THE HOSE OF LAST SUMMER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXI, Issue 1194, 9 February 1864, Page 3

THE HOSE OF LAST SUMMER.

Lord Mayor Rose and his friends in the City are under the firm impression that a slight lias been put upon hiin by the Government, and through him upon the Corporation. After so much coming and going between Guildhall and Windsor Castle, the idea is that Lord Mayor Rose ought to be a baronet, or at least, a knight. Like everybody wlio was ever disappointed about anything, tlie late Lord Mayor did not care for the honor for himself. He cared about it for the sake of the City. Cincinnatus alter his dictatorship ia over would go back contented, so for as his personal feelings are involved, to his plough, but he cannot but regret for the sake of his fellow-citizens that he is not Sir His vexation is shared by the taitliful officers of the court. The Sheriffs and Undersheriffs have felt for him, and the Common Serjeant took the opportunity of Jjs speech to the Lord Chief Baron on Tuesday, to allude to the general disappointment. The sight of such kindly distress, of kog and Magog weeping bitterly because somebody else had not been promoted even to knighthhood, speaks volumes for the City and does credit to our common human nature. It ia in vain that cynics tell us that we are never really anxious for the success of other jflen's personal ambition, bo long as we have before us so signal an example to the contrary. Everything cannot possibly be wet paint while the fraternal feeling of aldermen so healthy and so true. It is, however, strange that a Lord Mayor of London should n °t be satisfied with his proud position, but would hanker after spurious dignities t"«it at all events must be more ordinary and m ore accessible to the world at large. Is it J greater thing to be knighted than to J e Lord Mayor ? If bo, all our youthful fancies are overthrown, and Whittington perhapß was not the most illustrious of mankind. t If the City of London are inclined to repine in common with Lord Mayor Rose, they

have only to cast a rapid glance backwards to the events ot last spring. Nobody denies that on the arrival of the Princess Alexandra the good citizens of London were as loyal as mortal men could be. There are, however, some reminiscences connected with the proceedings on that occasion, that must be unwelcome both to the Corporation and the Ministry. The ghosts of the six people who were killed on the uight of the illuminations stand between Alderman Rose and a knight's spurs. The city on that occasion administered a distinct rebuff to Lord Palmerston's Ministry, and, thanks to their agitation in favour of municipal liberties, nearly pulled down the house about his ears. To ask for knighthood at.sr this is to draw a very large bill ou the Christian temper of the Cabinet. Alderman Rose can hardly be surprised if, in his turn, he meets with a little disappointment. He must console himself with the thought that he has preserved intact the buttons of the City police against the wiles of Sir Richard Mayne. After achieving this feat, he scarcely could hope for Government favours to wear in his cap. To attribute the disinclination of Ministers to shower laurels at his feet to mere malice is hardly fair. Acknowledging, as we all must, the munificent hospitality of the Corporation, the Government possibly think that the rulers of the Corporation duriug the last year have been neither judicious nor orderly. To knight Lord Mayor Rose would, in.their opinion, be to put a premium on blocked-up thoroughfares and ou a resistance to the Executive. The Corporation indeed, look upon the events of last spring with no feeling but that of pride. The City of London, they feel, has triumphed once more over Downing-street. Downing-street takes a different view of the affair, and, whether right or wrong, acts with perfect consistency in declining to compliment the upholders of the City system. If Alderman Rose had been a truly great man he would never have dreamed of any other rewards than those which, as the Common Serjeant informed the Lord Chief Baron, Alderman Rose already possessed—" the approval of his own conscience and the applause of his fellow-citizens." He should have looked on all Ministerial sops with a cold, calm eye, and even had they been proffered, have turned away unmoved. What more can an alderman want, who, after all, is not immortal ? He has danced with Royalty. He has shown himself to be the flower of chivalry. He has fought with a Whig Ministry, and has conquered them. It can be no hardship for the Rose of last summer to remain till the end of his life plain Alderman Rose.—London Review.