BOOKS OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3024, 10 March 1917, Page 13

BOOKS OF THE DAY

The Widowhood of Queen Victoria. ■ ■?. a ' rtt me > warts and all," Cromjwjll is credited with having said to tho Jininer who wished.to modify the natural sternness of tho Protecfcor''s face. It is with "warts.and all" that Clara Jon-old, author of "The Widowhood of Queen. Victoria" (Evoleigh Nash; pel jtWhitconibe and Tombs) lias depicted raie Queen in tho later years of her jilife. Her bulky: and handsomely proVtluced volume is a sequel and compleiiient to the same author's previous •iworks,; "The Early Court of Queen Viotoria," and "The Married Life of flueon Victoria," and, with its prede-. cessors, forms an anecdotal history cf i.tho Victorian reign %vell worthy of preisarving alongside the "full dress" and • biographies by Lord Esher fond other writers. Miss Jorrold may fmob sot down "aught of malice," but jsho certainly does not extenuate or ■■wen.: attempt to disguise Queen Vic- ' toria's shortcomings either as, a Sovereign or «b an individual. Thero is !iaot a, little in tho volumo which to isome may appear to be in doubtful 'j*fcaetOj but, on the other hand, tho a#.thor ruthlessly tears away the veil f.vhich has in the past been drawn over ■ some of "the Queen's mistakes, mistakes which might havo been of incalculable injury to her country had it Hot boon for tho greater foresight and /jjvisdom of her Ministers. The authoress jSs specially severe upon the Queen's irmania for seclusion, which was so no/.ticeable a feature of her lifo for many 'U'cara after the Princo Consort's death, •'jjuid''without giving us an actual chron!i([uo scandaleuse, is merciless in her 'exposure of tho favouritism shown by i.tho Sovereign to her ooarae-spoken, ill— hmannered, but faithful servant, John }!Brown,' whose , insolence to Ministers of I the Crown and others whom public S&usinesß took to .Windsor, Balmoral, kind O&borno, became, as years went on,, ilalmost unbearable. Certain of the incidents in which Brown was prominent, {'nnd vihich aro described in detail by (%he author, would appear to be Quiio 'incredible were they not 'supported, by frmassailable evidence. Apparently Ms canlluonce was so great that ho did not - ' Confine his importinonces ,to Ministers, tliut could be offensively rude even io fihis benefactress. Miss Jp/rrold writes: i John Brown was a republican in, iuanIxors, uttGrin" his opinions loudly, before iall, his royal mistress' included, and in flim she did not reseat this. His advice t.fivaa asked on., all questions, whether Vifamily, private or, public, and many a strong word, has been smothored in a poyal. throat in exasperation thereat. iiAs time went on, Birown bcoarne moro fsind more necessary to the Queen, and >more and moro overbearing to those •Iwitb. whom ho came in contact. But ffiis mistress showered favours upon him, tnd' delighted to do him honour. ; Among ono of his privileges was the feole' right of fishing in the Deo, at a fepot close to the • Castle of Balmoral. iOno morning, when he was busy with (the salmon, 'a servant wont to him, 'Baying:—. . '.:' : i "Tllr. Brown. Bier Majesty, wishes you Hto'co to her." ' : "Weel, iuist tell Her Majesty that A •'"canna .xjoine; Ah'm ]uist hooking a hfce'sh." ' • ■ ■ V Uttlo later the servant went again; '.the Cjueea wanted to see him at onco. "V/eel, ye must . tell Her Majesty iW.'pA'vc/iuist.hooked:the salmon,and ■'A/.canna;- come tho;ndo.". • ■_-• i- As to the boorishncss of the man it Nvas never bettor (or worse) osemph'fied than when the news of the death fof the Princess Helena's week-old son "; reached Her Majesty, by telegram, at ll'erth Station, where sne was to break'Jast on her -way to Balmoral. . As isoon as tho train drew up on the Perth platform Brown swung nirasolf off, and iapproaching tho crowd of local maKiiateA who wero waiting to receive ,th 6 Quoen, cried in loud Doric:

"No cheoring! No cheering: I , Christina's babby's deod." ! "Comments, often of a very unpleasant '''character, orept into tho Presn, and ''finally in. June, 1870, a satirical weekly, "'The Tomahawk," published a;carVion, called "Tho Vacant Chair," fehowing John Brown about to scat' himSelf'upon the Prince Consort's empty Mlii-ono. Before July had olapsed tho {paper had ceased to exist, and Matt (Morgan, the offending artist (whom, by f-ihe way, Miss . Jerrold ' .incorrectly I style's 'the "editor") had received a ilarge bribe to exercisß his talents on tlio other side of tho Atlantic Brown Nvas undoubtedly a very faithful, seriyanfc,.' and. the Queen had a perfect' js-ight to exhibit her confidence in him. ■"Her indiscretion," says the_ author, ■was "in-allowing a mere "serying-mau, 'or, indeed, anyone, such liberty of speech that was claimed by Brown —a liberty far exceeding that she_ allowed 'io hor own children; and her indiscrc,iion was also shown in making her, "favouritism- so publicly known among lier English subjects, who felt that tho •"superiority of,tho Highlnnd character 'was too. much insisted upon."

Miss Jerrold has much, to say about •the Queen's treatment of the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward the Seventh, whom she systematically snubbed and deprived of all knowledge of State affairs, and is also severe : ii|K)ii tho curious preference for Germans and everything German, which was so prominent, and to leading statesmen of the reign, so Tcpellant a foaturo of her public and private life. To the simplicity, purity, nnd i.-prightness of the Mo'lßrch'p life thr author pays, however, full credit. Thnt Gladstone was cordially disliked by the Sovereign is made abundantly clear bv Mis? Jorro'd. She had no pffinity with intellectual men; in art ami literature lipt tastes were crude in the oxtremo. 'Although she was positivelv pednickety in her insistence upon a stiff court etinuettn being observed with almost Prussian fidelity, sho starvodiher court functions to such an extent as to r"-o-voko the open jibes of the foreign dinInmats in London, and Ui render herself open 1o Hie chnr",e—often indeed freely made in the Press —of being stingy io the verpe of positive- mieorlinoss , . Miss Jorrold's book is full of intcrestinc anccdotos of royalties, statesmen, and mililic ce'obrities fmiernUy, and is doeidedlv readable. The volume contnins a. number of interesting portraits. (N. 7,. prico, 17s. 6d.).