The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-12-03
QUEEN VICTORIA AND HER PECULI-
ARITIES.

LONDON, NOV. io.-Wiii the queen go ABROAD
or not VIII sbe present her usual sixpences
to Italian peasants washing their lineni road
side brooks at Mentone. and earn an mex
pcnsive ana hattering popularity by accom-
panying the donation with few laudatory re-
marks on their primitive mode oil laundry
work There are as many yeas ms nays
still in public opinion. Those among us. and
there are still few who desire to see In mon
archy all that can make monarchy impeccabc
trust that her Majesty will not make the nd
ADMINISTRATION OF affairs more laborious and COM
plicntcd by removing herself further still from
her Ministers. and. can we say. adviser%? Hard
ly. for she is as self-willed and opinionated
in her middle age and wdowhood as she was
In her girlhood and married life. She Possesses
the Same will and obstinacy which battles op
position and reaches its end by the mere
force of its determination not to yield. 1t il
and has ever been the same in the ruling of her
household. the education of her children. in
her relations with her husband. who was IA con-
sort in name only. in her religious tendencies
her dislikes. her friendships and her patron
age. So 1t WAS already ut thut now distant
day when. after her elevation to the supreme
rink. grand review was among the events
chat followed her coronation. Tho young
Queen oxpressed her intention of inspecting
the troops on horseback. 1t was respectfully
tntimated to her that the precedents of eti-
Quette precuded her from doing Shc in
vain attempted to overpass the ultima Httile OF
ceremonial. and finding herself poweress. pro-
nounced her fiat: No horse. no review" and
there was mono.
We still remember the occasion when the
Queen sent an imperative message to Prince
Albert to wait upon her. couche in such terms
that oven the courteous good tempered man
resented 1t. and did not obey. History. how
evOr does not say the Prince had to rue his
marital self-assertion; but history has already
melted out Justice to the simple generous.
high minded. conscientious gentleman. who
took so little credit in his lifetime and allowed
the success which crowned his lnbors to re-
dound to the Glorifcation OF his young wife.
With bravo unselfshness he bore the accusA-
'tions of meanness. OF avarice. OF petty German
Observation-Disclosures. which were audiby whis-
,pered against him; and not till he had been
dead some years was It found out that not to the
foreigner. the penniless sutton the unpretend-
inG sharer Of the throne. wore to be attributed
the derections in lavshness and representa-
ton. the want of courtesy and reciprocity in
relations with foreign potentates. 1t became
generally known that all that had been
really good and great during the beginning of
their reign was directly or indirectly at
tributable to his influence In the words of the
housekeeper OF the all but deserted residence
OF Buckingham Palace. spoken with broken
voice and fearful eyes, none will ever realize
what the Prince Consort was to his family and
his servants; all the improvements here are
his never day passed but he did not visit the
nurseries had he ever SO much to do his chill
dren worshipped him he was Just an angeli"
Remembering all this, there may be more
than grief in the long-protracted mourning of
the royal widow; still when it takes the form
of constant com panionship with the cillie ] ohm
Brown on account of some invisible likeness to
the Prince Consort undetected nv any save her
1t is difficult to believe that tn is form Of hon,
can be agreeable to NV sainted Albert nor
is it likely that in the abode of biss he can de-
rive any special comfort from seeing his royal
relict cling in her daily walks TO the unprnceful
fashion OF hooped skirt and short paper like
silk gown which obtained in his lifetime.
The obstinacy of the Queen ia proyed nv the
Omen persiste n I fayoritism shown to this same
John Brown. Incomprehensible and meaning
loss il gosds almost to madness her imm e,iiate
ontOurage and every omen or tacit oppos tion
only causes it to be more manifest. That
proudest OF proud women has been made by
preconcerted plan to see this servant of hers
in the most degrading state OF Drunkenness
almost at her very feet and vet with an infat-
saation stronger even than femininity her man.
ner to him remained unchanged. and she made
no sign that could give 8 clue to her secret
thoughts. Ladies in waiting OF exalted rank
have rebelled openly against the breach OF eti-
ouette his has and re N sed to
be male party to 1t: but snubbed by them, he
was only the more graciously treated by his
royal mistress He follows her like a shade
from palace to palace. in public and in private.
behind her chair at her meals. in the rumble Of
her carriage in her drives. bending over to ex-
change few words and calmly possessing
himself of her field glass to inspect some dis
tant maEpuvre at a review.
The Queen does not sacken the reins on her
sons necks when they marry she orders. di-
reefs. swuys them at home and abroad. and
scorns minute of detail just she al
lows no impulse Of independence. At Peters
burg during some fatss the Prince OF Wales tele-
graphed to ask his mother whether he might
attend court ball on a Sunday. The answer