A FRENCH STORY ABOUT THE QUEEN.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1632, 19 December 1882, Page 4

A FRENCH STORY ABOUT THE QUEEN.

Tub Gaulips .publishes the \lpllowing, but whether a^ 'a/ 'jokedi 1 H a.s !; a' piece of serious information we must leave the leader to decide for himself : "The Empress of India is at her Koyal residence of U.ilmoral m Scotland, , 'that residence which she preftna to all' other's because it belonged to Piinco' Albert, whdnwahp hub been mourning for twenty-one ydais. The devoted iaithtul of widows, the most kindly and respected of' soxeveigns believes that at Balmoral, more than elsewhere, she meets the Consort' she lias lost, and communicates a\ ith hifj *s]>ii it. Faithinl John Brown, who is a medium, serves as a connecting link between the Queen and the disceas»ed Prince People \ have often wondeicd why the Queen manifests such singular favor for Brown ; I why she offered him titles of nobility which the modest servant refused, only accepting that of esquire ; why the marI bio statuette of Brown by Boehm is placed I in the Queen's bed-chamber on a what-not i amidst povtiaits of members of the Royal family. The reply to the question which was excited such curiosity in France and England is this ; John Brown is the Queen's Minister for her spiritual relations with the late Prince Albert. In the Cabinet Councils, Her Majesty will sometimes say, 'I must first consult the Prince. It is at Balmoral that the in\ okes the Prince and that he replies to her. She goes into the study of the deceased, who is still alive for her ; sits in an arm-chair he formerly used. On a chair near her are placed his nightclothes, as it in icadiness for him. A large lire burns in the spacious fire-place of the signorial chateau. John Brown brings respectfully on a tray the basin of gruel which his master w as accustomed to take every evening, and places it on a table as if the Prince were aboutto comeandtake it. The Queen has a sheet of paper on her knees iiiul a pencil in her hand. The chair moves about, creaks and strikes the giound. According to the Spiritist alphabet, cadi letter is indicated by &o many raps. The Queen puts, the question, and John Blown interpiets the anfew ers of the Prince. The living and the dead converse on topics of this world and the next. The mind of the Queen is calmed, if not consoled, by these pious conversations, for her grief is of that kind which ends only with life. We pity thos,e who may be tempted to smile at 'this faithful picture. Is it only an hallucination ? Who can say ? The worst of hullu cinations is that of those men who imagine they have fathomed all the laws of Nature."