Democratic Sentinel, Volume 11, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 June 1887 — 1837—1887. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

1837—1887.

Semi-Centennial Anniversary of the Coronation of Queen Victoria. A Sketch of Her Majesty—Her Domestic Relations—The Royal Househo d About the only topic discussed in London, except the Irish question, which is always with us, is the approaching Jubilee, writes Mr. Robert P. Porter from London. Although I have been in the country less than a week, the very word Jubilee has become distasteful. Everything you buy is labeled Jubilee. Your suspenders, your collars, your cuffs, your cravats, your hat, your toothbrush, have a crown and the word Jubilee worked or painted upon them. Columns of the daily journals are devoted to advertising word competitions and other devices for extracting the pennies, the shillings and the pounds from the pockets of a loyal people for Jubilee purposes. The present may be termed a period of assessment. The pictures accompanying this article are from the two best photographs attainable, showing her Majesty in her early girlhood, and as she last sat to a photographer immediately after the Duke of Albany's wedding. ’ Fifty Years a Queen. Victoria Alexandria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India, only child of the late Duke of Kent and of the Princess Louisa Victoria, of SaxeCoburg, was born at Kensington Palace, May 24, 1819, her parents, who had been residing abroad, having hastened to England in order that their child might “be born a Briton.” Her father died Jan. 23, 1820. Until within a few weeks of her elevation to the throne, her life was spent in comparative retirement, varied only by tours through the United Kingdom. Queen Victoria succeeded her uncle, William IV., June 20, 1837, as Victoria, and her corona-

tion was celebrated in Westminster Abbey, June 28, 1838. She was married Feb. 10, 1840, to Prince Albert of SaxeCoburg Gotha, by whom she had issue first, Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa, born Nov. 21, 1840, married Jan. 25, 1858; second, Albert Edward. Prince of Wales, born Nov. 9, 1841; married March 10, 1863; third, Alice Maude Mary, born April 15, 1843, married July 11, 1862 (she died Dec. 14, 1878); fourth, Alfred Ernest Albert, born August 3, 1844, married Jan. 23, 1874; fifth, Helena Augusta Victoria, born May 26, 1846, married July 5, 1866; sixth, Louisa Caroline Alberta, bom March 18, 1848, married March 21,1871; seventh, Arthur William Patrick Albert, born May 1, 1850, married in March, 1879; eighth, Leopold George Albert, born April 7, 1853, married in April,. 1882; ninth, Beatrice Mary Victoria, born April 14, 1857, married July -23, 1885. Her Majesty is the pattern of a woman in all the relations of life. Her mother died March 16, 1861, followed by the sudden death of the Prince Consort, Dec. 14. Victoria’s Domestic Relations. Victoria was in her eighteenth year when she became Queen. William IV. died on June 20, and the English dignitaries went before daylight to announce to Princess Victoria her accession, and it is related that she came out in her night dress, a shawl around her and her feet in slippers, and it was at once decided to call a privy council meeting for 11 o’clock in the forenoon, when the new Queen took the coronation oath. The public coronation, and

the most brilliant pageantry of modern times, did not take place until the next June, and on the 28th day of that month, 1838, the great ceremonies took place. According to royal etiquette it is necessary for the Queen to make the first suggestion of mar-

riage. This she did late in 1839, and in February, 1840, she was married to her cousin. They had long been lovers, and they were a most devoted couple. The Prince Consort died suddenly in 1861, leaving nine children, seven of whom are still alive. The was utterly disconsolate, and for years lived in the closest seclusion. In fact she so closely secluded herself

that her subjects have found a great deal of fault with her on this ground. During her married life the Queen spent nearly all of the time at Balmoral, their’eountry seat in the highlands of Scotland. The royal residence, as established by law and usage, is Windsor Castle. This palace is east of Windsor, a city of 12,000 inhabitants, twenty-three miles from London. This castle was the home of the Saxon kings as long as 1,000 years ago. The castle proper was founded by William the Conqueror, but almost entirely rebuilt by order of Edward 111., the architect being the noted William of Wykeham, and, in 1824-8, the edifice was finally and completely remodeled under the direction of Sir Geoffrey Wyatville. Half a mile from Windsor Castle is the small palace of Frogmore, which was the residence of Queen Charlotte and of Queen Victoria’s mother, the Duchess of Kent. Despite the royal splendors of Windsor, the Queen is much fonder of her Balmoral home, where she still spends the most of her time. The palace is in the midst of a tract of 109,000 acres and is located in the parish of Crarthie, Aberdeenshire, on the banks of the river Dee. The Queen’s daughter Beatrice has been her constant companion for many years, and since her marriage to Prince Battenburg has remained almost as near to her. At Balmoral the Queen lives quietly, walks and rides around her great estate, reads and studies, attends to state matters, visits the cottages, keeps a minute diary, and lays aside royal etiquette to a large extent She has few visitors, except the Prince and Princess of Wales and her numerous grandchildren. The Queen has seven living children, thirty-one grandchildren, and six great grandchildren. There are only a half dozen attendants and a dozen servants at Balmoral, and little or no excitement.

