The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-12-13
QUEEN vIoToRI AS SECRETARY.
Sir Henry Ponsonby Has Plenty of
Hard Work to Do.

Il
Sir Henry Ponsonby Has Plenty of
Hard Work to Do.
Letter in Philadelphia Tines
Sir Henry Ponsonby is private secretary
to the queen. He is Of noble blood on both
sides. being grandson of the Earl of Bess-
borough and OF Lord Bathurst, and con-
nected in various ways with half the great
families Of England. Then, he is a dis
tinguished soldier. guardsman, a Crimean
hero and lieutenant general in the army.
de entered the army when only II, and
when little more than boy was appointed
aide-de-camp to the lord lieutenant of Ire
land, who. in those days, was moro like a
monarch than an official.
At the age of "a be became private secre-
tarY to Lord Clarendon, one of the most
distinguished CT Irish viceroys, and he did
so well that he kept his position under Lord
st. German and Lord Carlisle. On the
death OF Sir Theodore Martin, In 1870, the
queen sent for him and offered him the
private seoretaryship. He was then 10, six
years younger than the queen. From that
time until now-twenty-one years-he has
been her right-hand man, and one Of the
best known, though least seen, men in her
domains. Not only Is he the paymaster Of
all those officials. male and female, who
are not on the regular pay sheets Of the
nation, but he is also the sole channel Of the
queens benefactions. which amount to an
immense sum in the year. You can hardly
pick up a newspaper 10 England without
dropping on some such paragraph as this:
'Tbe queen has forwarded, through Gen.
Sir Fl. r. Ponsonby, her annual subscription
of ESQ to the Army and Navy Pensioners
Employment Society, Of which her majesty
is patron"
In addition to these regular subscriptions,
there are innumerable miscellaneous gifts
made In the same way. II a married woman
in any part of the empire gives birth TO
trfplets or any larger number OF children
all at once, and the fact is duly certified,
the mother receives by first mail letter
from Sir Henry Ponsonby, inclosing a
golden sovereign for each child. with the
queens good wishes for her new subtects
II an explosion takes place IN mine In the
north of England, and q lot OF men are
killed, the next morning arrives a telegram
or letter from Sir Henry Ponsonby convey
ingI the queens coincidence to the widows
and orphans, and 2100 toward fund for
their relief.
A serious part of his duty, indeed, CON
sists Of ascertaining whether these appeals
60 the queens sympathy are genuine, and
preventing her from being imposed upon &.
She always acts on the maxim, bis dat qui
otto dat, and In numberless cases Sir
Henry's kindly worded letter, with the
small sum OF ready money inclosed, Is the
earliest alienation OF sorrow the first balm
Of e bleeding heart. But for that very
reason it Is all the more necessary for him
to be prompt and searching in his inquiries.
In all such matters as these Sir Henry
Ponsonby Is the queen's direct and only adj
wiser.
On two or three occasions the queen has
behaved so foolishly. or 80 wrongheadedly,
that people have wondered whether she was
IN her right mind, aud what sort Of idiots
she had about her. A good many years
ago the royal yacht, while crossing the
Solent at the rate of seventeen knots an
hour, with the queen on board, cut down
a sailing boat and dro Hned four persons,
including one or two women. The Prince
Of Leiningen, a near relative OF the queen,
was in command, aud there was serious talk
of having him tried for manslaughter, and
very angry feeling about the whole affair.
Clearly the proper thing for the queen to
do was to express sympathy with the relnt-
tives of the deceased, to offer oompen satton
for the boat and, above all things, to give
every facility for inquiry as to who was TO
blame. But she yielded to some bad ad-
vice. and did the wrong thing in every way.
She took no notice of tho sufferers by the
to the Prince of Leiningen for taking such
good care Of her and her yacht, and, most
foolish Of all, she allowed him TO refuse to
give evidence at the ooroner's inquest on
the absurd ground that he was an officer OF
the navy.
This all came OF her listening to courtiers
and foreigners instead of consulting an ex-
perienced and level-headed man Of affair 8
like Sir Henry Ponsonby.
~kv a.
Is, after all, little better than gilded slavery.
He has a snug house allotted to him within
the precincts of st. James palace, whore his
wife and family live, and he also has a
separate establishments at Windsor castle.
But wherever the queen Is whether in Lon
don or at Osborne or at Balmoral or on the
continent, he has 10 be, and from early
morning until late at nighthe Is at her beck
and call. The queen is very hard warker,
with very methodical habits, and she never
spares any Of her employees. She is an early
riser and often before breakfast Sir Henry
Ponsonby is sent for to 60 through the
letters that have arrived by the first mail
or by special messenger, and by 10 O'Clock
the regular business of the day Is In full
swing, the queen looking into everything
herself asking innumerable questions, re-
Quiring minute explanations of every sub
feet, often having tbs leading newspapers
READ aIOUu 70 nor, anu discussing 0acn lVeIu
of her huge correspondence 10 q sharp,
peremptory way.
The whole morning Is thus occupied, with
the result that, while the queen goes for a
krive or attends some public function in the
afternoon, Sir Henry Ponsonby is hard at
work 10 bis office, with bevy Of trained
clerks, dispatching letters or other commu-
nications. preparing replies to addresses and
getting rid Of the load Of business piled up
\ A.
such as are strictly official or strictly do
nestle, goes through him. He also con.
ducts all the confidential relations between
the queen and the ministers or other great
officers Of state, up to the point where thew
can be taken over by departmental officials,
and he is largely employed, especially OF
late years, in the queens family affair.