Happy Victoria Day! It is amazing how much difference a 
year makes. This time last May Canada was still coming to 
terms with what fighting Covid-19 would look like (even as 
New Brunswick remained an island of security) and we didn't 
know when things would start looking up. But now there is 
light at the end of the tunnel and a hope that the events of the 
past year and a half can finally be behind us. Queen Victoria 
herself lived through the cholera pandemic of 1854
which she noted in her diary along with meeting Florence
Nightingale. Much like the current pandemic there was a
great deal of fear. No one knew how cholera spread and
victims would often die within days. This actually leads to an
odd connection. The doctor who figured out what was causing
London's repeated cholera outbreaks was a man by the name
of John Snow. In previous years he had used anesthesia to
help the Queen give birth to two of her children. Anesthesia
had until this point been seen as unethical to administer
during childbirth but the Queen's repeated use of it and John
Snow's research into making anesthesia safer led to it being
more widely used in the following years.

The month of May also marks seven years of The Maple 
Monarchists. The rest of this post is a bit of an update
on what I've been up to over the last year as Longtime readers
will note that I don't post as often as I once did. This largely
due to other activities taking up an ever larger portion of my
attention.

For starters, I continue to be the New Brunswick Chairman of 
the Monarchist League of Canada. Recently a list of educators 
in the province was compiled so that educational resources on
the monarchy can more easily be made available to classroom
teachers.

I'm also a moderator of a monarchist subreddit. While I have
been a moderator for many years now, the growth of the
subreddit over the last two years has been exponential.  It has
now surpassed 27,000 members and the moderation team
has had to step up its efforts as a result.

In a bit of news more related to this blog I have received an
offer from a French Canadian to translate some of the articles
I post. It is possible that most future articles will be bilingual.
Stay tuned for more information on this.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

August 1st is Emancipation Day. It is exactly 186 years since 
the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 received royal assent. While it 
is often thought that this was done during the reign of Queen 
Victoria, it actually went into force three years before she 
ascended to the throne. That said, I thought I'd share a few 
​interesting stories to mark this anniversary.

The first act curtailing the slave trade anywheres in the British
Empire was enacted in Upper Canada, now Ontario, in 1793.
This Act Against Slavery was championed by John Graves
Simcoe who was a loyalist and served as the first lieutenant
governor of the new colony. While an abolitionist his aims
were partially thwarted by powerful members of the elected
Legislative Assembly.

The act was a compromise. Simcoe got a total ban on the
importation of slaves into the colony and freedom for any
child of a slave women at age 25. In return no slaves were
immediately freed by the act. Even so, there was an attempt
six years later to revoke the act which the un-elected
Legislative Council rejected.

Omoba Aina's life got off to a rough start. Born in 1843 as a
princess of the Yoruba people she was orphaned and enslaved
at the age of five by King Ghezo of Dahomey. He intended to
use her for a human sacrifice but was rescued when Captain
Frederick E. Forbes of the Royal Navy convinced King Ghezo
to gift her to Queen Victoria. The captain gave the young child
the name Sara Forbes Bonetta (Bonetta being the name of the
ship he was captain of).

In 1850 she was presented to Queen
Victoria who was impressed with her
exceptional intelligence and had her raised
as a member of the British middle class as
her Goddaughter. Due to health concerns
attributed to the climate of England she
returned to Africa in 1851 but was back in
England by 1855. She would be invited to
attend the wedding of Princess Alice in
1862.

Later that same year Sarah (affectionately nicknamed Sally by
the Queen) asked permission to marry a Yoruba sea captain
by the name of Captain James Pinson Labulo Davies to which
the Queen agreed. The couple moved to their native Africa
and settled in Lagos, Nigeria. The Queen continued to look
out for her goddaughter's well-being and the Royal Navy had
standing orders to evacuate Sarah in the event of an uprising
in Lagos.

Sarah would have several children with her eldest daughter
also being Queen Victoria's goddaughter. Today members of
the family live in Sierra Leon, England, and Nigeria.

