Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-01-06
HE is NEAR THE QUEEN.
ARDUOUS DUTIES OF VlCIORlA'S
PRIVATE SECRETARY.

ST. Henry, Ponsonby Has Plenty of Hard
Work to Dn-NevertheIess He sOceupie s
High Position in England and Meets
Many Great Men of the World.
Sir Henry Ponsonby is private secretary
to the queen. He is of noble blood on bot h
sides, being a 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 q distin-
guished soldier, "A guSrdsman, a Crimean
hero and lieutenant general in the army
lie entered the army when only seventeen,
and when little more than n boy was ap.
pointed aid-de-camp to the lord lieutenant
OF Ireland, who in those days was more
like monarch than an official
At the age of tweuty-fOur he became pri-
waite secretary TO Lord Clarendon. one of
the most distinguished Of Irish viceroys.
and he did 50 we'll that he kept his position
under Lord st. German and ord Carlisle
On the death of Sir Theodore Martin. in
1870, the queen sent for him and offered
him the private secretaryship He was
then torty-tiVe, six years younger than the
queen. From that time until now
twenty-One ycars-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 payma>tcr 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 queen S
benefactions, which amount TO an immense
sum in the year. You can hardly pick up
newspaper in England without dropping
on some such paragraph as this
't'Iia To- 1.l -,
eral Sir II. f. Pousonhy, her annual sub
scription of fifty pounds to the Army and
Navy Pensioners Employment society, of
which her majesty is patron"
THE sECEETARY's DUTIES.
In addition to these regular subscrip-
tiuns there are innumerabie miscellaneous
gifts made in the same way. If married
woman in any part of the empire gives
birth TO triplcts or any larger number of
children all at once, and the fact is duly
certified, the mother receives by first mail
a letter from Sir Henry Ponsonby, inclos-
ing golden sovereign for each child, with
the queens good wishes for her new sub
jects.
If an explosion takes place in mine in
the north Of England and II lot of men are
killed, the next morning arrives a tele-
gram or letter from Sir Henry Pousouby
conveying the queens condolences TO the
widows and orphans, and 900 toward
fund for their relief
\ serious part OF his duty indeed, con
siSts of ascertaiuiug whether these appeals
to the queens sympathy are genuine, and
preventing h'r from "''hS imposed upon.
',iie away i.'N @" 'te Hi''Aiin' DIS dat qul
''t" N''' an" al "'','"e'''NS cases or hen-
y hlN"IS "Vr"e' 'tIlFr' WIN the small
sum "a Ie''H money l''ioNe", Is jhe EARL
- ar 'd''t' ga S"'tvNi tHS HfsC Ddiih 10
" oiee.ih- h''fi. bdt cor 'uat very rea-
-''I II u ''' 'i1 more necessary LOT nun to
OG pI"i"i' ',u'' S'''th'H| u MS inquiries.
IA al Su'h ih7t'erN - THESE sir Henry
f"HS"H"N - Ohe queen : GiFeCt ana only
t"FiScf.
WHEN VICTORIA BEHAVED FoOLISuLY.
On two or three occasions the queen has
behaved SO foo.ishly or 80 wrongheadedly,
that people have wondered whether she
was IN her right mind and what sort of
lfl"'s she ht" a'ont her \ good many
years ago the royal yacht, whiie crossing
'he 'o"leh0 nj Ihe fa'e OF seventeen knots
an ho"r' win 'he Guee" on board, cut
down a Sai'ln% o'"t ana drowned four per
Sons HciG"i"- one OF Two women. The
Prince Oh L'l"'"-'"' Il near reittlNe OF the
queen, was III toiIilli''iu, auG lhcTe was Sc
nous talk "i having him tried for man
slaughter, and very angry feeling about
the whole affair.
Clearly the proper thing for the queen to
do was TO express sympathy with the rela-
tVes OF the licensed, TO oher compensa-
non for the boat, and above all things to
give every facility FOR inquiry as to who
was 10 "iaE!c Fui She yielded to some bad
ADVICE ana ga the wrong thing in every
way. she TOOK no notice Of the sufferers
10y the aCc.nrut, bnt she sent handsome
present 10 tho Prince OF l.eIniugen for TAX
ing SucH good care OF her anu her yacht,
anu most ioo!sh 81 an, she allowed him
TO refuse 10 -Ive evidence at the cOroner's