THE Thames Guardian AND MINING RECORD. MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1871.

Thames Guardian and Mining Record, Volume I, Issue 56, 11 December 1871, Page 2

THE Thames Guardian AND MINING RECORD. MONDAY , DECEMBER 11, 1871.

The telegraphic news from England, which we published on Saturday in the shape of an extra, is more important than any we have received for several months past. It is quite evident, from the brief notice in the telegrams, that the state of Her Majesty’s health precludes her taking part in grave affairs of State, and tin? opposition which she gave to the proposal for the marriage of the Duke of Edinburgh to a Prussian princess, and to the creation of a Regency, with the Prince of Wales as Regent, must be regarded as an ebullition of passion rather than a well considered exercise of sovereign power. There is no person in all the wide dominions which acknowledge the sovereignty of the British Crown, who will not deplore the fact. The Queen was personally a favorite with her subjects. She was respected for her domestic virtues, and beloved for her sterling English character. Since the death of the late Prince Consort, however, the Queen appears to have withdrawn herself from direct contact with her Ministers, and much inconvenience has arisen from the persistence in holding her Court at Balmoral. English newspapers, of high standing, have repeatedly protested against tliis conduct ; and at length the feeling became so strong throughout the country as to cause its angry expression to reach the Royal cars. Recently her Majesty's health was reported to have given way, and the previous mail brought intelligence that the Prince of Wales had been summoned .from Germany to attend the Queen. The issue of that journey is before us. A proposal was made that her Majesty should consent to the creation of a regency, the heirapparent being Regent, andshedeclined. She is reported to have refused even to affix her signature to the documents presented to her. being, we assume, the official records of the propositions. Ultimately the Lord-Chancellor was proposed at the Cabinet meeting to sign the documents instead of her Majesty. The telegram leaves us in doubt as to whether a regency has been constituted ; but we can hardly doubt that such is the fact, from tiie genera! tenor of the despatch. It is quite clear that Ministers do not consider the Queen competent to the full discharge ot the duties of royalty: and the English people have become weary of paying for royalty without possessing its ad-

vantages. ‘ How this question may yet affect the form of ’Government in England remains to be seen. The Prince of Wales js by no means .popu-, lar. He has figured in anything but a creditable manner in several scandals, and popular opinion goes to the extern ofi,. supposing . J,hat . his Royal Higlmgss as regent, the immoralities of the late regency, under n former Prince of Wales, would be revived. This may or it may not be true ; but the existence of such a feeling among the great body of the English people is not calculated to create any very strong affection for the new order of things. And the report of the proposed alliance between the Conservative Peers and the Working Men's Association, to overthrow Mr. Gladstone’s Government, looks very like a political reaction which may eventuate in a total subversion of the Constitution. The Peers may sow the wind ; they will infallibly reap the whirlwind. Education, and a consciousness of political strength, render the working-classes formidable allies of the hereditary aristocracy, but extremely dangerous opponents to the predominance of the 'privileged order. By the aid of the British workman, the Conservative Peers may succeed in crushing English Philistinism. The great monied Middle Class of England, which now governs the country, are not favorites with the working classes. They are as much the opponents of the associated labor and manhood suffrage movement as the Peers; indeed, for some reasons, they are more so than the great territorial houses, and those later creations who seek to ally themselves with the old nobility. To the Peers, the donr.nating influence of the aristocracy of wealth the English Middle Class—is becoming intolerable ; and their alliance with the working classes, to get rid of their successful

rivals, is a most likely event. It was the Conservatives who extended the franchise to the laboring classes. The Conservatives go farther than the Liberals and Whigs in the matter of education; and the political combination, by means of which the two extremes of the social scale meet, is therefore neither improbable nor unnatural. Rut what follows ? Assume that the Gladstone Government is overthrown through such a compact, that power passes from the Middle Classes to the Peers and delegates of labour; it requires little political sagacity to foresee the end. The representatives of labor will insist on an enlargement of political privileges for their order, on a radical reform of the labor question, on compulsory education, provided by the (State, and free from denominational taint. They will go in for “ elevating “ the masses,” and “the masses” being the stronger party, they will succeed. On the other hand, the privileges of the titled order will he curtailed. The Anglican Church will be disestablished, and lawn sleeves be no longer seen in the House of Peers. How long a House of Lords should he tolerated would unquestionably soon become a test question at elections. And when this becomes a hustings cry in England, the peerage is virtually destroyed. We do not say that these changes will not be for the benefit of the British people. We arc inclined to believe that such changes would ultimately do good, if effected without violence. We agree with Mr Matthew Arnold in the opinion that England, since Waterloo, has sank from the first rank of nations—perhaps even the foremost place—an indifferent second ; and that this has been brought about by Middle Class Government, which secs nothing beyond, or above, or superior to, shop and barter. National life consists in something besides barter; national honor cannot he secured by trade profits. If the rumored combination between the highest and lowest orders in the State be correct, and the alliance he guided by prudent and enlightened molt, the prospect of England regaining her pre-eminence is not a distant one.

The Customs Treaty between Germany and France lias been signed, and will be duly ratified. The treaty provides for the payment of the arrears of the war fine imposed on France by Germany, and the evacuation of France by the German troops. This is so far satisfactory ; but Bonapartist partisans appear to give trouble. A plebiscite is again threatened. The Ex-Emperor would again test the feeling of the French people in his favor by the ballot-box. We think France has had enough of the Empire. It is time she set about consolidating her internal affairs, and establishing a stable Government, founded on liberal ideas. Without this, and a thorough reform of her military system, France must sink still lower in the political scale of nations.

The telegrams give a warning from the East of Europe. Russia is arming. Every man capable of hearing arms is to he trained, and every arm of the Imperial service is to be strengthened and placed in a state of greater efficiency. What does this mean ? Is Russia afraid of United Germany, and does she contemplate a struggle with the new Empire ? Or is there anything in a recent rumour, to the effect that Prussia and Russia had entered into an offensive and defensive alliance ; that Turkey and British India were to fall a prey to the Northern eagles, while Austria, Holland, and Louxemburg were to be absorbed by Prussia ? It is quite clear that the warlike movement in Russia does not mean peace. England, on her part, is apparently preparing for •'•'the coming struggle.” The army is being placed on a war footing; and should hostilities break out, we venture to predict that the British troops would not lie found so insignificant an enemy as German critics would wish to make it appear.

The remaining news by the mail is not of much political significance. There

are sensational items, of losses by fire on laud, and losses by ice at sea. The North American whaling fleet is destroyed by ice. No lives were lost. England has another colliery accident to chronicle. Surely there must he something radically wrong in the administration of the law that renders the working of mines so dangerous to life. The American fires demonstrate the danger of building large towns of wooden houses. ••••-•*<•