LOOKING BACK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 17, 21 January 1939, Page 19

LOOKING BACK.

MEMORIES REVIVED. QUEEN VICTORIA'S REIGN. VICTORIOUS FOR BRITAIN. (By MAX WHATMAN.) January 22, 1901, was tlie end of an epoch in the history of the British Empire. On that day Queen Victoria died. It was the end of a glorious reign —a period of G4 years that had seen British arras victorious in every continent, the Empire expanded to the greatest realm in history, the country prosperous beyond previous experience.

It was a far cry from the death of a dignified and autocratic, little, old lady to the coronation of a fresh young girl in 1837. Queen Victoria was but eighteen when she succeeded to the Throne. She was fortunate in having the wisdom of Viscount Melbourne, Prime Minister at her accession, to guide her in learning the duties of a sovereign. Later she found another sagacious adviser in the Prince Consort —her cousin, Albert", son of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg Gotha—whom aha married in 1840. After the Prince's death in 1861 she Jed a secluded life, but to the end of her reign she retained the esteem and affection of her subjects in all parte of the Empire. Queen Victoria showed a keen interest in public affairs. Without overstepping the limits imposed on a constitutional sovereign, she constantly m%de her influence felt, acting in particular as a restraining influence on Viscount Palmerston and Gladstone, and furthering the imperialistic policy of Disraeli.

Scotland's Favourite Son. January 25, as every good Scot know*, is the anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns. On that day, in 1759, the greatest of Scottish poets was born in a cottage two miles from Ayr. Burns started life with no other advantage than his genius, for he was the hardworking son of a small farmer. Inspiration camp to Burns as he trudged behind the plough, but fortune evaded him, and, following & hitch in a love affair, h® was on the verge of leaving for Jamaica as a slave estate bookkeeper. H» friends dissuaded him, however, and with the success of his first volume, published at Kilmarnock in 1786, the current of his life turned into more favourable channels. Henceforth he was made much of at Edinburgh, but he received his. success with a dignified simplicity and almost exaggerated show of independence that impressed itself considerably on Sir Walter Scott who refers to it in his writings. In 1788 Burns took over a new farm at Ellisland which was bequeathed to the nation soise years ago, but there he failed financially and was forced to take employment as an excise officer. In the last years of his life he was exiled from polite society on account of his revolutionary opinions and he became very sour and plunged more deeply into dissipation. He was prematurely old and in reduced circumstances, so much so that in 1796, a few days before his death, he wrote to a cousin to 'borrow f 10 to save him facing his last days in gaol. i

Birthday at Doom On Friday next the departed glory of the House of Hohenzollern will be officially resurrected for a few hours. On that day William 11., ex-Emperor of Germany, will be 80 years old. There will be a gathering of members of his family. Amidst the glitter of uniforms that were once the glory of Potsdam, this weary old man will hold court. Wilhelm was born In 1859 and succeeded to the throne in 1888. His reign was marked by a policy of intense militarism and an urgent ambition to secure the dominance of Germany in the councils of Europe. Wilhelm's impetuoueness, his inordinate vanity and love of display, his envy of England ,and England's power all played their part in bringing about his downfall. Wilhelm was never popular in England. His uncle. King Edward VII., regarded the instability and frenzied diplomacy of Wilhelm with amused toleration—an attitude which hurt the sensitive Kaiser's pride. It was largely this sense of inferiority which his uncle inspired that prompted him to plunge into his great aim of making Germany paramount on land and sea. The world may almost have forgotten Wilhelm, but it has not forgotten the terrible war which was the logical outcome of his policy. Birthday of a Bishop In 1901 when the See of London became vacant, the Rt. Rev. A. E. Winnington Ingram, then Bishop of Stepney, wrote to the Prime .Minister suggesting Bishop Talbot for the appointment. He was, therefore, the more surprised when the bishopric was

bestowed on him instead of Talbot. Bishop Ingram, who still holds the office, will be 81 on Thursday and has announced his impending retirement. The ancient See of London has never had a more popular occupant than its present holder. In the highest circles of fashionable society he is much sought after, and he is no less popular with the inmates of the dark courts and alleys of the eastern part of his diocese. A courtier to his finger-tips, calm and suave in manner, he is at the same time a genuine friend of the poor. For years he worked with the poor in their own homes; and he has succeeded in persuading them that he does regard them as brothers, and not an interesting "social problems."