St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1901-03-23
VICTORIA AS A MOTHER.
Enxlana's cooA Qv>en watched Ovel
Her ChildFen with UntiRing
Devotion.

One greater than Queen Victoria ap-
piled to Himself the simile Of the hen
and her chickens. There is, therefore,
NO disrespect in thinking Of that COM
parison in relation to the queen AZ
mother. Her motherhood was active.
provident. self-sacrificing, efficient.
af3ectionate and unalloyed by senti-
mental nonsense. So long rs her chill
dren were under her care she never
lost q child. The queens maternal
spirit and example completely swayed
the home OF the late Princess Alice
Her mother was her model. One Of the
amusements in the hours of recreation
Of the six daughters Of Princess Alice
was to search through the files Of the
illustrated newspapers for traces Of
their grandmother's steps. 1t delight
ed them to find pictures of her with the
chicks around her. unveiling statues,
opening peoples palaces. recreation
grounds, inaugurating exhibitions and
great engineering enterprises, says
the Chicago Chronicle.
The queen has been accustomed to
tell how glad she was that her chill
dren had the companionship of each
other and to speak of her own sad
childhood. It was solitary childhood.
She longed to play with the children
who played about in Kensington gar
dens and on the sands Of Margate and
Ramsgate. Her half-sister, Princess
Feodore Of Leiningen, was nearly IL
years older and was engaged to be
married when the future sovereign
was only eight. The only childish
companion was Victoria Conroy,
daughter Of the duchess of Kent's pri-
vate secretary. But the German ladies
who surrounded Princess Victoria
were jealous Of Conroy's influence and
checked as much as they could the
expansion of childish instincts when
the two youthful Victorias were to-
gether.
The royal children were encouraged
to get up allegorical tableaux vivants
"a favorite amusement of their an
cestress. Electress Sophia. The tree
was imported for them to England.
Children's balls were given at Buck
ingham palace. TheS kindergarten sys-
tenn was adopted fsfN the nursery, but
excluded from the schoolroom. II 10
not well that study should be anus
ing. Hard mental drudgery gives
shapeliness to the mind Tutors and
goyernesses were to exact obedience
and to let no shortcoming pass unno-
ticed. In their efforts to establish
strict discipline they met with sup
port from the queen and prince. The
prince was the high court of appeal.
He began by appealing to the reason
of the young offender. II peniten-
tial spirit was shown there was for
giveness and oblivion. If he was OBJ
durate there was punishment, but not
of brutal kind.
Il was not easy to- rear the prin-
cess royal. Prince Leopold was a|
weakling. Princess Alice underwent
. change that required watching after
scarlatina. The prince of Wales and
Prince Alfred had to be separately
brought mp. Tho younger brother
did not like to- think the elder was to
be his future king. The prince of
Wales was sent to stay at the White
lodge. Richmond. Still they were an
ahectionate family. and in growing
up they became more so. The queen
herself attended her sons when they
had the measles.
The queen and prince were accom-
plished musicians and wished their
children to be 90. In the schoolroom
they drudged to perfect themselves
in the technique of musical instru-
ments, but at other times flrst-rate
were brought in to play, IS |
II by chance, before them. They
might or might not listen. II they
were enthralled the performer was
often asked to return.
When the queens children were
young all the thrones of Europe. were
shaking. and there was great unrest |
in her empire. Louis Philippe's fam
Ily were exiles near Windsor. Strong
a. the queens confidence was in the |
love OF her people, she had often cause
for uneasiness. Her children were, 30 |
Tar AZ was possible, brought up to
trust to themselves. The cottage at |
Osborne was q technical school for
gardening. handicrafts and cooking.
Every day dish was prepared there
BY one OF the princesses that was to
figure in the evening on the queens
table. Princess Louise is not only
distinguished sculptor, but has .
genius for housewifery. Nothing
pleases her more than to busy herself
With housekeeping cares. The queen
'ften went to the cottage to see how
The work was getting ON.
BENDING THE TwIC.