The Royal Household. There is a big force of attendants, probably 1,900, at Windsor Castle. At the head of the household forces is the Lord Steward, with a salary of £10,990 a year, appointed by the Prime Minister, and therefore a political official. He is com-mander-in-chief of every employe in the

household, except the ladies directly about the person of the Queen,'the religious staff and the stable corps. He appears at court On state occasions, and appoints all his subordinates. His lieutenant is the master of the household, who receives £1,200 a year, and has a private secretary at a good salary. Next comes the lord treasurer of the household, who pays the bills and gets a salary of £I,OOO a year. These three constitute the board of green cloth, and sit as judges of all offenses committed in the palace; and to assist them and keep the record they have one secretary at $1,500 a year (as it would be in American money) and three accounting clerks at SI,OOO each. Then there is the clerk of the kitchen at $2,500 a year, the chef at the and his four assistant cooks at $1,750 each, the chief confectioner at $1,500 and his assistant at $1,210, the chief butler at $2,500, the table decker at SI,OOO, and his assistants at salaries somewhat less. There are also yeomen of the pantries, ladies of the linen room and a vast array of chambermaids, lamp-lighters, washers, etc. The coal department alone employs thirteen persons. Directly about her Majesty's person are the mistress of the robes, the groom of the robes, the keeper of the private purse, or financial secretary to the Queen, eight maids of honor, as many bed-chamber women and numerous maids for other functions—all these under control of the lord chamberlain, who receives

SIO,OOO a year and is assisted by the groom of the stole. Next to the ladies who attend directly on the Queen come the gentlemen of the private household, viz: Eight lords in waiting, atf many grooms in waiting and divers gentlemen ushers of the privy chamber, grooms of the privy chamber, grooms of the great chamber and pages of the back stairs. In short, life at the court, even in

the most ordinary times, is carried on with tuch ponderous social machinery and routine that it almost makes one tired to hear of it. But, in addition to all these, there are two distinct sets of officials for extraordinary occasions with independent functions and different codes of ceremonial and etiquette. At the head of one of

these is the marshal of the ceremonies. He manages the etiquette on the state occasions and conducts foreign ambassadors to the Queen’s presence. The other is the court of the Marshalsea, which has legal jurisdiction of all crimes and misdemeanors committed within the Queen’s private domain. It is a regular court of justice, with the same general law as other English courts, but with far more ceremony, and vastly more expense in pro-

portion to the work it does. The knight marshal, who is the same as sheriff or police to this court, is a tolerably important personage with $2,500 a year, and has eight deputies, besides a few servants and secretaries. The foregoing gives but a mere outline of the system. There are departments of music, amusement, medicine, charity, and literature, in all of which liberal salaries are paid. Buckingham Palace, the London royal residence, is also maintained on an elaborate scale. The Queen’s Youngest Daughter. Princess Beatrice, who has been the daily companion of her royal mother, and

who was married to Prince Battenburg a year or so ago, is still the one person who is nearest to England’s ruler. She is a thoroughly educated and accomplished

girl, and possesses more than usual ability a< an artist. Her life has been tingularly quiet and uneventful. For fifteen years past she has been the closest companion of her mother, and the English people consider her a martyr to maternal selfishness. Beatrice is a favorite with the masses. She has been the not infrequent subject of such gossip as all women, and possibly all men. delight to hear. In 1577 she was reported to have “fallen in love’’ with a young man who has since attained distinction ns a preacher. The eminent success of Canon Duckworth in the church is attributed to 1 is having resisted the fascinations of the Princess when engaged as one of her instructors. There seems to bfe no question t at her marriage to the Prince Imperial of France had been determined upon by the mothers of the young people, who often drank a dish of tea together. Among other eligible men who are said to have aspired to the hand of this fair damsel when she was younger than she is now. are Prines Oscar of Sweden. Amadeus, late King of Spain, and Louis of Battenburg, an elder brother of her husband. The belief is general that but for the English law which forbids marriage with a deceased wife’s sister Prince Louis of Hesse, who had been the husband of Queen Victoria’s daughter Alice, would have taken Beatrice in second nuptials.

