106 



♦ KNONATLKDGE 



[March 1, 1888. 



will instance Miss Anderson, Mrs. Potter— yes, and lovely 

 Miss Jenny Chambeilain. To none of these has the 

 flattering regard of this middle-aged " Prince Charming " 

 been a real benefit, perhaps, but I believe it was an honest 

 and loyal tribute to beauty and genius. The Prince is 

 beyond question kindly and generous ; men of his set pro- 

 nounce him " a capital good fellow ; " but. Republican as I 

 am, it seems to me that the heir to the proudest and noblest 

 Crown in the -ivorld should not be any fellow's " good 

 fellow." If anything could sober the man, even after a 

 wild youth, it would seem that a time like this were enough 

 — a time when the riuing tide of popular disaffection, the 

 sullen, miry tide of de.sperate want, is lapping against 

 the steps of the throne — when the political sky of all 

 Europe is black with threatening and lurid with portents. 



In his marriage the Prince of Wales has no advantage 

 over bis brothers, except in the popularity and beauty of his 

 wife. The Duchess of Edinburgh, though little liked in 

 England, is a woman of strong character, rare intelligence 

 and dignity of demeanour ; the Duchess of Connaught, an 

 excellent little creature, and no fool, holds her husband's 

 heart in spite of her exceeding plainness ; while the Princess 

 of Wales, amiable, graceful, and gracious, is rather negative 

 in character. She is preternaturally young, with no trace 

 of sorrow or trial, or even thought, in her pretty, placid 

 face ; fond of amusement, frankly frivolous, and not too 

 jealous of her dignity. In fact, the charming royal matron 

 3'et retains all a pretty girl's love of admu'ation, dress, and 

 adornment. 



It is little wonder if in these critical times serious 

 English people look forward with some apprehension to the 

 coming to the throne of this pair of perennially youthful 

 pleasure lovers. They may love and admire, but they do 

 not wholly trust them. They fear that the court of the 

 future reign will be rather a mercantile than a moral advan- 

 tage to London ; that in it science, litei-ature, and art of the 

 highest character, great public enterprises and schemes of 

 education and benevolence will find even less aid and com- 

 fort than in the present melancholy, migratory, and miserly 

 court ; while through its favour will flourish mightily cos- 

 tumiers, milliners, and tailors, funny men and horsey men, 

 French comediennes and singers, and American champion 

 shots, showmen, swimmers, and pugilists. 



On the second Sunday in December good English church- 

 men must have prayed with unusual fervour for the Queen 

 long to reign over them, steady and stolid, proper and pious 

 as she is, for the mischievous little bird of the telegraph must 

 have carried to the remotest parts of the kingdom news of the 

 interview between the British heir -apparent and a notorious 

 American prize-fighter. The account of the courtesies 

 exchanged between these two powerful personages, in which 

 the Irish-American did not liy any means take a secondary 

 position — the report of the conversation, liberally spiced on 

 both sides with the slang of the ring, and preceded and 

 followed by " hearty hand-shakes " must have been tough 

 reading for aristocratic and refined Conservatives. Yet I 

 am afi'aid there is not among the entire English ai'istocracy 

 a peer or a prelate too proud to kiss the hand of his Royal 

 Highness after the grip of Sullivan the slugger. 



But we republicans should not be troubled. The less the 

 Prince realises the mighty responsibilities ami magnificent 

 opportunities of his own position, the more he cheapens 

 royalty through such unworthy associations, the better for 

 the principles of democracy and equality. Let him continue 

 to make light of his dignity and his destiny a few years 

 longer, and a great change must come either in him or 

 the entire system of English sovereignty. This is an age of 

 miracles; the saving change may come in him, and he may 

 yet show himself as moral and as mean as " Prince Hal," 



who as Henry V. publicly cut poor old Jack Falstaff, and, 

 " unkindest cut of all," preached to him like a Salvation 

 Army exhorter. But that Prince of Wales was still young 

 when he turned over a new leaf in history ; this one has 

 passed the age at which his father ceased from his virtuous 

 labours, so is little likely to pose for posterity as Albert the 

 Good II. 



WATER MYTHS, 



By Stella Occidens. 



TIMONG the ancients the seas near shore were 

 supposed to be inhabited by beautiful beings 

 called Sirens or .sea-nymphs. They had the 

 power of charming all who heard them by 

 the sweet tones of their voices accompanied 

 by irresistible strains of music. We are told 

 in the well-known story of Ulysses that 

 Circe warned him against these beings. 

 Some of his men fell victims to Scylla, the once beautiful 

 water-nymph, transformed into a horrible monster on 

 account of her indiflerence to the pleadings of the fisher- 

 man Glaucus. Ulysses again encountered danger whilst 

 passing the isle of Calj'pso. Homer thus describes the 

 beautiful grotto in which she entertained the hero : — 



A garden vine, luxuriant on all sides. 

 Mantled the spacious cavern, cluster-hung 

 Profuse ; four fountains of serenest lymph. 

 Their sinuous course pursuing side by side, 

 Strayed all around, aoia everywhere appeared 

 Meadows of softer verdure purjiled o'er 

 With violets ; it was a scene to fill 

 A god from heaven with wonder and delight. 



Calypso urged Ulysses to remain with her, but he longed 

 for his home, and, compelled by a command from Jupiter, 

 she allowed him to return. She provisioned a raft for him, 

 and all went well at first, but presently a storm arose, and 

 the raft was destroyed. A sea-nymph took compassion on 

 lHysses, and, in the form of a cormorant, alighted on the 

 raft and gave him a girdle which enabled him to reach 

 land. 



Thus some of these sea- nymphs were regarded as destruc- 

 tive, whilst others helped mariners. Among the beneficent 

 nymphs was Ino, the daughter of Cadmus, who was made 

 goddess of the sea by the gods. She had cast herself into 

 the sea from a high cliff", with her little son Melicertes in 

 her arms, whilst pursued by her husband Athamas. In a 

 fit of madness he had slain his son Learchus, and she feared 

 the same fate for her only remaining child. She became the 

 protector of sailors, and saved them from shipwreck. 



In Norse mythology ^-Eger is the divinity of the sea, 

 and Ran is his wife. She has a net in which she catches 

 shipwrecked mariners, and she claims their bodies whilst 

 their souls go to heaven. Ran has nine daughters, the 

 waves who assemble together as their father wishes. They 

 have long golden locks and flowing white veils, and they are 

 called billows or surges when the wind blows. Then they 

 lash themselves against the shores and on the rocks. 

 They rest on a hard rocky bed, and do not play in calm 

 weather. The names of these daughters vary according to 

 their apjjearance. Thus they delight in such names as 

 Billow, Raging-sea, Sky-clear, &c. 



In Danish mythology we have the pathetic story of the 

 little mermaid who saved a prince from drowning when 

 his ship was wrecked. She swam with him to shore, and 

 laid him in the warm sunshine. But a great yearning filled 

 her soul for the beautiful prince, and from that day she 

 longed to see him again. At last, after great trials, she 

 obtained her wish, but withal lost her beautiful voice. 



