The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-04-17
s1V. RI. Wilkins Relates the no
mantle Story of Caroline
Matilda, "Thc Queen
Of Tears
"NHERE The TIDE / I {. COMES IN
Of Tears

West, by Harvey Wilsoll-Lit-
erary Notes Of More Or Less
Interest. @
a QUEEN or TEARS. BY w. II. VIII
Rins. With Illustrations. BY Long
mans. Green and Company of Lon
don. New York and Bombay. For
sl@ sale by the BELL Book and Stationery
Company. 3s3s
IL is not often that so delightful nnd
finished volume as this, which Mr.. VIII
n l,ins has recently written. Is offered for
tho readers inspection and appreciation
Containing as il does all the clements
or romance. phrased In dramatic lam
suage and pictured with sympathy, 4
fvividncss, and M attention to detail and
1 circumstance, 1t impresscs the mind and
nrol1ses the Imagination TO an extrnordi-
nary degree.
T,yerythingI about Caroline Matilda. the
.Qucer OF Tears is interesting. In or
\ der that her personality may be made
clearer and her character and actions
may be fully comprehcnded, the author
Who is also the author Of that fasciiint-
ing volume 4 "The Love of An bncrowned
Queen" begins by pointing out the anal
AZ orv between tho life Of Caroline Ma
tldn and that of her famous ancestrcss,
Sophie Dcrothea.
He then describes the former in child
4 hood, happy, even under the stern rule
Of her mother, the Princess Augusta,
and devoted to her English brothers and
K sisters in tho gardens of Carlton House
and OF Kew, where her early lifo was
passed.
One cannot but sympathizo with The
Z forlorn little bride who left England and
5t5,all she loved behind her II the gray lsnc
81 of an October morning, at tho tender nSe
OF fifteen, toHtraval across the continent
ard to become al the end of n wearisomc
tourney the bride Of Christian VII. or
Denmark at Concnhngen.
81 Because this royal girl bride really
81 lives in his book through the art of her
hographer, one is glad Of her beauty, Of
her golden hair, her blue eyes, her sweet
4ncss OF disposition and her gallant spirit.
4 But ono feels that all these things are
given her in vain, for King Christian
looks a t them with an Indifferent eye.
Soon The little bride is forsaken by him
for his dissolute companions. From the
queens first arrival ut Conenhagen only
tthe friendship of her chief lady-in-wait-
4 ing Madame de Plessen, stands between
Ttnes hapIess Caroline Matilda and the
Il 1nachinations Of Juliana Maria, the step
another of King Christian, and the arch
cnomy of his bride, whom she hates IS
sonly the intriguing Ycan ahatc a. helpless
5a8nndg Innocent Victim that stands in the
$8@ way OF an end desired. 5s IL
,5H5 The story from hence forward fullils
9insclf slowly the young Queen is de
tachcd from all who love her. Madame
dc 9Plessen.3 who Is faithful to her inter.
csest, Is against the queens tears and
enreaties, banished from the Danish
court Matilda is denied the privilege of
accompanying her husband when the King
goes to England to visit his wife's mother
and brother. The Queens comfort Is her
little son whom she passionately loves
and TO, whom she devotes herself in her
loneliness.
When Christian VII returns from travel.
his wife makes pathetic effort to win
him TO better things Her hopes are frus-
trated and at last she loses heart, as she
sees the King sinking deeper and bcconl-
ing more of an imbecle through the evil
effects of dissipation every day. Then
when she is sick and helpless and weary,
longing only for death, the hour OF her
temptation comes, and she has lost tho
will and the power to withstand 1t.
The picture that Is given of Queen Ma
1ildas subsequent infatnatloll for her
iGTlinc Juilll rIeucIlCh -olIutll5e
who gains his ascendency over her first
through his professional visits as the
Kings physcihn. ana afterward holds it
for his owl base and selfish ends, Is so
painful that one is inclined TO hurry past
It,. IL she sins deeply she atones speed
iy. for retribution Is swift and In the
Que EMS case her transition from even
the siini-barbarous luxury Of tho Danish
court to tho grim sternness OF the octa-
n gon prison-room in the Castle OF Kron-
burg, Is pitiful In tho extreme.
- 1t is well known that George III,
tho brother OF Queen Matilda, is at length
aroused in distant England by the re-
presentations of Lord Keith. the Engllsi,
! minister totthe Danish court, and comes
to the help of this eventually discrowncd
Queen. Her enemies do their worst they
dcfame and divorce her and take away
her husband and children. But George
III. offers her home in his Hanovcrian
Province OF Cello, Here she gathers up
the shattered remnants of her life and for
n time seems 10 breathe an air Of COM
parative tranquility. but the wound Is
100 deep TO heal, the spirit too broken to
revive, and when Caroline Matilda is only
tWenty-thrce years of age the end comes
She closes her sorrowful eyes upon tho
world where sho has suffered so greatly
and, mourncd at least by tile people OF
\ cellc. she Is laid to rest among thom.
Tho book contains, beside the tragic life
history of Caroline Matilda. vivid por-
trayal OF the royal household OF Dem
mark, household In which the morals
do not seem 10 have improved since tie
!, days of Hamlet
Mand other noted pcrsonages enter into
Z the narration of events depicted, and one
gathers n clearer comprehension OF Ma
tlldas royal relatives IN England than
ever before. by the light which is turned
upon their characters and the motives
which influenced them in their assoca-
t!on with her.
The book, MS a whole. is certainly ono
Of the most admirable Of the year In
every way The Illustrations, the type
mud the binding are all of the very best,
Tho author in verifying what lie writes
has evidently pursued his researches into