THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 158, 6 July 1899, Page 2

THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY.

THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY. !: HER MAJESTY THREATENED J WITH BLINDNESS. i, v'From Our Special Correspondent.) j LONDON, May 26. What with the Whitsuntide holidays and the Queen's birthday sue- j ceeding each other, there has been j precious little work done in London this week, and the. newspapers have : had to fall back mainly on chit-chat j about the sovereign and the court. Fortunately the general public never tire of this description of literature, i and even the superior person seems j to find a certain fascination in rereading the familiar story. The Queen is now a very old lady, and last week at South Kensington j looked all her eighty years. It was obvious then that something was j wrong (most people thought rheumatism), as the Prince of Wales took" extraordinary care of his mother, and j practically laid the foundation stone for her. Under normal circumstances Her Majesty would never have permitted this, but everyone could see she was that afternoon either dreadfully tired or unstrung. The key to the mystery appears in "Truth" this week, which says: — "The Queen has lately developed an alarming weakness of the eyesight, which, indeed, is hereditary in the Royal Family as they grow old. George 111. was blind for many years, and George IV. underwent a serious operation in order to preserve his sight. The Queen is suffering from cataract, and she has just consulted Professor Pngenstecker, of Wiesbaden. The Professor had to come to London to visit a patient, and he was summoned to Windsor Castle. I am informed that he. recommends a speedy operation, and guarantees its success, being of the opinion that the Queen will entirely regain her former excellent sight. It is well-known that the operation for cataract is much easier and more simple for aged persons than for those who are young, but the. Queen is very reluctant to undergo it. I understand, however, that an operation is absolutely inevitable." The harmony of the Birthday festivities at Windsor was, I fear, somewhat marred by this disclosure, which was extremely unwelcome to the Court, involving, as it presently did, the answering of scores of queries by letter and telegram, and upsetting the Queen a good deal. The public seeing Her Majesty so seldom scarcely realises how venerable she has become. One must remember she has outlived all the members of the Privy Council Avho were alive in 1837, and all the peers who held their titles in 1837 except Earl Nelson, who was fourteen in that year. She has lived to see the death of all the members who sat in the House of Commons on her accession to the throne, except the Earl of Mcxborough and Mr John Temple Leader. Her Majesty has lived to see many changes. Officials have come and gone. She alone has remained to witness their advent, their rule, and their departure. The Queen has appointed eleven Lord Chancellors, ten Prime Ministers, and at least three bishops to every see, and five or six to many, five Archbishops of Canterbury, and six Archbishops of York. Though the Queen still gets through a surprising amount of work daily, she naturally confides far more to. Sir Arthur Bigge and Sir Flcetwood Edwards that) formerly, and it is no secret Princess Beatrice has become a great power at Court. Her Majesty relies implicitly on her daughter's judgment, and consults her in all imner+ant mattelrs. Princess Henry's chief passion is music, and it is owing to her potent influence that all sorts and condition of singers and instruj mentalists find their way nowadays to j Court. Tlu» Birthday dinner party at Windj scv on Wednesday was a sufficiently | extensive one. but only numbered a I ; t'lhe of the Royal family. Here are j TTt-r Majesty's direct descendants in i tabular form: — j Queen ] i Sons and daughters living 7 Grandchildren 33 Great-grandchildren 31 i Total 72 I Besides these direct descendants, the Queen has something like 160 cousins | and descendants of cousins. If they j are counted with the Queen's own I children, grandchildren, and great- ; ! grandchilren, the members of the 1 Royal Family are increased to not less • than 200. The ages of the four gener- I i ations of the Royal..Family in the i direct line of succession are: j The. Queen 80 • Prince of Wales... 55 Duke of York 34 ' Prince Edward of York... 5 It would be a great task to trace ; I how far the Queen is, through her i children and grandchildren, repre- ! ser.ted in the reigning families of Europe. Probably there never was a j time when the Royal Family of Eng--1 land was more intimately linked than | now with the reigning families of the world. The Queen's eldest daughter is the Dowager German Empress, and the Queen's grandson is the German. Emperor to-day. The Queen's second son is now reigning Duke of SaxeCol. tirg-Gotha. One of the Queen's £raiu:daughters is now the Czarina of Russia, and it would be wearisome to enumerate all the alliances of the I Queen's grandchildren with foreign I dukes and princes. Certainly the | I'oyal Family has spread in a manner which Lord Melbourne and his colleagues at the Queen's coronation could not have dreamt of. IHE QUEEN'S LITERARY TASTES. The long articles on Her Majesty's tastes and hi bbies in the London papers appear to be chiefly vamped (without a,cknoAvledgement) from the magazine lucubrations of 1897. The exception is the "Daily News," which contains amongst other fresh matter some interesting notes on the Queen's liletary tastes. 3 One knew, of course, thr.t Tennyson was Her Majest}''s favourite, poet (because of that Lord Tennyson governs South Australia today), and that in the days of her great bereavement the royal widow found her ehi ;f solace in "In M'emoriam." "Next to the Bible, 'In Memor.ianr is my comfort," she told Tennyson when he saw her for the first time after the death of the Prince Consort. On the same occasion the Queen also referred to Maeaulay, Goethe, and Schiller. It is wellknown that she has a great love for history. Carlyle was astonished at her familiarity with the great historians when he met her. Her favourite historian at that time was undoubtedly Maeaulay.

