Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1867-11-28
QUEEN VICTORIA.
The First Year of Her Marriage.

1t is not often that Queens deign to be au-
thors, but the Queen of England is a woman,
a mother, loving wife, and has no wish to
dwell in splended and chilling isolation, cut
off by royal pomp and pride from all sweet
and tender human sympathies.
Cherishing the memory Of her husband,
possibly too much secluded with her thoughts
of him, she has filled her time by writing a
book, photographed in part, and devoted
to giving some idea of their wedd0d life, and
OF his character. This occupation may ac-
count for that scclusion from the pagcantry
bees such trial to fashionable society--and
has even set busy tongues at work in tales
OF SANDER and suspicion of insanity and
gloom.
This book abundantly answer all these ru-
mors, yet passes them by in silence, as be-
meath its realm.
1t is a feeling tribute to Prince Albert,
whose signal excellence and manly worth
will thus be still better known, and is rev.
elation, rare indeed, of the inner lile,-the
thoughts and motives as well as acts-of a
royal husband.
In chapter in "The First Year of Mar
riage" she thus speaks of Albert: :-"It must
be admitted, however, that constantly, unos-
tentatiously, and perseveringly as he now
gave himself up to the dicharges of his new
duties, he was exposed, almost during the
whole period of his life in this country, to
much misconccption and much misrepreseil-
tation. Not for that, however, did he for
one moment relax in his efforts, or allow
his zeal to flag, in seeking to promote all
that was for the good of the British people.
His actions might be misunderstood, his
opinions might be misrepresented (for which
there was more than one notable instance)
Il Note Iy The Queen: Especially at the
commencement Of the Russian war]-but,
supported by his own conscious rcctitude he
still pursued that even tenor of his way.
Not complaint, not murmur ever escaped
his lips; not single hasty expression did he
ever indulge in, even towards those who
were most unjust as the inevitable lot of
one placed, as he was, in high station, trust
ing surely to the coming of the time when
his motives and actions would be better un-
derstood and better appreciated by his adopt
ed country.
"The principle on which he always acted
was Ito use his own noble words) to snl,
his own individual existence in that of his
wife, to aim at no power by himself or for
himself, to shun all ostentation-to assume
no separate responsibility before the public
but making his position entirely part of
the Queens, continually and anxiously to
watch every part of the public business, in
order TO he able TO advise or assist her at
any moment in any of the multifarious and
difficult questions brought before her
sometimes political or social, or personal, as
the natural head of her family; superinten-
Il
vate affairs her sole confidential adviser in
politics, and only assistant in her communi-
cations with the officers of the government. "
The Queen and the Prince first took the
sacrament togeather TT Windsor, on Easter
of 1910, In st. Georges Chapel.
"The Prince" the Qucep says, chad a
very strong feeling about the solemnity of
this act and did not like to appear in COM
pany either the evening before or the day
on which he took it, and he and the Queen
almost always dined alone on these occa-
sions." The Queen notes this strong feel.
| ing on the part of the Prince more than
once in her journal for 1910 and 1871 and
on another occasion, few months later,
about Christmas time, when they again
took the sacrament in the private chapel at
| Windsor, she says, &" We two dined to-
gether, as Albert likes being quite alone be-
| fore he takes the sacrament; we played
part of Mozarts Requiem, and then he read
to me out of the Stutlcn der Anddchl
| (Hours of Devotion) the article on SciJster-
kenntniss (Self-Knowledge)
On the 10th of June of the same year, as
the Queen and Prince were setting out on
their usual afternoon drive, man named
Oxford made his well known attempt on
her Majesty's life by firing at her as the car
riage was going slowly up Constitution
Hill. The Prince himself gives the follow
ing account of this event in a letter to The
then Dowager Duchess of Gotha
81 hasten to give you an account of al
event which might otherwise be misrepre
sented to you, which endangered my lift
and that of Victoria, but from which we cs
capped under the protection Of the watchfu
hand of Providence We drove out yester
day afternoon, about six o'clock, TO pa,
Aunt Kent visit, and to take turn round
Hyde Park. We drove in a small phaeton
l sat on the right, Victoria on the left
We had hardly proceeded hundred yard
from the Palace when noticed, on tn
footpath on my side, little mean-lookin;
man holding something toward us, and, be
fore could distinguish what it was, sho
was fired, which almost stunned us both,
was so loud, and fired barely six PAGES from
us. Victoria had just turned to the left t,
look at horse, and could not, therefore
understand why her ears were ringing, a
from its being so very near she could hard
ly distinguish that ii proceeded from {
shot having been fired. The horses startct
and the carriage stopped. ! seized Victoria
hands, and asked if the fright had shaker
her, but she laughed at the thing.
81 then looked again at the man, VIII
was still standing in the same place, hi
arms crossed, and pistol in each hand
Ills attitude was so affected and theatrica
it quite amused me. Suddenly he agai
pointed his pistol and fired second time
This time Victoria also saw the shot, an
stopped quickly, drawn down by me. TIL
ball must have passed just above her head
to judge from the place where it was foun'
sticking in the opposite wall The man,
people who stood round us and the man
and were at first petrifisd with fright O
seeing what happened, now rushed upo