TOPICS OF THE DAY.
LOUIS PHILIPPE AT WINDSOR.
Fos the first time a French King visits England of his own free will. A Dauphin of France once came here to seek a crown on the battle-field, and a Duke of Anjou to seek a crown in the mar- riage-bed ; but the really-crowned Kings of France have been more chary of their persons. In the times when the Norman dynasty aspired to bring both France and England under one imperial sceptre, a King of France was rather unceremoniously compelled by the rival claimant of his throne to take up his abode in England for a time ; and the heir of Louis the Sixteenth was compelled to seek shelter here by like ungentle violence on the part of his own subjects : but never before was the land honoured by a spontaneous and friendly visit from the impersonation of the will and power of the French people. And, on looking back over the long list of his predecessors, scarcely one is to be found whose personal character and history would have entitled him to a more kindly welcome. The hardships be has undergone may fairly be paralleled with those of Sr. Louis, as the varied range of his voyages and travels far exceed those of that King, whom we take to have been the most distinguished traveller among French Monarchs before the time of Louis PHILIPPE. His policy has been as effective in consolidating the institutions of France after a period of revolutionary anarchy as that of Louis the Eleventh after one of feudal anarchy ; and, though not altogether free from the indirectness he learned of his great master in diplo- macy, Louis PHILIPPE'S means contrast favourably with those em- ployed by the patron of Tristan l'Hermite. If the youth of Louis PHILIPPE was not distinguished by the dazzling genius for war which has immortalized HENRI( the Fourth, his pure and digni- fied family-character has preserved him from the degradation of becoming, like that brilliant monarch, a worn-out voluptuary in a premature old age : and the career of Louis PinurrE has been consistent—the defender of the national territory at Jemappes is the constitutional King of the French ; whereas the champion of the Huguenot cause bought his crown by apostacy. Greater men, of warmer and more general sympathies than Louis Pnir- LIPPE, have been seated on the throne of France before him ; but not one of greater sagacity, of talents so equally developed, or of a mind and temper so well balanced—not one the varied story of whose life is so replete with interesting changes. Along with the natural sagacity and good temper of the Regent ORLEANS, LOUIS PHILIPPE has inherited not a little of the Epicu- rean disposition of that prince, although chastened and regulated by the events of early life and the improved tone of the age : and yet there must be associations with the scene he views from Windsor Terrace calculated to move even his habitually unsenti- mental mind. His best of life is in the past. The power and pomp which surround him are lavished on one whose relish for these gauds is blunted by the indifference which grows upon all men with the advance of years. The heart of the poor exile of Twickenham would have beat high in a position which animates the royal guest at Windsor with but a languid pleasure. The goods withheld at an age when they could have been thoroughly enjoyed, are lavished on him to superfluity when years have brought the thick scurf of in- difference over him. In this, Louis PHILIPPE affords a striking con- trast to his young hosts, who, though fully sensible of the pomp and state which surround them, and of an age which can scarcely feel that these things must have an end, have slipped too easily into their position to be fully aware of its importance.
Unceremonious visits like that now made by the King of the French to the Queen of Britain, are becoming fashionable among the princes of Europe. They will do more to amalgamate Monar- chy with the institutions affected by modern Liberalism than
any thing else can. Kings and Queens, meeting on familiar terms with their equals in rank, will be liberated from that isola- tion which has hitherto been the bane of a throne. They may un- bend from their state without feeling that they are condescending. They will be, as our nobles have been before them, brought back into the warm precincts of a domestic circle. Thus only can real " Citizen Kings " be made—the thing that walked about with its umbrella, courting the political applause of the rabble, was but an unreal pageant. It is in the social circle that the best features of the citizen character are developed, and the social circle can only be composed of equals. Those of high rank cannot acquire the citizen virtues by forcing themselves to associate with citizens : they must do it by living among themselves on a similar footing. The Feudal or Oriental Sovereign would live in a constant state of antagonism to the society of modern Europe : the only means by which the sentiments and character of our Sovereigns can be brought into harmony with it, is by cherishing habits of frank and friendly intercourse among themselves.
The King of the French is not a bad model for the real Citizen King. He was not horn to a throne, and the events amid which the boy grew up were little calculated to awaken in him the expectation of ever being called to one. He has been trained to taste the plea- sures of social intercourse, and regulate his conduct out of defer- ence to social opinion. His long and changeful life has stored his mind with a rich variety of interesting experiences. Few men are better qualified to delight while commanding respect in the hours of private relaxation ; and few princes combine in an equal degree the higher qualities of the statesman—intellectual ambition, moral and physical courage, shrewdness, and patient perseverance. It is with such a man that a nation could wish its sovereign to live in habits of intimacy ; and it is to such a man a nation could wish its sovereign's heir to be taught to look up as the model at least of his manners.
The first words addressed by Lours PnrurrE to those who wel- comed him to England were a declaration of his belief, "that the happiness and prosperity of a nation depend quite as much on the peace of those nations by which she is surrounded, as on quiet within her own dominions." He has been a brave and unwearied apostle of this true faith among his own people: let us hope that it may also long be given to him to instil it into his brother Sove- reigns in hours of confidential intercourse. It is no mean pri- vilege of our own youthful Sovereign, that the terms of personal friendship on which she stands with all the Kings of Europe will render it comparatively easy for her to introduce the parvenu of France into their exclusive circle ; and they will have reason to thank her for adding so pleasant a companion and so shrewd an adviser to the number of their visiting acquaintance.
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