England's Next Ruler.

N the ordinary coarse of human events the Prince of Wales will be England’s next ruler. The Prince has been a high liver, however, and there are a great many people who aie of the opinion that he will not live as long as his royal mother. The next in order of succession to the throne is the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, Prince Albert Victor, who is now a young man of twenty-two su m - turners, and is said to Lbe a sober-sided, "sensible young fel- . low, and doubtless ' realizes that he will be the ruler of the mighty English empire some of these 1 days. The Prince of Wales lives at Sand-

ringham Palace. The Prince is a great sportsman, and the initial letter used at the beginning of this paragraph is a vignette of His Royal Highness out rabbit-hunting.

Life at Balmoral. The life of her Majesty is marked by three stages—her youth, her married life, and her widowhood. Each is bound to each by the tie of a consistent growth passing through those experiencces which are typical of God’s education of His children, whether high or low, rich or poor. Her childhood, with its wise education, is very much the key to her after-life. Possessed naturally of a quick intellectual capacity and an unusually accurate memory, a taste for music and the arts, and a deeply affectionate heart, she was admirably brought up by her mother, the Duchess of Kent, on whom the training of the future Queen devolved from her infancy. If the education was as high as it was possible to afford a young and intelligent spirit, the moral influences were equally beneficial. The young Princess, instead of being isolated within the formalities of a court, was allowed to become acquainted with the wants and sufferings of the poor, and to indulge her sympathies by giving them personal help. The contrast was a great one between the Court of George IV., or even that of William, and the truly English home where the Duchess of Kent nurtured this sweet life in all that was simple, loving, and pure. There could scarcely have been a better school for an affectionate nature. Without touching on the earlier period of her reign, which was not without many incidents of interest, we turn to the married years of the Queen as to a bright and sunny memory. The Queen’s married life was ideally perfect. She married the man she loved, and each year deepened her early affection into an admiration, a reverence and a pride which elevated her love into consecration. There was no home in England made more beautiful by all that was tender, cultured, and noble, than that in which “the blameless prince” fulfilled his heroic career of duty, and shed the bright light of his joyous. affectionate, and keenly intellectual life. There were fewer homes in which a greater amount of trying and anxious work was more systematically accomplished, or in which there was a more exquisite blending of hard thinking with the enjoyment of the fine arts and the fullness of loving family happiness. It is when we come to this bright time, so full of fresh interest and of a delightful freedom, that we have the advantages of the Queen’s own “Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands.” Her visit to Edinburgh in 1842, and the drive by Birnam and Aberfeld to Taymouth, and the splendor of the reception, when amid the cheers of a thousand Highlanders and the wild notes of the bagCipes, she was welcomed by Lord Breadalane, evidently stirred every feeling of romance. “It seemed,” she wrote, “as if a great chieftain of olden feudal times was receiving his sovereign.” It appeared like a new world when, throwing off for a time the restrictions of state, she found herself at Blair two years afterward, climbing the great hills of Athol, and from the top of Tulloch looking forth on the panorama of mountain and glen. “It was quite romantic; here we were with only this Highlander behind us holding the ponies; not a house, not a creature near us but the pretty Highland sheep, with their horns and black faces. It was the most delightful, most romantic ride and walk I ever had.” These early visits to Scotland inspired her with her love of the Highlands ana the Highlanders. She found there quite a world of poetry. The majestic scenery, the fresh, bracing air, the picturesqueness of the kilted gillies, the piping and the dancing, and the long days among the heather, recalled scenes which Sir Walter Scott has glorified for all time, and which are specially identified with the fortunes of the unhappy Stuarts.

He who has w'hite spots on his nails is fond of the society of ladies, but is fickle in his attachments.

QUEEN VICTORIA AT 18.

WINDSOR CASTLE.

QUEEN VICTORIA AT THE AGE OF 68 YEARS.

PRINCE ALBERT VICTOR.

FRONT VIEW OF BUCKINGHAM PAELACE.

SANDRINGHAM PALACE.