Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-06-18
THE QUEENS ENCOURAGE.
Hypocrisy and Propriety the Two Rules
of the Court.

/ OF cham Der and attendants 10 hef MbJesty
/ the Queen is recruited among the greatest
names of the English nobility. The per-
sOnality Of those ladies is not of sufficient
interest to make me speak of them at any
great length. The Queen delights to sur
round herself with widows who. like her
sell, have lost all enthusiasm and interest
of lie and nourish their minds on daily
triyialities. Governed solely by the rigid
rule Of propriety, blindly respecting cur
rent preiudices for the established order
of things and for the prestige of royalty,
they imagine they cannot entertain enough
contempt for the new ideas around them
and for all those things they delighted in
doing themselves when they were some
fifty years younger. Hypocrisy and pro-
priety constitute their dogma. That
freezing English word proper" legitl-
matzes every form Of routine, prejudice,
egOtism and intolerance; it is an argu-
ment TO which every one must yield
and which only the eccentric dare call in
question.
The Mistress Of the Robes, whose duties
correspond with those of the Chamberlain,
possesses the highest dignity the govern
ment alone can confer on her; this charge
is fulfilled at present by the Countess
DOwager of ROxburghe, an intimate friend
OF the Queen. Then come the ladies OF the
chamber, who are In reality ladies of honor
and companions to her Majesty.
ROYAL FAVORITEs.
Among the favOrites may be mentioned
the Marchloness of Ely, the Duchess OF
AthOie always dOwagers, Of cOurse-and
Lady Jane Churchill. These ladies', OF
pr0yerbial discretion, possess almOstevery
quality save petty personal whims.
The Queen has special affection for the
MarchiOness Of Ely. Desiring to impress
ON her children that respect for her whom
she regards as her dearest friend, she has
commanded that none of the princes or
princesses must remain seated in pres
ence of this noble lady. so long as the lady
herself remains standing. This injunc-
tiOn was deemed necessary, as several OF
the princes are very lll-bred. 70 give an
example: They We're accustomed, in lmi-
tatiOn of their father, TO address MIR.
Brown familiarity as Brown when they
saw him every morning. Prince Albert
could, of course, allow himself that IA
miliarIty, but deeming 1t improper on the
part of his children, be commanded
them to call the gentleman MIR. Brown,
under the penalty of being Immediately
sent back to bed for the day. The next
morning, at breakfast, the Princess Louise,
out: s'Good morning, Brown" and i'm
mediately added, cor rather, good even
ing, Brown, for / am going to bed now"
And she went.
But 10 return to the MarchiOness of Ely.
With the Queen, she is as wheedling as a
pet cat; but her seventies towards the
little Irregularities Of the world ana the
natural weakness of society take the form
of imprecatlOns which are tempered only
--l,, Fr HoxF "a
gTessOTs.
The Duchess of Athole, a Scotch lady,
has been able to acquire great influence
over her Majesty; she delights especially
in palace intrigues. 1t is owing 10
her Vaccinations that the Duchess OF Bed
ford was recently compelled to leave the
court, and that, tramping on these same
prOprieties which she so hypocritically
hOnors in words, new Black Rod was
appointed in the place of old Gen. hnOllys
without awaiting the latteTs death, al
though he had only few days to live.
The principal functions of the Black
Rod consists IN making three consecutive
bows, at a few PAGES apart, While walking
backwards, when the Queen, or her rep
resentative, is about to read the opening
speech Of Parliament. The brave Old
General, a prey to age and the govt, could
no longer get over the second bow. The
salary of $4,000 year.
The Queen is equally fond Of the charm
ing Lady Jane Churchill, distinguished
person, and not so respectable on the score
of age as the rest Of the more or less de-
crepit ladies' who form the favorite
| encourage Of her Majesty.
! These guardians Of the throne, olsen
| chanted with life, pour into the ears of the
! Queen a multitude of stories perverted
I hnfV urfp ot fDr n
not see the society Of the present save
through the eyes OF the past; but, curious
enough, the Queens vision is quite clear.
She is not readily duped, and she is gen.
/ orally found to be quite well Informed, al
though one cannot find out how she came
/ by her knowledge.
cannot help saying few words about
| her faithful friend and counsellor, the
4 Duke OF Richmond, whom sbe highly
esteems. In society the Duke and the
/ Duchess have little Importance; they
seem 10 disdain occupying place in it;
they contribute nothing towards IL. they
! have no salon. and live apart from society
] altogether. Perhaps they feel themselves
! somewhat Old-tashiOned.
THE RABELAIs OF THE COURT.
Lord TorringtOn, formerly Governor OF
| CevlOn, who died the other day, was the
reporter of all the scandalous tittle-tattle
/ OF Great Britain, ana IN narrating II 20
/ her Majesty he always embellished II with
| Rabelasian expressions. This old liber-
tine fairly adored ticklish conversations
when talking he always gave one the feel
/ ing that one experiences on seeing "A man
walking on tight rope by having his lis
/ teners In continual dread Of seeing him
tumble into some filthy Rabeasian pud-
| die. Those who were accustomed TO hear
him were always aching with fear OF the
nOisome sewer toward which be was lead
ing them; and, although he was thor
oughly detested at bottom, he was toll
Grated on account of his former friend
ship for Prince Albert. Some of the old
| dOwagers shuddered with horror at his
| conversations and expressions, though,
perhaps, they secretly chuckled at them.
The perpetual menace Of OversteppIng the
bounds that made Lord Torrington's con-
yersatiOns a terror TO all was the funny
characteristics OF the court. Nobody will
ever be permitted to initiate him.
But the Queen detests these delicious
little imprudences. Her fayorite CONVEX.
sations are those that turn on sombre and
lugubrious subjects. tortures that make
one shudder, frightful diseases. awful
deaths, funerals and everything that
transports the mind into the domain of
the horrible. There are too many people
possessed Of these curious tastes, and who
take delight in the reoitals Of CHASTITY muir.