The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1897-06-25

of heaven as the throne or Victoria.
From what | know of her habits she
reads the Bible more than she does
Shakespeare. She admires the hymns
of Horatio Bonar more than she does
Byron's "Corsair. She has not know
ingly admitted into her presence a cor
rupt man or dissolute woman. To very
distinguished novelists and very cele-
brated prima donnas she has declined
reception because they were immoral.
All the coming centuries of time can
not revoke the advantages OF having
had 60 years of Christian womanhood
enthroned in the palaces of England.
Compare her court surroundings with
what were the court surroundings in
the time of Henry VIII, or what were
the court surroundings in the time OF
| Napoleon, in the time of Louis XVI,
in the times of men and women whose
names may not be mentioned in decent
society. Alas! for the revelries, and the
more than Herodian dances, and the
scenes from which the veil must not be
lifted. You need, however, in order to
appreciate the purity and virtuous
splendor Of Victoria g reign to contrast
it somewhat with the gehennas and
the pandemoniums of many. of the
throne rooms of the past and some of
the thronerooms of the present. l call
the roll of the queens Of the earth, not
that l would have them come up or
come back, but that may make them
the background of a picture in which l
can better present the present septuage-
marian, so soon to be an octogenarian,
now on the throne of England, her ex.
ample so thoroughly on the right side
that all the scandal mongers in all the
nations in six decades have not been
able to manufacture an evil suspicion
in regard to her that could be made to
stick: Maria of Portugal, Isabella aud
Eleanor and Joanna of Spain, Cattle
rine of Russia, Mary of Scotland, Maria
Theresa of Germany, Marie Antoinette
of France and all the queens of Eng
land, as Miss Strickland has put them
before us in her charming 10 volumes,
and while some queen may surpass our
modern queen in learning, and another
in attractiveness of feature, and anoth-
er in gracefulness of form, and another
in romance of history, Victoria surpass.
es them all in nobility and grandeur
and thoroughness Of Christian charac
ter. hail her, the Christian daughter
the Christian wife, the Christian moth
er, the Christian queen, and let the
church of God and all benign and gra-
cious institutions the world over cry
out, as they come with music and ban
nered host, and million voiced huzza,
and the benedictions of earth and heav
en-, "What wilt thou, Queen Esther"
A Noble Life.
Another thing l call to your attention
in this illustrious woman's career is
that she is a specimen of high life I'M
corrupted. Would she have lived to Gel
citrate the sixtieth anniversary of her
coronation and the seventy eighth ami
versary Of her birthday, had she not
been an example of good principles and
good habits? While there have been bad
men and women in exalted station and
hum BILE station who have carried their
vices clear on into the seventies and
eighties and even the nineties of their
lifetime, such persons are very rare. |
The majority of the vicious die in their
thirties and fewer reach the forties, and |
they are exceedingly scarce in the fifties. |
has not been the character
istic of the most of those who have |
reached high places in that or this
In many cases their wealth
leads them into indulgences, or their
honors make them reckless, or their OPP
portunities of doing wrong are multi
piled into the overwhelming, and it is
as true now as when the Bible first pre-
sented it, 1.-THE wicked live not out half
heir days" Longevity is not a positive
proof of goodness, but it is prima facie
evidence in that direction. A loose life
mas killed hundreds of eminent Ameri-
cans. A loose life is now killing hun
lreds of eminent Americans and Euro
oeans. The doctors are very kind and
The certificate given after the distin-
,uished man of dissipation is dead,
lays, died of congestion of the BRAIN"
although it was delirium tremens, or
Died of cirrhosis of the liver" al
hough it was round of libertinism,
II "Died of heart failure" although it
vas the vengeance of outraged law that
lew him. Thanks, doctor, for you are
light in saving the feelings of the bereft
household by not being more specific.
look, all ye who are in high places of
he earth, and see one who has been piled
y all the temptations which wealth
nd honor and the secret place of pal
ces could produce, and yet next Tues
ay she will ride along in the presence
f 100000 people, if they can get
within sight of her chariot, in vigor-
us old age, no more hurt by the splen-
ors that have surrounded her for rs
ears than is the plain country woman
ONE down from her mountain home in
n oxcart to attend the Saturday mar
citing. !
The temptations of social life among {
be successful classes have been so great 6
hat every winter is holocaust of hu- {
ian nerves, and the beaches of this s
1ssing sea of high life are constantly l
,rewn with physical and mental and
loral shipwreck. Beware, all We sue I
aSsful pDac ToEa a GOOD looiy ok ba