While slavery was mostly abolished in
1833 there remained a number of exceptions and continuing violations of
the law that allowed reduced slave trading
activities to continue. There was also the
issue of the West African nations which
had practiced slavery for generations before the Europeans arrived and continued to do so. In 1839 Fowell Buxton set up the Society for the Extinction of the
Slave Trade and for the Civilization of
Africa to oppose the slave trade. Prince Albert agreed to become the organization's patron and spoke at the society's first public meeting:

It is important to remember the past; To draw inspiration
from it, heed its warnings, to understand our times, and
reflect upon what more might remain to be done.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Walter Bagehot was a contemporary of Queen Victoria having 
been born after, and died before, the long-lived queen. And 
while Queen Victoria was the one who set about creating a 
greater symbolic role for the monarchy going forward, it 
was Walter Bagehot who codified the monarchy's political 
role. Now, Mr. Bagehot would likely object that he was only 
observing what was already falling into place but in the years 
since his death The English Constitution has been 
studied by every heir to the throne as to what their role should
be. In physics there is a theory that the mere act of observing 
a phenomenon inevitably changes that phenomenon. And in
this instance it holds true of political science as well. Walter
​Bagehot observed that:

Of the three rights Bagehot ascribes to
a constitutional monarch the first and
third have little changed from his day.
But I feel the second right, the right to
encourage, has slowly transformed. So,
slowly in fact that it was only with the
recent pandemic that factors led me to
notice it. What was once a right to
encourage politicians has become a
right to encourage the greater public.

Walter Bagehot would not have thought such a change
possible, or perhaps even desirable. His well-known contempt
of the political, and even rational, abilities of the lower classes
created blinders to such an expansion of the right to
encourage. At the same time technology did not yet allow the
expansion of this right with radio and television still in their
infancy. And finally, the character of Queen Victoria herself
did not allow it to expand as for much of her reign she shut
herself away from the people.

But what exactly am I referring to? In the quoted section
above Bagehot notes that a monarch can encourage a prime
minister to refer to events that occurred during previous
administrations, ask them to consult with the older men who
experienced those events, and suggest actions that might be
better. During the conference in London to finalize Canadian
Confederation Queen Victoria made use of her right when she
told John A. Macdonald that “I am very glad to see you
on this mission. It is a very important measure and
you have all exhibited so much loyalty.” This is the
right to encourage as traditionally defined.

My first suspicion that a change has occurred without anyone
really commenting on it was the Queen's recent broadcast to
​the UK and the Commonwealth:

Here we had the Queen both encouraging people to do their
part during the pandemic and encouraging (in the sense of
​comforting) those who were having a hard time during it. It is
not about legislation but instead advocating people do what is
right. 

The Queen's decision to record an Easter message (a first in
her long reign) again functioned to encourage people to
practice social distancing and to instill hope for the future:

But looking back such encouragements are a common thread
throughout the Queen's Christmas messages as well. It would
seem that as the monarchy has taken on a more public role
the right to encourage has expanded in scope with it. The
Queen did not start this expansion (that distinction belongs to
her father) but her long reign has cemented its new form as a
prerogative of the Crown. Current events have simply made such encouragement more necessary. Her Majesty seems to
be everywheres in recent months. Her Covid-19 address was
accompanied by a special note for Canada. The New
Zealand Prime Minister was also surprised by a phone call
from Her Majesty. Of the videos that have been released only
the VE address was previously planned.

Some claim that the monarchy needs to evolve (without ever
really stating how) but miss the fact that the monarchy is a
living institution that has always been evolving to meet the
needs of its people. The expansion of the right to encourage is
necessary because politicians are bad at encouraging people
to follow rules. The respect people once held for elected
officials just isn't there to the degree it once was.

But let me switch gears before I sign off and note that in some
provinces restrictions start loosening tomorrow. Be sensible
with the increased freedom and have a Happy Victoria Day.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Recently a preposterous letter was printed in the editorial 
section of the local newspaper. The author stated that the 
reason you don't hear about Canada's 'founding mothers' is 
because there were none. He challenged his readers to name 
one. Challenge accepted. I will provide a short biography of 
one of them. But there are in fact a good number of women
who played a role in bringing about a united Canada. Their
stories can be found here. 

Queen Victoria: 
Mother of Confederation

While those who paid attention in
history class might know that
Queen Victoria chose the location
of Canada's capital, there are few
who know how extensive her role
really was.

As the details of Confederation were slowly hammered out it
soon became time for the delegates to head to London for the
final push to bring about the new union. Once there Queen
Victoria worked to shore up support for Confederation. She is
recorded to have told the Nova Scotian delegation that, “I take
the deepest interest in it, for I believe it will make the
provinces great and prosperous.” Extra attention needed to
be paid to the Nova Scotian delegates as anti-union sentiment
was already growing in the colony. In a private audience with
John A. Macdonald (the head of the conference) she thanked
him for his efforts and once again outlined how important it
was to bring about an agreement; “I am very glad to see you
on this mission. It is a very important measure and you have
all exhibited so much loyalty.”

