The record-union., 1898-01-25

example of her uncles, King George ~.
and King William ", who had identi-
fed themselves with one or the other
of the political parties of the day to
such an extent that mere Ministerial
defeat in either Parliament or at the
general elections developed into the
proportions of a popular slap In the
face to the sovereign, to the detriment
of the dignity and influence of the
crown. Indeed, at no time in English
history had the prestige of the throne
reached so low an ebb as at the time
of Queen Victorias accession. A mere
girl at the time, she at first placed her
self too unreservedly in the hands Of
the earliest Of her Premiers, Lord Mel
i bourne, whom she grew to look upon
as her political mentor, and for time
it seemed as if the errors of the pre-
vious reigns were about to be continu-
ed. But her marriage brought about
a beneficial change in this respect. For
Prince Albert, in spite of his youth,
was, perhaps, just because he happen
ed to be a foreigner able to take a
clearer and more independent view OF
the situation than any Englishman,
of the strength. influence and prestige
of constitutional monarchy in Great
Britain lay in its absolute impartiaiity
as far as the political parties were con-
cerned. From that time forth Queen
Victoria kept concealed from puoilc
view her true sentiments with regard
to the platforms of the day. True, she
may sometimes have manifested d
greater degree of personal liking -foc
one statesman than another, and there
is no doubt that during the latter por-
tion of the career of Lord Beaconsneld
he held a higher place il her affections
and friendship than his political oppo
nent, Mr.. Gladstone. But that did lot
in any way mean that her majesty pre-
ferred the Conservatives to the Liber-
ais, nor was it interpreted as such,
since her son-in-law, the Marquis OF
Lorne, sat in the House of Commons
on the Liberal benches, and the hus-
| band of her grand daughter, the Duke
of Fife, of whom she was always par
ticularly fond, was likewise a Liberal.
while to-day there is reason to believe
that Lord Rosebery is far more persona
grata at Windsor and Osborne than
Lord Salisbury
A REVELATION OF THE QUEEN 5
POLITICS.
There were, to be sure, speculations
about the Queens political preferences.
But nothing positive was known about
the matter until the other day, wheE
the nation was startled to find .hat
Lord Tennyson's life of his father, the
greatest poet of the Victorian reign,
contained not one, but several private
letters of her majesty bearing her sig
nature and addressed to the bard, in
which she assailed in the strongest
manner possible, not only Mr.. Glad
stone, but his policy, especially with re
gard TO Ireland, in fact SO vehement
was she about the matter that it is
difficult to conceive how she would
ever have been able to bring herself
to give the royal sanction to the Home
Rule bill had it passed the House Of
Lords Until the publication of this
book no one knew exactly how the
Queen viewed Mr.. Gladstone's irish
policy. There were many rumors on
the subject. But there was absolutely
nothing decided on the subject, and un-
der the circumstances it is impossible
TO avoid q feeling of regret that the
tiality of near three-score years should
have been impaired at SO late period
in the day by what can only be re-
garded as the unfortunate indiscretion
of b,ographer since her majesty 5
conduct throughout her entire raign
since 1910 shows how anxious she IS to
avoid giving any public manifestation
whatever concerning her party prefer
ences.
Equally careful has the Prince of
Wales been in this particular since he
attained his majority, and to this day
rot even those who are his most con-
slant associates have the slightest idea
as to whether his preferences are for
the Conservative, the Liberal or the
Unionist platform. In conversation
which / had in the spring Of 1884 with
Charles Stewart Parnell, the latter on
more than one occasion insisted that
the Prince was very favorably disposed
toward Home Rule for Ireland, furnish
ing me with what he held to be con-
elusive proof about the matter, and
believe that the chats which the Prince