TOPICS 40F THE DAY.
THE PTAINCESS VICTORIA.
IF our gracious Kii WILLIAM die to-morrow, the Princess VIC- TORIA will be Queen, without a Regency. It is in this sense, and in no other, that the youthful maiden was of legal age on Wednes- day last. Doubtless, the same maternal instruction and advise of which she has hitherto enjoyed the benefit, would be continued ; but the Dutchess of KENT would not be Regent. Hearty and general were the rejoicings on Wednesday; and we are not among those who think that they were premature or with- out cause. We are aware that the personal character of the So- vereign of England will become of less consequence as the institutions of the country grow more liberal and popular, and representative principles have freer scope in our polity. Still, barring improbable convulsions, an hereditary Monarchy, "sur- rounded by Republican institutions," is the destined form of chief magistracy in England for many a long day ; and it is impossible that the Monarch should not exercise a very considerable influ- ence, for good or for evil, on its condition. It is therefore a rational subject of congratulation that the future Queen of England has reached the verge of womanhood with the reputation of being amiable, discreet, and well-instructed. On this point all who have access to the Palace at Kensington, and personal opportunity of ascertaining the character of its inmates, agree. But even the less favoured are not without the means of forming a judgment on the mode in which the education of the Princess has been conducted. It has been observed, that while on no occasion has she been offensively or indelicately brought before the public, there has been nothing like seclusion from contact with her future subjects. Kensington Palace has not been the focus.of intrigue, Whig, Radical, or Tory. The Dutchess of KENT has wisely kept herself and her daughter free from the suspicion even of interference in the party strifes of the day ; while, at the same time, it is understood that full in- formation regarding the progress of events and of opinion has been regularly communicated to the Princess VICTOR! A. Of the insufficiency of any title to secure an unpopular Sovereign from disgrace and deposition, and of the superior safety of that throne which is based on the esteem and choice of the nation, the Prin- cess sees a striking proof in the position of her own uncle, the King of the Belgians—a king elected by a people to succeed one whom they bad driven in ignominy away. That there is reason for congratulation in the fact that our future Queen has been under wise and virtuous tuition, will be allowed by all who reflect on the consequences of a vicious apprenticeship to royalty. The heirs to thrones have been gene- rally factious, or profligate, or both. They have been tools of a party, or the boon companions of debauchees. Of all the sons of GEORGE the Third, the Dukes of KENT and SUSSEX alone can be said to have turned out well. Most of them, in their youth, were distinguished only for their extravagant indulgence in sen- suality. GEORGE the Fourth, from the hereditary desire of the Princes of the House of Brunswick to thwart and annoy his father, threw himself into the arms of the Opposition. Fox and SHERI- DAN, while they amused him by their wit, gilded his name with a surface popularity; and it was fondly and foolishly hoped that the selfish debauchee would become the very paragon of kings. It is needless to say how this expectation was disappointed. Im- perious, obstinate, weak, frivolous, idle, voluptuous, treacherous, the maturity of his age and his reign was the natural result of a vicious education and a pampered youth. The Duke of YORK, the Duke of CUMBERLAND, and even the present King with much that is good about him, have afforded reason for regret that in early life their education was mismanaged. Narrowness of mind, not na- tural badness of disposition, has been the grand defect of the Princes of the House of Brunswick. They are the slaves of prejudice, because ill-instructed. In advanced age their follies are especially profitable to the State Church, whose tools they become. By zeal for the Establishment, and lavishing favours and smiles on its dig- nitaries, they strive to balance accounts, and atone for the sinful indulgences of their prime. GEORGE the Third was not notori- ously profligate in his youth ; but his narrow bigotry, and other ignoble qualities, brought countless calamities on his kingdom. His unfortunate education would have ruined the finest disposi- tion in the world. He was taught to be sly and overbearing, and to think it his duty to encourage intolerance, religious and political. It is needless to point out the practical evils which the country has endured and still suffers from the want of such knowledge in its rulers as would tend to enlarge and improve their understanding and their hearts. We see the injurious consequences of ignorance and ill-training on the throne in every direction. When it is recollected how the youth of those members of' the Royal Family of England to whom we have alluded was passed, and what sort of training They received, it is matter for rejoicing that the Princess VICTORIA'S education has been conducted on a different plan; that her sex has preserved her from many cor- rupting influences ; that she has been taught to consider the respect and attachment of the people as her glory and safeguard; and that she has not been perverted by
......" the tongue Of hollow counsel, the false oracle, Which from the birth of monarchy bath rung Its knell in princely ears, till the o'erstung Nations have armed in madness."
True, we have only a promise. But it is a present satisfaction to know that good seed has been sown: it gives at least a probability that the plant will carry sound and rereshing fruit. For ourselves, therefore, though we 7," put not confidence in princes," and believe a people's interests in no safe keeping bat their own, we do not consider it a part of wisdom to cheek the hope prevalent among our countrymen, that the influence of the crown, when it is worn by VICTORIA the First, will be used more than ever it was before to promote objects of national benefit; forsaking obsolete and pernicious state maxims ; discountenancing exclusive pretensions, by individuals, sects, and castes ; honouring virtue and rewarding merit ; and securing for the energies of a great people all that they require—fair play.
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