BOOKS OF THE DAY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17394, 3 February 1917, Page 12

BOOKS OF THE DAY.

BOEEN VICTORIA IN LATER LIFE. I "Paint me, warts and all," Cromlirell is credited with baring said to tho 'jiainer who wished to modify tho 'fuatural sternness of the Protector s fface. It is with "warts and all"that "■Clare Jerrold, author of '■The YUdQW'hood of Queen Victoria" has depicted 'the Queen in the later years of her life. I "Miss Jerrold had previously dealt with iffirhe, Early Court of Queen Victoria' 'and " The Married Life of Queen Victoria," and her latest volume, with its predecessors, forms an anecdotal his- ; tary of the Victorian reign well worthy of preserving, alongside the "full dress" aud semi-officfal biographies by Lord Esher and other writers. Miss .Jerrold may not set down "aught of ] malice," hut she certainly does not extenuate or even attempt, to disguise Queen Victoria's shortcomings either ,as a Sovereign or ns an individual. There is not a littta in the volume which to some may appear to he in doubtful taste, but, on the other hand, the author ruthlessly tears away the reil which has in the past been drawn orer some of the Queen's mistakes, mistakes which might have been of incalculable injury to her country had it not been for the greater foresight and . wisdom of her Ministers. Tho authored ;iis especially severe upon the Queen's mania for seclusion, which was »o noticeable a feature of her life for many vears after tlie Prince Consort s "death.'and without giving us an actual ehronique sCandaleuse. is merciless in her exposure of the favouritism shown bv the Sovereign to her coarse-spoken, ilbmannered, bftt faithful servant, John Brown, whose insolence to Ministers of the Crown and others whom public business took to Windsor.. Balmoral, and Osborne became as years ■went on. almost unbearable. Certain of the incidents in which Brown was : prominent, and which are described vn detail bv the author, would appear to be quite' incredibl" wore they not supported bv unassailable evidence. ' TWO BROWN STORTES. .:''- 'Apparently his influence was so great v that he did not confine his impertinences to Ministers, but could be oti fensively rude even to his benefactress. .'■Miss Jerrold writes:— 1 3ohnßrown was ft Kepubliean m manners, uttering his opinions loudly before all, his royal mistress included, and in him she did not resent this. His advice was asked on all questions, whether family, nrivato or public, ancl ; many a strong word has been smorwored lin a roval throat in exasperation thereat. 'As' time went on. Brown became more and more necessary to the Queen, and more and more overbearing to those with whom he came in contact. But his mistress showered favours , upon him, and delighted to do him honour. . ~ ~ Among one of his privileges was the Bole right of fishing in the Dee, at a spot close to'the Uiwtle of Balmoral. On« morning, when be was busy with the salmon, a servant went to him, saying:— . , .' ' VMr Brown, her Majesty wishes you j to so to tow." . , L . I t( "\Wl, jist tell her Majesty that A | canna come; Ah'm joist hooking, a feesh." A little later the servant went again: the Queen wanted to see Him at once. "Week to must tell her Majesty that A've juist hooked the saumon and Aicanna come the noo." A* to the boorishness of the man it was never better (or worse) exeropHfied than when the news of the death of,' the Princess Helena's week-old son reached her Majesty by telegram, at!Berth station, where she was breakfasting on her way to Balmoral. As sdori as the train drew upon the Perth platform Brown swung himself off, and approaching the crowd of local magnates who were waiting to receive the Qlieen, cried in loud Ooric: ji •-" No cheering! No cheering 1 ." .Christian's bahby's deid"." ■f' A FAMOUS CARTOON. ' Comments, often of a verv unpleasjufii character, crept into the Press, Bnd.> finally in June, 1870, a satirical Weekly, "The Tomahawk," published a cartoon" called " Tho Vacant Chair,' shinring John Brown about to seat himself;; upon the Prince Consort's empty throne. Before July bad elapsed the paper had ceased to exist, and Matt pfOrgan, tho offending artist (whom, by Ihe* way, Miss Jerrold incorrectly !tyle& the "editor") had received a arge bribe to exercise his talents on ♦he other side of the Atlantic. Brown "was undoubtedly a. very faithful servant, and the Queen had a perfect right to exhibit her confidence in him. "Mcr indiscretion," says the author, 'fjSffis in allowing a mere serving man, ori-; indeed, anyone, such liberty of atjJßpch that was claimed by Brown—a ÜbWty far exceeding that she allowed filler own children; and her indiscre(tlfn was also shown making her favouritism so publicly known among h'flv English subjects,,who felt that the shjsei-iont.v ot* the Highland character, jras-too much insisted upon.' . jg|r.iss ; Jerrold has much to say about \sm Queen's treatment of the' Prince orVWales. the future' King Edward; the' Seventh, whom she systematically; snubbed and deprived of .all knowledge of "State affairs, and is also severe upon the curious preference for Germans and everything German, which was so prominent, and to leading statesmen of the reign, so repellant a feature of her public and private life. Tojrthe simplicity, purity and general uprightness of the Monarch's life the author pays, however, full credit. Than Gladstone was cordially disliked by the is made abundantly clear bv Miss Jerrold. She had no affinity with intellectual men; in art and literature li'er tastes were crude m the extreme. jAßhough she was positively pernickety - in her insistance upon a stiff court etiquette being observed with almost Prussian fidelity, she starved her court functions to such an extent as to provoke the open jibes of the foreign diplomats in London, and to render hcrs'elf open to tho charge—often in- , deed freely made in the Press—of ,'bi?i.ng stingy to the verge of positive ijnserliness. Miss Jerrold's book is fiill of interesting anecdotes of royalties, statesmen, and publio celebrites 'tenerally, and is decidedly readable.

