The Wichita daily eagle., 1897-12-11
What Queen Victoria Reads.

/
Now that the Queen of England. Ike he,
grandfather, George ILL., suffers from fail
ing eyesight, two persons In her household
have come to possess more and more i'm
portance. These are the '1ectrices." OF
readers. employed by the nation TO save
what remains of her Majesty's vision. The
late Lord Beaconsfield once humorousiy
| described the two lectrices as ''the Queens
pair Of spectacles." For many years
Fraulein Bauer and Mile. Norele have held
these places, the Queen only needing their
| services for German and French, as her
English Is read to her by her ladies in
waiting or maids Of honor.
| Through the courtesy OF the Queens pri-
cate secretary, a chat was recently obtain
ed by the London Queen with both these
| ladies' regarding the tastes of their MS
tress in literature. Mile. Norele, a spright-
iy and charming French woman, was cas-
| lily enough induced to speak.
Her Majesty" she declared, "reads very
little of the lighter side Of our literature,
unless, indeed, one excepts the various Pc
riodicals which are sent marked for peru
sal from the secretary's Office. She is espe-
ciaaly fond of the older authors works,
Xavier de Maistre's, Victor Hugo's, and
portions Of BalZac's, for instance. / think
that the story she likes best in all French
literature in is De Aaistre's touching
Lepreux de Ia Cite d'Aoste.' / have read
it to her times without number. the beautI-
pul pathos OF the tale appearing to soothe
her in remarkable manner.
"Of all the moderns really believe that
Her Majesty holds NJ. Alphonse Daudet
alone admirable. She thinks his satire too
mordant, though. and prefers the delicious
Letters from Ny Mill in Provence and
'Trente Ans de Paris to be better known
books. You will be. perhaps. astonished
to learn that the Queen likes Henri Muir
ger; and many time have we laughed
together over the graceless scamps of the
Vie de Boheme.' Last year we read Fen
eloT's 'TelemaHie' from cover to cover.
Her Majesty declared that the work
brought back her life's happiest periods
her ow nchildhood's days in Kensington
Palace. and the days in which she taught
her children their French.
"a very important branch of my work
consists in reading the many letters re-
ceived daily by the Queen from members
of her family and intimate friends. Nearly
all OF these are either in German or
French. Many Of the Queens Juvenile de-
scendants are accustomed to send her long
weekly accounts-perfect diaries, in fact
of their doings and opinions"
-
Fralein Bauer was less communicative
than her colleagues. She comes of a fam
lily which has served the Queens German
ancestors in many capacities for genera
lions back.
The Queen" she says. "reads consider
ably in modern German literature. She
Is even fond of the humorous journals
and subscribes to all the principal maga-
zines. Her German secretary, Herr Maui
rice Muther. carefully watches for all
newspaper articles which may interest her.
and sends them marked for reading. 1
think that Schiller is her Majesty's favorite
German poet, but she Is also very fond of
Goethe. Heine she dislikes intensely.
have heard her quote the Prince Consort
to the effect that 'Heiue's genius had the
phosphorescent light of decay
She likes historical novels. particularly
Lsube's Der Deutsche Krieg,' and Schef-
fePs 'Ekkehard' This taste for historical
fiction, believe. follows the Queen into
other languages She admires Walter Scott
Felix Dahn and Freytag are two more
favorites.
Reading Her Majesty's velominous Ger
man correspondence forms a very large
portion of my duty
The Hon. Emily McNeill, who, in her
capacity of maid of honor to the Queen,
has read extensively to Her Majesty IN
English, was kind enough to add a few
words to those of the lectrices. 'The
Queens tastes in English literature" she
said, "are catholic. She reads almost ev
cry new book which is described to her
as possessing real merit. For years she
took Lord Beaconsfield's opinion largely
on the subject, but since the great pre-
mier's death, her advisers are many
1.-The Queen Is never tired of re-reading
Shakespeare, Scott and Dickens. Recently
she has shown a sympathetic feeling for
Milton, and has been perus:ng the blind
poets works. Lord Ternyson is, however,
her favorite. There is an utterly erroneous
opinion abroad that she greatly dislikes Mr.
Swinburne. On the contrary, she has a re-
markable liking for 'Atalanta in Calydon'
and others OF Swinburne's poems Of late |
she has been reading Mr. Kipling and ex-
presses admiration for his vigor and keen |
insight into human nature. She told a |
friend that Kipling had shown her empire |
to her in the most realistic manner
with her fondness for historical fiction. |
she evinces much interest in the new school |
IF historical fiction. The Celtic Renascence |
,lso attracts her. for she sympathizes with |
he Gael to a remarkable extent, and Is
1rouder, I verify believe, Of her kinship /
% the Stuarts than OF her resent from the |
Iuelphs."