The gold leaf., 1901-02-07
VICTORIA'S TRAITS.
AN EX-AT1ACHE WRITES OF HER
CHARACTERISTICS.

She Out,ived All the Friends Of Her Youth.
and Happiness Went With Them-Her
Sense Of the Ludicrous-She Almost
Missed the Throne-Reminiscence
Although it is impossible to say that
Queen Victoria outlived her usefulness, yet
she may be said to have outlived her hap
piness. During her long and eventful
reign-almost the longest on record and ex-
tending considerably over half a century
she had seen all her oldest friends and &C
quaintances as well as numerous members
of her immediate family disappear into the
grave, until at last she felt herself quite
alone in the world. Not a single one of her
former associates to whom she could un
burden her mind, discuss the earlier events
of her reign, or with whom she could enjoy
congenial intercourse, was left.
Mamma is so entirely alone" exclaimed
her daughter, the Princess Christian, in my
hearing one day. You can't imagine how
sad it is for her. We all belong to young
er generation and have different thoughts
and sentiments. many of which she can
neither understand nor appreciate, Every
one of her contemporaries and friends has
passed away, and with them have vanisle ed
all her old time associations. There is no
one remaining to whom she can really talk
about matters"
The Queens Sense of the Ludicrous.
This remark of Princess Christian goes
far toward explaining the unhappy and
even morose expression that pervaded the
queens features during the last 80 years of
her reign, save when something extraOr
dinary occurred to excite her keen sense of
the ludicrous. On such occasions us these
I 4
and even violence that would have com
pletely staggered those who had never seen
her without that half sad, half sour droop
of the corners Of her mouth.
l remem Der especially one where she
laughed SO much that she almost had fit
of apopleXy in consequence The incident
which excited her visibility was the misad
venture of a photographer who had been
summoned from London to Windsor to
take pictures Of her ma jesty and of her
children 1t was the first time in his life
that the man had ever found himself in the
presence of royalty, and lie was very nerv
GUS. So great indeed was his trel i liitiot.
that on putting his hand beneath the clotl.
for the purpose Of getting the right focus
he suddenly upset the camera The sigh
of the latter with its three legs sticking up
into the air, while the frightened photog
rapher stood stock still, well nigh pertifieG
with fear and with the black cloth still
hanging over his head and face, struck botl
the queen and Prince Leopold, duke of Al
bany, as SO intensely funny that they botl.
burst into peals of the most inlmoderat,
laughter
The little great lady fairly SHOOK witt
merriment as she lay back the sof:
where she was sitting, while Prince Leo
pold threw himself on the floor and fairl
shrieked with delight. The sceue, however
was brought to a sudden and somewhat
tragical conclusion, for the prince laughed
so hard that he bfokea blood vessel ant
brought on fit, from the effects Of whici
he almost died at the time
This sense of the ridiculous constituted
remarkable feature of the queens ch;arac
ter throughout her life and is noticeable
moreover, in the books which she Published
concerning her life in the highland,
Even in her childhood and girlhood pre-
vious to her accession to the throne in lSo
Queen Victoria seems to have given evi
dence of this underlying current Of merri
ment and fun in the constitution of he!
character. True, everything, was done that
could be done to check it by her mother
the Duchess of Kent, whose severity and
even harshness toward the young princess
state banquet at Windsor, violent and
public rebuke from King William Nv
Personal Traits.
Queen Victoria was small i'll stature and
during the latter part of her life very stout
This, however, did not prevent her from re
tanning most remarkable grace and maj
esty of department. 1t was impossible to
conceive anything more captivating and
winning than her smile. Always plainly
and even shabbily dressed in black gowns
that were often rusty, it was impossible not
to feel when in her presence that that little
old woman had ruled for more than half q
century over the greatest and most exten
sive empire of the civilized globe, and with
all that true, warm hearted woman, full
of tenderness, a broad minded, unaffected
piety and sincere sympathy for all that are
in trouble or distressed. a thoroughly hu