|j .NOEL HODGSON'S VERSE. ;|Home papers by recent mails 6peak . IB terms of high praise of a little hook of '.' Verse and Prose in War Time," by the late William Noel Hodgson, who gained the Military Croaa in October, 1915, and fell in the Battle of the 6brame last July. The yc>ang poet, I who was a lieutenant in the 9th Ijerons, was a son of the Bishop of Ipswich, and was educated at Durham and Christ Church. He is at his best in a poem fairly throbbing ■with the ,(jiir of the fight, and " composed while . inarching to "rest camp after severe fighting at Loos." Her© are three iample verses:—g& A NEGLECTED MASTERPIECE. i gt am glad to see that a. writer in ? To-Day" has drawn attention to

what ho justly calls "A Neglected Masterpiece," namely "The Autobiography of a Seaman," by the Earl of Dundonald, bettpr known as Admiral Cochrane. Imagine, says Mr A. L. Simpson, tho writer of the article, a writer with a style made up of equal parts of Captain Marryat, Chioz/.aAioney' and William C'ribbott, giving a truthful account of a lil'o in which.he —"a most itnromantic person,' his own words—was in. turns, and sudden turns: a soldier, midshipman, lieutenant, captain', post captain, student at Edinburgh College, inventor, M.P., reformer, vice-admiral of the Chilian .Navy, admiral of the fleets of Braiiil and Greece, and finally of Britain. Such, badly catalogued, were Cochrane's activities during a very long life. But they convoy no adequate idea of his extraordinary adventures, experiences and vicissitudes. A brilliant commander, he has more successful ship actions to his credit than any other of our naval heroes. His were mainly dashing surprise attaoks-he was never whilst in the British Navy commander in a general fleet action—against stronger forces of Spanish or French vessels. His greatest feat m this line was the taking of the Spanish frigate El Game of thirty-two guns and 319 men. This was on May 0, 1801. He was then Captain Lord Cochrane, of ti.M. sloop Speedy, ot fourteen guns and fifty-four men. He attributed his success in this—and on numberless other occasions—to always "going at them." The clement ot surprise was his chief asset, and be had a fertile mind when it became necessarv to grow a crop of .surprises. There is' a wonderful ..catalogue in tlie a-.itobioKraphv of the many ingenious tricks, dodges and calculated ruses he employed to bamboozle the enemy. GETTING INTO PARLIAMENT BY STRATEGY. Dissatisfied with the state of the Navy, cspeciallv as regarded the welfare" of the men and the distribution of prize-money, Cochrane put up lor M.P. for Honiton. This, ot course, was in those days, a safe pocket borough, whoso, electors' reply to canvassers was:— "You need not ask who I votes for. I alwavs votes for Mister Most." Now Cochrane was that rare bird, a "Service." Radical Reformer, and he took his stand on No Bribery. This, to the electors, coming from one who was reputed yellow with guineas —the prize-money of La Fortune—seemed an insult. He was defeated. Immediately be sent the bellman round to ask his supporters to claim their reward, ten guineas, double the amount paid tho "independent" voters by his successful opponent. At once ho bde'ame popular, and Mr Bradshaw, the chosen of the voters, fell from grace. Another olection happened shortly after, and, of course, Cochrane was returned triumphantly. It is worth while relating the story in his own words :

A general election being at hand, no time was lost in proceeding- to Honiton. Our reception by the townspeople v.-as enthusiastic; the more so irom the general belief that my cnplnrc of the Spanish galleons had endowed mo with untold wealth. ■ Aware of my previous objection to bribory, not & word was asked by my partisans ns to the price expected in exchaniro for their suffrage. ; Jt was enou«h that my former friends had received ten guineas each after my defeat, and it was judged best to leave the cost of success to ray discretion. My return was tiiumnhant; and. this effected, it was 1 hen plainly naked what 'ex post facto consideration was to be expected by thone who had supported me in eo delicate «i manner. "Not one farthing!" was tho reply. "But, mv lord, you gave ten guineas » head to tho minority at. the last election, ivnd the majority have been calculating on eomct-hmg handsomo on the present occasion!" , , "No doubt. Tlie former gift was for their disinterested conduct in not tekmg the bribe of five pounds from the agents of mj opponent. For me now to pay them would be a violation of my own previously expressed principles." That classic of election humour will give some idea of Cochrane s clears>ht*d ingenuity, ancl it is a samplo of the quality of the whole "Autobiography of a Seaman." F,XTHAORBINARY CAREER. ' Cochrane had an -straordinary career, fighting duels, being imprisoned in Malta (aud escaping), was expelled from the House of Commons because of what Mr Simpson calls a quite innocent and accidental association with a Stock Exchange hoax. He was fined £IOOO, sentenced to the pillorv (this latter punishment was not actually inflicted), and to a years imprisonment. His constituents (Westminster) re-elected him, and lib busied himself whilst in the King's Bench Prison in inventing a new street lamp. After eight months he escaped (the rope broke, and he dropped twentyfive feet), and presented himself at the House of Commons as M.P. for Westminster. He was re-arrested, and fined for escaping. He refused to pay, and was committed onco more to the King's Bench. A penny subscription throughout tho kingdom—only one from each person—realised more than the two fines imposed: £IOOO and £IOO. He lived forty-five years after this, serving Chili, Brazil and Greece with valour. He. finally became an Admiral of the Navy in which he. bad served Ms .apprenticeship, \and- saV his reputation restored and his character cleared. 'Ho was buried in Westminster Abbey, where, his banner hangs.