PLAIN SPEAKING.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 960, 4 June 1883, Page 2

PLAIN SPEAKING.

Although the English Press has, generally speaking, published laudatory notices of the late John Brown, the following extract from Truth shows that opinions are not all in his far or :—“ It had for some time been predicted by persons who knew John Brown that his first serious illness would kill him. The fact is he died of his prosperity. For the first forty years of his life he existed principally in the open air, and took an enormous amount of exercise, while his manner of living was not luxurious. Of late, however, he had taken little or no exercise, and every whim had been indulged, so that he was not in a condition to resist the malady with which he was attacked. If he had remained a gillie, or a keeper, he would probably have lived to be a very old man ; but the enervating life which he had led for several years was about as suitable to him as would be the sand of Arabia to a reindeer, or the snow of Lapland to a camel. A brougham, a dogcart, and a riding-horse wore always' at John 'Brown’s disposal. He had his own suite of rooms at Windsor, Osborne, and Balmoral; a separate table was kept for him, and he was waited on by obsequious servants appointed for that service. He had the exclusive right of shooting in the extensive, well-stocked covers on the Osborne estate ; he could shoot at Windsor and Balmoral when disposed thus to amuse himself, and the salmon fishing on the Queen’s water on the Bee was also under his dominion. In the Queen’s household John Brown’s word was law, .and from Sir John Oowell down to the housemaids it was the primary object of every official ur servant to stand well with him, or at, least to keep clear of offending him. For any one that fell under his displeasure was sure to come to grief. If a servant, his promotion was stopped ; and if an official, he was worried and hurried, and everything that he did was wrong.; Except by his "own friends and his parasites, John Brown was exceedingly disliked ; indeed one might use a stronger word. This would be the case with almost any magnified menial, but John Brown did not conciliate. The fortiter in re was the only method with which he was familiar, and he was both truculent and tyrannical. The manner in which ha spoke to the ‘ ladies and gentlemen ’ of the Court was frequently most offensive ; but it was hopeless for anyone to resent his freedom. Indeed, as Major Pendennis, from living so much with dukes, came at last to feel like one, so ‘ J. B. ’ had quite the air and sentiments of a royal personage of say 100 years ago. In his love for strong language he greatly resembled the late revered George 11. One of his ‘ fads ’ was a violent hatred of the Press. John Brown was at various times employed by the Queen to conduct inquiries of a confidential nature, and his knowledge of the private affairs of a number of distinguished personages might at some future period have proved exceedingly inconvenient. He was treated with the utmost consideration by all the members of the Royal Family, with the exception of the Duke of Edinburgh, who made him no presents,, and who always appeared to regard him with infinity disdain—a feeling which probab'y a-ose from His Royal Highness having been ordered to apologise to him for having shot in a deer forest specially reserved for his use. The Crown Princess of Prussia’s resentment at the prominent position ecoupied Brown led to a series of differences j between Her Royal Highness and the Queen. Lord Beaconsfield always shook hands with his faithful and powerful retainer, and addressed him as ‘ My good friend,’ invariably treating h>m with Oriental courtesy. The detailed notices of John Brown, which have appeared in the daily papers, are simply for the most part a farrago of nonsense. He was a faithful servant, and a discreet, sagacious man ; but nevertheless he was exalted out of his own proper place in a very preposterous way. Of all men that ever lived, the Prince Consort would least have approved of this sort of thing, as his idea of the relation between master and servant was so intensely German-Court like that, ‘ unless owing to special circumstances,’ he rarely spoke to any domestic except through an equerry or other attendant, the only exception to this rule being his German valet, who is now in the Queen’s service. ”