The "Daily News" scribe delicately hints that Her Majesty disapproves of Kipling. This is not an unusual failing amongst the i'air sex. 1 believe, however, 1 am right in saying that whilst reserving judgment with regard to some of his earlier work, Her Majesty was (like everybody else) | greatly impressed by the "Recession-1 al," "'The Native Horn," and "The; White Man's Burden." Many hope, j indeed, to see Kipling's name in the honours list next Saturday. '•The Queen has (says the "Dailyl ! News") always been a warm admirer of Mrs Browning's poems, among ' her favourites being "She wept to j : Wear a Crown,' and 'The Cry of the ■ Children.' Robert Browning she appreciated for his fine thought, and frequently had his poems read aloud |to her. An amusing- little story has I been told in connection with the j 'Ring and the Book.' Her Majesty had asked Sir Theodore Martin to j read it aloud to her. Before doing so; Sir Theodore made a cautious study j lof the poem and placed marginal! . notes as danger signals against pas-j sages oE doubtful propriety. The marked copy chanced to fall into the i I hands of a rather thoughtless Courti ! lady. 'I have so enjoyed this wonderful work.' she said to a friend, 'and ithas been such an advantage to read it after the Queen, for she has placed marks against the most beautiful parts; and oh, what exquisite taste the dear Queen has!' she added, pointing to the danger signals of Sir Theodore Martin." Among novelists Her Majesty has many favourites. Scott probably occupies the first place, and after him come Dickens and Thackeray. The Queen, also, has a warm admiration for novelists of her own sex. She keenly appreciates Charlotte Bronte and George Eliot, admiring most "Jane Eyre," and "Adam Bede." Mrs Oliphant, perhaps, stood first among fhe more recent writers of fiction in ■fhe Queen's estimation. Her "Little Pilgrim in the Unseen." with its atmosphere of mysticism, greatly interested Her Majesty. Ever since the death of the Prince Consort the Queen has had a special liking for writings dealing with the mystic, and unseen. Hence, no doubt, her alleged penchant for Marie Corelli." WHAT THE QUEEN LIKES TO WEAR. It has frequently been asserted that' the Queen does not spend much on her clothing". This, however, is not the case. She is rather lavish than otherwise in ordering new clothes. They arc, however, fashioned in a bygone mode. Her Majesty is averse to adopting new fashions. Black silks and brocades of exquisite quality are. specially woven for her. One weaver devotes his whole time to making her black silk stockings. These stockings are as fine as gossamer, and can be drawn through a ring. The Queen prefers the old-fashioned "priwielln" and black satin slippers and still wears elastic-side boots. The Queen is seldom Keen without a pocket handkerchief daintily held between her ring-covered fingers. These handkerchiefs are marvels of cob-web like cambric and old lace. P.IRTHDAY POEMS. The miserable jingle, dignified by the name of "Madrigal," which formed the Laureate's contribution to the Eightieth Birthday festivities makes one ache for Kipling or even Newbolt. The "Daily Mail" turned on a student of the great Rudyard named Douglas Sampson, His first verse has a .Swinburnian lone but the second is pure Kiplingesque: O mightiest mistress oL' nations, great Queen of the Bast and the West, Hear thy jubilant people's ovations to all that is noblest and best. There ape ' none midst thy millions but name* thee their monarch and motner in one*; There are none can impugn thee or blame thee for aught thou hast done or undone. From the isles that bask sunlit to southard to the glaciers that rampart the ■ North, By thy ships the vast oceans are furrowed; the might of thy mandate goes forth __ j Over Christian and Moslem and Tnaian, over half the vast nations of earth, But thy proudest and greatest dominion in our hearts has its life and its birtn. The'"Daily News" feels it invidious to choose between the large number of verses sent it in honour of the i Queen's Birthday so falls back instead j upon the following lines, in which a [distinguished poet of the earlier part ! of the Victorian era uttered his prajrI er for the future of the young Queen: I That she may see, our Bright and Fair, ■ How arduous is her path to fame, J How much of solemn thought and care An empire's interests fitly claim; That she may know how poor 'twoula seem, ! Tn one who grraces Britain's throne, To patronise a party's scheme ! Or make a favourite's cause her own; i That she may feel to whom belong j Alike the contest and the prize, i Whence springs the valour of the strong | Whence flows the counsel of the wise; I That she may keep in womanhood The heaven-born impulses of youth, | The zeal for universal good, : The reverence for eternal truth; ! That she may seek the right and .iust, ! That she may shun the false and mean; ! That she.may win all love and trust, Blessing and blest—God Save the Queen. ! We who live to witness the Queen's I 80th birthday have- seen every line of I Praed's prayer fulfilled. i ""—*"™~