Working Men's Loyal Jubilee Memorial

From The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia

Working Men's Loyal Jubilee Memorial is a letter written by Arthur Conan Doyle first published in The Evening News (Portsmouth) and the Evening Mail (Portsmouth) on 26 march 1887.



Editions


Working Men's Loyal Jubilee Memorial

Sir, — It appears to me that General Harward's idea of a small personal memorial to the Queen, in the shape of a bust or statue to Her Majesty, is one which is well worthy of public support. In this utilitarian age it is, I know, difficult to enlist sympathy for any scheme which involves an outlay without any practical return; but surely if ever there was a time when some little sentiment was excusable it is on this the fiftieth year of the Victorian era. A hundred years hence both the Portsmouth Hospital and the Colonial Institute will no doubt be standing; but how many of those who pass these buildings will care to enquire what was the occasion upon which they were erected. A statue, however, with a suitable inscription tells its own tale, and will record, as long as granite will hold together, the loyal affection with which the people of this historical borough regard a sovereign whose conduct of affairs may serve as a model to every future occupant of the British Throne. It is no exaggeration to say that since the days of Edward the Confessor no English monarch has ever led so consistently virtuous a life or has had so beneficent an influence upon the domestic lives and social habits of her subjects. It is only fitting, therefore, that some small tribute of personal affection and admiration should be offered to Her Majesty herself, apart from the two other undertakings which are, after all, rather presents to ourselves as a town and as a nation, than to Queen Victoria, in whose honour they are said to be inaugurated. Loyalty is not the prerogative of any one party — as might be seen in democratic Birmingham the other day — and Liberals should be the first to honour a monarch whose leading characteristic has been her compliance with every constitutional safeguard, and her ready and uniform acquiesence to the will of the people as declared by their representatives. In conclusion, I may suggest that the statue might adorn the new Town Hall. The sum which is required is so small that it could not possibly make any appreciable difference to the other schemes which are already before the public.

Yours faithfully,

A. CONAN DOYLE

Bush Villa