Life Of The Prince Consort*

her fame , or extend her glory . It is pleasant in these self-seeking times to remember the heroic lines on which such characters are cast , and to remember that if it be true that the world is "governed by little wisdom " after all , all that gives realit y to its myths or cohesion to its chaos , is that greatness of the individual life , that goodliness of personal bearing , which are still the " grace and glory of this mortal state . " For they still serve to assure usamid

, sceptical tendencies and idle philosophies , that though "L'homme propose , Dieu dispose , " ancl that , just as with His great moral government of the world in which we live to clay , it is after all onl y the great , the good , the virtuous , ancl the sublime who outlive the pitiless dust of death , or the encroaching hand of time . If we look back to day , how few memories survive . Some writer , intent on a paradox , may seek to make a hero of a Robespierre ,

or a Mirabeau , or a Cagliostro , or a Madame Roland , the conquerors , the legislators , the great kings , the " grancles dames " who have come ancl gone , like painted Fantoccini . But the stern Nemesis of justice and honesty , of moral truth and living virtue , smites clown with relentless and critical condemnation those who on any pretext or for any end , for gain or glory , for personal convenience or private advantagehave left the "narrow path" of riht

, g ancl duty , their " outcome" may be an "outcome" of success ; but , alas , when the veil is lifted , how sadly tarnished it is with the lies , the craft , the baseness , the weakness of earth . How successfull y in Mr . Martin ' s "honest story" the late Prince Consort stands out , a noble picture , true in its very truthfulness , great in its veiy greatness . Some foolish persons

have said that "too much praise has been accorded , " and that Mr . Martin has become the " courtier instead of the biographer . " We utterly deny the truth of either statement . In our humble opinion the value of Mr . Martin ' s work and the honesty of his utterances are to be measured b y the richness of his materials and the absorbing interest of the subject . With such speakingwitnesses before him of the unselfishness , the honour , the high aims , the noble aspirations which ever marked the Princehis " geist" his modestand his

, , y , thorough mastery o ^ all the complicated machinery of statecraft , his wise warnings and his just judgments , what other view could Mr . Martin submit ? Nay , we will add , what other judgment will posterity record ? To ns it is quite refreshing , amid petty aims and little men , the "dwarfed ambition" of the hour , the idle gains ancl worthless applause for which so many seem to live ; to note this pleasant personalitycalm in dangerserene in prosperitunmoved

, , y , and undaunted by interest or approbation , ancl to realize how in courts as in humble cots , the " life" of the good man on earth is still ever lived out as before God on high , and that amid things temporal and passing , his hopes , ancl expectations , and ultimate great reward are centred alone on what is und ying and eternal . Such lives as that of the late Prince Consort are very useful to us all just nowwhen we seem to be drifting into hollow materialismor virulent

, , scepticism , when life has no other charms for many but that of immediate enjoyment at any cost , and when childish frivolity and a hurtful laxity seem to be usurping a dark authority over bewildered minds and plastic wills . From the idle dreams of the epicurean , from the roseate hours of the sybarite , from the gross indulgence of the materialist , from the callous reveries ' of the rationalists , the life of the Prince Consort seems to recall us all in a voice

which still " speaketh from the solemn sadness of the grave , like as with a trumpet ' s tone , reminding us that duty , honour , love and loyalty , faith and trust , virtue ancl highmindedness , unselfishness and self-abnegation are not unmeaning words , but have a great reality and a true spirit , which it is our highest blessedness ancl wisdom to realize and respect . And here we are compelled reluctantly to stop . We might have filled our pages with numerous extracts , but , as the reviewer in the Times so well ancl tersely puts it , " as one reads the present volume of the Life the interest goes on increasing , and the difficulty is to make selections for notice when page after page has its