Victoriana

Whimsical connoisseurs of Victorianism chuckled and rubbed their hands last week as the London firm of Longmans, Green & Co.* issued two new volumes of the diaries and correspondence of Queen Victoria, by imperial fiat of her grandson George V. Luminous paragraphs culled from the Queen's earnest pages: Of Wilhelm II (her grandson, at the age of seven , five years before his Hohenzollern grandfather, Wilhelm I, was proclaimed Emperor of Germany after the Franco Prussian War). "Dear little Willie's birthday ... a clever, dear, good little child. . . . May God preserve him and may he grow up good, clever, liberal minded in his views, worthy of his beloved grandpa./- who was so anxious about him that he should not grow up into a conceited Prussian." Of Wilhelm II (in 1877, eleven years before he became Crown Prince on the accession of his father, Frederick III ). "Dear Willie of Prussia's 18th birthday. Received most delightful and astonished telegram about my intention of giving him the Garter. It is a rare thing that three members of the same family and three generations should have it at the same time. May God bless, protect and guide dear Willie." To Edward VII (her son, at the age of 28, then Prince of Wales): "Dear Bertie: I have heard from Mr. Disraeli on the subject of your going to Ireland, and as the Government seems to wish it so much I will naturally sanction it. But I must regret that the occasion chosen should be 'races,' as it naturally strengthens the belief, already far too prevalent, that your chief object is amusement; and races have become so bad of late, and the connection with them has ruined so many young men and broken the hearts thereby of so many fond and kind parents, that I am especially anxious you should not sanction or encourage them. "Since I began this I have heard of the great wish entertained that you should receive the Order of St. Patrick and that you should be installed in Dublin as a Knight. I shall have much pleasure in giving you the order, and that your going over to Dublin to be installed there should be the occasion for your going there, and not the races, which should only come in as an incident. ..." Edward's Reply: "My dear Mama: Many thanks for your letter, which I was unable to answer yesterday, and I am very glad that you approve my going to Ireland next month. . . . But I am very anxious, dear Mama, that you should fully understand that I do not go there at all for my amusement, but as a duty, and shall be ready to do anything that is required of me when I am there. . . .

"I quite agree with you that it would not look well if it were stated to the public that the only object of my visit to Ireland was on account of the races. It was very kind of you to give me the Order of St. Patrick, which I am only too happy to receive and be installed as a Knight in the Cathedral, as proposed."

Later:

Dearest Bertie: Now that Ascot is approaching, I wish to repeat earnestly and seriously . . . that you confine your visits to the races to Tuesday and Thursday, and that you do not go Wednesday or Friday, to which Uncle William IV never went, nor did we. ..."

"Dearest Mama: ... I am always most anxious to meet your wishes in every respect, and always regret if we are not quite cf accord. But as I am past 28, and have considerable knowledge of the world, you will, I trust, allow me to use my own discretion in matters of this kind." To Edward VII (Prince of Wales, just before the christening of her grandson, now George V): "I cannot admire the names you propose to give the baby. I had hoped for some fine old name. . . . George only came over with the Hanoverian family.'*

Of Moody and Sankey.&$#134; "Though I am sure that they are very good and sincere people, it is not the sort of religious performance which I like. The sensational style of excitement like revivals is not a religion which can last and it is not wholesome for the mind or heart." After Charles Dickens' Funeral. "He is a great loss, for he had a large and loving mind and the strongest sympathy with the working classes." Telephone (1878). "After dinner we went to the Council Room and saw the telephone. A Professor Bell explained the whole process, which is most extraordinary. It had been put in communication with Osborne Cottage, and we talked with Sir Thomas and Mary Biddulph, also heard some singing quite plainly. But it is rather faint, and one must hold the tube close to one's ear." Bismarck. "A terrible man, infamous, hateful, monstrous!" Tennyson. "He is very peculiar looking and oddly dressed, but there is no affectation about him." Garibaldi (whose revolutionary tactics against the petty Italian states made possible the present United Kingdom of Italy). "I much regret the extravagant excitement [in England] respecting Garibaldi, which shows little dignity or discrimination in the nation. . . . Brave and honest though he is, he has ever been a revolutionist leader." Diary Note in 1870. "Heard that the mob at Paris had rushed into the Senate and proclaimed the downfall of the dynasty, proclaiming a Republic. This was received with acclamation and the proclamation was made from the Hotel-de-Ville. Not one voice was raised in favor of the unfortunate Emperor [Napoleon III]. How ungrateful."

*The book will be published in the U. S. later.

/-Presumably Victoria's consort. Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

*From implied statements elsewhere in the context, it appears that she wanted Edward VII known as "Albert-Edward I," in memory of the Prince Consort, and preferred that the present King (George Frederick Ernest Albert) should be known as "Frederick I."

/-The U. S. Billy Sundays of their day, who toured England with riotous success.