Queen Victoria was asked to choose the capital of the new
dominion. This was a wise decision. The colonies each had
their own capitals and growing commercial centres, such as
Montreal and Toronto, coveted the prestige of such a
designation (along with the likely increase in funding). By
leaving the decision up to a respected neutral arbiter the
conference delegates side-stepped a potential landmine that
might have brought the conference to a halt. The Queen
likewise recognized in her decision a potentially imminent
threat (invasion by the Americans) and a hypothetical future
threat (national unity). The new capital was to be far from the
border with the United States, in a small logging town,
directly between the two most populous provinces. It was a
decision that favoured no one in particular and gave the new
​dominion the best shot at success. 

And indeed, Queen Victoria's status as a uniting figure should
not be underestimated. Before the Charlottetown Conference
few of the delegates from central Canada had even been to
the Maritime colonies and vise versa. There was a level of
distrust and difference in cultures that had to be overcome.
Perhaps this is why that one of the first things agreed upon
was that the new union would continue to be a monarchy.
This sentiment would be again reaffirmed during John A.
Macdonald's audience with the Queen where it is recorded he
declared,"We have desired in this measure to declare in the
most solemn and emphatic manner our resolve to be under
the sovereignty of Your Majesty and your family forever." 

Queen Victoria would also hold court with the wives and
daughters of the delegates. While at first glance this would
seem to be a rather unimportant event in the journey to
Confederation, I would have to disagree. Both the wives and
daughters were courted at each stage of negotiations to try
and sway delegate opinion. Some of the wives are known to
have influenced their husbands' opinions. Their diaries are
some of the only sources we have on what happened at these
conferences (especially the early ones) which clearly indicates
they were aware of how proceeding were going. By holding
court with them Queen Victoria could both subtly influence
opinion and ascertain how negotiations were going.

​In the end the British North American Act was given royal
assent by the Queen in 1867. She might not have known it but
her father had become equally enthusiastic about the idea of
uniting the colonies many years earlier after he spent time
living in Canada. Queen Victoria became known in her own
lifetime as the Mother of Confederation. It is a title that is
completely deserved.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Recently I've been in the process of de-cluttering my book
shelves of some of the hundreds of magazines I've bought over
the last few years. After keeping a few stacks of the more
useful ones I've been selling/donating the rest. And while I
have a good collection of books on monarchs I don't have any
by monarchs. But that doesn't mean they never wrote any.
The following is a not-at-all exhaustive list of English
monarchs who had a literary bent.

King Henry VIII

Defence of the Seven Sacraments (1521)
A Catholic polemic against the early
Protestant writers. Link 

The Glass of Truth (1532)
This work was published anonymously
and argues the king's case for an
annulment of his first marriage. Link

King James VI & I

Some Reulis and Cautelis to be observit
and eschewit in Scottis poesie (1584)
Published by the 19-year old King of
Scotland and deals with poetry in the
Scottish tradition.

​Daemonologie (1597)
A Socratic Dialogue on the topics of black
magic, demons, and witch hunting. It is
possible this work had an influence on
Shakespeare's play Macbeth. Link 

The True Law of Free Monarchies (1598)
This work explains the king's views on absolute monarchy and
is thought to be a rebuttal to social contract ideas circulating
​at the time.

Basilikon Doron (1599)
This book deals with what needs to be done to be a good king
and is written as a private letter to his son and heir. As such
this work it is part of the mirrors for princes literary
genre. Originally only seven copies were printed but a second
​printing in 1607 sold in the thousands. Link

A Counterblaste to Tobacco (1604)
Perhaps one of the oldest anti-tobacco publications. The king
criticizes tobacco for being harmful to the lungs and hateful to
​the nose. Link

King Charles I

Eikon Basilike (1649)
Allegedly written by the king himself. It 
was published ten days after his murder.
The book both justifies royalism and asks
for leniency the king's executioners. The
book would remain popular throughout the following years
much to the Protectorate's chagrin. So much so that a book
countering the arguments put forward Eikon Basilike was
commissioned. This effort failed and sympathy for the king
continued well into the Restoration period. If it indeed was
Charles I who wrote this work (and there is some dispute on
this point) it means that even in death he continued to
frustrate his enemies. Link

Queen Victoria

Leaves from the Journal of our Life in
the Highlands (1868)
Queen Victoria is estimated to have
written about 2000 words per day, or
sixty million words during her lifetime.
Mostly these were personal letters with
some collections being published during
her lifetime. Link 

The Letters of Queen Victoria (1908)
A posthumous publication of her letters from 1837 to 1861.
Link

The Adventures of Alice Laselles (2015)
One of Victoria's earliest writings is also one of the last to be
published. This is a children's book written when Victoria was
still a young princess. Royal Central has an excellent article
on the background of this work.

Prince Charles

The Old Man of Lochnagar (1980)
Prince Charles has continued the literary
tradition of his ancestors. His first book
is for children and contains elements of
Scottish folklore. He apparently
entertained his brothers with the story
when they were younger.

A Vision of Britain: A Personal View of Architecture (1989)
Prince Charles gives his opinions on the architecture of the
United Kingdom.

Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World (2010)
This work looks at how the problems associated with climate
change, architecture, and agriculture ultimately come back to
humanity's growing disconnect with nature. Link  

There are of course many other monarchs who have taken the
time to put pen to paper. A short list of such works was put
together on Reddit a number of years back.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Royalty has influenced many aspects
of our culture and Christmas is no
exception. The following holiday
traditions at least partially owe their
existence to royalty.

Gingerbread Men

While spiced cookies have been a
mainstay of the Christmas season since
the Middle Ages it took a canny act of
diplomacy to make gingerbread men a
reality.

Queen Elizabeth I held elaborate banquets where there
would be served gingerbread men made to represent her
favoured couriers and foreign dignitaries. Queen Elizabeth
carried out a careful balancing act throughout her reign in
order to avoid being sidelined, attacked, or pinned down. Her
banquets were only part of this strategy and allowed the
Queen to signal who was a rising star and to flatter the
representatives of potentially hostile states.  

The Christmas Tree

While evergreens were an important aspect of Europe's Pagan
and folk religions since ancient times the modern Christmas
tree tradition began in Germany in the 16th century when
devout Christians there started bringing the trees into their
homes and decorating them with candles. There is even a
story that this stemmed from Martin Luther wanting to show
his family the beauty of the stars shining amongst the
evergreens one night while he was outside working on a
sermon.

However, without royal intervention the Christmas tree would
likely have remained an oddity in the Western world. In 1846
a sketch appeared in the London News depicting Queen
Victoria, her German husband Prince Albert, and all their
children standing around a Christmas tree. The popular
Queen was quickly imitated at all levels of society and the
Christmas tree was on its way to being a worldwide tradition. 

Christmas Pudding

Christmas Pudding started off as being partly made of meat
(in much the same way as mincemeat pies did) and was more
of a soup than a pudding. This concoction was called
'frumenty'. It was traditionally eaten before Christmas to get
ready for the season.

By the late 1500s the addition of eggs, breadcrumbs, and fruit
had led to a proper pudding. This is where the story gets a tad
fuzzy. It has been said that the Puritans banned Christmas
during the English Interregnum. What is less clear is whether
or not they tried to stamp out the humble Christmas
pudding. The story continues that after the restoration of the
monarchy the pudding was legalized but didn't regain its full
popularity until the reign of King George I in 1714.

Is any part of this dastardly pudding ban story true? Who
knows! But the linkage of Christmas pudding with royalty has
endured.

Christmas Address

In 1932 King George V was persuaded to give a Christmas
address over the radio by the BBC. It would become an
annual tradition (with a few notable lapses) for the Royal
Family. In the years since the tradition has spread to other
monarchies in Europe. Several republics have also taken up
the tradition with the president typically giving an address at
Christmas or on New Years Eve. 

Turkey Dinner

Maybe I should have had more to eat before starting this
article, I keep coming back to food! It is widely reported
that King Henry VIII was the first english king to dine on
turkey but that it was Edward VII who made it fashionable to
eat the bird at Christmas time. Regardless, turkey remained
​a food for the mainly well-to-do until at least the 1950s. 

---

As this will be my last post before the 25th I would like to
wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Over the last year the Quaco Museum
in St. Martins, New Brunswick, has
been trying to raise money to buy a
long-lost ship's figurehead. Earlier
this month they succeeded in their
quest to bring the figurehead home.

There is a little bit of a dispute over
who the figurehead actually depicts.
The Quaco Museum claims it is a
representation of Prince Albert
Victor, the grandson of Queen
Victoria. However, Ronald J. Jack
over at The Lost Valley Blog has put
together a good argument for a
different candidate:

Article One
Article Two
​Article Three
​Article Four

It is unfortunate that the Quanco Museum seems opposed to
the idea that the figurehead just might represent Prince Victor
of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. He led an interesting life and
deserves a bit more attention.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Happy Victoria Day!

