The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1893-01-19


like she is doing this more for the sak'
4 of others than to please herself. She ma.
feel that the Younger members of he
family ought to have little Amusement
occasionally, and that while they live
with her they cannot get it without hel
permission.
There is Princess Beatrice, who is al.
wars with the queen and whose children
are there quite as much rs the Duke Of
Connaught's children, who are also
great deal With their grand mother. Alto
gether there. are n great many young
folks about, so that the queen may natu-
raIly have felt it was in some sense her
duty to modify the austere seclusion in
| which she has lived since the death oil
the prince consort.
The queen herself, moreover, is not at
all Of that broodng and morose DISPOSE
ton which many people attribute to her
She is naturally of cheerful ,tempera-
ment-no one has more thorough en-
oyment in lively or amusing converse
ton. That was always said to he one OF
the reasons why she first took SO strong a
personal liking to Ben amin Disraeli, who
| told her lively stories of what was going
on in society and related them with that
drvness and gravity which everybody
| found irresistible.
She can be serious enough upon proper
occasions, as most people who have to
transact business with her find out, but
she can also unbcnd. Then she is known
to be one Of the most charming women in
the world, as we'll she may be, considering
the enormous range Of her knowledge, her
experience and the vigorof her intellectual
| faculties.
The operatic and dramatic perform
ances given before her last year indicated
her desire to bring herself more in con-
| tact with the world, but the most striking
|
tableaux vivants which Princess Beatrice
has been the prime means of getting up
at Osborne during the last ten days.
This is the time of year at which the
queen has hitherto avoided anything
approacling social entertainments. 1t is
associated with her heaviest bercave-
mcnts. Seldom, indeed, have strangers
entered her household until the Christ
mas and New Year celebrations have
been ill over This is the first year i'll
which she has made any signal departure
from her custom.
The performances which have taken
place at Osborne House were not given
merely for the benefit of her own family
but strangers were invited, some Of them
entirely unknown, except by their posi-.
tions or names, to her majesty. On Wednes'
| day last, for nstance, great number Of
residents of the Isle of Wight were honor.
ed with invitations, and | dare say, some
| of them will never cease to talk OF the
wonderful tablcaux wants in which the
chief parts were played by the Duke Of
Connaught, Princess Louise, Princess Be-
atrice and their children.
What sight for these heavy, respecta,
bic provincials to see Arthur, Duke Of
Connaught, playing King Alfred in the
neatherd's hut and being roundly scolded
for allowing the cakes to get burned. The
descriptions Of these wondrous things will
keep many an Isle of Wight home quite
fashionable for at least twelve month tC
come.
Then all the naval officers who hap
pened to be near at hand were hidden to
the show. 1t cannot, therefore, be said
that the queen is selfish in her enjoy
ments. She treated her neighbors with
true old English hospitality, just as the
Prince of Wales treats his at Sandring-
ham. There was a very b0unteOus sup
per spread IN the dining ROOM anu, neeu-
less to say, all the arrangements were OF
the most perfect kind
AS for the actual performances, lady
who was present informs me they could
not have been more beautifully rendered
even if the actors and actresses had been
taken from the real stage. The Duke Of
Connaught and Princess Beatrice won
especially loud praises, the queen applaud
ing most heartily. Now that the ice is
fairly broken it is hoped the queen may
do little more to encourage the regular
drama, which stands sorcly in need OF a
little FLIP from some quarter or other.