THE PRINCE OF WALES.

ROBABLY no position in the world is

PROBABLY

more difficult than that of the Heir

to a Constitutional Monarchy. Beset by all the temptations of the highest rank, he is free from those personal responsibilities from which the heir to an absolute crown cannot escape, and which necessarily act to a certain extent as a restraint upon his actions. Our English Princes of Wales, for example, are not required to assist their parents in governing the country. They have not, like the Czarewitch, to take a leading part in deciding all grave political and national

questions; nor are they expected, like a German Crown Prince, to take their place at the head of the army, and to show their ability as generals in the field. The Constitution does not recognise them in any capacity whatever, except that of HeirsApparent to the Crown. They have no settled duties to discharge; there is no special, well-defined office which they are expected to fill. And whilst they are thus men without a work to do in life, they are exposed to all the temptations to which poor human nature is open, in their most powerful and subtle shapes. 'All the world and all the glory of it, whatever is most attractive, whatever is most seductive, has always been offered to the Prince. of Wales of the day, and always will be.' I need not enlarge upon this subject; for any of my readers who are acquainted with English history must be aware of the

kind of life which a Prince of Wales may lead, and of the special forms of temptation which are presented to him more frequently and more strongly perhaps than to any other man in England. It is right at the very outset to bear in mind the position which every Prince of Wales thus occupies in society, because only by doing so will it be possible to arrive at anything like a fair estimate of the conduct of any particular Prince.

The Prince of Wales who is known to the present generation labours under a special personal disadvantage, in addition to those general disadvantages of which I have just spoken. Ever since he entered upon public life on his own account, he has been overshadowed by the great reputation and umblemished life of his father. People are constantly comparing him with the late Prince Consort, and always un

favourably; so that he may be said, in one sense, to have suffered from the very virtues and abilities of his parent. Would it not be well for those who condemn the Prince of Wales because he does not show either the sagacity or the zealous self-consecration of Prince Albert, to remember that the latter was one of the most extraordinary men of his time; that among Princes he stands absolutely alone; and that even among mankind generally it would be no easy matter to discover his equal.

We do not complain because the children of men of genius who have distinguished themselves in art or literature, do not happen to display the brilliant qualities of their parents. Why, then, should we quarrel with the Prince of Wales because he is not dowered with that rare and remarkable combination of great moral and intellectual qualities which distinguished distinguished the Prince

Consort? Remember, we have no right to expect that an hereditary monarchy will give us a series of paragons or men of genius. Common sense, to say nothing of the experience of the past, shows that the contrary is more likely to be the case. If we cast our eyes over the list of English monarchs who have reigned during the last three centuries, how few men of more than average ability will be found among them. The great majority of kings are persons of small intellectual capacity, and of little selfcontrol. Whatever may be the virtues of the hereditary system, the selection of the fittest ruler for a people is undoubtedly not one of them. If this fact is borne in mind, and if we apply to the Prince of Wales a more reasonable test than that obtained by contrasting him with his father, I do not think that we shall have much reason to complain of the result.

The Prince has undoubtedly the dis