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235
The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft
·
George Gissing
108
XX.
It
is
the
second
Jubilee.
Bonfires
blaze
upon
the
hills,
making
one
think
of
the
watchman
on
Agamemnon's
citadel.
(It
were
more
germane
to
the
matter
to
think
of
Queen
Elizabeth
and
the
Armada.)
Though
wishing
the
uproar
happily
over,
I
can
see
the
good
in
it
as
well
as
another
man.
English
monarchy,
as
we
know
it,
is
a
triumph
of
English
common
sense.
Grant
that
men
cannot
do
without
an
overlord;
how
to
make
that
over-lordship
consist
with
the
largest
practical
measure
of
national
and
individual
liberty?
We,
at
all
events,
have
for
a
time
solved
the
question.
For
a
time
only,
of
course;
but
consider
the
history
of
Europe,
and
our
jubilation
is
perhaps
justified.
For
sixty
years
has
the
British
Republic
held
on
its
way
under
one
President.
It
is
wide
of
the
mark
to
object
that
other
Republics,
which
change
their
President
more
frequently,
support
the
semblance
of
over-
lordship
at
considerably
less
cost
to
the
people.
Britons
are
minded
for
the
present
that
the
Head
of
their
State
shall
be
called
King
or
Queen;
the
name
is
pleasant
to
them;
it
corresponds
to
a
popular
sentiment,
vaguely
understood,
but
still
operative,
which
is
called
loyalty.
The
majority
thinking
thus,
and
the
system
being
found
to
work
more
than
tolerably
well,
what
purpose
could
be
served
by
an
attempt
at
novas
res?
The
nation
is
content
to
pay
the
price;
it
is
the
nation's
affair.
Moreover,
who
can
feel
the
least
assurance
that
a
change
to
one
of
the
common
forms
of
Republicanism
would
be
for
the
general
advantage?
Do
we
find
that
countries
which
have
made
the
experiment
are
so
very
much
better
off
than
our
own
in
point
of
stable,
quiet
government
and
of
national
welfare?
The
theorist
scoffs
at
forms
which
have
survived
their
meaning,
at
privilege
which
will
bear
no
examination,
at
compromises
which
sound
ludicrous,
at
submissions
which
seem
contemptible;
but
let
him
put
forward
his
practical
scheme
for
making
all
men
rational,
consistent,
just.
Englishmen,
I
imagine,
are
not
endowed
with
these
qualities
in
any
extraordinary
degree.
Their
strength,
politically
speaking,
lies
in
a
recognition
of
expediency,
complemented
by
respect
for
the
established
fact.
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