The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-05-23
WOMAN, QUEEN. EMPRESS.

Tomorrow, throughout the British
Empire, and in a mass of places outside
the British Empire, the anniversary of
the birth of Queen Victoria will be cell
ebrated Born In 1919, she completes
her eighty-frst year Not only is she
the oldest reigning monarch in Europe,
but she has reigned longer than any
previous monarch, this being the sixty
third year since she first took up the
orb and sceptre.
SO remarkable has been her career
so great a place has this royal lady fill
ed in the world, that it is needless to
recapitulate either the events of her
reign, or the virtues by which she has
won her way not only into the hearts
of her subjects, but into the hearts of
countless millions who owe her no allie
glance. Victoria" is a household word
in republican homes, as in the homes
of the most ardent monarchist.
This year, which must, alas, be among
the few remaining to the Queen, for she
has passed the four-score allotted by
the psalmist, has been one of anxiety to
the monarch. Both her natural inclina-
ton and her years tend to a love of
peace. But events are sterner than
natural inclinations and however much
the Queen may have desired peace, it
was impossible for the protection of the
loyal subjects in South Africa, the
preservation of the millions of dark
skinned inhabitants of the southern con-
tinent and the integrity of the British
Empire to avoid war, and war came.
The fact that the war was not sue
cessful at the outset was a source of
sorrow and anxiety to the aged Queen,
but she had supreme faith in her
cOuntrymen, and called upon their pat
riotism to aid her in her difficulties.
This was speedily displayed, and from
all ranks in the mother country and
from the numerous colonies, men
sprang forward to assist in securing the
safety of the Empire. The very reverses
have served to strengthen the ties Of
loyalty. From the frozen north and the
torrid south men have gone forth will
lingly to support the honor of their flag,
and of their Queen. The merits of the
struggle are not fully understood at the
present, but time will show that the
cause was truly a good and great one
and that it was and is based on a loft
Ter plane of craftsmanship and of civil
lization than many are willing to give
credit for now.
But in thinking of the Queen it is
not so much the regal and imperial at
tributes that appeal to those who are
not her subjects it is the beauty of her
domestic life, her love for her family
her motherliness, which are her striking
attributes. Her example as a woman
and a mother have been of incalculable
benefit, not only to her own people, but
to others. They have dignifed the
crown and added lustre to the imperial
purple. 1t is the woman who has eIe-
waited the monarch, not the monarchial
attributes which have elevated the
woman. That is the secret of Queen
Victoria's great position in this world
and the promise of her undying fame
in the annals of time, till there shall
be no more time.
If one looks back and considers what
the Queen sprang from, and what the
manners of her early time were. one
can only wonder at her purity, goodness
and gentleness. To read the history of
the four Georges as Thackery limned
them, or to take the memoirs of dozens
of prominent men and women about
those courts, is by no means an elevat-
ing pursuit. But like the lady in Co
mus she stands a Parthenia mid the
rout. But she did more than merely
keep her own robes unsulied She re-
formed a dissolute court, and thus acted
upon a nation. She elevated the lives
of those about her, and through them
elevated the whole tone of the social
fabric. 1t is no wonder that English
men sing God Save the Queen" with
fervOr, and no wonder that people of
varied nationalities join with them in
their prayer. Her power RAY be as
Tennyson sang:
Broad based upon her peoples will
And comprised by the invioate sea, +"
but her beauty of character and her
womanliness are her own, and to these
there is no compass but the limits Of
the world and the memory of man.