The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-11-02

I struggle with death, but remembered in her will the Duchess Dorothea, as her god-daughter, along with six other god children, one of whom is the Duchess d l Orleans, and another the daughter of her femme de chambre. The fact that she | left an article of jewellery to each of her l daughters shows they had possession of a soft corner of her heart, and that if she knew all that King Leopold threaten ed to publish about the Countess Lonyay she admitted extenuating circumstances or tried to forget. The queen seems to have depended entirely for companion ship on her few attendants at Spa and her griffon dogs. To the end she took an interest in the proceedings of societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals.
 As long as her state of health allowed Queen Marie Henriette attended all the full-dresS operatic rehearsals and re- Vtvals at the Theatre de la Monnaie and went behind the scenes to ask for ex- plantations about the scenery. At first representation of the 'Walkyrie'' she saved the situation in this way. At a rehearsal the steed of Brunnhilde (Mme. Litvinne) refused to follow her up the scaffolding that, covered with painted crags, seemed to the public in the pros cenium a mountain. The queen sent to a greengrocer round the corner for a bunch of carrots, took the place of Mime. Lit vinne, and offering the horse a carrot, led i it up to the mountain top. She hid the root from view with a handkerchief. Each time the "Walkyrie was subse- qIently bought out at Brussels the man. ager took care to provide Brunnhilde with a carrot.
 The late queen held Hasselmans the Belgian harpist in great esteem. When- ever he returned to Brussels from Paris, | Uyba ba io
 toire, she asked him to give perform ances at the palace. Her patronage of the harp class at the Brussels Conserva- l toire never abated until her health utter | broke down. She also took the girl's S singing classes under her especial patron- age and frequently attended the lessons they received. The annual Marie Hen riette prizes Cjeweled badges) for the young girls singing division brought the most promising pupils in contact with her They came to the palace to receive their badges, and the queen with her own lehands pinned them their corsages Her musical taste being intensely Ger i man, she did not care much for the Ital- ian or French opera, but listened with i rapture to oratorio and the masses com posed by great authors. Her admiration 1 for Wagner had no bounds. Two years ago the doctors thought they had cured
 her malady, and the good news became
 public. To celebrate her return to health
 the Brussels Conservatoire gave a con
 cert. Handers "Te Deum" figured as
 No. 1 on the programme. The queen at
 tended, and spoke of the celebration as ., one that brought light and Joy to her de-
 pressed soul. She often had a fancy to
 hear Mir Gevaert execute the old airs of | Flanders. which she thought delightfully."-
 sincere and full of heart As a musician
 she should rank high. She found in it a
 resource to the very end of her sad life. 1 Privileges! Of course we have our privileges' a Russian noble exclaimed i bitterly a few nights ago at a fashiona-
 ble club Were l sent to prison, my food | would cost the state ten kopeks a day, | whereas if I were peasant 1t would cost | 1t only five. That is the sort of privi- | leges we have. and much good they do us.
 I often have a good laugh now that I can | read your journals; you give such thrill | ing accounts of the oppression to which | our students and peasants are subjected,