The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-06-29
QUEEN VICTORIA.
She Has Borne Burden Which Has
Made Lines of Care.
Harper's Bazaar.

HarperS Bazaar.
No portrait of Queen Victoria, it has been
said is satisfactory 10 those who know her
we'll. The likeness may be perfect, but the
expression is too sad too melancholy, and
gives no idea of the brightness with which
her face can light up IN private lire Wnen
free from public cares. But what other eX-
preston than that of sadnesS-the sadness
of one who has a burden almost too great
to bear can be expected in the portraits
of a W. IAN who for sixty years has been
ruler over one-dfth of the globe and the
sovereign of 300,0000O0 of souls? The hrst
remark she made when, a mere girl, she
was informed of her accession to the throne
of Britain was, My Lord Archbishop, pray
for mel and the sense OF responsibility
which this first preSentiment OF the duties
which her lot called upon her to perform
must have deepened as the sphere of her
influence widened, as the rush of the mod
ern spirit of change increased, bringing
ever new problems to be solved, as years
with all their memories passed over her
head. The influence of Queen Victoria has
been twofold. She has never ceased TO be
a queen, with a strong natural sense or
her own claims and the authority OF her
position; she has never ceased TO be a good
woman, whose domestic virtues have given
her a hold on the hearts of her people that
no one in the long line of her predecessors
ever possessed. This mixture of dignity
and simplicity has characterized her from
her first appearance. No one could be more
possessed, more regal in bearing, than
the girl who faced her first privy council
no one could be more natural more unat-
fected, than the same girl, who, when the
ceremony was over flung herself into her
mothers arms and burst into tears. on
the great day of the coronation her voice
was heard clear and steady as she took the
oath to her people; nothing could be more
stately than the grace with which she re-
ceived the homage of her subjects Yet
when poor old Lord Role, then between
eighty and ninety years of age; stumbled
and fell on the steps of the throne, her
childitke question to the great state ofh-
GERS who surrounded her was, May not
get up and meet him?"
lsaVs1 rs1 Cn hos - ar
of Europe rearranged; she has seen king
domS fall and empires arise; she has seen
in her own immediate dominions greater
changes than those of all previous GEN.
turtles, changes in the whole current OF
mems thoughts, in religion, in literature.
and in art, and with her natural quick intel
ligence, with her long training under sue
cesSion of statesmen of all shades or opln-
ion, she has always Ito use a common
phrase which, like all common phrases. Is
highly expressive), kept up with the pro-
cesSion' of the world. In public life she IS
the best informed person in her empire as
to the progress of political events and the
current of political opinion at home and
abroad and in private life she has united
hard thinking and love of art. The work
of a sovereign, such as she has been called
on to do is never-ending. Every day, every
hour, has its task, which can only be ac-
companied by a systematic arrangement Of
every moment of time. In these royal du-
ties. in the supreme courtesy or punctu-
atty, she has never failed, and when this
is remembered, it is only mean spirit that
can object to her not taking, or late years,
a more prominent part in the social life
or England A sovereign who takes such
part is apt to become a partisan and be
influenced by the factions of the court,
and, indeed before Victoria's reign, every
sovereign was partisan, while she has al
ways been loyal to her ministers, to her
Parliament and to her people.