58 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



March 1, li)lS. 



GENERAL ARTICLES IN THE REVIEWS. 



THE QUEEN OF NORWAY. 



Mr. William Armstrong, in the GirVs 

 Own Paper, gives a very pleasing sketch 

 of the Queen of Norway. He says : — 



To-day, rain or »hine, no matter how keen the 

 wind or wea^ther, she rides on horseback for two 

 hours daily in the beautiful country surrounding 

 Ohristiaxiia. This love of fresh air and exercise 

 is no new thing with the Queen. When she was 

 but seven years old someone said to her, " You 

 should have been a boy, you run so fast." 



" I wish I were," was her retort, " for then my 

 name might have been Harry." She had heard 

 somewhere that that name meant swift and sure. 

 So " Harry " she became from then on to members 

 of her family. 



Here is a pretty and pathetic inci- 

 dent : — 



Children had ever a claim to her tenderness. 

 A cottager's tiny daughter, who lived in the 

 neighbourhood of Sandringham, where the Royal 

 Family was frequently in residence, grew to be a 

 special favourite with her. The affection was re- 

 turned tenfold. The little one falling very ill, 

 the Princess hurried to her. That night the 

 child's case took a serious turn, aggravated by 

 constant crying for her good nurse of the morn- 

 ing. The mother in despair went to the palace, 

 where a dinner party was in progress, and had 

 word sent to the Princess. Finding the woman 

 weeping in the hall, she threw a wrap over her 

 evening gown, accompanying her at once to the 

 cottage, nor did the Princess leave until the 

 crisis was past, and the pacified baby, nestling 

 in her arms, had sobbed itself to sleep. 



Her husband and she adapt them- 

 selves to the Republican simplicities of 

 the Norwegian people. At the banquet 

 to welcome him in Christiania imi forms 

 were, at his request, abandoned, and all 

 men present, himself included, appeared 

 in plain evening clothes. The Queen 

 herself is a practical woman of the 

 home : — 



'iTie early training of the Queen has made 

 her resourceful, and with small need to find the 

 hours drag heavily. She can sew, trim her own 

 bats, knit warm garments for the poor, and cook; 

 she carves wood, binds books, typewrites and 

 plays the piano. She is fond of driving; dances, 

 swims, can row a boat and manage a yacht. 

 Her private correspondence is alone an undertak- 

 ing. A close reader, she is in touch with the 

 thought of the day. 



Prince Olaf is also being brought up 

 on practical lines. Though only eight 

 years of age : — 



In summer-time, when the family is in resi- 

 dence at the villa of King's Court, near Ohris- 



tiaaiia. Prince Qlaf is up and out by six o'clock, 

 and from then on till early bedtime he is in- 

 doors only for his meals. He can ride, swim, 

 dive, shoot, skate, and ski, and this last is among 

 bis greatest joys. 



A GREAT KING OF A SMALL 

 PEOPLE. 



Roy Trevor, in the Fortnightly Re- 

 view, gives a sketch of the history and 

 people of Montenegro. He says that a 

 miraculous change has been brought 

 about during the last thirty years by the 

 present King : — - 



If ever there were a man it is the King. His 

 valour upon the field of battle is proved by a 

 hundred notable deeds, sung to-day to the tune- 

 less strumming of the melancholy "Gushla." He 

 is still a crack sliot with gun and pistol, and has 

 been described as " one of the handsomest men 

 in Europe." He inherits his family's talent for 

 verse, and is universally acknowledged to 1)e the 

 first living Serb poet. Possessed of keen fore- 

 sight. King Nikolas is admittedly one of the 

 ablest diplomats in Europe, and practically con- 

 trols his little kingdom's whole finances. Once a 

 certain syndicate approached the King with a 

 fabulous offer of ready money if he would grant 

 them the right to erect a casino at Pretan similar 

 to the one at Monte Carlo. King Nikolas's answer 

 was typical of the man who made it : "I am a 

 leader of men '. r.ot the keeper of a gambliug- 

 hell," were his words. 



His people are worthy of him. To- 

 da\- a woman's person is sacred, prosti- 

 tution unknown, adultery so rare as to 

 involve banishment. Poverty is no dis- 

 grace, for the whole nation is poor, from 

 the King downward. " Honour is their 

 watchword, their motto, and the primary 

 aim of their lives." Lying and thieving 

 are almost unknown, and rank with 

 cowardice, a cardinal sin. But a Monte- 

 negrin gambles recklessly, drinks prodi- 

 giously. He despises all manner of 

 manual labour, and hands it over to the 

 woman. The curious art of long-dis- 

 tance talking is practised. " At the 

 remarkable space of five miles men can 

 communicate with one another." It is, 

 in fact, a kind of wireless national tele- 

 phone, gift rather than art, for no 

 stranger can acquire it. 



