BIBB NOTES ANB NEWS. 



19 



IN THE QUEEN'S NAME. 



The gracious message sent by Queen Alexandra 

 to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, in 

 which Her Majesty expresses her sympathy with 

 the Society's work in general, and her personal 

 repugnance to the wearing of "Osprey" plumes, 

 has been made known throughout Great Britain, 

 thanks to the Press, and few ladies can have failed 

 to see or hear of it. The incident must ever remain 

 one of the most gratifying in the Society's history, 

 and it shows that the gentle Lady, who, long ago, 

 turned away her face from the wounded pigeons of 

 Hurlingham, has an equal pity for the birds of a dis- 

 tant land, who owe their cruel fate to that inability to 

 regard or to realise unseen suffering, which is so 

 curious a trait of many well-intentioned women. 

 What the Royal veto may do where naturalists and 

 humanitarians have long spoken in vain, remains 

 to be seen ; but the cachet of fashion can no longer 

 be claimed for an ornament condemned by the first 

 Lady in the land. It is, moreover, at least possible 

 that some women, who have been deaf and blind 

 to protests from platform and printing-press, may 

 be roused to interest by the sympathy of a Queen, 

 and may thus be brought to contemplate the sorrow- 

 ful tragedy of bird-life, which she has heeded 

 though they would not. 



The direct appeal to Her Majesty was the out- 

 come of a resolution adopted at the Autumn 

 Conference of the Society, held in October last. 

 Acting on the suggestion then brought forward by 

 Mrs. Edward Phillips, and others, the Council 

 of the Society decided upon a Memorial, under the 

 Society's Seal, and this was presented to the Queen 

 by the President, the Duchess of Portland. The 

 full text of the Memorial and of the Queen's reply 

 appears in the Society's Annual Report, and has 

 been reprinted in leaflet form. Her Majesty gives 

 the President authority to use her name in any way 

 she thinks best to conduce to the protection of 

 birds, and adds that she herself never wears "osprey" 

 plumes, and will do all in her power to discourage 

 the cruelty practised on egret and heron. 



The Royal message was announced at the 

 Society's Annual Meeting, and had a prominent 

 place in the next issue of the leading newspapers, 

 many of which emphasised its terms in vigorous 

 comments and editorial articles. In addition to 

 London and provincial dailies and weeklies, Society 

 journals like Truth, The World, Vanity Fair, and 

 Modern Society ; reviews like The Outlook and 

 The Inquirer j illustrated weeklies such as The 

 Graphic and The Sphere; church papers rep- 



resented by the Guardian, News, Christian Age, 

 Friend, and Sunday School Chronicle; and leading 

 fashion journals such as the Queen and The Lady, 

 joined in the chorus of satisfaction that a voice from 

 the throne should be raised in protest against the 

 bird-trimmed millinery which has for so long dis- 

 mayed the ornithologist and disgusted and saddened 

 all lovers of life and beauty. The organs of the 

 drapery trade, The Draper and The Drapers' 

 Record, speak out as strongly and as cordially as 

 any of the critics from without, thus proving that 

 there is no antagonism between business houses 

 and the Society. 



The pen of the poet as well as the pencil of the 

 caricaturist were called in by several papers to 

 chronicle the blow given to " murderous millinery "; 

 and a copy of the sonnet which closed Canon 

 Rawnsley's vigorous article in The Tribune has 

 been graciously accepted by the Queen. 



" Henceforth the milk-white Heron shall have 

 rest. 

 No more the innocent cloud of wings need fly, 

 Too brave to leave their children, tho' they die, 

 Too weak to plead with hands by greed pos- 

 sessed — 

 No more the brides by love and beauty dressed, 

 'Reft of their plumes in agony shall lie, 

 Helpless, and hear the unmothered nestlings 

 cry, 

 And know they faint, sun-smitten on the nest." 



Copies of the Society's Memorial to Queen 

 Alexandra, with Her Majesty's reply, have been 

 sent to the principal millinery and drapery firms 

 in London, together with an appeal for their 

 co-operation. Among those who definitely state 

 that they will, in deference to the Queen's message, 

 substitute other ornaments for " ospreys " as far as 

 possible, are such leading firms as Messrs. Paquin ; 

 Liberty and Co. ; the Maison de Cram ; Harvey 

 Nichols and Co. ; J. Shoolbred and Co. ; and 

 William Owen, Limited ; while Madame Marou- 

 shka, of 6f, Sloane Street, announces her inten- 

 tion of supplying millinery in compliance with 

 the Society's rules only, and adopts the motto 

 " Contra bellum internecinwn? 



The British Weekly records with satisfaction the 

 almost entire disappearance of ospreys from the 

 May meetings ; and Mothers in Council, the 

 organ of the Mothers' Union, contains a strong- 

 appeal to Christian women on the subject bv Miss 

 E. Minns. 



Friends of the Society will notice that paradise 

 plumes as well as "ospreys" are specially mentioned 

 in the Society's Memorial, and need to be pro- 

 tested against as strongly and persistently ; also 



