The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-12-25

large and various household in good
order SO far. She is very kind and
thoughtful about the sick. The atten-
| ton to poor Mrs. Warner, the actress,
who died YEARLY of cancer, and at
whose disposition she placed one OF the
royal carriages, was much marked, ana
gave great comfort to the poor sufferer.
IL seems very little to US, who remem-
Der her vast powers of doing good, but
we must also remember how much is
expected of her, and how much she has
to think of. Charity often consists
of thoughtfulness.
Across this varied existence has hung,
1t is now almost universally conceded,
occasional clouds of insanity. After the
prince consort's death for more than
year the queens state of mind gave
great uneasiness to her immediate
friends. At this time, and through this
infrmity, arose the miserable scandal of
John Brown, when she was accused of
being in love with her servant. Even
Punch forgot its loyalty so far as to
make a cartoon, representing her majesty
stopping 70 Hunkyism. The truth was,
that the faithful Scotchmsn became
kind Of keeper to this afflicted women.
a gentleman come cted with the court
described q scene which he frequently
| saw. The queen would imagine that
| she was stepping into gull as she de-
| scended from the carriage. and it was
John Browns function to say, in broad
| est Scotch, "Na, ma, yer mawjssty,
there is ma goolf there '' and, by the
power OF a very strong will, and the
| confidence she felt in him as an old and
| faithful gillie to Prince Albert, he sue
ceeded in getting her across "the
| goolf."
Undoubtedly, this nervousness, this
hereditary malady, has hung over the
| queen for long time, and will continue
! to reappear through her life; but
that is much better of late, and that
| her health and cheerfulness have muoh
| improved, there seems to be no doubt.
| AS she gets away from her great grief,
! and as she returns to the remarkable
| prosperity and happiness of her chill
| dren, she must feel the ameliorating in
| huence of time, that best of CONSIDERS,
and she must indulge in more cheerful
| thoughts. In religious opinions the
| queen is remarkably liberal. The
| party with which she has the least SYM
patty in England is the very High
| Church party. She liked very much to
| hear the Rev. Norman Mcleod, and
| she goes often to dissenting churches
| when at Balmoral. Her favorite and
| high-prized friend is the admirable
Dean Stanley, whose iberality is almost
working schism in the English church,
| and happened to hear her attacked at
! st. Mary's church, Oxford, the very
stronghold of English orthodox High
Church sentiment, for signing the Irish
Church Disability Bill.
"She has no right to break her oath, +"
said the brave preacher. "She has
| sworn to be the defender of the faith
in these three kingdoms, and he quoted
that ferociOus. text about the curse on
4" the bloody house of Saul, who broke
his oath and slew the Gideonites.
But, although there this is freedom
of thought and freedom of speech in
English Pulpits, and in the mouth of
Sir Charles Dixie and the like, they
would all die for their queen. They
could not pray loud enough, sing high
enough, or watch with sufficient pa
thence for the Prince of Wales recovery;
! they stood, thousands of them, to see
the Queen ride by to ST. PauPs to offer
| mp her thanksgiving for her sons re-
| recovery, and, 1 dare say, my brave
preacher of st. Mary's, Oxford, threw
| mp his shovel hat higher tnan the rest,
and forgot all about the bloody house
| of Saul.
And, in this intending devotion to the
royal family, in
| THIS CURIOUS LOYALTY,
lie the glory and safety of England. l
/ shall believe until I see it that radical
ism will succecd in England. The pen
| dulum will swing, of course, and there
! will be dissatisfaction. There are gil
| gantic evils of overcrOwding and con-
oentration of landed property; no doubt
those can be remedied by emigration
and just laws. Bot you can never knock
down this pyramid which they have
built, unless You change the body and
| blood of an Englishman. The little
| girl on her way to church stops and
| courtesies to the ladies at the great
house, and she is q much better little
girl for SO doing. The peasant takes OFF
| his hat to the squire. and I do not think
he is a less respectable man for that act
of breeding. The whole people bow
down and cheer when their queen and
her children drive by; and every one
raises his hat to the pretty princess of
Wales.
The queen has always been very
good friend to this country. She took
| pains to express that sentiment to Mr..
Motley very plainly before he was
our minister and almost the last act
of good Prince Albert was one of
friendliness to our country during cur
civil wlr.
Her letter to our president, when she
commended the prince of Wales to him,
was a curious document. 1t commenced,
"My very good friend"-aRd Lord
Houghton, who knows all the gossip,
said that the title of that letter had
caused the cabinet three sleepless
nights. There were no precedents for
addressing a president. They could
have written to the Imam of Muscat, or
the Kahn OF Tartary with greater ease.
Her reception of Miss Grant was cor
dial and friendly. She intended to be
stately, and such as she would have
given to a princess, but the good sense
and simplicity of the young American
| girl forbade that. Perhaps neither of
the two imagined then that the daugh-
ter of our president was to become a
loyal subject of her majesty, as her mar
riage has since made her.
On the whole, looking closely at the
| private character of Queen Victoria, as
| derived from conversation with some
who knew her best, rom her books, and
! from all we can see of her life, it is
character greatly to be respected. 1t
| is not an unusually great character, like
Prince Albert's, not wonderfully mas
culine mind, like that of Queen Eliza
beth. She is not Semiramis, nor a
Zenobia. She has not the charm of the
latter nor the genius of the former, and
yet she has been better queen for Eng
land of to-day than either would have
been. It was once said wisely of mon
archs that the world must thank them
if they escape being great monsters.
"Fhat great white light which shines
upon throne" is hard light to live in.
Had Queen Victoria been great genius
and a great beauty she might have
ruined England. A too pronounced
personality In q monarch, especially a
female one, is to be regretted. The
Empress Eugenie improved the dress
of the werld, but it is to be feared she
did it at the expense of France.
The Queen has suited the eminently