Evening star., 1938-04-10

influence of individual emotions on
public affairs is sharply delineated.
There should be more of such records.
provided that they are soberly written
and we'll attested to. 1t would seem.
indeed, that democratic country
could hardly have too many of them.
LETTERS OF QUEEN VICTORIA.
Edited by Hector Bolitho. New
Haven: Yale University Press.
THERE would seen to be little in this
newest volume OF Queen Victoria s
letters which ADDS to the general knowl-
edge Of her late ma jesty's chara cter.
The collection is one which has re-
Gently been brought out of the Berlin
archives and comprises the correspond
ence of 48 years with William, who
later became King Of Prussia and EN-
peror OF Germany, and Augusta, his
wife. They are private letters. not
state papers, and. While they touch
on public matters. they are chiefly
concerned with family relations. The
story of Princess Victoria's betrothal to
the Crown Prince of Prussia is here and.
to be sure, out of it grows the revela-
ton Of the Queens gradually changing
attitude toward her grandson, the fu-
ture Emperor William H. From early
affection for little Willy" she came
to characterize his conduct as too vul-
gar and too absurd" and almost the
last letter in the book is a reprimand
to the then Kaiser for his rudeness to
the Prince of Wales. But for the most
part the letters are those of woman
rather than queen-affectionat
sympathetic and somewhat gushing.
1t is interesting to have them. but, as
said, they add little to the already ex-
istinc knowledge of victoria's mind
or-hy courtesy-her literary style.
F1RST-CLASS PASSENGER. Edited
by August Mencken. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf.
THIS is a pleasant book, we'll out
Of the beaten track of typical
publications. 1t is collection of ac-
counts OF ocean travel in first-class
accommodations dating from 1918
back to about $50 BIC. That its
preparation has been made in a spirit
OF gentle satire is evident from the
choice of the travellers who took the
voyages mentioned. The first was the
late E. w. Howe, known as the Sage
OF Kansas, and the other was the
Prophet Jonah. his story being, as Mr..
Mencken points out in his introduce
ton. the first reference in the liter
ature of the world to a passenger who
actually paid his fare" And sure
enough. the Old Testament version has
1t that Jonah found ship going to
Tarshish-so he paid his fare there
of. and went down into it. -"
The purpose of the book. of course.
is to show the conditions under
which flrst-class travel has been made
throughout history, and, while the
reader may believe that he under
stands something of the discomforts
OF seafaring in earlier days, it is like
ly that some Of the information in
Mr.. Menckens collection will surprise
almost anybody. That ship companies
did not furnish bedding to passengers
until the middle of the 10th century
or later came, for example, as a
shock to the reviewer. And consider.
If you will, the advice of traveller
who went flrst-claSs from England to
South America in 1893 to take along
-four or five dozen fowls, a few ducks
two or three hams and as many
smoked tongues, a few bottles of
picked cabbage or gherkins, a couple
OF pounds Of tea and loaf of sugar."
to which counsel the writer adds, a
few lines further on. that Two or
three young pigs and a lamb make
welcome change of diet and can
easily be conveyed out; the captain,
II he had no other inducement than
the expectancy of share, would put
them into one Of his boats on deck,
and take good care of them!" How
would you like to face a trip to Eu-
rope chaperoning such an array of
livestock? Who will deny that our
ancestors were of harder stuff than
ourselves? This book adds no little
to the already depressing volume of
proof of it.
Yet it would appear that they found
their travels more interesting than we
do today, despite the inconvenience.
Mr.. Howe, for example, although he
wrote Of ship of Is years ago, spoke
for the era of luxury cruises and re-
ports that he found his voyage dis
tinctly boring. He had no vermin to
contend with, to be sure, but he Bit
terly complains of sports commit
tee" which organized to make people
enjoy themselves. Who cannot SYM
pathize with this? Compared to the
dreary regimentation of the supposed
pleasure tour of today, the outlook of
the 18th century voyager, carrying his
bedding on his back and driving his
pigs and ducks up the gangplank be-
fore him, is positively radiant. For
to him the sea at least represented q
change. Once on his ship, he was