate to secure for himself at home ao fruitful a source of pleaauro, Once break down the antiquated barrier which shuts out from oourtly circles men who hnve earned distinctionin any honorable calling, and a blow of iiï calculable importancu have buen ■truck in the cause of rationa] liberty, To the worshipers of the time-worn abuses su ,h an achievcment inay appear impossible ; would not as much have ben suid eighty-five years ago of a visit of homage to the grave oí the rebel general of the American colonista by theheir of the British throne? Nor have we yel arrived at the end of these marvels, which serve as mile-stones on the road of human progress. To-day it is a Priuce of Wales standing reverently incovered before the mansoleun) of Washington; a centurv henee it will be an Emperor - or pirchance nn Archduke - ot' Austria ffiakkig a pilrimagfu ;o Home and pnying his tributo of veneration at the tumb of Ostribaidi and Maazini, beneath thednine of 6t. PeterV, and then hastening to the old cathedral of Buda to do homage to the grave of Kossuth.

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Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus