The Washington herald., 1910-06-19

IS Viscount Miner, who spent more than
a decade IN that capacity with the late
Lord Gosehep.
Lord Welby, one Of the greatest author
tiles on government finance in England.
was long the private secretary of Mr..
Gladstone; while the latser's great OPP
ponent, Lord BeaconsfelG. induced Queen
Victoria TO reward the services OF his
faithful private secretary, Monty Cor
~, with a seat in the House OF Lords,
as Lord Rowton.
Important as is the office of private
secretary TO statesmen. such as Lord
Beaconsheld. Mr.. Gladstone, and Lord
Goschen. 1t becomes even still more
so when the employer happens 10 be
either the sovereign OF some great power
or the president Of an equally grand
republic.
Queen Victoria is credited with having
invited her eldest son, short time before
his marriage. to fulfill the duties of her
principal private secretary, with the OBJ
ject of relieving her Of much OF the de-
tail and the routine work OF sovereignty.
and at the same time Of initiating him
into the problems and duties Of monarchy.
but that he declined, and that she never.
as long as she lived, forgave him the
refusal
Her private secretaries after that were
Gen. Grey, Gen. Sir Thomas Biddulph,
Gen. Sir Henry Ponsonby, and Col. Sir
Arthur Bigge Edward VII had Lord
Knollys as his private secretary for the
past two score years OF his existence;
and Sir Arthur Bigge has been. since the
death Of the late Queen, the private
secretary OF George V.
49,, rFa 81 frn al "a
vast private correspondence constitutes
but small portion of his work. There
IS scarcely a government Office OF i'm
portance which does not send every day
20 the palace where the King may be
residing, boxes of documents, orders,
warrants and directions, requiring the
royal signature and immediate attention.
To convey some idea of the number of
documents submitted to the King every
day, II may be mentioned that the aver
age number Of papers which he is called
upon 10 sign amount TO more than two
hundred per diem. All these have 10 be
read before receiving the royal sign
manual, and each one of them neces-
sarily passes through the hands Of the
severeign's private secretary. as do copies
OF all important dispatches received at
the foreign ONCE, and every paper OF
any moment. in draft, for royal approval.
before being sent abroad By the secretary
Of state for foreign affairs.
II Is, thanks to this practice, that the
late Queen Victoria was able to radically
change, IN a. eonciliatory sense, the draft
OF the dispatch To the United States
government about the Trent difficulty, in
1851, which. II forwarded IN It's original
form, would have inevitably resulted in
war between this country an Great Brit
ain.
The private secretary. by virture OF his
Office. as well as the trust reposed in him.
possesses undoubted influence with the
sovereign, who naturally turns TO him,
before anyone else, for explanations and
suggestions concerning the documents
submitted.
A considerable portion each day Of the
time OF the private secretary is spent In
| seeing visitors, IN communicating 10 them
the monarch's views and intentions and in
procuring from them the points OF m
formation on which his majesty desires
10 be posted previous 10 receiving them
in audience.
The private secretary Is also often
charged with messages for statesmen in
and out of Office. and the late Gen. Sir
4 henry PonSOnDys Wnen private secretary,
/ conducted, IN behalf of his royal mistress.
/ the late Queen Victoria. the delicate ne
/ gOtlatiOns with Lord Salisbury and Mr..
! Gladstone, at the time OF the formation
OF their last administrations, conveying
/ TO them her views, her fears, and pre-
| JUDGES. And then, after returning home.
tired and exhausted. after the close OF
/ some Iaborious and intricate negotia-
/ ton upon matters of the greatest national
| Importance, Sir Henry was just as likely
as not liable to find himself called upon
/ to write a letter in the Queens name,
/ but In his own handwriting, for the pur-
| pose Of sending the customary royal gift
/ of three guineas to a poor woman who
/ had presented the nation with tripiets.
/ Col. Sir Arthur Bigge. who can now, as
privy councillor. prefix the highly priced
/ words fright honorable to hts name,
and who is the private secretary of the
new King, is the son OF a clergyman, was
I a elsssmate and ehum OF the French
Prince Imperial at the Woolwich NIL