This Victoria Day is special in that
it is also marks the official 90th
birthday of Queen Elizabeth II of
Canada.

The Monarchist League of Canada
has encouraged its members to
film themselves singing Happy
Birthday to Her Majesty to mark
the occasion. The Governor
General even joined in recently.

Victoria Day is a uniquely Canadian celebration. No other
member of the Commonwealth celebrates it. The date used to
move around a little bit since it was Queen Victoria's actual
birthday. It was eventually decided to fix the date to the
Monday before the 24th of May (the Queen's actual birth
date).

Canadians celebrate Victoria Day in a few different ways.
Some don't mark the occasion in any special way (although
even this can be an appropriate way of marking the
occasion). Firework displays have long been a part of Victoria
Day celebrations and continue to be a part of celebrations
in Canada today. As for myself...

...I treated my coworkers to birthday cake.

The month of May also marks this website's second birthday.
When I started I was unsure about how long it would last. I
wasn't even sure if I had the dedication to keep it regularly
updated. But two years in I am pleased with how things are
going. 

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

There is a certain impression that
Queen Victoria did not have a sense
of humour. This is in fact false. The
impression was gained for three
primary reasons.

Most of the pictures people see of the
Queen show her with a blank
expression. The first thing to 
consider is that photography was still
in its infancy at the time. Camera
exposure times were long meaning
one had to keep still for extended
periods of time. Smiling was only good if you wanted a blurry
picture.

The second consideration was that the Queen felt that if she
smiled in public the people might think her frivolous. She was
anxious to avoid this as she was unpopular during the early
part of her reign. In private she is said to have often "roared
 with laughter". Indeed a photo from 1887 shows her to be in
much better spirits in public:  

The third reason is due to to a phrase often attributed to her; "We are not amused." Supposedly it was said at Windsor
Castle after a particular male attendee at her court told a
somewhat lewd joke in front of the Queen and the other women present. Speaking for all the women present (hence the 'we') she replied with the famous phrase. While an
interesting account there is little hard evidence the Queen
ever said it or, for that matter, that the event even occurred.  

This raises the interesting question of why the story gained
such traction. One possibility is that it was commenting on
the changed decorum of the court. Her predecessors had been
somewhat lacking in the morals department and it is possible
such raunchy humour was common then. The Queen, in her
efforts to re-create the monarchy as a role model for society
would be disinclined to tolerate the same kind of behavior
her father had. The men at the court were perhaps not pleased
with such a development. If so, the Queen got the last laugh as
she reigned for 63 years.

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour

Sometimes I have a topic which really isn't big enough to warrant its own post. Other times there are things I want to add to an article when I'm writing it but I don't have immediate access to them. These are those things.

Back in November I wrote an article about two German cannons won by Albert County, New Brunswick. Above is a photo of Wilhelm II's cypher on the barrel of the smaller gun. The bottom portion was either worn off with use or not properly imprinted to begin with. I would have included a picture of the cypher in a different context but various Google searches have not turned up this exact variant. 

I read an article recently by Marie Brennan over at Science Fiction & Fantasy Novelists on why fantasy settings seem so dominated by monarchies. An interesting read.

Ever since MP Pat Martin announced he was considering proposing changes to the Canadian Citizenship Oath that would remove the Queen I have been contacting him off-and-on. Two letters I sent were not answered (although in fairness the second did not explicitly ask for a response) but his office assured me he had received them.

I did eventually talk to one of his aids about his views (funny aside: I actually attended the same classes as this aid in university. It's a small country). I was informed that he will not change his views but that he also isn't going to lead the campaign for a Canadian republic. Pat's main problem is that in situations where the interests of Canada and another Commonwealth Realm are in conflict the monarch cannot be solidly on our side. Other issues involved the British colonial legacy.

I was quite relieved Kevin Gillespie recently decided to submit an article on Queen Victoria. Previously articles had been done on her father, husband, and one of her daughters. Her absence was starting to become conspicuous. I wanted to add a photo of Queen Victoria's jubilee but after formatting the article I couldn't decide on a good place. I also wanted to add a good photo of the Queen smiling since it goes against the image many people have of her. 

Over at /r/monarchism a number of changes have been implemented. For starters it has a more complete list of royal claimants. The flairs have also been adjusted to allow for more variety. The subreddit has had some impressive growth over the last year and is starting to see an increase in activity to go with it. 

This January 21st marked the 222 anniversary of the murder of Louis XVI by the First French Republic.

According to Father Edgeworth the King's last words were:

Loyally Yours,
A Kisaragi Colour